cyber (104)

As recent data breaches have shown, cyber attacks are particularly threatening to government entities handling sensitive data like Social Security numbers. Unfortunately, state agencies struggle to hire cybersecurity professionals.

The cause of this staffing shortage? There simply aren’t enough qualified people for the job[i]. Thankfully, change is in the air.

To attract skilled cybersecurity experts, some state governments are expanding IT internships for high school and college students. Many ar

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Phishing Scams: Don't Click that Link!

You’re sitting on your front porch. You see a stranger walking towards your property. You have no idea whom he is. But he’s nicely dressed. He asks to come inside your house and look through your bank account records, view your checkbook routing number and account number, and jot down the 16-digit numbers of your credit cards. Hey, he also wants to write down all your passwords.

You say, “Sure! Come on in!”

Is this something you’d be crazy enough to do? Of course not!

But it’s possible that you’ve

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Zeus Malware Gang take-down

Zeus is no longer a god of malware; he’s been taken down by law enforcement agencies spanning six European nations. Five people were recently arrested—believed to have infected tens of thousands of computers across the globe. There have been 60 total arrests pertaining to this cybergang.

They also used malware called SpyEye, and that, along with Zeus, stole money from major banks. This was a clever operation that included ever-changing Trojans, and mule networks.

Another malware that was asphyxiat

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UL to launch Cybersecurity Cert

UL in this case stands for Underwriters Laboratories. An article on darkreading.com notes that a UL official, Maarten Bron, says that they are taking part in the U.S. government’s plan to promote security certification standards.

The U.S. government is interested in developing a UL-type program directed at computers and smartphones. This initiative will encourage the private sector and the government to create the standards.

So that’s what we have thus far; this initiative is in its early childhoo

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Cybersecurity professionals are always in demand[i]. Threats to intellectual property and sensitive data constantly evolve with technology, which means a security professional’s job is never done. There’s always another security problem to solve.

Consider the recent proliferation of cyber attacks: it’s become easier and easier for a small group of people to compromise vast networks of corporate and government information. Worse still, cyber criminals are getting better at covering their tracks.

Ex

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Hacker isn't a bad Word

Did you know that the original meaning of hacker, as far as computers, was that of a person who built codes into computers? In fact, the bad guy was called a “cracker.” Somehow, “cracker” didn’t catch on. But the mainstream folk out there hears “hacker,” and right away, they think of a digital thief, often someone who breaks into governmental computer systems or Russian “hacking rings” that steal credit card numbers.

An article at motherboard.vice.com mentions that Richard Stallman gets the credi

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A look into Cyber Weapons of the Future

Remember the good ‘ol days when you thought of a finger pushing a button that launched a Russian missile that then sped at seven miles per second towards the U.S. to blow it up?

Little did we know back then what would one day be a way for the Superpowers to war on each other: cyber technology!

A new book is out called Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War, written by Peter W. Singer and August Cole. WWIII certainly won’t be wrought with speeding missiles and hand-to-hand combat in the trenche

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Connecting the Dots: A Cyber Detective Story

Cyber threat intelligence is unquestionably a hot buzzword in the security industry these days. It is being used to seek venture capital and fund startups. It is being pitched to the enterprise market by providers and consultants. However, in this paper, we argue that the majority of what is being billed as “threat intelligence” isn’t. It’s data. From lists of bad IPs or application vulnerabilities to malware signatures, social media data or indicators of compromise (“IOCs”), none of these thing

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According to a new Intel Security study, more than 2,000 American parents and kids ages 8-16 were surveyed to unveil some interesting things.

  • 79% of the juvenile respondents learned online safety from their parents.
  • 35% of them said they’ve been a cyberbully.
  • 27% of them said they have met, or would meet, a person in real life who they initially met online.

Technology is often blamed for all of this. But what drives these behaviors is the same force that drives the schoolyard bully to trip the bookw

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Understanding Cyber Exposure

8028232672?profile=originalThere is a weakness in cyber risk to focus on the technical issues. They are necessary but not sufficient if you want to understand and manage all your cyber exposures, which I define as the vulnerabilities that arise as a result of activity using computers and the Internet. There is a great range of these vulnerabilities that are not being addressed.

