This Week's Gurus

Jonathan French, security Analyst at AppRiver, explains to us just how the OPM breach actually happened, as well as how advanced it was and what the attacker(s) incentives were. For more information, check out AppRiver's blog: www.blog.appriver.com @IT_SecGuru

By Mike Smart, Security Strategist at Proofpoint Cyber threat awareness is not limited to an obscure crowd of coding geeks—and hasn’t been for a long time. In fact, just earlier this year, U.S. intelligence director James Clapper announced that cyber attacks top the list of threats facing the U.S. The sheer number of breaches reported is testimony to the fact that IT teams are struggling to detect and fight off attacks despite increased efforts to...

Security is all too often neglected in the Internet of Things and Smart Manufacturing 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...

The Rise and Fall of RC4 By Itsik Mantin, Director of Security Research at Imperva In the last couple of years we've seen quite a lot of interest concentrated around the RC4 cipher. Following the BEAST attack on SSL in 2011, many security experts had suggested a preference for RC4 as the SSL cipher on the AES-CBC. Trying not to be very blunt, I would say that I was surprised by this recommendation, probably along...

Can there be a winner in the Crypto Wars? Alexei Balaganski, analyst, Kuppinger Cole If there is one thing that can be said about most politicians, it’s that they do not understand technology. This is especially true when the technology in question is related to cybersecurity and strong encryption in particular. Governments have always considered the ability to intercept and decrypt communications of foreign nations a matter of national security, but no other country has been...

Why security needs equality Charles Sweeney, CEO, Bloxx The need for there to be a common standard within business is driven by a strong human emotion for equality. This is especially true as workforces fragment and become more geographically disparate. From HR to finance policies, equality is adhered to - there is a commonality across the board. And yet, when it comes to security, there are multiple and varying policies across locations, teams and devices....

How can brands rise to the challenge of Information Governance? Sue Trombley, Managing Director of Thought Leadership at Iron Mountain   The data managed by organisations is set to increase by 76 per cent over the next 12 to 18 months. This, coupled with emerging types of data, means Information Governance strategies are becoming a significant challenge for businesses. The adoption of social and collaborative platforms means businesses must incorporate social media posts, texts, instant...

Secure processes are the key to new payment success By David Poole, Director at myPINpad We now have the possibility to browse through limitless shops and purchase goods and services from almost anywhere in the world. This has revolutionised the way people shop, and now the possibilities are endless, yet this commerce evolution is banging its head on a barricade. We are able to access all types of products whilst browsing attractive sites that provide...

21.5 Million Reasons to Defeat the Next Attack Simon Crosby, Co-founder and CTO, Bromium After the OPM breach many friends and colleagues who have served the US government feel angry and are worried that they and their families are exposed and vulnerable to attack.  I felt the same when Aetna sent me a breach notice for my daughter.  Who has their data?  How will it be used to attack us? It’s sickening. The resignation of the head...

Considerations for Effective Endpoint Security By Mike Schrock, Senior Director of OEM Business Development, OPSWAT   As BYOD continues to grow in popularity, organisations will have to focus more resources on the protection of endpoint devices and the associated risks those devices bring with them. When trying to choose the best set of endpoint security products for your company, there are several considerations you should keep in mind. Remediation Doesn’t Fix Lack of Real-time Protection Targeting remote devices...