WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation

The last few weeks, I've been spending my days helping victims recover from ransomware attacks. When doing this, restoration is the number one priority, and the motto becomes "as fast as you can". There have been some challenges along the way, and some "shocking" reveals when working with criminal software when expecting it to unlock your files. Here are some of the following use cases that Unit 221B encountered and the workarounds we applied to get a successful restoration.

Stay ahead of threats with the insights in the 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) from Verizon Enterprise Solutions. Read the official report now.

Make no mistake, the knowledge of hacking is different from a hacker. A hacker is a person, not the skill. And the use of any knowledge is a personal choice and that choice isn’t universal. The same way some politicians are corrupt, some hackers are corrupt. The same way some politicians are good, some hackers are good also. You may be a Satoshi Nakamoto or an Albert Gonzalez, it is your choice. There is nothing wrong with the hacker knowledge. It is all about you. What You’ll Learn

In June of 2018, in the midst of all the other letters demanding that the company stop police use of Rekognition, Raji and Buolamwini expanded the Gender Shades audit to encompass its performance. The results, published half a year later in a peer-reviewed paper, once again found huge technical inaccuracies. Rekognition was classifying the gender of dark-skinned women 31.4 percentage points less accurately than that of light-skinned men.

Proof-of-concept shows how easy it may be to hide malicious chips inside IT equipment.

Most cyber attacks and data breaches remain the result of weak passwords. So, why are we still using them?

The cybersecurity skills gap has been plaguing enterprises for years—but despite garnering much discussion and media coverage, little progress is being made.

State of Cybersecurity 2020 looks at questions such as:

• How long does it take to fill a cybersecurity role with a qualified candidate?
• What percentage of cybersecurity candidates are qualified for the role?
• Is retention improving or worsening?
• Which cybersecurity skills are in the highest demand?
• Are HR teams informed partners in the search for qualified cybersecurity candidates?
• Are cybersecurity teams becoming more gender-balanced, and are diversity programs doing enough to help?
• What can companies do to staff up more quickly and find better-qualified candidates?

Attackers look for the path of least resistance. Recently, that path has shifted from enterprise networks to you and your devices for two reasons. First, as we have built more secure software and systems, it has made it harder to …

Protecting People cybersecurity threat report explores who’s being targeted, how they’re being attacked, and what you can do about it.

Every year, millions of fraudulent web domains are registered by threat actors looking to impersonate trusted brands. Using these domains, they launch phishing attacks or other scams.

What are the latest trends around fraudulent domains, and how can you protect your organization?

Download the report now to learn: 

• How threat actors create fraudulent domains
• What characterizes fraudulent and legitimate domains
• Which keywords and top-level domains (TLD) are trending
• How fraudulent domains use email to launch attacks

In 2018 I somewhat innocently bought very expensive coffee (Nespresso capsules) online from Ebay. What followed was a series of unexpected additional packages from the manufacturer Nespresso and a lurking suspicion that something had gone terribly--if not criminally--wrong as a result of my purchase. This talk chronicles the obnoxious amounts of obsessive research and tracking that became my new hobby--stalking Nespresso fraudsters and my decidedly non-technical attempts at developing a generic search profile and reporting the fraudsters to anyone who would listen, to include : the persons whose identities had been stolen, Nespresso, Ebay, and the FBI. Ultimately I just ended up with a LOT of coffee; a lingering sense that I had committed several crimes; and no faith left in humanity.

In 2019, we saw phishing attacks reach new levels of creativity and sophistication.

Based on an analysis of more than 5 billion daily emails, 200 million social media accounts, and 250,000 daily malware samples, we found that a small subset of individuals with high levels of access or privilege continue to receive the majority of targeted attacks.

Highlights include: 

• Among the most targeted malware and credential phishing attacks, nearly 30% targeted generic email aliases
• Individual contributors and lower level management accounted for 72% of highly targeted malware and phishing attacks
• Web-based attacks that use social engineering grew 150% vs. the previous quarter

Ensuring that your website or open web application is secure is critical. Even simple bugs in your code can result in private information being leaked, and bad people are out there trying to find ways to steal data. The web security oriented articles listed here provide information that may help you secure your site and its code from attacks and data theft.

A video explainer on the technology that’s changing the meaning of the human face.

The Dark Web is real, and your information might be for sale there. Here’s what your data is worth. The simple answer is this: about $45. This is how much, on average, a full set of information for a credit card is selling for, including a name, SSN, birth date, and CVV.

How to get off of people search sites like Pipl, Spokeo, and WhitePages.

How creepy is that smart speaker, that fitness tracker, those wireless headphones? We created this guide to help you shop for safe, secure connected products. Smart home gadgets, fitness trackers, toys and more, rated for their privacy & security.

you’ll learn about some of the expert roles that are often the hardest to find or are only required in specific situations. This paper details these roles, their responsibilities and the cross-functional processes that are required to successfully hunt for, respond to and prevent threats as part of a world-class security organization.

The home surveillance company owned by Amazon bragged on Instagram about taping millions of kids going door to door.

Institutions are crossing functional boundaries to enable collaborative resistance against financial cybercrime and fraud.

The growing cyber skills shortage drives security organizations to look for ways to mitigate the pain and danger that short-staffed security teams can experience. In its report, Security Organization Dynamics, Gartner outlines this ongoing challenge and notes how, “Persistent security skills shortages have forced security leaders to explore new ways of obtaining and managing security capabilities.”

Gartner points out that hiring may not be the only option for filling the gap, cautioning that, “Few, if any, enterprises can afford to perform all security functions in-house. Consider selective outsourcing of functions, especially those that are operationalized or ad hoc.”

Google is working on a new app for its Pixel smartphones that will use hardware sensors to detect an auto accident and automatically call emergency services if a person fails to respond.