Cybersecurity Expert

By Sam Jones | Cyber Tec Security Not too long ago things were looking bleak for the world, still under the dark cloud of the COVID pandemic, but with vaccine rollouts now taking place worldwide, there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s important to remember, however, as we slowly transition back into some semblance of normality, that there will be new challenges to face in all facets of life, and the Cyber Security sector is no exception. The Rise in Cyber Threat While the COVID pandemic loomed, the world was simultaneously dealing with a slightly different type of pandemic - a cyber one. The number of cyber attacks on businesses rose dramatically over the course of the last year, with estimated increases as high as 90% . Organisations were forced to quickly adapt and move operations out of the office and into home environments, often bypassing best practices for a secure migration. Hackers took advantage of this confusion and chaos and focused on exploiting the vuln...

Article by  Beau Peters For better or worse, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we work and our corresponding cybersecurity needs. Now, millions of us across the world are adapting to remote work. And this requires securing our networks for the new normal of IT infrastructures. Surprisingly, a large portion of cyberattacks can be best prevented by reducing the risks to a remote workforce created by human error. Lack of employee knowledge, distraction, and neglect all can leave remote networks vulnerable. While there is no way to guarantee against data breaches, securing the human element can help mitigate security threats and improve the integrity of your remote work systems. This article will explore not only the cost of human error but the practices you can employ to prevent it. The Cybersecurity Cost of Human Error While many security executives agree that ransomware poses the greatest threat to security infrastructure, a majority believes that human error is the greatest r...

Protecting lone workers is an issue that businesses may not have come across previously, especially those based in busy city centre office blocks pre-coronavirus. Yet with many thriving business districts deserted through a lockdown and not everyone able to work from home, it’s an issue more management teams are having to consider.    Firms could be inadvertently putting employees at risk of security, mental health/wellbeing and medical risk Here, Jonathan Fell of digital security provider Digital ID , outlines some of the ways to protect members of staff who find themselves lone working during lockdown number two. “Most businesses have got to grips with the challenges around managing teams remotely, but what about the needs of those employees who can’t or won’t work from home. In the following Government guidelines, firms could be inadvertently putting employees who need to stay office-based at risk in other areas – security, mental health/wellbeing and medical suitability be...

The COVID-19 pandemic has put into motion a scale of remote working never before seen. Our teams are no longer just grouped in different office locations – but working individually from kitchen tables, spare rooms and, for the lucky ones, home offices! It’s therefore inevitable that this level of remote working will reveal security pitfalls for remediation, with improvements that can be carried forward when this period is over. Attackers are taking advantage of heightened anxiety and homeworking Tony Pepper, CEO at Egress , provides his insight below, as well as his six tips to improve data security while working from home. Phishing It’s sad, but it’s no surprise that phishing attacks have increased due to COVID-19– and businesses need to be prepared. Attackers are taking advantage of an environment of heightened anxiety and disrupted work settings to trick people into making mistakes, and they’re unlikely to stop until at least the main wave of the pandemic has passed. Resear...

Guest Post by Susan Doktor Staying at home, something we’ve all been doing a lot more of, can be relaxing. But as our attention has been focused elsewhere, particularly on our health and the economic crisis brought on by the global pandemic, some of us may have also relaxed our safety standards. We are witnessing a serious spike in cybercrime since the coronavirus took the world hostage. Even those institutions that are working diligently to vanquish the virus have not been immune to attack. And that means we have to be more diligent about our privacy and cyber safety. As mentioned in a recent post , the technology we’re relying on to stay connected while adhering to social distancing guidelines may be contributing to our vulnerability. But whether you’re chatting on a video conferencing app or charging airline tickets to your travel credit card , there are built-in security weaknesses inherent to our online lives. I’m talking about passwords. They’re necessary, of course. And they...

LogMeOnce , a password identity management suite provider, has published a detailed interview with myself titled ' Passwords are and have always been an Achilles Heel in CyberSecurity '. In the Q&A I talk about Passwords Security (obviously), Threat Actors, IoT Security, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Anti-Virus, Biometrics, AI, Privacy, and a bit on how I got into a career in Cybersecurity. Quotes “I’m afraid people will remain the weakest link in security, and the vast majority of cybercriminals go after this lowest hanging fruit. It’s the least effort for the most reward.” "There is no silver bullet with password security, but MFA comes close, it significantly reduces the risk of account compromise" "The built-in biometric authentication capabilities of smartphones are a significant advancement for security" "Cybercriminals go after this lowest hanging fruit, the least effort for the most reward." "As technology becomes more sec...

The Coronavirus pandemic has shocked the world in recent months, with many countries being forced to go into lockdown or encourage its nationals to self-isolate as much as possible. Many are trying to work out how to juggle working from home, caring for their children, managing their finances and looking after their health! But sadly, there’s one more thing you need to add to that list - staying safe online and watching out for scammers.  That’s because cybercriminals have decided to take advantage of the global fear, confusion and uncertainty around the world. Plus, vast numbers of people are now working from home and this usually means they are doing so with less cybersecurity measures in place than they would have in their office.  Malicious messages examples seen email and social media messages impersonating medical expert bodies including the NHS, World Health Organization (WHO), and Centre for Disease and Control (CDC), requesting a donation to research a vaccine. ...

