Cybersecurity Expert

The privacy enthusiasts at   The Best VPN have put together crystal clear guidance on protecting your privacy online in one fabulous infographic.

The New Year has started with a big security bang after new dangerous security vulnerabilities were discovered within Intel, AMD and ARM processors, placing just about every Server, PC, Cloud Service, IoT device, Smartphone and Tablet on the planet at risk.  Google Security Researchers, aka Project Zero, discovered the new computer processor flaws, which they have named ' Meltdown' and ' Spectre ' when  breaking the bad news on 3rd January 2018. Both Meltdown and Spectre allo w an attacker or malware to access privileged information from within what should be a protected area of ( kernel ) memory. Meaning the potential disclosure of passwords, encryption keys, and confidential data from within virtual environments i.e. where multiple virtual machines are hosted on a single hardware platform. Meltdown The Meltdown vulnerability is present on all Intel processors manufactured after 1995 and is the easiest of the two flaws to exploit. This vulnerability exploitati...

UK supermarket giant  Morrisons, lost a landmark data breach court case  in December after a disgruntled Morrisons employee had stolen and posted the personal records of 100,000 co-workers online, the supermarket chain was held liable for the data breach by the UK High Court. The High Court ruling now allows those affected to claim compensation for the "upset and distress" caused. Morrisons said it believed it should not have been held responsible and would be appealing against the decision. If the appeal is lost it could open up the possibility of further class action lawsuits cases by individuals. Pending the GDPR becoming law in May 2018, such a court ruling sets a legal precedent for individuals to claim damages after personal data losses by companies through the courts as well. After May 2018, the GDPR grants individuals the right sue companies for damages following personal data breaches. So we can expect 'ambulance chasers' lawyers to pick up on this aspect of...

Following the updated release of OWASP Top Ten (2017) , I have updated my IBM developerWorks article " Scan your app to find and fix OWASP Top 10 - 2017 vulnerabilities ", which was released  on the  IBM Developer Works website  today

One of the most notable data breaches disclosed this month was by Uber, given the company attempted to cover up the breach by paying off hackers. Over a year ago the transport tech firm was said to have paid £75,000 to two hackers to delete 57 million Uber account records which they had stolen . Uber revealed around 2.7 million of the stolen records were British riders and drivers . As a UK Uber rider, this could mean me, I haven't received any notification of the data breach from Uber as yet.  The stolen information included names, email addresses, and phone numbers. Uber can expect enforcement action from regulators on both sides of the pond, the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said it had " huge concerns " about the breach and was investigating. Jewson , Cash Converters , and Imgur all reported losing data due to hacks this month, while Equifax has reported suffering significant negative financial losses following their high profile hack of persona...

State-orchestrated cyber attacks have dominated the media headlines in October, with rogue state North Korea and its alleged 6,800 strong cyber force blamed for several cyber attacks. International intelligence scholars believe the North Korean leadership are using cyber warfare to up the political ante with their ongoing dispute with the United States. The North Koreans, as well as terrible security practices, were directly blamed by the UK National Audit Office for the recent  NHS WannaCry attack  ( despite North Korea denying it ). North Korea was also reported to be implicated in the  stealing US War Plans from South Korea , and for a spear phishing campaign against the US Power Grid . The possible Russian manipulation of the US election with cyber attacks and rogue social media campaigns is still a story not going away, while the Chinese are alleged to be behind the data theft of  Australian F-35 fighter jet, in what is described as an 'extensive' Cyberattack ....

I received an infographic by  cybersecurityjobs.net  on the top ten tips on landing a cyber security job, I  thought it provided excellent advice for budding cyber security professionals looking to gain a foothold.  There is a considerable shortage of experienced cyber security professionals in the UK, but starting out in cyber security is a 'chicken and egg' scenario, in that it can be difficult to land a cyber security job without having the experience, but you can't get the necessary experience without being in a dedicated cyber security role.  If you are struggling to get into the industry I recommend initially specialising in a specific area of security, undertake training and gain qualifications. Be patient, expand upon your areas of knowledge and experience, working your way up in different roles to your dream cyber security job. Dream big, but think small.