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  • Proactive Cyber Security Can Prevent Vote Hacking - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Apr 18, 2017 from Michael Peters
    In a heated political climate, even the appearance of vote hacking could threaten our nation’s democracy. The most contentious issue this election season may not be immigration or minimum wage laws but cyber security; specifically, the specter of vote hacking. Shortly after the discovery that ...
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  • Proactive Cyber Security Tips for a Secure Cloud Migration - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Nov 03, 2017 from Michael Peters
    Ensure a secure cloud migration with these simple, proactive cyber security tips Enterprises have much to gain by migrating to the cloud, which is why the U.S. government has adopted a “cloud-first” initiative. Cost savings and the ability to scale up and down quickly as organizational needs ...
    Views: 965
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  • Proactive GRC Can Prevent AWS Security Breaches - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Sep 07, 2017 from Michael Peters
    Governance, risk, and compliance should be at the heart of AWS security procedures Another day, another AWS security breach, and this one is particularly bad because of the extraordinarily sensitive nature of the data that was compromised: Over 9,000 documents containing personal data on job ...
    Views: 952
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  • Proactive Tips for Preventing Credential Stuffing Attacks - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Mar 12, 2019 from Michael Peters
    Nearly everyone knows that reusing passwords across multiple sites and systems is a security risk, but most people continue to do it anyway. As a result, credential stuffing attacks abound, especially among retailers. Dunkin’ Donuts has been victimized twice in the past three months by hackers ...
    Views: 1172
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  • Ransomware Attacks Show that Healthcare Must Take Cybersecurity Seriously - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Apr 10, 2017 from Michael Peters
    While healthcare providers and healthcare industry vendors cannot afford to ignore HIPAA compliance, a new threat emerged in 2016 and has only gotten bigger in the past year: ransomware attacks on hospitals and healthcare providers that are not seeking to breach patient information but instead ...
    Views: 858
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  • SCADA Security of Deep Concern as Cyber Attacks Against Government Escalate - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Apr 19, 2017 from Michael Peters
    “ClearEnergy” May Have Been Fake News, But Threats Against ICS / SCADA Security Are Quite Real Accusations of “fake news” rocked the cyber security industry last week after infosec provider CRITIFENCE implied that it had detected a brand-new “in the wild” ransomware variant called ClearEnergy ...
    Views: 1044
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  • SEC Cyber Enforcement Action Cites Lack of Internal Controls - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Oct 31, 2018 from Michael Peters
    Des Moines-based Voya Financial Advisors (VFA) has agreed to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission a $1 million penalty in the wake of an April 2016 breach that affected several thousand VFA customers. The SEC cyber enforcement action charged VFA with not having sufficient written ...
    Views: 1000
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  • SEC Hack: Wall Street’s Top Regulator Breached - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Sep 29, 2017 from Michael Peters
    The SEC hack has pitched the international finance world into turmoil as Wall Street's top regulator admits to not having secured its own systems. Move over, Equifax; the SEC hack may have just stolen your thunder. Less than two weeks after Equifax disclosed that it had been breached, ...
    Views: 946
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  • Six Cyber Security Best Practices for People and Businesses - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Sep 20, 2017 from Michael Peters
    Hacks do not happen in a vacuum; if one computer on a network is compromised, all machines on that network are at risk. For this reason, both enterprises and individuals have a responsibility to implement cyber security best practices – and this does not mean installing anti-virus software and a ...
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  • Smart Medical Devices are the Next Target for Hackers - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Apr 10, 2017 from Michael Peters
    Up until now, healthcare cyber security has been focused on protecting patient data, ensuring HIPAA compliance, and, more recently, protecting systems from ransomware attacks. However, as healthcare technology advances, a new threat is emerging: the potential for hackers to attack smart medical ...
    Views: 1284
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  • Smart Toys Put Children and Parents at Risk of Data Breaches - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Apr 06, 2017 from Michael Peters
    Internet-connected smart toys, a popular holiday gift item, have vulnerabilities that put both children and parents at risk of data breaches and identity theft. Smart toys, which connect to the internet and offer children a personalized, interactive play experience, were a very popular gift ...
    Views: 1007
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  • Social Media Cyber Security Risks and Best Practices for Businesses - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Aug 29, 2018 from Michael Peters
    Businesses tend to gloss over social media cyber security, thinking that it’s more of an issue in their employees’ personal lives than a threat to workplace cyber security. However, one in eight enterprises have suffered a security breach that was traced back to a cyber attack on social ...