An example would be the exposures that arise through the use of Social Media if not managed and controlled. For example posts that reveal sensitive

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Is It Fraud or are You just Crazy?

What would you rather have happen to you? A Russian ring of hackers has infiltrated your computer and smartphone and is hell-bent on taking control of your finances, social media life, even the smart gadgets in your house…OR…you’ve just been diagnosed with paranoid psychosis, and in fact, nobody’s out to harm you at all.

In a day and age where it’s become increasingly easy for hackers to hijack your credit card and bank accounts, spy on your baby by hacking into the baby-cam and spy on you via yo

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8028235086?profile=original

Enrique Suarez Presenting:

Cyber Defense and Cyber Security Policies in the UK and Germany

The EU and Member States in Global Affairs: Any sign of convergence?

A PowerPoint Presentation By:

Marco Mayer, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies &

Luigi Martino, University of Florence (CSSII)

Cybersecurity_in_the_UK_and_Germany.pptx

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Trusting too much brings Trouble

There will always be the person who lives on the Equator to whom you can sell an electric heater. As they say, there is a sucker born every minute.

This is why cyber criminals will always have a field day, like the crook who posed as a tax man who got an elderly couple to send $100,000 to an offshore bank account after he tricked them.

This was a fear-based scam. The other two categories are compassion and self-interest. And just because a person can’t be frightened doesn’t mean that their heart s

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Criminals use six basic principles to influence and steal. In the first post we discussed:

  • Reciprocation: Do something nice for a person and they will feel obligated to return the favor.
  • Social Proof: This is the “It’s okay if everyone else does it” approach.
  • Commitment and Consistency: Get someone to verbally or in writing commit to something, and this will increase the chances they’ll follow through.

Robert Cialdini is a psychologist who studied influence for nearly 30 years, condensing his findin

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Unfortunately, cyberbullying is prevalent, and a growing threat in today’s always-connected world. Cyberbullying refers to bullying done via computers, or similar technologies, such as cell phones. This kind of bullying usually includes mean or threatening comments, or public posts through texts, emails, voice mails, social media posts, all intended to embarrass the victim.

Cyberbullying can happen to both adults and kids, but since it’s so common among youths, it’s good to know how to help your

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How Employers or Parents Spy

Disgruntled employees act out in lots of ways. A guy I knew who hated his boss “played” on his work computer all day. The computer was strictly for constructing company graphics. But he installed all kinds of games and wasted lots of time. His boss never knew he blew off half the day.

Company computers are obviously company owned, making it legally possible for your boss to spy on you. Employers can also figure out whom you’re speaking to on your company owned or sanctioned phone and for how long

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So just how are hackers able to penetrate all these huge businesses? Look no further than employee behavior—not an inside job, but innocent employees being tricked by the hacker.

recent survey commissioned by Intel Security reveals that five of the top seven reasons that a company gets hacked are due to employee actions.

One of the things that make it easy to trick employees into giving up critical information is the information employees share on social media about their company.

People just fre

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Protect Yourself from Online Fraud

Yes, it’s possible: preventing fraudsters from getting you via online trickery and other stealthy actions. Yes, it’s possible to be thinking one step ahead of cyber criminals. Let’s begin with e-mails—the conduit through which so many cyber crimes like ID theft occur.

  • Imagine snail-mailing vital information like your SSN, bank account number, a duplicate of your driver’s license and your credit card number. At some point in the delivery process, someone opens the letter and see the contents. Elec
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The Russians have come…again—in the form of hackers. Not long ago Russian cyber criminals busted into the U.S.’s State Department system and mangled it for months.

This time, they got into a computer system at the White House. Luckily, this system did not hold any classified information, but nevertheless, the hackers got ahold of President Obama’s private itinerary. So it just goes to show you just what hackers a world away can do.

This isn’t the first time that the White House has been hacked int

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Everyone is vulnerable to Attack

There’s the war on drugs, the war on terrorism, the war on cancer and the war on cyber threats. In fact, more people are vulnerable to cyber attacks than they are to the first three threats combined.

So pervasive is this threat that President Obama fully recognizes that everyone is at risk. He even signed an executive order recently in the hopes of promoting the sharing of more cybersecurity related data between the government and the private sector.

Recently President Obama presented a speech at

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