Cybersecurity Expert

Written by Katie Barnett, Director of Cyber Security, and Gavin Wilson, Director of Physical Security and Risk, at  Toro Solutions After spending years working with organisations on security, one thing becomes hard to ignore. When something serious happens, the root causes are sadly rarely surprising and there is often a sense of inevitability to them. Access that was never quite tidied up, controls that were written down but not really enforced, multi factor authentication that was recommended but not mandatory or decisions that made sense in the moment and were never revisited. Last year’s headlines about the Louvre brought this into focus. The Louvre Museum, the world’s most visited cultural landmark, faced heavy criticism after investigators revealed that its internal video surveillance system was protected by the password “Louvre.” This came after a daylight heist in which thieves stole French Crown Jewels valued at over $100 million. The striking thing was not how bold the th...

Article by Dennis Okpara, Chief Security Architect & DPO at IDEE GmbH Yes, there is hope for 2021, but the challenges of the “New Normal” are here to stay. CISOs have to prepare and start acting now, because cybersecurity and the IT-infrastructure will have to face threats that have only just started. The year 2020 was the year working from home lost its oddity status and became normality. Big names like Google and Twitter are planning long-term and hold out the prospect of working from home on a permanent basis. More than 60 percent of companies are trying the same and have implemented home office policies in 2020. But with great flexibility comes great responsibility: Everyone responsible for Cybersecurity and a secure IT infrastructure is now dealing with new challenges closing the last gaps and weak points when it comes to allowing access to company resources. Dennis Okpara, Chief Security Architect & DPO at IDEE GmbH, the specialist for secure identity access managemen...

Guest Post by Jennifer Bell Learn How Hackers Steal and Exploit Information to Ensure This Doesn’t Happen to You  Cybersecurity is an important topic to know and understand in order to keep your information safe and secure. Even more specifically, it’s important to know and understand mobile security as well. Mobile security, especially with iPhones, is crucial as hackers are becoming smarter and more creative when it comes to iCloud hacks. Apple has partnered with network hardware and insurance companies such as Cisco and Aon to provide security against data breaches; but how can you ensure that even with these Apple partnerships that your iPhone is secure and protected against hackers? Here are the most common ways that hackers get into iPhones to steal or exploit personal information, keep these points in mind to best protect yourself from mobile security hacks. Poor Passwords Often, poor password choices or poor password management allows hackers to easily hack into iPhones ...

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...

We use mobile apps every day from a number of different developers, but do we ever stop to think about how much thought and effort went into the security of these apps? It is believed that 1 out of every 36 mobile devices has been compromised by a mobile app security breach. And with more than 5 billion mobile devices globally, you do the math. The news that a consumer-facing application or business has experienced a security breach is a story that breaks far too often. As of late, video conferencing apps like Zoom and Houseparty have been the centre of attention in the news cycle. As apps continue to integrate into the everyday life of our users, we cannot wait for a breach to start considering the efficacy of our security measures. When users shop online, update their fitness training log, review a financial statement, or connect with a colleague over video, we are wielding their personal data and must do so responsibly. Let’s cover some of the ways hackers access sensitive informa...

A roundup of UK focused cyber and information security news stories, blog posts, reports and threat intelligence from the previous calendar month, December 2019. Happy New Year!  The final month of the decade was a pretty quiet one as major security news and data breaches go, given cybers attack have become the norm in the past decade. The biggest UK media security story was saved for the very end of 2019, with the freshly elected UK government apologising after it had accidentally published online the addresses of the 1,097 New Year Honour recipients.  Among the addresses posted were those of Sir Elton John, cricketer and BBC 'Sports Personality of the Year' Ben Stokes, former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, 'Great British Bakeoff Winner' Nadiya Hussain, and former Ofcom boss Sharon White.  The Cabinet Office said it was " looking into how this happened ", probably come down to a 'user error' in my view. An investigation by The Tim...