A significant percentage of IT systems are cloud-based, according to a CompTIA survey of 502 U.S companies. The cloud is a key enabler for emerging technology, suggests the poll, which was conducted last month. Cloud computing was one of four trends respondents expected to feature heavily in IT conversations over the next 12 to 18 months, CompTIA…

Australian union officials who ran fake Black Lives Matter Facebook page fired National Union of Workers ‘deeply distressed and appalled’ about sham site, which had twice as many followers as official page  Ian Mackay who was an Australian union official from the National Union of Workers has been stood down amid claims he was involved…

As technology advances at warp speed, companies should consider how their M&A programs can take advantage of big data to make better and faster decisions. Watch the video below to hear from Mitch Berlin and Sid Khosla, about how big data, analytics, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and social media play a role in developing a strategic…

It’s common for terms such as cyber threats, vulnerabilities and risks to be conflated and confused. This post aims to define each term, highlight how they differ and how they are related to one-another. Cyber Threats Cyber threats, or simply, threats refer to circumstances or events with the potential to cause harm by way of their outcome. A few examples of…

The higher-education landscape has become a fertile field for growing crypto-mining revenue. College students are crypto-mining from their dorm rooms, while outside actors are targeting their online activities for web-based attacks. According to Vectra’s 2018 RSA Conference Edition of its Attacker Behavior Industry Report, higher education is a prime arena given that students are usually not…

Warnings issued to change passwords. Northern Ireland Assembly has issued warnings to staff following cyber-attacks on its IT system, according to reports by the Belfast Telegraph. Northern Ireland Assembly has issued warnings to staff following cyber-attacks on its IT system, according to reports by the Belfast Telegraph. The publication revealed that attacks from an external…

No business, small or large, can afford to ignore cyber security. According to a recent Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, 60 percent of cyber-attacks target SMBs, largely because they are easier targets. But you don’t have to be passive. Here are five tools and services which small and medium business can use to protect themselves. 1. Get…

LISBON, Portugal — Police in Spain have captured a cybercrime gang made up of Ukrainians and Russians that allegedly stole more than $1.24 billion from financial institutions worldwide in a five-year spree, authorities said Monday. The gang’s alleged mastermind, identified as a Ukrainian and named only as “Denis K.,” was arrested in the coastal city…

An international band of cyber crooks that worked its way into dozens of banks has experts warning of a “new era” of cyber crime where criminals steal directly from banks instead of their customers. And the problem could soon spread to other industries, experts warn. On Monday, Moscow-based security firm Kaspersky Lab released a report…

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg finally commented publicly on March 21 on his Facebook page about the Cambridge Analytica controversy, in which he admitted “mistakes” were made, and acknowledged his company’s “responsibility to protect your data,” and that a “breach of trust” occurred regarding that role. Zuckerberg pointed to a “breach of trust” between Cambridge University researcher Aleksandr Kogan (who developed a Facebook quiz app in 2013), Cambridge Analytica and Facebook. “I’ve been working to understand exactly what happened and how to…

Adrian Lamo, the man who dropped a dime on Chelsea Manning, died this month in Kansas. The 36-year-old hacker, who had more recently lived as a drifter and who previously was convicted for hacking Microsoft and the New York Times, was approached by then U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning who ended up pilfering and leaking a…

The Shadow Brokers, a hacking group known for releasing exploits and vulnerabilities allegedly used by the National Security Agency (NSA), published a cache of tools over a month ago on April 14th. This release had initially caused panic within the security industry as it was believed at the time that some of the exploits were…

1. Corporate Security Breaches The majority of these corporate security breaches occur when hackers exploit employees through social engineering and scams. With advancements in technology, hackers are becoming more skilled at finding holes and cracks in corporate security systems and can gain access to protected files and data, posing a significant cybersecurity threat. Unfortunately, 2012…

Cyber security is increasingly recognised to be a people issue as much as a technical one. Boards now understand that their own employees may be the weak link in an organisation’s cyber defences. This article provides a self-assessment matrix to help organisations understand how effectively they are mitigating cyber insider risk and thus enable them…

Over the last 10 years, we have witnessed massive changes in the embedded Industrial Control Systems (ICS), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), DCS and Physical Security (CCTV, access controls and alarms) sectors, with the adoption of IP-capable technologies through the Internet of Things (IoT) and now the Internet of Everything (IoE). However, the mindset…

Some small e-commerce website operators may think their relative obscurity offers protection, but the fact is that SMBs are especially vulnerable to cyberattacks and malware. “Very often small businesses don’t feel vulnerable to cyberthreats because they assume cybercriminals prefer to launch attacks on large companies,” said Stephanie Weagle, VP of Corero. “On the contrary, cybercriminals have…

With dozens of breaches and millions left violated, 2017 has witnessed a historic amount of hacking. This year has been stained with numerous hacking incidents, including WannaCry, Petya and Cloudbleed. Of these many cases, the Equifax data breach can be crowned the most significant hack of the year, having exposed the personal data of nearly…

