VOA – “Careto” – ‘Mask’ malware – a cyber espionage operation

‘Mask” Malware Called ‘Most Advanced’ Cyber-espionage Operation – (February 13, 2014): Prevendra’s CEO, Christopher Burgess is interviewed by VOA about  the Advanced Persistent Threat Malware – “Careto.” WASHINGTON — Researchers at the Internet security firm Kaspersky Lab say they have uncovered what they’re calling “one of the most advanced global cyber-espionage operations to date.” The malware is called “Careto,” which roughly …

Encrypt or not to encrypt, that is the question

17 October 2011 (#NCSAM – National Cyber Security Awareness Month) Encryption: To encrypt or not encrypt, that is the question (a hat tip to the Bard of Avon). In this day and age of digital data thefts, careless loss of hardware and infusion of crimeware / malware, in my opinion it pays to encrypt.  When and what should be encrypted? …

Mobile – Daily risks mitigated

If you don’t maintain the health of your device then you should expect that your device will at some point in the future become compromised in some way, shape or form.
What type of compromises may occur? How often? What can you do?
Let’s answer these in order…

Game On! Eight tips to stay safe while playing online games

Do you or your children participate in online gaming, using your PC, smart phone or game box? Then you need to make sure you understand what’s going on, especially behind the curtain, when you configure your “game” settings. Here are eight online security tips to keep you safe and secure.

Online Safety: Are bots in your twitter following?

Yesterday I had a an interesting sequence of events happen within my Twitter footprint that I had not seen previously. I had 11+ new followers, all who had over 100, some over 1000 followers. These new followers all arrived in my follower list in sequence over the course of the early morning. Each of these *individuals* had sent between 2-10 tweets, none of which were original content – all of them being RT (re-tweets) of pieces from trusted sources such as Mashable.

The Twitter handle/name had the format of “given name” + “3 to 5 random characters”. Click on the Figure-1 o the left to see all of these names which arrived in my follower list and you’ll understand the naming convention. Every single one of these names is a “bot” generated name.

read more…

Crimeware – a book review by Christopher

Five stars to Jakobsson & Ramzan for a most useful guide to understanding the underbelly of the internet. The strength exhibited by this book lies within the all-star lineup of contributors and the thorough dissection of the numerous forms of crimeware. Their book is a must read for anyone who has responsibility or an interest in protecting Personal Identifying Information (PII), Private Consumer Information (PCI) or Intellectual Property (IP).