As Brits plan to go to extreme lengths to grab a bargain this Black Friday but are leaving themselves exposed to cyber-criminals? Brits are gearing up to grab a bargain this Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with 17% already considering pulling a sickie. Over half of UK online shoppers will use a mobile device to shop for deals, but more than one in five (21%) will shop on unsecured smartphones or using open wifi networks (19%). F-Secure is warning people to install security software on any devices they’re shopping online with as last year the average count of spam increased by 45% during Cyber Monday. Brits are one and a half times more likely to be affected by financial fraud than people in other countries with 26% of people reporting they or someone in their family has been affected by credit card fraud, compared to an average 17% in other countries. New research highlights the lengths Brits will go to grab a bargain online, even though they may be leaving themselves vulnerable t...

Ten years ago today I published my first ever blog post about a BBC news story titled " Home Network Security Scrutinised ". A decade ago it was rare to see an IT security or hacking story make the news media, and back then the term 'Cyber Security' would conjure images of Dr.Who's metallically clad arch-villains in most people's minds in the UK. The Face of Cyber Security in 2007 Fast forward ten years, IT security has long been rebadged as 'Cyber Security' and on Friday the top ten news stories  on Sky News were all Cyber Security related, albeit about the same global attack , but how times have changed. 'I found the following article on the BBC news website, which happens to be exactly what I had been talking about in my presentations this week. None of the findings is surprising to me, but I find many people I talk with are in the dark about digital security. Anyway, I thought I'd write this post about it and start my own blog...

I have just finished reading the book "Hacked Again" by US CyberSecurity Expert Scott Schober. Along with covering and explaining several recent major hacks, the book provides excellent advice and tips for staying safe from cyber crime.  What I found particularly interesting was Scott's own account on how he was hacked. As CEO of his own successful Wireless Security company and a popular Cyber Security TV pundit, I imagine Scott's natural instinct would be to not disclose his "been hacked" experience with the world. Scott disregards any potential embarrassment to himself and chooses to explain what exactly happened to him and why, passing on valuable lessons learnt to help others, a brave and noble undertaking I applaud. What "Hacked Again" is, is a potent reminder that no one is ever safe from the clutches of persistent cyber criminals. But this doesn't mean we should give up trying to be secure, on the contrary, as following the practica...

Given I am regularly asked to explain cyber attacks and then advise on how to protect against them, particularly to home users of late, I thought I would try my hand at creating a simple InfoGraphic to help. It was a challenge to create due to the limitation to the amount of space for text, which means you can't cover everything and you can't go into much detail. However concise messaging is kind of the point of infographics, especially when using them as awareness tools.  This InfoGraphic is squarely aimed at the average "home user", it highlights what the bad guys are after, their most popular and most successful attack methods, and then provides 10 tips to help avoid and detect home user cyber attacks, simples. If this InfoGraphic proves popular I'll create some more, starting with one covering home IoT Security advice, another subject I'm regularly asked about at the moment. Download full version here

A lot of TalkTalk customers have been contact with me today asking for my advice following TalkTalk's announcement of yet another major data breach . The TalkTalk press release states "there is a chance that some of the following data may have been accessed: Names Addresses Date of birth Phone numbers Email addresses TalkTalk account information Credit card details and/or bank details" And given TalkTalk are unable to confirm whether any of this data was encrypted when assessed, if you are a TalkTalk customer you should take this statement seriously and assume your personal information, bank account and/or credit card details you held with TalkTalk are now in the hands of cyber criminals and fraudsters. What to Do In summary all TalkTalk customers must be extra vigilant in checking their bank and credit card accounts for fraudulent transactions, and for attempts of fraud by covert cyber criminals using their personal information against them. Statement Che...

HeartBleed has suddenly become a very well known security  vulnerability, because this simple vulnerability in OpenSSL has turned out to be  one of the most critical and potentially devastating of all time, with over half million trusted websites said to be vulnerable . Over the last couple of days various security advocates and vendors have been lined up by  the media , with ominous warnings of grave danger online due to Heartbleed. Heartbleed is a Catastrophic Bug in OpenSSL - Bruce Schneier However I have generally found main stream media have focused far too much on trying to sensationalise instead of explaining the vulnerability properly, and not explaining how organisations should resolve the problem, and how users can protect themselves. It is fair to say the media coverage has led to much confusion on Heartbleed, with both organisations and users alike, which I’ll attempt to dispel. Heartbleed made Simple Heartbleed, also ...

The relentless stream of data breaches by big business continues, with the likes of Vodafone ,  Tesco , Sony , Adobe and Yahoo , all losing their customer's personal data on mass due to their inadequate security. How do you know if your username, email address and password have fallen into the hands of a cyber criminal due to these breaches? There is one website that seeks to provide some assurance to that question,   https://haveibeenpwned.com  appears to be have acquired the stolen data from the Internet's criminal underworld and allows anyone to freely search it for their own username and email, the website returns a response which states if the account is known to have been compromised or not, namely listed within the stolen database. The website says it has over 161 million stolen accounts that are searched, all this data has been compiled from several of the high profile data thefts. Although the hacked businesses are responsib...