The game has changed. Are you ready for the fight?
Serious conversations on cyber security are happening in board rooms across the world with many corporate leaders believing they have a strategy in place for dealing with an attack. Yet, conflictingly, further down the chain of command, those at the operational level are not so sure they have enough resources to be secure. How can we forget the last big systems breach when a large American corporation became the target of a foreign government - how humiliating!!
John Stewart, Cisco Chief Security and Trust Officer explains on Bloomberg how the modality of attacks has changed, increasing by a whopping 250% from last year. There is now a greater emphasis on targeting the user. Previously it was a volume play from one site. Some attacks failed but if one was successful, the hackers considered themselves effective. However, now we have two or three attacks from hundreds of different domains. A dramatic change in strategy by the hackers.
What has really helped those trying to exploit weaknesses in our computer systems and networks is that formerly we had a separation between personal and business devices. However, now with BYOD, the lines have morphed and CIO’s are more concerned about malware from private devices getting access to business networks.
Here at CompTIA, we are striving to make cyberspace a safer and more productive place. Security concerns associated with cloud computing and BYOD are covered in our Security+ exam. While more advanced IT security topics are included in CASP (CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner). IT education and certification are critical in the ongoing battle against the hackers.
Copyright 2015 John McGlinchey. All Rights Reserved.
We are kidnapping your phone and holding it for ransom!!!
Before you dismiss this as a line from a Bond or Sci-fi movie, it’s actually happening here in real life.
Kelvin Mahaffey, CTO, at mobile security company Lookout discussed the threat to mobile phone users on Bloomberg. He emphasized the danger that arises from downloading “bad apps” from untrusted sources.
These apps take control of your phone and all the data you store on there. Even worse, it can take your phone hostage, figuratively kidnap your phone and hold it for ransom. Lookout are serving sixty million android users across the world and 7% of their users in the US have some sort of malware on their phones. The kidnappers then charge you $700 to release your phone .
Keeping your property safe often comes down to common sense, and your smartphone is no different than your PC or home. Taking basic precautions will go a long way toward saving you time and money.
Some simple, and effective advice: use a pin or password and never download apps from untrusted sources.
Copyright 2015 John McGlinchey. All Rights Reserved.