More Than 1 in 8 IT Security Pros Can Access Previous Employers’ Systems Using Old Credentials
A survey conducted by Liberman Software at the 2014 RSA Conference in San Francisco has revealed that just over 13% of IT security professionals admit that they are still able to access previous employers’ systems by using their old credentials. The survey queried 280 IT security professionals, of which 55% worked in organisations employing over […]
Are Passwords Being Shared Within Your Organisation?
One security topic that I’ve heard and written a fair bit about recently is that of the password. Its been the primary means of access control for as long as I can remember and its served its purpose reasonably well for much of that time. But it isn’t a perfect solution for protecting computers and […]
Easy To Guess Passwords Have No Place In Your Organisation
Whilst the computers and networks within an organisation undoubtedly need protecting, the weakest point in any security setup can often turn out to be the people who use the system. If you have responsibility for running a network then the amount of technology you employ to protect it will be of little consequence if users […]
Privileged User Abuse: The Human Factor
If you keep up with the news then there is a very good chance that recent data breach reports may leave you feeling that the biggest risk to your organisation is external, coming from hackers, hacktivists and maybe even intelligence agencies. But you shouldn’t forget that some risks are closer at hand. Internal threats can […]
US Senate: Firms Must Protect Users Against Malvertising
A US Senate subcommittee has warned internet advertising companies that they need to better protect internet users from malvertising. Or face the consequences. In a report released yesterday, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, led by senator John McCain, said that hackers were increasingly infecting computers via malware hidden inside online advertising. Self-regulation, it said, has […]
UK Office Workers Lack Trust In Digital World As 1-In-7 Hit By Cybercrime
A new survey from PhishMe Inc. has revealed that the majority of UK office workers have trouble deciding who to trust (awareness training helps) in this, the digital age. That, however, is hardly surprising on account of the fact that 14% have already had a bad experience on the sharp end of cybercrime. The study examined the attitudes […]
Proofpoint, The Human Factor: Advanced Attacks Exploit People
Who’s clicking on what, when and where are they clicking and why on earth are they doing it? Those were all questions Proofpoint were looking to answer in its recent The Human Factor white paper, developed using three months data from the company’s Targeted Attack Protection product. During the last 12 months, according to Proofpoint, […]
Bridging the Airgap
Yesterday I spoke at the International Society of Automation Ireland Section’s Cyber Security Conference. My talk highlighted how relying on air gaps to protect ICS and secure networks is a fallacy. Using well known incidents as examples of how air gaps failed I outline the problem and ways to address it. http://www.slideshare.net/brianhonan/bridging-the-air-gap
Mikko Hypponen and I Talk About Whistleblowers
Last week I attended Infosec Europe in London. I hosted a keynote panel on Tuesday on “Actionable intelligence: Building a holistic security threat intelligence capability“. On Wednesday morning I attended Mikko Hypponen’s Keynote. In his keynote, “Whistle Blowing: Threat or Opportunity?“, Mikko highlighted that companies and governments need to understand that with today’s technology individuals have […]
Imperva Hacker Intelligence Initiative Report: "The Non-Advanced Persistent Threat”
Last week , whilst at Infosecurity Europe 2014, I was fortunate enough to have a meeting with Amichai Shulman, CTO of Imperva, during which he revealed some very interesting research. Previewing the company’s April Hacker Intelligence Initiative report, “The Non-Advanced Persistent Threat,” Shulman revealed that some ‘advanced’ threats are actually incredibly simple to execute, requiring only basic technical […]