Tag: security

  • Why Security Awareness Matters To You

    Why Security Awareness Matters To You

    In the last few years, the idea of security awareness has risen to at least being on the radar of many CIOs. However, the general concepts around this topic are not seen as important enough to many outside of the IT world. The threat of cyber-based attacks is a reality for all of us. That alone makes this a subject we all should be concerned about. It is worth our time and investment to put a good program in place.

    Security Awareness is Affordable

    I find that too often security implementation and its high costs are confused with awareness. This is similar to thinking that educating people on health issues is the same as treating those issues. However, there are substantial security awareness programs like Ninjio, Know Be 4, Secure ED, Security IQ, and Media Pro that are professionally created, high-quality, and cost around a few dollars a month per person. Think about those costs. A family of four could take advantage of a SA program for roughly ten dollars a month. You may laugh at the family idea but how many children now are almost always connected and have access to texts, email, and social sites?

    The cost of falling into a scammer trap can quickly climb to scary heights in time and money. That risk alone should make you rethink the value of a SA program. Likewise, the fortune you save may be your own.

    It Is Constantly Evolving

    Even IT professionals can fall for phishing scams. Yes, read that again. Your daily work in the IT world does not make you automatically protected from scams. There is always a new scam out there, and knowledge is critical to avoiding them. For example, have you heard of scams where people buy a house and find out they did not buy a house? Instead, scammers walked off with the money. There are too many new ways for people to trick you to keep up with the latest approaches. That is where SA comes in. You have people working to inform you of the latest scams, test your knowledge, and even test that you paid attention to the material.

    How Does It Work?

    At this point, I hope you are at least considering checking out some security awareness programs or asking your IT leadership to do so. That means you are wondering what to expect with such services. The good and bad news is that they are all very similar. That is good because of so many excellent options. It is bad because it can be hard to choose. Most programs send material on roughly a monthly basis. This is often an email of some sort, and most include a video tutorial that goes over the latest things to look for. This may seem tedious and boring. However, the videos are usually ten minutes or less and can be highly entertaining. Some are even produced by entertainment writers like those that put together the shorts on Saturday Night Live and similar television shows.

    The videos/content is just part of a good program. You will also periodically be sent phishing emails, phone calls, or texts to help expose you to the kind of things to watch out for. If you fall for the scam, then you are sent a “you should not have clicked” form of email or message that educates you on how to avoid such things in the future. This combination of educational material and practical testing has been shown to reduce the effectiveness of all forms of scams dramatically.

    I Want To Learn More

    Here are a few links to help you get up to speed on security awareness programs and vendors.

    https://www.itgovernanceusa.com/security-awareness-program

    https://www.infosecinstitute.com/iq/awareness/

    https://www.knowbe4.com/

    https://ninjio.com/

    https://www.mediapro.com/security-awareness-trainingpack/

  • The Next Big Privacy Concern

    The Next Big Privacy Concern

    The social media news around Facebook and data breaches we hear about each week have sparked concern over our data. We are starting to worry about what is out there and who has access to it. There are obvious concerns about hackers selling our data for nefarious reasons. Likewise, there are issues like the social score used by China that can impact every facet of life. Nevertheless, there appears to be a larger wave coming. These changes are worth considering before you jump into the latest fad devices. It appears that our next big privacy concern is going to be our health-related data.

    The Warning Signs

    The popularity and power of wearable devices like the Apple Watch and Fitbit products is the first step in being able to access enormous amounts of data. There have been a few voices of caution, but generally, they have been pushed aside. We find it far too useful to be able to see how many steps we took each day. We can also see where our morning jog took us. Technology is awesome like that. However, when you look at the companies that are gathering that data and their capabilities you have to wonder where that will go next. Any time big business gets involved it should spark a big privacy concern.

    The least surprising purchase of the year is Alphabet (i.e. Google) buying Fitbit. The popularity of Amazon’s Alexa products and the Apple Watch made it almost a guarantee that Google would dive into the wearable market. Add to that recent news about Project Nightingale. It is impossible to deny that “They” are coming for your medical data. The industry has long worried about the privacy of this data (e.g., HIPAA) but I do not find many people being overly concerned about such things. As with all technology and data, there are some pros and cons to this data being available en masse.