Cyber Warfare Cyberwarfare is computer- or network-based conflict involving politically motivated attacks by a nation-state on another nation-state. In these types of attacks, nation-state actors attempt to disrupt the activities of organizations or nation-states, especially for strategic or military purposes and cyberespionage. Although cyberwarfare generally refers to cyberattacks perpetrated by one nation-state on another, it…

Many of today’s cyber criminals have their sights set on money. And they essentially take three approaches to achieving their goal. They conduct surveillance operations to systematically obtain valuable information from companies, they steal customer and credit-card data, and they blackmail companies by threatening to disrupt their business operations. Research results, for example, can be…

Tens of millions of fake accounts infest the world’s social media platforms. Is one of those fake accounts impersonating you? In a recent article, The New York Times detailed a global black market in stolen social identities. These stolen identities — names, pictures, hometowns, and other personal information ripped from real peoples’ social media profiles — are…

Hackers are constantly finding new targets and refining the tools they use to break through cyberdefenses. The following are some significant threats to look out for this year. More huge data breaches The cyberattack on the Equifax credit reporting agency in 2017, which led to the theft of Social Security numbers, birth dates, and other…

Identity theft occurs when someone gains unauthorized access to your personally identifying information – such as your name, Social Security Number (SSN), or bank account information – and uses it to commit fraud or other crimes. The crimes that an identity thief is able to commit with your personal information range from applying for a…

A new study from The Internet Society shows what influencers around the world expect (and fear) about the future social, business and regulatory impact on cyber security. The world is changing, and with it so is the internet. Or perhaps it’s the other way around. The internet continues to create new business and social opportunities…

Identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in the United States. In 2013, someone became a victim of identity fraud every two minutes, totaling 13.1 million people. The cost of cleanup is, on average, $500 per person. Amy Krebs describes what it feels like to become a victim. Is it okay to publish your name? Yes. You might think, ‘She’s…

Abstract Cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated with the blending of once distinct types of attack into more damaging forms. Increased variety and volume of attacks is inevitable given the desire of financially and criminally-motivated actors to obtain personal and confidential information, as highlighted in this paper. We describe how the Routine Activity Theory can…

The US and UK governments have said North Korea was responsible for the WannaCry malware attack affecting hospitals, businesses and banks across the world earlier this year. The attack is said to have hit more than 300,000 computers in 150 nations, causing billions of dollars of damage. It is the first time the US and…

Millions of Social Security numbers have been compromised due to a data breach at the credit reporting firm Equifax. And once your number has been viewed by potential identity thieves, there’s no way for your Social Security number to be secret again. However, there are things you can do to keep your Social Security number…

Ramon Polanco wanted to get married, but there was one hitch — someone using his identity had already exchanged vows with three women over a 12-year span. Now, after more than a year of jumping through hoops with the City Clerk’s Office, a judge has allowed the 77-year-old to walk the aisle — thanks, in…

What Do Thieves Do With Your Information? Once identity thieves have your personal information, they can drain your bank account, run up charges on your credit cards, open new utility accounts, or get medical treatment on your health insurance. An identity thief can file a tax refund in your name and get your refund. In…

The list of this year’s 25 “worst” passwords says a lot about us. “Starwars” (No. 16) reflects a resurgent force in popular culture. “Whatever” (No. 23) and “letmein” (No. 7) seem to speak to an exasperation with online security itself. And “password” (No. 2) speaks to our collective lack of creativity. They are among the…

Protect your enterprise and fortify cybersecurity with actionable threat intelligence Identify and disrupt your cyber threats Rapidly uncover time-sensitive insights about your cyber threat actors and their motivations so you can disrupt current threats and enhance security measures against future ones. IBM helps cyber analysts conduct cyber threat hunting by turning disparate data sets into…

A method for scrambling data to protect it from the super powerful computers of the future has received a speed boost from a team of researchers from Duke and Ohio State universities and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The method uses quantum key distribution to guard data from prying eyes, wrote Nurul T. Islam, Charles…

Cyberattacks against healthcare organizations are evolving in many ways, including new schemes to steal credentials as well as assaults by low-skilled hackers using ransomware-as-a-service products, says Eric Rydberg of Sophos. See Also: Addressing the Identity Risk Factor in the Age of ‘Need It Now’ In a video interview at Information Security Media Group’s recent Healthcare…

Employees using weak passwords could be putting your company at risk more than previously thought, new research has claimed. A report from LastPass claims that the sheer number of passwords being used by employees even within an average-sized business means that it is increasingly tricky to keep tabs on which are used for certain accounts…

If your smart devices are smart enough to make your life easier, then their smart behaviour could also be exploited by hackers to invade your privacy or spy on you, if not secured properly. Recent research conducted by security researchers at threat prevention firm Check Point highlights privacy concern surrounding smart home devices manufactured by…

  While scrolling on Facebook how you decide which link/article should be clicked or opened? Facebook timeline and Messenger display title, description, thumbnail image and URL of every shared-link, and this information are enough to decide if the content is of your interest or not. Since Facebook is full of spam, clickbait and fake news…

Government agencies, journalists, and businesses trading in some parts of the world may find themselves at greater risk of being spied upon than others. You only have to keep a vague eye on the security headlines to recognise that organisations have had information stolen from them, or their computers compromised, when their staff have visited…