CyberheistNews Vol 1, #25
Editor's Corner
[caption id="attachment_1367" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Stu"]
[/caption]Top 5 Security Predictions For 2012
#5) Cyberwar will rise to the surface. The Stuxnet malware attacked
Iran's nuclear facilities in a covert way, but 2012 will see more of
this and more intense. Could be that physical infrastructure in the
U.S. will be targeted, we've seen one false alarm of this in 2011.
#4) More employees bring their mobile device in the office, it's now
called Bring Your Own Device. However, BYOD is going to cause more
data loss, since these devices are easy to lose and hard to secure.
Make sure to have a comprehensive security policy in place if you
allow BYOD.
#3) Advanced Persistent Threats (APT) will move from the Fortune 2000
down to Small and Medium Enterprise, and to high net worth individuals.
Organized crime will start using APT in volume in 2012. Here is the
Wikipedia entry for what APTs really are. Interesting reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_persistent_threat
#2) One of the leading Cloud providers will be hacked, and at the house
you will receive a phishing attack that has so much personal information
in it, that it's really hard to distinguish from the real thing.
#1) Malware knows your location and will customize its attacks on you.
The emails will now integrate something that is local to you, like
fake coupons from a local mall, or spoofed communications from a company
that is nearby. Watch for this new malicious use of geolocation!
Quotes of the Week
"Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an
unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of
others." - Ayn Rand
"A little of everything constitutes a whole lot of nothing." - Rene Mason
Please tell your friends about CyberheistNews! They can subscribe here:
http://www.knowbe4.com/about-us/cyberheist-news/
"We Discovered A Serious Human Vulnerability"
"I'm a system administrator and we regularly get user's workstations
infected with malware. Then Microsoft reported that 45% of the infections
are caused by the users being 'social engineered', so we decided to test it
out for ourselves."
"First we did the Email Exposure Check. Out of our 197 users, 87 email
addresses were found on the Internet. Then we did the Phishing Security
Test, and sent these 87 a relatively simple simulated phishing attack,
that could have been sent by any bad guy."
"We were shocked to see that our spam filters and antivirus did not
catch the phishing email, and that 24 of these 87 clicked on the link.
We discovered a serious human vulnerability." -- P.H. System Admin
Find out for yourself how big this human security hole is in your
organization. Fill out this form, you will the results for free:
http://www.knowbe4.com/eec/
Domain Name Speed Benchmark
Are your DNS nameservers impeding your Internet experience? Steve Gibson
wrote a utility for Windows (and Linux/Wine) to determine the exact
performance of local and remote DNS nameservers. It's free and you
can download it here:
http://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm
However, from a security perspective, we recommend you use OpenDNS.
It has a whole host of security features built-in, we use it ourselves,
and it's free for private use:
http://www.opendns.com/
4 Facebook Security Tips to Stay Safe in 2012
At the house and in the office, Facebook is no longer something you
can escape. I found a good article over at the NetworkWorld site,
that gives you four ways to significantly improve Facebook security:
1) Enable SSL Encryption
2) Be Wary of Information You Share
3) Use Applications and Games Sparingly
4) Log Out of Facebook When You're Done
Here's the details how to do all this:
http://www.cio.com/article/2401426/consumer-technology/4-facebook-security-tips-to-stay-safe-in-2012.html
Cyberheist 'FAVE' LINKS:
* This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff.
Introducing the transparent tablet computer - because the iPad is so
yesterday... I want one ! :-)
http://www.flixxy.com/amazing-screen-technology.htm
Hacking legend and infamous computer breaking-in to artist Kevin Mitnick
joins us to talk about keeping your personal details secure. Watch the video
for tricks to keep your online data safe!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knkBTlbwDmk&feature;=share
On the Caribbean island of St. Martin, Maho Beach is next to an airport
runway. Departing planes whip up blasts of water and sand, and incoming
planes ... just watch:
http://www.flixxy.com/maho-beach-st-maarten-airport.htm
Russian trapeze artists Elena and Dmitry Artemiev take the tango to new heights:
http://www.flixxy.com/duo-artemiev-tango-in-the-sky.htm
20 Most Anticipated Tech Products of 2012:
http://www.networkworld.com/slideshows/2011/120911-tech-products.html?
The City Solution. Why cities are the best cure for our planet's growing
pains. Gorgeous National Geographic photo shoot:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/12/city-solutions/city-solutions-photography
