Cybersecurity Expert

Article by  Beau Peters As a freelancer in any industry, you are likely more susceptible to hackers and cybercrime than many other professions. Not only are you pulling in a constant stream of customer data, but as a worker on the go, you likely work exclusively in the digital realm with all of your information in the online space. That means that you are basically presenting data on a silver platter for cybercriminals to find and use for malicious purposes. If you take your business seriously, then cybersecurity needs to be your top priority , not only for your clients but also for the stability of your own enterprise. Luckily, you can stay out of the way of cybercriminals by implementing a few basic security features along with an understanding of common threats. We’ll explain both solutions below. Protect Client Data It is important to remember that just about any piece of client data can be used by cybercriminals to cause havoc. Credit card and social security numbers are espec...

A roundup of UK focused Cyber and Information Security News, Blog Posts, Reports and general Threat Intelligence from the previous calendar month, December 2020. A suspected nation-state sophisticated cyber-attack of SolarWinds which led to the distribution of a tainted version the SolarWinds Orion network monitoring tool, compromising their customers, dominated the cyber headlines in mid-December 2020.  This was not only one of the most significant cyberattacks of 2020 but perhaps of all time. The United States news media reported the Pentagon, US intelligence agencies, nuclear labs, the Commerce, Justice, Treasury and Homeland Security departments, and several utilities were all compromised by the attack. For the full details of the SolarWinds cyber-attack see my article  Sunburst: SolarWinds Orion Compromise Overview Two other cyberattacks are possibly linked to the SolarWinds hack was also reported, the cyber-theft of sophisticated hacking tools from  cybersecurity fi...

Article by Beau Peters The movie industry is infamous for its loose depictions of hacking and cybersecurity. Hollywood often gets a lot wrong about hacking and digital protections, but what does it get right? The power of film in influencing the future of technology and the experts that create it is immense. Because of this, it is important to assess what the facts are versus movie fiction.  Here, we’ll explore the film industry’s portrayal of cybersecurity. Cybersecurity in Movies From WarGames to Blackhat, hacking and cybersecurity movies have glamorized the world of digital safety and the compromising of said safety. However, each Hollywood outing does so with varying levels of realism, typically embracing excitement over reality.  In the 1983 WarGames movie, a young hacker almost triggers World War 3 These portrayals have led to common tropes and views of the cybersecurity industry in their attempts to prevent and combat hacking attempts. Among these tropes are some of th...

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. ...

A roundup of UK focused cyber and information security news stories, blog posts, reports and threat intelligence from the previous calendar month, January 2020. After years of dither and delay the UK government finally nailed its colours to the mast, no not Brexit but Huawei, permitting 'limited use' of the Chinese Telecoms giant's network appliances within the UK's new 5G infrastructure . Whether this is a good decision depends more on individual political persuasion than national security interest, so just like Brexit the general view on the decision is binary, either its a clever compromise or a complete sell out of UK national security. I personally believe the decision is more about national economics than national security, as I previously blogged in ' The UK Government Huawei Dilemma and the Brexit Factor' . The UK government is playing a delicate balancing to safeguard potentially massive trade deals with both of the world's largest economic superp...

Cyber threats are always a prominent risk to businesses, especially those operating with high quantities of customer information in the retail space, with over 50% of global retailers were breached last year.  BitSight VP, Jake Olcott, has written guidance for retailers, on how to manage their supply-chain cyber risk to help prevent the 'Cyber Grinch' from not just stealing Christmas, but throughout the year, with four simple steps. Cyber risk in retail is not a new concept. Retail is one of the most targeted industries when it comes to cyber-attacks. In fact, over 50% of global retailers were breached in the last year. Given the sensitive customer data these organizations often possess — like credit card information and personally identifiable information (PII) – it’s not surprising that attackers have been capitalizing on the industry for decades. The Christmas shopping season can increase retailers’ cyber risk, with bad actors looking to take advantage of the ...

Its December and the Christmas lights are going up, so it can't be too early for cyber predictions for 2020.   With this in mind,  Richard Starnes, Chief Security Strategist at Capgemini , sets out what the priorities will be for businesses in 2020 and beyond. Richard Starnes, Chief Security Strategist, Capgemini Accelerated digital innovation is a double-edged sword that will continue to hang over the cybersecurity threat landscape in 2020.  As businesses rapidly chase digital transformation and pursue the latest advancements in 5G, cloud and IoT, they do so at the risk of exposing more of their operations to cyber-attacks. These technologies have caused an explosion in the number of end-user devices, user interfaces, networks and data; the sheer scale of which is a headache for any cybersecurity professional.  In order to aggressively turn the tide next year, cyber analysts can no longer avoid AI adoption or ignore the impact of 5G.  AI ...

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...

Phishing attacks are the most common form of cyber attack. Why? The simplicity of email gives cybercriminals an easy route in, allowing them to reach users directly with no defensive barriers, to mislead, harvest credentials and spread malicious elements. All organisations think it won’t happen to them, but phishing isn’t a trap that only ensnares the gullible or those unacquainted with technology. Far from it. Gone are the days of poorly-worded, patently obvious attempts at scamming users out of their hard-earned cash. Some of today’s most sophisticated phishing attacks are almost indistinguishable from legitimate business communications – they’re well-written, thoroughly researched and establish a thread of communication with the victim before attempting to steal their credentials or bank balance. Email is the single biggest attack vector used by adversaries who employ a plethora of advanced social engineering techniques to achieve their goal. Andy Pearch, Head of IA Services at CORV...

F5 Labs’ latest Phishing and Fraud Report  reveals that phishing continues to be one of the most prevalent ways cybercriminals are breaching data and making money in 2019. Over the years, phishing has grabbed the top spot of every report on breach causes, and this trend isn’t likely to go away anytime soon. The main reason is for cybercriminals it’s easy to execute and it’s incredibly effective: there are no firewalls to bypass or finding a zero-day exploit, or encryption to decipher. The hardest part, especially with the rise in employee training, is coming up with a good trick email pitch to get people to click on. The F5 Labs Report highlights: Phishing was responsible for 21% of breaches in there’s a 50% increase in these attacks during the holiday season (October through January) when online shopping is at its most popular The top faked websites used by cybercriminals in 2019 were, in order: Facebook, Autodiscover, Apple, Chase, Office, WhatsApp, Paypal, Amazon, Microsoft, N...