The Washington legislature has passed a bill that effectively expands the state's consumer data breach notification requirements. The Washington State Capitol (Source: Wikipedia) Previously, Washington-based organizations needed to notify consumers of a data breach only in the event that the security...

PCI DSS, or the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, is the set of requirements for organizations who process card payments. Sounds simple enough, right? But PCI compliance can pose a major challenge to organizations if they’re not equipped with the proper knowledge and tools. Let’s take a quick look at the basics of PCI compliance, what...

American online retailer Bodybuilding.com suffered a security incident that might have exposed customers' personal information. In February 2019, Bodybuilding.com learned of an instance where unknown actors gained unauthorized access to its systems. The fitness platform responded by retaining a data...

Last week, I had fun talking about the old-fashioned internet and defensive security with Liz Bell. This time, I spoke to bug bounty specialist Sophia Sanles-Luksetich. Did you know that Ubuntu was her first OS? Kim Crawley: Please tell me a bit about yourself and what you do. Sophia Sanles-Luksetich: I am a rookie information security consultant. I...

On the aftermath of the Mati wildfires in Greece that killed 100 people, the Greek Fire Department spokesperson made an announcement on June 2018, stating "Any manned and unmanned aircraft systems flights in an area of operations is a serious infringement and creates safety risks for flights. Any breach entails criminal and administrative liability....

"123456" remains the most common password which digital criminals abuse to steal unsuspecting users' sensitive information. On 21 April, the United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) partnered with security researcher Troy Hunt to publish the top 100,000 passwords from Hunt's Pwned Password service. Here are the top 20 passwords from...

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force in May 2018, and by the letter of the law, virtually every business in the UK needs to comply with it. However, there are still some misconceptions surrounding the law and what it means to organisations. This can lead to difficult situations where mistakes can be made. Here are six myths...

Local and national weather forecast provider The Weather Channel suffered a ransomware attack that temporarily prevented it from going live on the air. Regular viewers got a surprise when they tuned into The Weather Channel on the morning of 18 April. They were expecting to watch "AMHQ," the network's live morning show which begins at 06:00 EST....

It's not as though 27-year-old Vishwanath Akuthota made it hard for authorities to prove that he was the person who destroyed $58,000 worth of college equipment in February this year. On Valentine's Day, February 14th 2019, Akuthota walked around the campus of the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York. He had graduated from the college in 2017...

Bad actors used a ransomware attack to target the Israeli offices of the customer engagement and digital intelligence company Verint. On 17 April, ZDNet received a screenshot taken by an employee who works at one of Verint's Israeli offices. The screenshot shows what appears to be a warning message which the data intelligence firm displayed on...

A person recently asked me if it was possible to implement ISO 27001 using a specific project management software product. They used the tool in the past to define project plans and make project reviews. While I told them this is entirely possible, the truth is one can implement ISO 27001 even without a project plan or any specific tools. But should...

Navicent Health, a part of Central Georgia Health System, has disclosed that it suffered a data breach as the result of a digital attack. The second-largest hospital in Georgia and the only regional Level I Trauma Center, Navicent Health explains in a data breach notice that it learned of a digital...

In 2013, 2014 and 2016, Yahoo suffered a series of data breaches. Yahoo reports that the largest one, in August 2013, affected all three billion user accounts then in existence worldwide. The stolen user account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, passwords encrypted with the MD5 cryptographic...

The importance of a mature vulnerability management program can’t be overstated. File integrity monitoring (FIM) and security configuration management (SCM) might be the bedrock of a strong cybersecurity program, but they can only go so far. Scanning for vulnerabilities needs to be a foundational part of your program, too. The Center for Internet...

I’ve got great news for you! My interview series continues. Last week, I spoke with Nicola Whiting, cyber hygiene specialist and Titania Chief Strategy Officer. This time, I had the privilege of speaking with defensive security expert Liz Bell. We talked about the 90s internet, blue teaming, sexism and transphobia in tech as well as what pen testing...

Large organizations have always focused on managing risk, but the technological breakthroughs that have enhanced our world in countless ways have also transformed how leading executives engage in enterprise risk management (ERM). The pervasive and ever-expanding threat of cyber crime means that comprehensive strategies for cyber security are now...

The annual Scalar Security Study, published in February 2019 and conducted by IDC Canada, identified a new normal across the threat landscape: cybersecurity incidents, be it exfiltration, infiltration or denial of service, occur on a regular basis. Focused on small, midsize and large organizations in Canada, the study confirms that intrusions are...

A British man has been jailed for over six years after exploiting ad networks on pornographic websites to spread malware onto innocent users' computers. 24-year-old Zain Qaiser made massive profits from victims in over 20 countries around the world through a criminal scheme which involved malware and blackmail. According to the National Crime Agency...

The MuddyWater threat attack group is using a spam campaign to hijack victims' computers and steal sensitive information. Discovered by Heimdal Security in early April, the campaign begins when malicious actors use social engineering techniques to trick a user into opening a malicious Microsoft Office document attached to a phishing email. The...

As technology advances and the costs of connecting electronic components to the internet decreases, the lower the cost of having an internet connected smart home is. Sensors placed throughout a house and integrated into home appliances can provide homeowners the advantages of monitoring and managing functions of the home remotely. According to...