Cybersecurity Expert

RSA Europe is said to be the most comprehensive information security forum held in Europe, with world leading expert speakers from the information security industry discussing and debating the hottest topics in security. It was great to see this year's conference being themed on British cryptographer Alan Turing. Turing was part of a team of code breakers working at Bletchley Park during World War II, whom in complete secrecy quite literally saved thousands of lives by breaking encrypted messages. Today Bletchley Park is a museum open to the public, completely privately funded and yet a vital part of the security industry heritage. So it was really good to see Alan Turing being highlighted by the event, but I will save my thoughts on Bletchley Park for another post, although I do urge anyone interested in general information security, cryptography or history, who has the chance to visit Bletchley Park and/or donate to the cause. For me the biggest highlight of the RSA Europe...

The "Credit Crunch" is not only fuelling more cyber crime and online fraud, but the latest malware, phishing and fraud trends show the credit crunch is having an affect within the sinister cyber criminal underworld. It seems the bad guys are having trouble opening new fake accounts, obtaining credit cards with stolen identities, and are even having trouble getting store credit using fake identities. Why? Well it is because the financial industry have been cracking down and fully vetting credit applications (about time). You really have to ask why it has taken the near collapse of the world's financial system to kick financial institutions into properly checking just who they are actually going to provide credit to, after all that’s what caused all this credit crunch mess in the first place, right? So this is good news on the identity theft front, but as always in cyber fraud the bad guys just move onto the next lowest hanging fruit, and so are increasingly going after...

Last week BackUpAnyTime interviewed me as part of their "Who's Who in Data" feature. Being choosen for this interview was a real privilege and it was a pleasure to answer their questions. The interview Qs & As are now available. "This has got to be one of the most enjoyable interviews we have conducted yet. To say that David Whitelegg is a data security expert is an understatement of significance and a clear example of stating the obvious. Davids’ answers range from short and witty to detailed and fascinating. Here is a man who can and will tell you how to best protect your data. Ask him about his family or car and he may consider you a bot seeking personally identifiable information. A riveting and educational read. Dave plans to write a book. Sold!" http://www.backupanytime.com/blog/2008/09/23/interview-with-david-whitelegg-of-itsecurityexpertcouk/