From Orlando Sentinel (Richard Burnett)
With unemployment soaring, identity thieves are increasingly preying on unsuspecting job seekers by stealing personal information and trying to cash in on it.
The scams run the gamut from fake help-wanted ads and job-search services to bogus resume-posting Web sites, part of a new arsenal of weapons targeting millions of recently unemployed people. Read the full story [sunsentinel.com]
By Adam Shostack, Emergent Chaos
Nearly a decade ago Bruce Schneier wrote “Security is a process, not a product.” His statement helped us advance as a profession, but with the benefit of hindsight, we can see he’s only half right. Security isn’t about technology.
From SearchMidmarketSecurity (Mike Chapple)
Many SMB IT administrators face a serious challenge when it comes to delivering serious security to their users. They may not have the budget or expertise they need and outsourcing can be expensive and troublesome if it’s not approached in the right way. As Mike Chapple writes on SearchMidmarketSecurity.com, asking a few key questions up front can be the difference between success and failure.
From internetnews.com (Alex Goldman)
Valentine’s Day is a the season for social engineering, as many people hope for a note from a mysterious and fascinating someone and are therefore more willing to open suspicious messages and attachments than at any other time.
Unfortunately, it is now the season for data theft. It’s at tax time that the highest quantity of valuable data crosses the Internet and data thieves are surely hoping for a feast. Tax data is valuable not just because it contains financial information but also for the personal information it contains. Read the full story [internetnews.com]
From DarkReading (Tim Wilson)
Despite recent headlines and instances of insider attacks, many companies still are not acting to protect themselves [darkreading.com] from insider threats, according to two new analyst reports.
Although 88 percent of the respondents to a Forrester Research study said they consider data security a “challenging issue,” some 40 percent of respondents said they had no interest in, no plans for, or no knowledge of emerging tools for information leak protection. Read the full story [darkreading.com] See related story from Matt Hines [eweek.com]
This quick tutorial gives you a foundation for understanding the IPSec protocol and how it can be used to secure some online sessions.
The openness and universal connectivity that helped break down the barriers between coporate networks has also turned out to be a security liability. Jon Oltsik, an analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group, writes that there’s now a need for open standards in security [Cnet news.com] to help make collaboration and data-sharing more efficient and secure.
By Andrew Jaquith
Despite years of investments in technology and processes, protecting enterprise-wide data remains a maddeningly elusive goal for chief information security officers (CISOs). Software-as-a-service (SaaS), Web 2.0 technologies, and consumerized hardware increase the number of escape routes for sensitive information. Regulations, statutes, and contractual expectations drown CISOs in audit requests and ratchet up the pressure to do something about the problem. Hordes of vendors confuse CISOs with innumerable sales pitches.
Instead of beating your head against the wall, devolve responsibility to the business, keeping controls closest to the people who use the data. IT security should be primarily responsible only for deploying data protection technologies that require minimal or no customization. Read the full story [csoonline.com]
By Carrie-Ann Skinner, PC Advisor
The credit card details of 19,000 Brits that shopped online were freely available on Google, it has been revealed. Anyone using the search engine could have easily accessed not only the name and addresses of thousands [infoworld.com] of Visa, Mastercard and American Express card holders, but also the full card details too.
According to the banking body APACS, the majority of the cards had already been cancelled but the owners were probably unaware their information was available online. Google confirmed the information has since been removed.
By David Neal, vnunet.com
A recent warning from AT&T’s chief security officer, Edward Amoroso, that the cost of cyber crime is running into trillions of dollars [vnunet.com] has been confirmed by security firm Finjan.
Earlier this month Amoroso and a panel of security experts told a US Senate Commerce Committee that revenues from cyber crime now exceed those of drugs crime, and are worth some $1tn (£700bn) annually. The report [PDF from senate.gov] also warned that techniques are rapidly evolving.
Infosec Insider content is written by a trusted community of Threatpost cybersecurity subject matter experts. Each contribution has a goal of bringing a unique voice to important cybersecurity topics. Content strives to be of the highest quality, objective and non-commercial.
Sponsored Content is paid for by an advertiser. Sponsored content is written and edited by members of our sponsor community. This content creates an opportunity for a sponsor to provide insight and commentary from their point-of-view directly to the Threatpost audience. The Threatpost editorial team does not participate in the writing or editing of Sponsored Content.
