By: Chris Merritt - Dir. Solutions Marketing
Changeup Information Sharing
May 6th, 2013
We were talking with the CIO of a major healthcare company the other day who told us that his day had gone sideways because of the re-emergence of the ChangeUp worm / Trojan. This was news to me. I mean, yes, I’m a little behind in my reading, but I’d not heard much about ChangeUp [...]
CISPA, FISMA Passed the House. Now What?
April 24th, 2013
CISPA, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, passed the US House of Representatives late last week and will move to the Senate for further debate. If this rings a bell, it should. Last summer, CISPA passed the House before stalling in the face of a Senate filibuster. Of course, it was not the only [...]
What Businesses Need to Know About Cyber Security
April 3rd, 2013
What laws are in place for cyber security and are they enough? Are the Chinese the only foreign nation hackers we need to worry about? Who are the real perpetrators? How big of a problem is stolen IP for the U.S. and other countries and what is being done about it? These questions and [...]
Ransomware is Back with a Vengeance and Targeting Business
December 27th, 2012
Ransom-ware has matured since it was first seen in 1989 with the PC Cyborg Trojan. Today, it is big business for cyber criminals; and for good reason. A September article reported cyber criminals could earn between $50,000 and $60,000 a day by focusing their efforts on just a couple of countries. The severity of ransom-ware’s [...]
Tis the Season! Holiday Online Shopping Tips
November 21st, 2012
Cyber Monday is expected to set all time high sales records this year, much to the delight of online retailers – and cyber criminals – everywhere. (Arguably, the shopping starts earlier now, with Thanksgiving Day deals.) While the readers of Optimal Security may be very well aware of steps to minimize risk, a few reminders [...]
APTs and Acquisition
November 6th, 2012
You’d have to be living under a rock to not have heard about the recent rise in targeted attacks. From oil operators in the Middle East to financial institutions in the U.S., advanced persistent threats, APTs, have grown exponentially. Yes, they are a problem for big, global brands but should smaller organizations concern themselves with [...]
Sensational Headlines or Real Threats?
October 23rd, 2012
Yesterday, I was joined by a great group of IT security industry pros for a discussion on the recent, highly-sophisticated cyber attacks that continue to make headlines by hitting major U.S. banks and global companies like Saudi Aramco, Adobe and others. Dialing up the rhetoric on these spectacular headlines, the Pentagon jumped in last week [...]
Why Go Corporate? Choices in How to Earn The Big Bucks
May 3rd, 2012
Hacking, like most things, is cyclical. In its earliest days, it was about proving a point; breaking a system that was said to be unbreakable and awarding bragging rights to the one who could do it. What began as an ego boost then became something much different in the 90s. Once hackers figured out how [...]
Cyber Security and Hollywood: More In Common Than You May Think
January 12th, 2012
Several months ago, I discussed the decline of the U.S as an innovator as part of my Industry Evolution: Innovation vs. Spending series. While a tough pill to swallow, it was true then and it continues to be the case today – the U.S. is lagging in innovation and our title of world thought leader [...]
Calling All CEOs: Cyber Crime Hits Your Bottom Line
September 26th, 2011
Frequent readers of Optimal Security know I have very strong opinions on our nation’s need to improve cyber security at all levels. Information security professionals agree today’s threat landscape pales in comparison to what existed only a few years ago. Increasingly savvy hackers seek to disrupt business and quietly steal everything, from your financial transactions [...]
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