How RegTech Simplifies Governance, Risk, and Compliance Complying with standards such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, FISMA, and SSAE 16 SOC reporting is complex, costly, and time-consuming, especially for organizations that must comply with multiple standards. You may have heard the term “RegTech” mentioned as a solution. What is RegTech, and how can it help your… Read More
Consumers love shopping online and are abandoning malls for mobile shopping apps in droves. However, online shopping environments offer multiple opportunities for hackers to steal payment card data. Even worse, as more brick-and-mortar stores implement card chip technology to defeat skimmers and other forms of POS system fraud, thieves are gravitating toward card-not-present (CNP) ecommerce… Read More
Education Cyber Security Vulnerabilities and What Schools Can Do About Them K-12 schools, colleges, and universities are attractive targets for hackers. Their networks contain an enormous amount of identifying information on staff members, students, and students’ families, including names, birth dates, addresses, Social Security numbers, and even health records. Additionally, educational institutions are frequently connected… Read More
Back to School: Education Cyber Security K-12 school systems, colleges, and universities are being increasingly targeted by hackers, yet education cyber security is as woefully lacking as other industries, as these recent incidents illustrate: In November 2016, Columbia County School District in Georgia admitted to a breach of personal information belonging to its employees and… Read More
Be Prepared for these New and Emerging Ransomware Threats Ransomware threats are everywhere, and the problem is going to get much worse before it gets any better. According to a recent survey, about half of all businesses have experienced a ransomware attack at least once in the last 12 months, and a staggering 85% had… Read More
Internet-connected smart toys, a popular holiday gift item, have vulnerabilities that put both children and parents at risk of data breaches and identity theft. Smart toys, which connect to the internet and offer children a personalized, interactive play experience, were a very popular gift item this past holiday season. However, the interactive features of smart… Read More
“The dreams I have today become my blueprints for tomorrow.” Michael Peters
Both brick-and-mortar and ecommerce retail stores make attractive targets for hackers, especially during the holidays. The 2016 holiday shopping season is in full swing, and fortunately for retail stores, consumers are not hesitating to reach for their wallets: Cyber Monday sales hit a record of $3.39 billion, surpassing estimates, and Thanksgiving and Black Friday receipts… Read More
In a new report, UC Berkeley’s Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity offers suggestions to President Elect Trump Now that the election is over, the nation’s attention has turned to President Elect Donald Trump and what a Trump Administration will mean for cyber security. Notably, information security was the only tech-related topic Trump addressed directly on his… Read More
The recent Mirai botnet DDoS attacks were the largest on record – and they were likely masterminded by teenagers. In October, a massive DDoS attack on the Dyn DNS “Managed DNS” infrastructure brought down a number of major websites, including PayPal, Twitter, Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify. The attack was accomplished through the use of the… Read More
Cybersecurity Due Diligence Has Become a Fundamental Part of M&A Transactions Data breaches and a failure to comply with governmental and industry standards can impact a company in many ways, as Yahoo is finding out the hard way. The company’s recent disclosure of a massive data breach, which resulted in 500 million user accounts being… Read More
For Years, Yahoo Put Usability Ahead of Cybersecurity The massive Yahoo data breach, which compromised 500 million user accounts and has put its planned acquisition by Verizon at risk, happened because the company repeatedly put product user experience ahead of security, the New York Times reports: Six years ago, Yahoo’s computer systems and customer email… Read More
I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Office Pile and being interviewed by the inimitable Francisco X. Aguirre. We had a great time discussing cyber security and the little know origins of the company name Lazarus Alliance. Entrepreneurs ‘N Fuego, a project of The TOP Foundation, a non-profit organization, is the First Multimedia Broadcast… Read More
Vote hacking is a legitimate concern, and election officials need to take it seriously. Right alongside immigration, healthcare, and the minimum wage, cybersecurity has emerged as a major – and contentious – issue in this year’s presidential election. First, the Democratic National Convention’s email server was hacked, and thousands of embarrassing emails were published on… Read More
If IoT cybersecurity concerns aren’t addressed, consumers will reject self-driving cars and other smart devices Shortly after rideshare company Uber launched a pilot test of self-driving cars in Pittsburgh, competitor Lyft made the bold prediction that most of its cars would be self-driving within five years. While it can be argued that Lyft’s proclamation is… Read More
Free HIPAA Risk Awareness & Compliance Survey If you are in the healthcare business you have HIPAA compliance requirements to adhere to. Maybe you are not aware of what they or maybe you just want to gauge your organization’s readiness prior to seeking professional help? We have provided a short survey quiz that will give… Read More
A Proactive Approach Could Have Prevented the DNC Email Hack The NSA isn’t the only Washington organization being embarrassed by a data breach. The sorry state of cybersecurity in America has taken center stage in this year’s presidential election. In June, it was discovered that Russian cyber criminals had managed to hack the Democratic National… Read More
The NSA Hack Proves that Much More Needs to Be Done to Protect Enterprise Data In the hit USA Network series Mr. Robot, a rogue group of hacktivists target major corporations and the government. In a recent episode, the group enlisted the help of a malicious insider to hack the FBI. Sound far-fetched? Maybe not:… Read More
PCI DSS compliance is serious business for anyone who processes or accepts major payment cards. Retailers or payment processors who are found to be in violation of PCI DSS can be fined millions of dollars, and they may even be stripped of their ability to accept major credit cards. However, PCI DSS compliance standards are… Read More
“The spirit of innovation or the ability to innovate are not attributes a person makes a conscious decision to possess but rather they flow from the intellectual wellspring we are born with.” – Michael Peters
Doping allegations, illegal gambling, and other attempts to game the system and give a player or a team an edge have long plagued the professional sports world. Now, the cheating has gone cyber. Chris Correa, a former executive with the Saint Louis Cardinals MLB team, has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for… Read More
Is Cloud Computing Really Secure? A Pragmatic Approach Considering Cloud Computing? So, you are making plans to move into cloud computing and are considering your options offered by the plethora of providers out there but you have questions and concerns. Congratulations! The bottom line up front is yes, cloud computing can be very secure. You… Read More
It sounds like the plot of a James Bond movie: A band of international bank robbers have made off with nearly $100 million, and bank executives are biting their nails as the thieves remain at large. But these heists happened in real life, and the thieves never actually set foot inside a bank. They used… Read More
Wendy’s Data Breach: Forget the beef, where’s the data security? The Wendy’s data security breach, news of which first broke in January, is much worse than the fast-food company originally thought. Wendy’s first reported that the POS system breach impacted only about 5% — or approximately 300 – of its franchise-owned restaurants. However, after allegations… Read More