Monday, November 25, 2013

4 Easy Steps To Protect Your Identity

Four major areas of your daily life that are frequently used as gateways into your private data, Protect those areas!

It's no secret that the damage caused by a single identity fraud event can take years to fix. Many consumers don't even discover they have been affected until months after the attack occurs. In fact, identity fraud is the fastest growing crime in the world, costing billions of dollars annually.

So what should we do? The ubiquity and anonymity of the Internet, coupled with old-fashioned method of stealing identity via "dumpster-diving" makes this problem unmanageable for average folks, right? Wrong. 

There are four major areas of your daily life that are frequently used as gateways into your private data. Paying attention to them can help you stay safe from the bad guys. 


Tactic #1: Guard Your Mail. 


Pay attention to your physical mailbox to reduce the chance of being victimized. The mail system has been vulnerable since the days of wagon trains and stage-coaches.


Action Steps:

1) Never use the red flag on your mailbox. It notifies potential thieves that there may be something of value left unattended in the box.

2) Lock your mailbox if possible. Fraudsters look for checks, parcels and other valuables in unattended mailboxes.


3) Place your outgoing mail in a mailbox inside post offices whenever possible. Outdoor mailboxes are magnets for mail thieves and mischief-makers.


Tactic #2: Guard Your Unique Personal Information. 

Your personal data points are often referred to by the acronym SNAPD, which stands for SSN, Name, Address, Phone, and Date of birth. Our SNAPD elements are the "coins of the realm" in the financial underworld and your Social Security Number (SSN) is the Holy Grail.


Action Steps:

1) Never share your SSN, name, address, phone numbers, or date of birth with others unless absolutely necessary.

2) Only share your SNAPD information when it is mandatory. Healthcare, government and financial services organizations will often require these details, but you would be amazed how little NPPI (Non-Public Personal Information) you can share without causing a fuss.


3) Paper shredders are crucial. All SNAPD info (at home and in the office) should be disposed of in a nice cross-cut shredder.


Tactic #3: Guard Your Payment Tools. 


You would never think of leaving any significant amount of cash out in the open and unguarded, so why leave your checks, credit or debit cards exposed? Check fraud is an old yet extremely prevalent practice. Credit and debit cards look similar but are governed by different laws, responsibilities, and remedies. It should be obvious that your debit card puts your immediate personal assets at risk as opposed to the risks associated with credit card fraud. 


Action Steps: 


1) Guard your checkbook, credit, and debit cards and closely examine your monthly statement for unauthorized charges (even tiny ones). By promptly reporting any discrepancies, your financial institution can help investigate, minimize or correct any damage done.


2) Regularly review your credit report.


Tactic #4: Protect Your Computer(s). 


Apply protection controls to not only your desktop, notebook or tablet device, but also your smartphone. According to a study from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, 56% of Americans now own a smartphone, a new demographic referred to as "The Mobile Majority". 


Action Steps: 


1) Install and frequently update anti-virus, anti-malware protection for all devices including smartphones.


2) Create passwords with at least 9 alphanumeric digits, and change them every 6 months. Consider using encryption on all your devices.


3) Exercise good data privacy habits by locking your devices, surfing and downloading safely, and guarding the physical security of each machine.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

The State of Risk-Based Security 2013

The State of Risk-Based Security Management is an in-depth study conducted by Ponemon Institute

Industrial control systems continue to draw scrutiny as the risks involved in preserving aging IT infrastructures continue to escalate. Mission-critical systems in everything from manufacturing facilities to public utilities have shown to be easily breached and highly vulnerable.

A new Ponemon Institute survey, however, found that security efforts in the sector are ramping up: 51% use formal risk assessments to identify security risks – which is higher than the broader enterprise average.

Also, the survey found a majority (86%) believe that minimizing noncompliance with laws and regulations helps meet certain business objectives – and that’s also 5% higher than the average.

Risk-based security is coming onto the radar screen too: 43% measure the reduction in unplanned system downtime to assess the effectiveness of cost-containment management efforts, differing from survey average of 38%. And about half (52%) listed the “flow of upstream communications” as one of the top three features most critical to the success of a risk-based security management approach – an 8% increase over the survey average of 46%.

Even so, this is not enough to protect ICS systems against determined attackers. For instance, only 56% listed an “openness to challenge assumptions” as one of the top three features most critical to the success of a risk-based security management approach – and this is 6% lower than the survey average of 62%.

