Cybersecurity Expert

Cyber security experts have long predicted that thousands of vulnerable Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as internet-connected CCTV systems would be hacked on mass and directed to perform huge DDoS attacks. That’s exactly what happened on 21 st October when 152,000 IoT devices infected with malware were remote controlled by hackers and then used to orchestrate a 1Tb DDoS attack, the largest in history. A tsunami of network traffic was directed at a company called Dyn, a major domain name registrar, and it impacted their client’s web services, including Twitter, Yammer, PayPal, Starbucks, The Guardian, PlayStation, Wix, CNN, Spotify, Github, Weebly and Reddit. Those IoT developers may want to read up on my IoT guidance on the IBM developersWorks website -  Combating IoT cyber threats  Top security best practices for IoT applications The UK National Cyber Security Centre HQ went operational, which is part of the UK government's 5 year £1.9 billion cyber defence s...

I passed through Burgas airport a couple of days before a suicide bomber killed 5 Israelis & 2 Bulgarians on 18th July 2012, and I then passed through the airport again a couple of weeks later. Burgas Airport is the smallest of passenger airports and is located on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, and is used mainly in the summer by holiday makers, myself included. On the entrance to terminal and within the airport, a Security Notice sign caught my eye and bothered me as I waited to check in. It said " This Area is Protected by Video Surveillance ". Now CCTV can act as a deterrent and is particularly useful for the purpose of recording events and working out the causes of incidents. But even with a team of operators vigilantly watching the CCTV screens in real time, I just don't see how this CCTV would "protect the area" I was entering, as within this crowded space everyone had large bags and many had hats and sunglasses concealing their identity ...

Continuing the theme from my last blog entry, in regards to the idea of a “Big Brother” state impeding over individual rights…so what’s the deal with individual privacy erosion anyway? Well as far as I’m concerned that boat has not already sailed, but is over the horizon out of sight, the George Orwell “1984” state is already here! Let’s look at the evidence in the UK. The UK is the most CCTV intensive country in the world, the average UK citizen is caught on CCTV cameras 300 times a day. However since the general induction of CCTV into urbans and shopping environments, which first appeared in the UK 50 years ago, CCTV has played a vital role in solving many crimes, and now plays a role in crime prevention in all UK city centres . Moving on, Tesco is the UK’s leading Supermarket, they are probably best described as more of a multi-billion pound corporation, as staggeringly Tesco account for £1 out of every £7 spent in the UK high street. Tesco success is built on data mining, as...