    Views: 974
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  • Social Media Security and the Trump Twitter Account Incident - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Nov 15, 2017 from Michael Peters
    Social Media Security Matters; Just Look at the Trump Twitter Account Debacle Last week’s Trump Twitter account incident – where the president’s Twitter feed was deactivated for 11 minutes – was fodder for many late-night television jokes. All kidding aside, though, enterprise social media ...
    Views: 915
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  • Spear Phishing: Don’t Take the Bait! - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Apr 06, 2017 from Michael Peters
    Don’t let your business get caught on a spear phisher’s hook. Like regular phishing, spear phishing involves sending legitimate-looking but fraudulent emails asking users to provide sensitive information and/or initiate wire transfers. However, while regular phishing emails are sent out en ...
    Views: 876
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  • States Worry About Election Hacking as Midterms Approach - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Feb 21, 2018 from Michael Peters
    State officials expressed grave concerns about election hacking the day after Special Counsel Robert Mueller handed down indictments of 13 Russian nationals on charges of interfering with the 2016 presidential election. The Washington Post reports: At a conference of state secretaries of ...
    Views: 898
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  • Tax Phishing Scams Are Back: Here Are 3 to Watch Out For - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Mar 07, 2018 from Michael Peters
    Tax season is stressful enough without having to worry about becoming the victim of a cyber crime. Here are three different tax phishing scams targeting employers, individuals, and even tax preparers that are currently making the rounds. Employers: W-2 Phishing Emails The W-2 phishing ...
    Views: 995
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  • Tesla Breach Demonstrates the Importance of Industrial Cyber Security - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Jun 20, 2018 from Michael Peters
    Massive data breaches are what grab headlines, but industrial cyber security attacks can be devastating in the real world. Tesla has just learned this lesson the hard way. CEO Elon Musk has accused a malicious company insider of altering product code, stealing data and exporting it to third ...
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  • The 12 Biggest Cloud Security Threats Facing Your Organization - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Mar 28, 2018 from Michael Peters
    Cloud computing has opened up a world of opportunities for businesses, but it has also resulted in new cyber security threats. Some of these mirror the threats organizations have been combating on premises for years, while others are unique to the cloud. What are the top cloud security threats ...
    Views: 973
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  • The 6 Most Common Cyber Security Mistakes Your Employees Are Making - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Jan 02, 2019 from Michael Peters
    With an estimated 90% of cyber attacks caused by human error or behavior, it’s important to understand the most common cyber security mistakes your employees are probably making and know how to mitigate them. Becoming victims of phishing schemes Stolen login credentials are the most common ...
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  • The 7 Cyber Attacks That Defined 2017 - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Dec 15, 2017 from Michael Peters
    Cyber criminals upped their game in 2017, launching everything from cryptocurrency thefts to international ransomware attacks. Here, we examine seven of the worst cyber attacks of 2017. 1. The Equifax Breach Any list of the worst cyber attacks of 2017 would be remiss if it did not include ...
    Views: 968
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  • The Cost of One Cyber Attack Can Cripple an SMB - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Feb 13, 2019 from Michael Peters
    Cost is arguably the biggest impediment to robust, proactive cyber security at small and medium sized businesses (SMBs). SMBs are aware of the need to secure their systems and data, but when presented with a solution, the costs may give them pause. Some of them think that hackers are interested ...
    Views: 1122
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  • The FedRAMP Assessment Process: Tips for Writing a FedRAMP SSP - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on May 23, 2019 from Michael Peters
    A FedRAMP SSP (System Security Plan) is the bedrock of a FedRAMP assessment and the primary document of the security package in which a cloud service provider (CSP) details their system architecture, data flows and authorization boundaries, and all security controls and their ...
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  • The NSA Hack and the Sorry State of Cyber Security - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Apr 18, 2017 from Michael Peters
    In the hit USA Network series Mr. Robot, a rogue group of hacktivists target major corporations and the government. In a recent episode, the group enlists the help of a malicious insider to hack the FBI. Sound far-fetched? Maybe not: Around the same time this episode aired, an anonymous group of ...
    Views: 873
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  • The Proverbial Identity Theft Bus Will Run You Over! - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Jun 14, 2017 from Michael Peters
    Think about a time when you had a single credit card lost or stolen, and how much of a pain that experience was. Now imagine if your entire wallet was lost or stolen and the exponential magnitude of pain in the patootie that would be for you. Run Over by the Bus If you are a subscriber to ...
