A childhood friend of mine, who does not have a technology or information security background, recently asked me whether or not apps that promise messages, photos, videos, and anything else sent through them will completely disappear were to be trusted. She referenced several different proclaimed “disappearing messages” apps that are currently available and asked, “So what do you think of these disappearing apps? The messages are not really gone?” She is responsible for the care of an adult relative, and wanted to be able to communicate with his healthcare providers securely, and to not have any of the communications to linger and had been using one of these apps. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘policies and procedures’
No Those Messages Will Not Completely Self-Delete
Friday, October 30th, 2015Four Things to Do for National Cyber Security Awareness Month
Friday, October 16th, 2015Since this is National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) it seems appropriate to give some examples and tips for how everyone can improve upon security, and better protect their privacy, this month. (more…)
Be Aware of Risks with Outsourcing to Other Countries
Saturday, October 3rd, 2015Businesses must be aware of risks with outsourcing to other countries activities involving personal information. Over the past couple of months I’ve heard over a dozen organizations express their opinion that if they hire organizations outside the U.S. to do work for them, then those organizations are not bound by U.S. laws. Most were from small to midsized organizations and startups. But it was somewhat surprising to hear also hear this sentiment from an organization with multiple locations and thousands of employees. This has been an incorrect belief of far too many organizations for decades.
I’ve also had clients in other countries ask about the need to comply with U.S. laws, such as for HIPAA compliance, when they provide services for U.S individuals and/or businesses. Many believe they do not need to. (more…)
Small Businesses Must Address Security and Privacy
Friday, September 18th, 2015I’ve been working with hundreds of businesses over the past fifteen years, and I’ve found many common challenges that they are always trying to address, as well as some common, dangerously incorrect, beliefs about security and privacy. There are some common misconceptions that are unique to one-person to small businesses.
Here are four common recurring incorrect information security and privacy beliefs of small businesses, and the facts that these businesses need to know: (more…)
Use Movies to Raise Privacy and Security Awareness
Tuesday, September 1st, 2015I’ve noticed an uptick in online discussions about information security and privacy awareness ideas. I don’t know what provoked the increased buzz, but I’m happy to see it, and more sincere consideration of actually doing activities to truly raise awareness.
Organizations Must Stay Vigilant Against Insider Threats
Tuesday, September 1st, 2015I started my career as a systems engineer at a large multinational financial and healthcare corporation. I was responsible for creating and maintaining the applications change management system. The purpose of the system was to ensure that after the programmer finished coding, the code could be moved, with the approval of the manager, to a different area to test. After testing was complete it would be moved back to the development area if changes were needed, or a different manager would approve it to be moved to the live/production area for widespread use.
By requiring different individuals/roles other than the programmer (who did her own testing while creating the program) to test the program, it accomplished two primary goals: (more…)
Never Judge an Information Security Professional Solely by their Security Certifications
Thursday, July 30th, 2015Recently I attended a gathering where a litigation lawyer was giving a presentation and made the statement, “The defendant’s information security officer did not have any type of security certification, such as a CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) or CISM (Certified Information Security Manager), which demonstrated lack of qualification for her position, and negligence on the part of the hospital system that had hired her to fill that position.” (more…)
Stay Alert for Stegoloader and Rombertik Malware Threats
Friday, July 17th, 2015Recently a friend of mine sent me a photo of the image on his computer screen. It was a Windows firewall warning message that his computer had been infected with malware. He said that when he tried to re-boot the computer it got into an endless loop and he could not get it to do anything. He finally took it to the computer repair shop, and they had to reload a new system. Thankfully he had a complete, clean, backup of all his files, so he didn’t lose anything. I asked what the repair folks said the problem was, and he indicated that they didn’t tell him anything specific, only that he “probably had bad malware.” (more…)
Hey, Developers! Save Privacy in the IoT Explosion
Thursday, July 2nd, 2015I’ve been concerned with and writing about the information security and privacy risks involved with the data created, transmitted and processed by smart devices in the Internet of Things (IoT) for several years since they first started emerging (e.g., here) and will likely be writing on it even more in the coming months and years. According to a new IDC research report, the IoT market will grow from $655.8 billion in 2014 to $1.7 trillion in 2020 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.9%. Will privacy die in this IoT explosion? If IoT developers and manufacturers take action now, I’m optimistic that they can save privacy in the IoT explosion. (more…)