Further, It is imperative for this sector to get a handle on system hardening and configuration management practices to improve security and reliability. But in this regard though, the industrial sector is less effective than other industries in deploying risk management controls and communicating effectively about security.

Only 40% have fully or partially deployed security configuration management, differing from the survey average of 49%, and 75% have fully or partially deployed system hardening, which is 5% lower than the survey average of 80%.

When it comes to organizational culture, security still has a long way to go to permeating the business.
Most ICS respondents (69%) said security communications are contained in only one department or line of business, differing from the survey average of 63%. And 67% said security communications occur at too low a level, differing from the survey average of 62% – indicating needed oversight from the C-level is generally lacking.
Even though industrial sector organizations are actively considering security risks, they must also improve their willingness to elevate key risks to the executive level. Security risks must be considered in context with overall business risk or the entire organization’s success will be in jeopardy.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Kaspersky Lab 2013 Global Corporate IT Security Risks

34% of respondents ranked protection from incidents as the top priority

Kaspersky Lab, in partnership with research company B2B International, conducts regular surveys focusing on the key IT security issues and cyber threats which worry businesses.

The survey aimed to find out what representatives of these companies thought of corporate security solutions, to ascertain their level of knowledge about cyber threats, what cyber security related problems they most often face, how they address these problems and what they expect in the future.

2013 Kaspersky Lab and B2B International survey results provided below reflect the opinions of companies on key issues related to the security of the corporate IT infrastructure.

They also reflect the changes that have taken place since the previous two studies. Comparing current and historical data helps to identify and analyze existing trends in this area, ultimately creating a complete and, we believe, objective picture of the threat landscape, as well as future problems and trends affecting corporate IT security.

Main Findings

According to the survey results, one of the major problems facing businesses is the creation of a clear IT infrastructure development strategy with an information security strategy at its heart.

Companies are increasingly determined to secure their IT infrastructure in the light of increasing numbers of incidents – and significant financial losses associated with them. The main findings of the survey are:

  • Maintaining information security is the main issue faced by a company’s IT management.
  • In the past 12 months, 91% of the companies surveyed had at least one external IT security incident and 85% reported internal incidents.
  • A serious incident can cost a large company an average of $649,000; for small and medium-sized companies the bill averages at about $50,000.
  • A successful targeted attack on a large company can cost it $2.4 million in direct financial losses and additional costs.
  • For a medium-sized or small company, a targeted attack can mean about $92,000 in damages – almost twice as much as an average attack.
  • A significant proportion of incidents resulting in the loss of valuable data were internal, caused by issues such as unclosed vulnerabilities in software used by the company, intentional or negligent actions of employees or the loss or theft of mobile devices.
  • Personal mobile devices used for work-related purposes remain one of the main hazards for businesses: 65% of those surveyed saw a threat in the Bring Your Own Device policy.
  • Information leaks committed using mobile devices – intentionally or accidentally – constitute the main internal threat that companies are concerned about for the future.

For the full report in PDF format, click here.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Take Time To Understand Free Tools Before You Use Them

Free tools and technologies can deliver real value, Yet they also can present risks!

URL shortening services, for example, are fantastic, especially for those of us who love to share our knowledge and findings inside social networks. Yet they can very easily, and often do, hide a nefarious attack.

Another Free Tool to Use with Caution

Be sure to check the security of shortened URLs before clicking them. One service you may consider is urlxray.com.

Monday, November 4, 2013

How To Stop Your Face From Appearing in Ads?

Imagine Your Face in Google Ads


When it comes to developers of popular free tools, Google is king. Yet the tradeoffs for using tools like YouTube, Gmail and Google+ are becoming clearer. For instance, starting November 11, Google will be able to include Google+ users' faces, names and comments in ads. Configured as a default, the policy is one that users must opt out of if they do not want their images projected in marketing messages.

Here's exactly how to stop your face from appearing in what are being called "adver-dorsements" (at least for now, until Google+ changes again):

  • Navigate to Shared Endorsements in Google+ settings.
  • Uncheck the box next to "Based upon my activity, Google may show my name and profile photo in shared endorsements that appear in ads."

Understand that this will not stop your network from being able to see those companies and brands that you have liked (or in Google+ language, plus-one'd).

If this makes you uncomfortable, simply stop hitting +1 and do not leave any reviews on Google products.