Digital security common sense says you should never plug an unauthorized device like an unknown Universal Serial Bus (USB) into your computer. Of course, logic doesn't always reign supreme when it comes to using a computer. We saw this on display at Black Hat USA 2016 when Google's anti-abuse research team shared an experiment for which its...

A high school student has received a $10,000 bug bounty award for reporting a security vulnerability in Google's App Engine. Back in July, 17-year-old Ezequiel Pereira decided to use the Burp Suite graphical tool to test the web application security of Google's App Engine. He wanted to see if he could access pages protected by MOMA, a portal for...

The WannaCry and NotPetya attacks caused disruption on a global scale in the spring and early summer of June 2017. Following those malware campaigns, businesses around the world should have heard the alarms and responded by tightening their security systems in an effort to mitigate against similar attacks in the future. But reality doesn't always...

Adventure (ad•ven•ture) / ad-ven-cher / noun: an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks; an exciting or remarkable experience; and enterprise involving financial risk. Origin: Old French aventure (noun), based on Latin adventurus ‘about to happen.’ There are many people who have the privilege of saying that they get paid to be...

I have been in this business for over 10 years, specifically in the business of trying to ensure our critical infrastructure remains in a safe, reliable and secure state. After all, if our critical infrastructure were to fail, the implications could be huge. Since 2011, I think the real threat of large-scale attacks against critical infrastructure...

Phishers are running a scam through a Russian hosting provider that's designed to target Bank of America customers' data. On 21 July, HackRead came across the ploy. Those responsible for the ruse impersonate financial representatives working for the second largest bank in the United States. Under that disguise, the scammers send out emails informing...

Security vulnerabilities are becoming the new oil, and the bug bounty economy is booming. As news of cyberattacks and data breaches continue to consume the press, never before has the market for vulnerabilities been so dynamic. “Bug bounty programs,” frameworks where security researchers legally trade previously undiscovered vulnerabilities for...

Critical security vulnerabilities have been discovered in the Segway/Ninebot MiniPro Hoverboard, but don't panic - firmware patches have already been issued to prevent malicious hackers from attacking the devices. Which is a relief - as successful exploitation of the security holes could have seen attackers seize remote control of a hoverboard and...

“My C-level doesn't understand that they’re being directly targeted – help me scare them!” Such was the request aimed at one of my colleagues at a cybersecurity conference not too long ago. Being in the security awareness industry, it’s not uncommon for others to solicit our feedback on how best to educate employees of all stripes. The appeal above,...

A hijacker has hit a radio station with a series of rogue broadcasts containing "The Winker's Song" by comedy band Ivor Biggun. Mansfield 103.2, an independent local radio station in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, has suffered eight hijacking attacks since June 2017. In each of those offensives, the responsible party is believed to have used a mobile...

With millions of small businesses out there, why don’t they care about cyber security? You may be reading this and own a small business or know someone that does. Think to yourself: why would small businesses not care about cyber security? You may find that it is not a problem of caring but a problem of understanding. Let’s take a look at some of...

As someone who has worked in the Managed Network Services space for over a decade, there are certain behaviors I notice when it comes to security planning. Every so often, a major security incident occurs that makes headlines, and the media cycle begins. Decision makers at organizations, who are typically business experts and not technology experts,...

Bill C-59 – the National Security Act 2017 – outlines a new vision for Canadian national security. Reading between the lines of this “anti-terror” bill, there is a clear attempt here to comprehensively rework decision-making mechanisms to enhance oversight and ministerial control over counter terrorism, surveillance and cyberspace operations. While...

The role of cyber security in modern business is hard to overstate. Almost all business processes are automated to a degree and thus need to be thoroughly protected from any potential tampering. Vendors use anti-malware and anti-reverse engineering techniques to protect their products, but they can’t possibly weed out every vulnerability. One...

In our first article, we defined a ransomware attack and its impact on non-profit organisations, and we made some recommendations for preventing such attacks. In this article, we look at ransomware in more depth to provide a better understanding of how to build cyber resilience. There is a growing threat to cyber-security in various dimensions but...

Data security is rife with complexities. The threats against an organization’s data are massive and ever-evolving, and the consequences of a breach are devastating, sometimes crippling, for a business, so it’s unsurprising that there are dozens if not hundreds of factors to be taken into consideration when it comes to securing databases. That’s why...

Today, the major threats facing every nation in the world are digital in nature. In response, most – if not all – countries implement serious measures to counter these threats and enhance the overall security of their networks. As such, securing cyberspace is a high priority today for every country’s administration, but not all of them. Some are...

In April 2016, the government of Australia forwarded a cyber security strategy proposal to solidify its cyber space and fend off the increasing digital threats hurled by enemy states, cybercriminal organizations, and amateur opportunists. In the digital age where cyber-attacks are increasing every year, it is imperative that we have a stringent...

It has been revealed that 55 traffic and speed cameras in the state of Victoria, Australia, have been accidentally infected with the WannaCry ransomware that struck organisations hard around the world last month. Local radio station 3AW broke the news, after receiving a tip from a listener that the highway and intersection cameras operated by...

Data breaches remain a constant concern among boards and executives. Part of the reasoning behind this anxiety is the cost of responding to a data breach. Most years, not only does the per capita cost of a record compromised in a breach go up – so, too, does the total organizational cost. For 12 years, Ponemon Institute and IBM Security have been...