With the significant and regular exposure Anonymous is getting, it is easy to make the mistake of assuming that most cyber attacks are motivated by ideology (including hacktivism and cyber espionage).
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Webcams in the workplace have become so ubiquitous that we don’t really pay attention to them anymore, just like we don’t pay attention to computer keyboards and monitors. Yet webcams can, and have, become a serious threat to privacy, confidentiality and intellectual property. They can be hijacked by hackers, criminals and cyber creeps, and they can be used to commit a variety of offenses, from invasion of privacy to blackmail, theft and industrial espionage. A nanny in Texas recently discovered that the baby monitor she’d used was actually under the control of a cyber Peeping Tom.
There are a great many pundits at work purporting to analyze the significance of the hack on The US Central Command (CENTCOM)’s Twitter account. This was not a highly orchestrated and technical attack, but an attack directed at a consumer social network. The real message is not that ISIS has a great cyber force, but that the consumerisation of the workplace can lead to serious unwanted consequences.
A series of cyber attacks attributed to the Hermit Kingdom also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korean (DPRK) and more commonly called North Korea, has caused Sony Pictures to cancel the release of their new ‘comedy’ “The Interview”. The film is based on a fictional scenario wherein the CIA recruits an American TV personality to kill the ruler of North Korea.
What does all this mean to you?
Criminals, including those in the cyber realm, also come in many stripes. Some are motivated by greed, while others, such as terrorists, are driven by beliefs and ideologies. Aviation is a prime target for both types of criminals and involves threats from both as well as potential threats from nation states in time of war.
Lawrence Dietz, TAL Global’s General Counsel and Managing Director, Information Security, provides here an insightful introduction to the unique and challenging nature of cyber security in the aviation sector.
The FBI and DHS published recently a warning that “disgruntled and former employees pose a significant cyber threat to US businesses due to their authorized access to sensitive information and the networks businesses rely on”.
Amazingly enough, a recent cyber-attack on Norwegian oil and energy companies attracted little attention outside Norway, even though the attack was the largest ever on Norwegian interests. Fifty companies were hacked, and the government’s National Security Authority Norway (NSM) has warned 250 additional companies that they may be targets of continuing cyber-attacks.
As companies increasingly rely on information systems to manage and control every aspect of the organization’s life, and as threats to the integrity and functionality of these very same information systems grow and become more complex, the responsibility for the very survival of many organizations ends up resting on the shoulders of their Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).
US Attorney General Eric Holder has ratcheted up the US government’s efforts to reign in what it believes is rampant cyber criminal behavior by members of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) against US Corporations.
Lawrence D. Dietz, Esq., TAL Global’s General Counsel and Managing Director of Information Security explains what this means to you and how to deal with the consequences.
Lawrence D. Dietz, TAL Global’s General Counsel and Managing Director, Information Security, shares his surprising experience at the recent RSA Conference.
