Category: Social Media

If there’s any message you should take away about utilizing social media in a secure manner, it can be summarized in one word: education. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a true story I like to tell to explain how wide the social media “generation gap” is. And, no, I’m not making this up:

Two Australian girls, ages 10 and 12, got stuck in a storm drain. To get help, they whipped out their smartphones and posted Facebook status updates to say they were lost in a local drain, and someone needed to call 000 (Australian 911). Read the rest of this entry »

In a previous blog, our CTO, Manoj Srivastava, discussed how the methodology of modern cyber crooks has evolved, how adept they are today at exploiting the human instinct to trust. Read the rest of this entry »

As the CTO of a leading cyber-intelligence company, I’m often asked about the biggest game-changer in IT security today: What’s the latest technique that hackers are deploying to compromise networks with advanced persistent threats (APTs)? Read the rest of this entry »

As reported in the upcoming release of the Cyveillance Intelligence Report, overall phishing attack volume declined during the second half of 2010 compared to the first half of the year, averaging over 19,000 confirmed, unique attacks per month. However, the level of sophistication and emphasis on targeted attacks continues to rise. As a result, despite the number of attacks going down, the ability of phishers to be successful has risen significantly as evidenced by the growing number of spear phishing attacks and Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) reported during the half.

The amount of attacks seen monthly is down compared to the first half of the year and could be related to the recent decline in spam, but the overall volume confirms that the problem of phishing is still easily one of the top threats on the Internet. Specifically, the use of more sophisticated and targeted attacks result in greater success and lucrative opportunities for online criminals. A recent story regarding socially-engineered attacks against High Value Targets (HVTs) in the Canadian government provides a great example of the danger this new breed of attack poses to organizations.

Organizations should continue to monitor for suspicious activity related to the attack described in the article above as well as educate their users on the latest threats that plague the Internet. Users can minimize the potential for falling victim to email and Web-based attacks by never clicking on links within emails and only accessing their online applications through known Web sites and pages.

Cyber security awareness continues to gain interest in every industry and market. With the dramatic increase in online activities and social media networks, organizations are realizing the need to educate their employees on the everyday risks, threats and how to safely navigate the Internet. We are pleased to announce that as a result of our work with Mind & Media to create a dynamic and effective online training course, “Cyber Safety 101”, has just won the MarCom 2010 Platinum Award.

Mind & Media took our content and subject matter expertise and packaged it in an engaging, interactive online training course that educates users on the risks found on the Internet. Knowing that employees are extremely busy, it was critical for us to present this information in comprehensive and efficient way to ensure the transfer of knowledge, safeguarding them and their companies. The fact that Mind & Media was able to pull together an exciting education program that incorporates the unique perspective our experts have acquired over the years in an easy to view presentation, should not be overlooked. Congratulations to Mind &Media for a job well done.

For more information or to download the report, please visit this press release.

A story by The Plain Dealer posted on www.cleveland.com last week sheds light on the numerous issues associated with social media and the workplace. Providing real life examples of problems experienced by companies such as Petland and Nestle, the story gives an excellent overview of many of the decisions that need to be made in the implementation of a company-wide social media strategy.

Companies can take proactive steps to strengthen their security posture and minimize potential damage from problems that arise in the social media environment. The steps start with addressing challenges effectively with a solid understanding of the authorized and vast numbers of unauthorized social media users within the company. Next, companies should have a formal education and training plan in place that meets the needs of all sides of the business. Further, documented social networking policies, ongoing monitoring and a strong organizational feedback structure are essential. For more information, see The Impact of Social Media on Corporate Security: What Every Company Needs to Know published by Cyveillance in Spring 2010.