This Week's Gurus

One of the results of the KuppingerCole Digital Risk and Awareness Survey that sprung to my awareness has been the massive difference in C-level awareness for cyber security in government agencies, compared to businesses. While an overall average of 8.2% of all respondents said that they have no C-level awareness for cyber security, the level of non-awareness in government agencies was at 26.3%. The positive interpretation is that there is C-level awareness for cyber security...

I have been mining the leaked data from the Ashley Madison breach and discovered that over 14,000 government officials' information has been compromised. With such diversity of individuals, whose information was compromised through the Ashley Madison hack, you have to wonder what the lasting impact of this breach can be. What are the implications to the companies these individuals work for? Will these individuals give in to blackmail to betray their employer, save their marriage or...

I’m a CISO of a large company and today I woke up from a 30-year nap. My nightmares were nothing compared to this. When I went to sleep, my company had a mainframe and dumb terminals. There was an internet, but my company wasn’t connected to it. Very few people had computers at home, and I had just paid $1000 for a 2400 baud modem. Our customer lists and intellectual capital were only accessible by...

IoT and Smart Manufacturing: Security must not be an afterthought Following the virtually daily news on new attacks and incidents around the IoT (Internet of Things) and Smart Manufacturing (or “Industry 4.0”) proves the insight that security still commonly is an afterthought. This is by no means surprising. Security always has been an afterthought. Why should it though be any different in IoT and Smart Manufacturing? However, the potential damage is far bigger than in...

Embracing biometrics to tackle banking fraud Neil Costigan, CEO BehavioSec High profile hacking attacks on global corporations in the media serve as an unwelcome reminder of the increasingly sophisticated nature of cybercrime. Yet, beyond complex hacks on global enterprises, simple techniques to gain access to sensitive data continue to be a burden for both consumers and enterprises. According to Financial Fraud Action UK, last year online fraud rose 48%, resulting in £60.4 million in losses....

Harness machine data, that’s how. by Joe Goldberg, Chief Security Evangelist at Splunk As organisations across the world embrace online channels to market, the bad guys of the internet are being rewarded with more avenues in which to breach businesses. Open networks, online payment portals and even Point-of-Sale devices are leaving organisations open to more advanced and persistent threats. Such threats are coming from hacktivists, cybercriminals, malicious insiders, and nation states. Aided by speed, persistence...

Cracking the code to build trust in business applications John Grimm, Senior Director, Thales e-Security Establishing trust in an increasingly connected and virtualised world is something businesses strive to achieve as they increasingly depend on digital services to complete daily tasks. Cloud-based platforms and mobile computing have certainly proven popular with businesses in improving efficiency and driving down operational costs. However, the more these technologies are used, along with the arrival of the ‘app store...

Hybrid Cloud: the solution to security implications presented by shadow IT? Today’s organisations are slowly shifting away from on-premise data centres and IT resources, with 30.2 percent of computing workloads expected to run in the public cloud by 2018. Why? Because cloud services offer organisations increased security, mobility and scalability – when implemented correctly. Despite the rapid uptake of cloud based approaches, and the emergence of the hybrid cloud, research has found that half of...

Cybersecurity and geopolitics are intertwined  What is the relation between growing security spending, increasing hacking attacks and falling economy? By High-Tech Bridge's CEO, Ilia Kolochenko Have you ever thought how the global economy and geopolitics influence cybersecurity and cybercrime? Some people may think these are two completely different domains, however they are strongly and permanently related. An interesting example came up during our recent security awareness project at a large, Central European financial institution. The institution was concerned...

Fred Touchette, manager of security research at AppRiver, gives advice for individuals and businesses on what a macro is, why they're a threat and what can be done about them. For more information, check out AppRiver's blog: www.blog.appriver.com @IT_SecGuru