Cybersecurity Expert

A roundup of UK focused Cyber and Information Security News, Blog Posts, Reports and general Threat Intelligence from the previous calendar month, August 2020. Taking security training courses and passing certification exams are common ingredients in the makeup of the vast majority of accomplished cybersecurity and information security professionals. As such, two security incidents last month raised more than just a surprising eyebrow or two within the UK security industry.  The first involved the renown and well respected United States security training company, The SANS Institue , announcing that a successful email phishing attack against one of its employees resulted in 28,000 personal records being stolen .  SANS classified this compromise as "consent phishing", namely where an employee is tricked into providing malicious Microsoft Office 365 OAuth applications access to their O365 accounts. In June 2020,  Microsoft warned 'consent phishing' scams were targetin...

A roundup of UK focused Cyber and Information Security News, Blog Posts, Reports and general Threat Intelligence from the previous calendar month, April 2020. As well reported, UK foreign exchange firm Travelex business operations were brought to a standstill after its IT systems were severely hit by the Sodinokibi ransomware at the start of the year. It was reported that  REvil group were behind the attack and had stolen 5Gbs of customer personal data, and then demanded $6 million (£4.6m) in ransom. The Wall Street Journal reported in April 2020 that Travelex had reached a deal, paying $2.3 million (£1.84m) in Bitcoin  to the cybercriminals. This sort of response incentivises future ransomware activity against all other businesses and could lead to an inflation of future cyber-extortion demands in my opinion. Cognizant, a US large digital solutions provider and IT consultancy, was reportedly  hit by the Maze ransomware .  Maze, previously known as the 'ChaCha...

Cyber attacks are inevitable, regardless of the size of a business or the sector it operates in. Cyber criminals will try their luck with any business connected to the internet. But as Andy Pearch, Head of IA Services, CORVID explains, there are steps that businesses can take to keep them as safe as possible from danger. As we stand in the last quarter of 2019, it's time for businesses to address 10 common security mistakes. 1. Assuming a Cyberattack won’t happen Any business could be attacked. It’s important for businesses to prepare their IT estate for compromise, so in the event of an attack, they’re able to limit the damage that can be done to their operations, finances and reputation. There’s an assumption that cybersecurity is a problem to be dealt with by the IT department but in reality, every user is responsible. The more aware users are of the risks, the more resilient a business can become. 2. Poor Password Management Passwords aren’t going away any time soon, but ther...