Hackers Target the Weakest Link: The End User

May 22, 2012 6:03:59 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

I was interviewed by Jeremy Quittner yesterday. Here is how he started his article in American Banker today: "It took Stu Sjouwerman, the founder and chief executive of security firm ...

Guessable Passwords: The Unpatchable Exploit

May 21, 2012 6:46:16 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Monday morning, I found a tweet by @INFOSECSchool with the above title. I admit, it's a catchy phrase and sure enough, IF you allow easy passwords, it's an invitation to get hacked. This ...

Fake Amex ID Verification

May 21, 2012 6:11:47 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="260" caption="Fake Amex ID Verification"][/caption] OK, here is another one to warn everyone about, especially the employees that have a ...

Russia's most effective cybercriminals

May 16, 2012 10:53:39 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Rod Rasmussen over at SecurityWeek has a really interesting article about a Russian cyber gang driving a massive wave of fraud: "Tucked away in a small town outside Moscow, Russia one of ...

Gartner considers security awareness training an essential tool for all companies

May 12, 2012 8:34:07 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Linda Musthaler, at NetworkWorld just wrote an excellent article about training workers to be cyber safe. One paragraph was especially noteworthy: “In 2012 we’re already seeing a sharp ...

I am a malware coder and botnet operator

May 11, 2012 3:20:23 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

This is a discussion on Reddit, where a (presumably Polish) malware coder and botnet operator very candidly answers questions from people. This is a fascinating but rather technical read, ...

News - FBI warns against malware installed via hotel networks

May 9, 2012 3:59:59 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

The Internet Crime Complaint Center had this 'Intelligence Note': "Recent analysis from the FBI and other government agencies demonstrates that malicious actors are targeting travelers ...

The Average Cyberespionage Attack Goes On For 416 Days

May 6, 2012 3:03:48 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

WIRED Mag has a great article by Kim Zetter. It boils down to the fact that high-level hackers are able to get and stay in your network. And even if you are able to kick them out, they ...

Symantec Report Says User Behavior is Root of Most Breaches

May 4, 2012 8:51:55 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Tracy Kitten over at BankInfoSecurity spotted something interesting in Symantec's recent Internet Security Threat Report. This is the upshot: "Which Internet security threats pose the ...

$1,000 Walmart Gift Card Scam Inflates Your Phone Bill

May 4, 2012 3:04:56 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

We have seen crooked Walmart gift card offers before, but now and then I run across one that's craftier than earlier versions. And as usual, you do not get the gift card, but a high dose ...

Proof: Antivirus Only Defends Against Low-skilled Attackers

May 3, 2012 4:40:59 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

The SANS Computer Forensics and Incident Response team built a real-life network for their students so they could learn how to hack into the network. They put McAfee enterprise endpoint ...

Bogus PayPal payment alert causes malware infection

May 2, 2012 3:12:03 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Gary Warner just reported: "A new malicious spam campaign has just launched this morning targeting Paypal users. This malware campaign attempts to "social engineer" users into clicking a ...

Cybercrime uses hidden file extensions to trick users

May 2, 2012 3:00:26 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Symantec contributor Fred Gutierrez shows clearly in this blog post why it can be deadly to click on a .JPG file: "Cybercriminals have continuously evolved their methods throughout the ...

Omaha cast net that caught cyberthieves

Apr 29, 2012 8:24:21 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Matthew Hansen, World-Herald Staff Writer just wrote a great article that illustrates what I have been warning about these last years. It starts out like this: "Imagine for a moment that ...

How to Start an IT Security Awareness Program

Apr 27, 2012 2:44:36 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Mike Chapple is an IT professional and assistant professor of computer applications at the University of Notre Dame. He wrote at biztechmagazine:"Are your users aware of their ...

Check Out This NY Traffic Ticket Phish!

Apr 26, 2012 4:29:04 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Kevin Mitnick sent this phish over. It's a classic attempt to get you to avaid a problem, but the moment you click this link, life will become a lot more painful. So... Stop. Look. Think ...

Antivirus 10-Second Flash Survey: Is this bonus attractive?

Apr 25, 2012 4:26:16 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

You're in the market to replace your existing Antivirus. One of the vendors on your shortlist has a Special Bonus they are offering. They are going to give you a free high-quality ...

Bogus Olympics 2012 Email Warning Blindside Users With Malware

Apr 23, 2012 4:26:22 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

The upcoming London Olympics is undoubtedly one of the most highly-anticipated sports event of the year. It is also a favorite social engineering ploy among cybercriminals. Just recently, ...

Scam Of The Week: 'The Evil Unsub'

Apr 20, 2012 3:56:05 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

An ordinary piece of spam slips through the filters, and you see a gorgeous sandy beach with palm trees. It's an enticing ad for a vacation to a tropical island, basically a big picture ...

Six Steps To Successful Security Awareness Training

Apr 19, 2012 3:48:25 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

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