Mirror, Mirror: Using Self-Protection to Boost App Security
Last week while reading to my toddler, I came across the story of “Snow White,” in which the evil queen consults a magic mirror to find her greatest threat, the fairest person in the land. While my kid fell asleep — probably due to my effective storytelling technique — I kept thinking about why the…
Data breaches through wearables put target squarely on IoT in 2017
Forrester predicts that more than 500,000 internet of things (IoT) devices will suffer a compromise in 2017, dwarfing Heartbleed. Drop the mic — enough said. With the sheer velocity of how the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks spread through common household items such as DVR players, makes this sector scary from a security standpoint.
54% of organizations have not advanced their GDPR compliance readiness
More than half of organizations have failed to begin any work on meeting minimum General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance, according to a study conducted by Vanson Bourne. Intended to harmonize data security, retention and governance legislation across European Union (EU) member states, GDPR requires greater oversight of where and how sensitive data—including personal, credit…
Migrating Security to the Cloud: A Model for Total Cost of Ownership
Sometimes the more things change, the more they stay the same. Businesses are migrating from traditional on-premises maintenance of their hardware and software to software-as-a-service (SaaS) and cloud at record levels. But any evaluation of such a move must include more than just the obvious costs of hardware and software. When migrating security to the…
HIPAA Settlements of 2016: Lessons Learned
Over the course of 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) reached many resolution agreements with a number of covered entities and business associates for violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). These HIPAA settlements are mutually agreed-upon resolutions between HHS and the offending…
Chip-and-PIN Credit Cards, One Year On
The U.S. was not an early adopter of chip-and-PIN credit cards, lagging behind major European countries and others. But more than a year after the official mandatory shift to this technology, the transition has reshaped most credit card transactions. As a result, the rate of credit card fraud is down sharply.
5 signs we’re finally getting our act together on security
The high-water line in information security gets higher each year. Just as we think we’ve finally figured out how to defend against attacks, then attackers come up with something new and we are right back to trying to figure out what to do next. For example, ransomware has surged in the last year. Although that…
InterContinental Hotels Investigating Possible Card Breach
British multinational hotel company InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has launched an investigation after being informed of a possible payment card breach at some of its properties in the United States. Investigative journalist Brian Krebs learned from his sources in the financial industry that a pattern of fraud had been observed on credit and debit cards…
What to do if your data is taken hostage
Getting duped online by a cybercriminal is infuriating. You let your guard down for a minute and the thieves find their way in to your machine. And then the “fun” begins if ransomware is involved. Hopefully you have your data backed up, but if not now starts the dance with those who have ultimately taken…
IDG Contributor Network: Best and worst online retailers for security
The holiday shopping season is over, but the quest for improved security continues Image by Thinkstock A majority of consumers chose to skip the crowds and knocked out their shopping list online this year. The bargain-seeking shoppers were in full force, according to Adobe, which noted that consumers spent more than $5 billion online by…