    The Benefits Of Masses of Medical Data

    Medical research lives and dies (no pun intended) on health data. There are reasons why health care professionals almost always start an encounter with taking your temperature, your blood pressure. Then they gather some general data about how you are feeling. These data points become part of the recommendation for how to treat your situation. You can see some dramatic examples of this in television shows about forensics and medical mysteries like House M.D. The ability for vast amounts of data to provide useful medical insights is not just the stuff of dramas and serials. There are all manners of health-related issues that can be addressed and prevented based on research into the data. That data may lead to a cure for cancer as well as dramatically reduced times for hospital stays and even lower-cost treatments.

    Why This is a Big Privacy Concern

    You might be saying, “wow, sign me up to help!”. While that is very considerate, you should also consider the downsides. The wearable devices we have and the ability for organizations like Amazon, Google, Apple, and others to store and process that data has other uses. Marketing is always a way to utilize what we know about each other. For example, what id the ads you are fed become adjusted to how you are feeling. You may suddenly get a flurry of car ads if your heart rate picks up while watching one. That may seem only slightly annoying. What about ads and services being sold to you based on sexual or religious preferences? When I know your rough (or precise) location and attitude through the week, I can tell whether you are turned on or off by all manner of environments and people.

    Think about a mood ring that is far more detailed and accessible to a broad range of people in your life. What if your employer is able to access how you are doing during the day. They might be able to determine when you are focused or not? What if your boss knows roughly what you really think about him? The ability to use medical data is mind-boggling. It becomes more so when you start to look at how our statistics (blood pressure, heart rate, etc.) fluctuate in different situations. Think about it as if you were wearing a lie detector on your wrist throughout the day. Everyone you meet might not have access to that data. However, I am sure there are those that you would want to keep it from.

    How To Proceed

    While this type of data is worth our concern and worry, it may be hard to avoid the risks. The OTG (off-the-grid) life that eschews devices and services with tracking and data gathering capabilities has just become a little harder to adopt. There are all sorts of rewards dangled in front of us if we will give up a little data and privacy. We also are assured that our data will be kept private and not used without our permission. How has that worked out for us so far? The recent history has shown us that these sorts of things should be a big privacy concern.

  • Preparing for a Security Audit

    Preparing for a Security Audit

    The topic of security comes up a lot in IT circles. We see headlines every day about breaches and fear that our company could be next. Ok, that may not be exactly our response. However, hackers are real and a threat to every business that is online. That makes the idea of a security audit attractive to many managers and business owners. They want to be comfortable with where they stand and any associated risks. This may even be a requirement as part of due diligence for an acquisition or investor.

    A Security Audit is Not Scary

    The word “audit” seems to strike fear in the hearts of many. I get it and feel the same trepidation every time I hear it. We seem to think an audit always points to our flaws, and that is a bad thing. To the contrary, an audit of this sort provides a way for us to get better. Yes, it points out flaws and weaknesses. However, it also provides feedback on how to eliminate or overcome those shortcomings. That means that we will be better off, more secure, once we go through an audit and learn from it. It also helps to go into an audit, knowing that imperfections will be highlighted. No system is perfect, so all we can do is look for ways to get better.

    Get Your Ducks In A Row

    The first step to take before a security audit is to clean up the flaws you already know about. This action will make the process more valuable. Less time will be spent on going over the “things you already know.” That means your time and money will be better spent. Why would you pay someone to tell you what you already know. There is another side effect of taking this action. Sometimes weaknesses or flaws are masked by another problem upstream. Think about a dirty window that blocks a view of a dirty room. You will not know about the room until you clean the window. Similarly, clean up the issues you know about, so there is less chance of hiding those flaws you need to understand. Security is a prime area of this sort of environment. By its nature, most IT security is built in layers or walls. Thus, it is by design that a flaw in one level may be masked or even corrected at another level.

    Ask The Experts

    We are not all security masters. That is not a problem. There are plenty of resources available on the Internet to guide us implementing best practices for security no matter what environment we have built. You can bring in security consultants, but you can save a lot of money by hitting some of the cornerstone security sites. One of the best sources of this information is the OWASP site. You can find white papers that cover overall security concerns as well as detailed tutorials for hardening your systems. Many of this documentation is source material for security audit procedures and processes. Therefore, you will be able to educate yourself about these measures while getting a head start on how the security audit will expect your environment to look.

    Yes, It Is That Simple

    You may be amazed at how short this article is. However, the details that you will find in those security tutorials can take hours or days (or more) to implement. The plan is simple. It is the execution that can be a challenge. Nevertheless, there are a lot of security recommendations that are quick and easy to implement. Even a little investment of time can make your security audit experience enjoyable and educational. That statement may seem laughable but do not take my word for it. Give it a shot and see how much more secure your systems are as your confidence about them soars.