Archives: Articles

From the Winter 2015 Issue

Cybersecurity’s Three Great Lies – and Five Steps to Avoid the Threats They Enable

Author(s):

Christina Wiegand, Director of Commercial Services, TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) Cyber Intelligence Group

When hackers look for targets, they typically focus on big organizations because they’re the ones with the most credit cards, state secrets and other lucrative hauls, right? Wrong. As the widely reported Target credit card breach shows, hackers often focus on small organizations as a way to attack large enterprises and government agencies. In February … Read more

From the Winter 2015 Issue

THE TOP 12 SECURITY BREACH FACTS EVERY C-LEVEL EXECUTIVE AND BOARD MEMBER MUST KNOW

Author(s):

Eric L. Qualkenbush, Director, Office of Central Cover; Director, Training and Education, retired, Central Intelligence Agency

T. Casey Fleming, Chairman and CEO, BLACKOPS Partners Corporation

Magnitude of the Threat  Over $500B of innovation and trade secrets secretly stolen each year: this means nearly every company with trade secrets is constantly targeted and compromised. The equivalent of $5 Trillion in total economic value removed from the U.S. economy each year (USA 2013 GDP: approx. $17 Trillion)  250,000+ cyber soldiers and nearly … Read more

From the Winter 2015 Issue

Your biggest cyber threat? Naïve end-users

Author(s):

Kelvin O. Medina, Principal Security Consultant, Trustwave

If your end-users lack awareness, your sensitive data will be at risk  Background Approximately 50 percent of all security breaches within the Federal Government are caused by a lack of user compliance, according to a report released last year by MeriTalk and developed in collaboration with Akamai Technologies, Inc.1 This illustrates that even though security … Read more

From the Winter 2015 Issue

CyberTECH: Sharpening the Vision for the West Coast’s Cyber Hub

Author(s):

George Berkheimer, Staff Reporter, United States Cybersecurity Magazine

Launched in 2013, CyberTECH is one of the most visible drivers helping to establish San Diego as the West Coast’s cybersecurity hub. The 501(c)(3) non-profit organization operates as a global cybersecurity and Internet of Things (IoT) network ecosystem, providing cybersecurity and IoT resources, strategic programs and quality thought leader IoT forums and events across the … Read more

From the Winter 2015 Issue

Non-Competes in the Cybersecurity Industry

Author(s):

Kenneth L. Samuelson, Esq., , Samuelson Law Offices, LLC

Usually, you can’t develop cybersecurity products and businesses by yourself. You need to work with others and, in the process, to disclose, to them, confidential information. In doing so, most cybersecurity companies will want to protect their proprietary technology, customer and prospects lists, and other trade secrets as much as possible. Furthermore, many cybersecurity companies … Read more

From the Winter 2015 Issue

Welcome to Security in the 21st Century— Monitoring Employee Behavior

Author(s):

Jim Mazotas, Founder, OnGuard Systems LLC

Larry Letow, CEO, U.S., CyberCX

“All human beings have three lives: public, private, and secret.”  — Gabriel García Márquez, Gabriel García Márquez: a Life  “Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The … Read more

From the Winter 2015 Issue

What You Don’t See Can Hurt You

Author(s):

Peter Velikin, Vice President of Marketing, Pwnie Express

Protecting enterprises from hacks and other malicious activity is a challenge for organizations, both in the public and private sectors. The drumbeat of breaches continues and there are no signs of it slowing. The stakes have never been higher. The types and frequency of attacks are increasing and securing your organization has never been more … Read more

From the Winter 2015 Issue

Applying Analytical Tools to Cybersecurity

Author(s):

Joseph Lukowski, President, Laredo Technical Services, Inc.

There is a Method to the Madness of Criminal Intent  Late last summer, open source news reporting indicated that Chinese hackers may have been to blame for the breach of information at USIS, which is the major US contractor for security background investigations for the US Government. Initial estimates indicate that the hacking included more … Read more

From the Winter 2015 Issue

DEVELOPING CYBER SKILLS WITH PUZZLES AND HACKING CHALLENGES

Author(s):

Nikolas Roby, Security/Defense Research Analyst, Parrot Labs - KEYW Corporation

I meet a variety of people trying to enter into the information security and forensics fields. Many of them come straight out of college and have a great deal of theoretical knowledge, but often lack any real world skills. Unfortunately, to gain these skills you need to work real world scenarios, which are hard to … Read more