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  • The Six Worst Data Breaches of 2016 - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Apr 18, 2017 from Michael Peters
    As 2016 comes to an end, we look back at six of the year’s worst data breaches and what went wrong. It seems like not a day went by this year without reports of yet another major data breach, or two or three data breaches. From healthcare to fast food to adult entertainment, no industry was ...
    Views: 973
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  • The Top 5 Cyber Threats to the Healthcare Industry - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Jan 18, 2019 from Michael Peters
    The financial impact of cyber attacks can be devastating, especially to small organizations. The HHS points out that the healthcare industry has the highest data breach cost of any industry, at an average of $408 per record and $2.2 million per organization. In 2016, the healthcare industry as a ...
    Views: 1580
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  • The Top Cyber Security Threats Facing Enterprises in 2019 - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Nov 14, 2018 from Michael Peters
    The cyber threat environment is becoming more dangerous every day. A recent survey by the World Economic Forum revealed that cyber-attacks were the number-one concern of executives in Europe and other advanced economies. As we approach the winter holidays and the end of the year, let’s ...
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  • The WPA3 WiFi Security Standard: What Your Enterprise Needs to Know - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Aug 21, 2018 from Michael Peters
    According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, there are now more IoT devices than there are humans on Earth, and over 50% of internet traffic travels through wireless networks. As people’s dependence on connected devices has grown, free public WiFi has become insanely popular, but it’s also insanely ...
    Views: 943
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  • The Yahoo Breach and M&A Due Diligence - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Apr 18, 2017 from Michael Peters
    The Yahoo hack demonstrates that cyber security has become a fundamental part of M&A transactions. Data breaches and a failure to comply with governmental and industry standards can impact a company in many ways, as Yahoo is finding out the hard way. The company’s recent disclosure of a ...
    Views: 1087
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  • Third-Party Breaches: How Secure are Your Vendors? - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Jul 21, 2017 from Michael Peters
    Verizon, Trump Hotels, and the RNC are Among the Recent Victims of Third-Party Breaches Even if your own cyber security is up to snuff, your organization could be at risk of third-party breaches if your business partners are not as diligent as you are. Verizon just learned this lesson the ...
    Views: 968
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  • Thousands of Websites Infected in Massive Cryptojacking Attack - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Feb 15, 2018 from Michael Peters
    Thousands of websites, including government sites in the United States, the U.K., and Australia, were ensnared in an international cryptojacking scheme, The Register reports: The affected sites all use a fairly popular plugin called Browsealoud, made by Brit biz Texthelp, which reads out ...
    Views: 932
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  • Tips for Combating Shadow IT Usage in the Enterprise - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Oct 18, 2018 from Michael Peters
    Shadow IT is a very serious and growing threat to IT compliance and cyber security, and most organizations have no idea how common it really is. This article will examine some of the risks of shadow IT and discuss ways in which organizations can curb it. What Is Shadow IT? Shadow IT refers ...
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  • Top Cyber Threats Organizations Are Facing Right Now - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Jul 26, 2018 from Michael Peters
    Cyber security is a continuous game of Spy vs. Spy. Every time a new technology is introduced, the potential attack surface expands. The moment one vulnerability is patched, hackers find another way in. Keeping up can feel overwhelming, even for security professionals. In no particular order, ...
    Views: 862
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  • U.S. Federal Task Force Urges Proactive Healthcare Cyber Security - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Jun 09, 2017 from Michael Peters
    The Healthcare Industry Cybersecurity Task Force’s report on healthcare cyber security echoes a similar study on medical device security issued by Synopsys and the Ponemon Institute. On the heels of a damning study by Synopsys and the Ponemon Institute, which provides a blow-by-blow ...
    Views: 950
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  • Uber Breach Gets Worse: Company Accused of Cyber Spying - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Dec 21, 2017 from Michael Peters
    The Uber breach, which compromised the data of 57 million drivers and customers worldwide, has just gone from bad to worse. Not only did the company wait for a year to disclose the hack, it scrambled to cover it up by forking over $100,000 in hush money to the hackers – which it funneled through ...
    Views: 881
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  • UC Berkeley Offers Cyber Security Advice to Donald Trump - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Apr 18, 2017 from Michael Peters
    In a new report, UC Berkeley’s Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity offers suggestions to President Elect Trump. Now that the election is over, the nation’s attention has turned to President Elect Donald Trump and what a Trump Administration will mean for cyber security. Notably, information ...
