The Old Title Holders Way back in June 2015 a breach of the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was being described as “among the largest breaches of government data in the history of the US”. At the time it was estimated that records of around 18 million people had been targeted, although that estimate […]
Records and Government Databases Read More »
How big do you think the gap is between a typical CISO and their CEO? Is that gap shrinking (as cyber security becomes more of an accepted and everyday business concept), or is it growing wider as scaremongers rush with overly-technical business cases and presentations that alienate board members? Last month I met a Chief Information Security Officer
What image do you think of when you think of cyber criminals? Do you picture the usual ‘stock image’ of a hooded figure, alone and surrounded by code, with his face hidden from view? Or how about an image like the one used above? The hooded-hacker image shows the stereotypical cyber criminal, operating alone and probably how the general
Big Implications of Small Data Breaches Not the most obvious of targets The NCT (or National Childbirth Trust) is a UK charity which provides support and networking for new parents through pregnancy, birth and into early parenthood. They state that they are “the UK’s largest charity for parents,” however in general, since membership carries a
Data Breach on the NCT Read More »
Prime Target The British defence network is reportedly the “single largest computer network in Europe” and, to those with malicious intent, it is no doubt a veritable treasure trove of sensitive military secrets and valuable intellectual property. Little wonder, then, that the MoD is considered one of the most targeted organisations in the world, and
The Cost of Defending Defence Read More »
In fact, ‘Business’ is positively booming (for the tech savvy bank robber) Before we begin, a relatively short time on Google provides a rough sense of scale to work with: (Disclaimer: I spent far longer than I should have on these figures and had to move on, so I am entirely open to correction) The
The Bank Heist is Alive and Well in the Digital Age Read More »
What is a Near Miss? In a non-cyber security context: Every single day countless accidents nearly happen, but often we don’t spare them a second thought. Because, simply put, they didn’t happen. Some of those almost-accidents are minor things – one of my kids carelessly knocks a glass of red wine in a pale carpeted
The Near Miss Mentality – No harm, no foul? Read More »
Cyber Security – It’s something of a Hot Topic Month after month, year after year, recently it seems that the state of global cyber security is always, consistently, making headlines. Everybody is talking about it. Well, almost everybody. Last week George Osborne, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, delivered his 2016 Budget and, somehow, he
A Bizarre Vacuum in the 2016 UK Budget Read More »
It’s time for your SQL Injection, now hold still you’re going to feel a sharp scratch… If your business has a website, and I suspect it does, then the chances are that, behind-the-scenes, it uses a programming language called Structured Query Language (SQL) to manipulate and retrieve data stored in databases. Now when I say
Secure your site against SQL Injection! Read More »