    Views: 881
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  • Understanding & Preventing Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Nov 29, 2018 from Michael Peters
    A guide to advanced persistent threats (APTs), a highly sophisticated, highly destructive form of cyber attack. What is an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT)? “Advanced persistent threat” is a broad term used to describe a cyber attack where hackers covertly gain access to a system and ...
    Views: 1054
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  • Understanding SSAE 16 Compliance - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Apr 10, 2017 from Michael Peters
    When contracting with a service provider, such as a data center, it is important for companies to ensure that their provider possesses the cyber security-related certifications and compliance standards that are applicable to the company’s industry. Data centers, as well as service providers who ...
    Views: 804
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  • Understanding the DMARC Email Security Protocol - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Jul 01, 2018 from Michael Peters
    U.S. federal government agencies are required to use the email security protocol DMARC to prevent email spoofing, but the overwhelming majority of federal contractors either don’t have it installed or don’t have it set up properly. NextGov reports: Among the top 98 government contractors by ...
    Views: 1079
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  • Understanding the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF) - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Aug 08, 2018 from Michael Peters
    Last week, the NIST Small Business Cybersecurity Act (S. 770) passed the U.S. Senate and was sent to the White House, where the president is expected to sign it into law shortly. The bipartisan measure directs NIST to provide resources to small businesses to help them implement the NIST ...
    Views: 897
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  • Understanding the Role of the FedRAMP 3PAO During Assessment - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on May 30, 2019 from Michael Peters
    The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) was designed to support the federal government’s “cloud-first” initiative by providing a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services. All cloud service ...
    Views: 1163
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  • Understanding the Updated SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Jun 13, 2019 from Michael Peters
    Outsourcing IT services to service organizations has become a normal part of doing business, even for small companies. However, there are risks to using service providers, and these continue to evolve and change. In this dynamic environment, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants ...
    Views: 1154
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  • Unencrypted Retail POS System Cited in Forever 21 Breach - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Nov 25, 2017 from Michael Peters
    Clothing retailer Forever 21 suffered a POS system breach in an undisclosed number of stores from March to October 2017, the company announced last week. The Forever 21 breach was discovered by a third party and involved hackers taking advantage of POS systems that were not encrypted. There ...
    Views: 1103
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  • WannaCry Ransomware Attack Forcing Everyone to Pay Attention to Cyber Security - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on May 18, 2017 from Michael Peters
    The WannaCry ransomware attack was the end result of years of ignorance on the part of governments, private-sector firms, and the public regarding how serious cyber threats have become. The 2016 Shadow Brokers NSA hack came home to roost in a big way last week, when a code execution ...
    Views: 877
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  • What a Trump Administration Means for Cyber Security - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Apr 18, 2017 from Michael Peters
    What will the state of cyber security look like under a Donald Trump administration? The election is over, the votes have been counted, and thankfully, other than a few isolated reports of malfunctioning voting machines, Election Night was unremarkable from a cyber security perspective. Now, ...
    Views: 877
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  • What DoD Contractors Need to Know About the CMMC - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Jul 18, 2019 from Michael Peters
    Cyberattacks on the U.S. government’s vast network of contractors and subcontractors pose a serious threat to national security, and the DoD is taking action. The agency tasked NIST with developing a set of guidelines addressing advanced persistent threats against contractors who handle ...
    Views: 1455
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  • What is HIPAA Compliance? - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Apr 09, 2017 from Michael Peters
    Confused about HIPAA and whether your business must comply with it? This article will explain HIPAA and the importance of complying with this complex federal law. What is HIPAA? HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which was signed into law by President ...
    Views: 938
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  • What Is Multi-Factor Authentication, and Why Is It So Important? - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Aug 02, 2018 from Michael Peters
    Organizations can no longer depend on passwords alone to protect their systems and data, especially since 25% of employees admit to using the same password for all of their accounts, at home and at work, and stolen account credentials are hackers’ preferred way to break into enterprise systems. ...
    Views: 855
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  • What is PCI DSS Compliance? - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Apr 10, 2017 from Michael Peters
    Confused about PCI DSS compliance and what your business needs to do to comply with it? This article will explain PCI DSS and the importance of complying with this important information security standard. What is PCI DSS? PCI DSS stands for the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security ...
    Views: 905
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  • What Is Ransomware-as-a-Service? Understanding RaaS - by Michael Peters
    Submitted on Feb 07, 2019 from Michael Peters
    Ransomware isn’t a new threat. It first rose to prominence back in 2016, when Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center shelled out $17,000 in bitcoin after an attack took the hospital offline. Since then, ransomware has only become more popular, especially for hackers targeting the healthcare ...
    Views: 1015
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