DON'T ACCEPT SWEETIES FROM STRANGERS...

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[Updated 17th March 2013] Hello everyone! It’s been a long time since I wrote on this blog and I have to say, there have been so many interesting things happening that I haven’t really been able to make my mind up on what to talk about... What spurred me into action was a combination of various industry discussions and security conferences, the fact that lots of us are busily preparing for the festive season (or wishing they were!) and that all the children in my life are SO technically savvy...

INFOGRAPHIC: THE SOCIAL MEDIA SIDE OF INCIDENT RESPONSE...

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For the corresponding February 2014 post associated with this infographic, see here)
It seems that my previous post on the social media side of incident response attracted some attention and I thank everyone for their feedback. This prompted me to explore the brave new world of infographics... So here we go, my first foray into what is for me unchartered territory. I've used Piktochart and I found it an excellent tool which means that anything you find lacking is of course entirely my fault rather than the tool itself. Your feedback, as ever, will be greatly appreciated!

THE UNBEARABLE RISKINESS OF BEING... SOCIAL

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[Updated 4th August 2012]
The inevitability of social media in both our private and professional lives is undeniable. With social networks transforming the rules of business engagement, many businesses think the biggest risk of social media is the brand and reputational damage that could result from negative interactions or the potential disclosure of proprietary or sensitive information...

FAILING GRACEFULLY...

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Sometimes, despite our best endeavours, things just don't work out the way we planned... 
You know the feeling: you think you have it all under control, you think you've engaged with the right people, you have buy in from those who matter, the right culture is in place, you're not struggling for investment and bang! you get hacked. Overwhelming sense of failure ensues. Where did it all go wrong?...

THE SOCIAL MEDIA SIDE OF INCIDENT RESPONSE...

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[For the February 2014 version of this post, see here]
Not impressed with LinkedIn's social media crisis response after more than 6M user passwords got leaked recently or non-plussed with Dropbox's handling of their own crisis? Read on... In one of my February posts, I wrote about incident response and the importance of addressing the media in a timely manner. Whilst the NIST report SP 800-61 gives really good guidelines on the positive aspects of fully and effectively communicating important information to the public, I feel there is some mileage to be had by exploring the use of social media when tackling incident response. After all, we've all seen how quickly news can spread on twitter here or here... So, should you be breached, you would no doubt have a crisis communication process already in place, but does it include social media?...

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD (PARTY) KIND...

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Phew... The last month was absolutely hectic, with all those conferences falling within the same short period of time! With all that, I was privileged enough to have been asked to speak at both Internet World and Infosecurity Europe. Two very different experiences... Whilst it is expected to be talking about security at an infosec conference, it is always welcome to be asked to present about security matters at an event with a different focus - in this instance, everything digital... (see my previous post on the subject). It was nevertheless surprising, walking the show floor at Internet World, talking to vendors and poring over the agendas in the various theatres, how little security featured. With everything about the show related to "cyber", not many had made the obvious leap to "cybercrime"... So, on the way to our Devil's Tower, our quest is still to find our curwen hand signs to communicate with the third (party) kind...

WHO ARE YOU PREACHING TO ANYWAY?...

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I recently was privileged enough to be asked to present at a merchant forum in London. Interestingly, the intended recipients had been very much in the driving seat since they had selected the topics themselves. After my previous posts (Part 1 and Part 2) on connecting the dots between information security, risk and fraud, you can imagine my pleasure that I, alongside my fellow speakers, were asked to do just that... A delightfully interactive audience, some very interesting chats at the breaks and the recent buzz about the value of security conferences prompted me to share some thoughts on how actively to engage with your stakeholders and get the results you need...

5 STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL ATTACK - What's Your Threshold?...

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In a previous post, I highlighted that mass marketing fraud against individuals cost the UK economy £3.5 billion in 2011, that is ten time more than the cost of plastic card fraud in the same year, or equivalent to the total fraud losses incurred by the financial services sector in the same period! Sobering perpective, don't you think? We all know that mass marketing fraud is where criminals aim to defraud multiple individuals to maximise revenue by persuading victims to transfer monies in advance in exchange for promised goods, services or benefits. And we all know that this is usually done via mass-communications media (such as telephone calls, letters, emails and text messages) and ranges from foreign lottery/ sweepstake frauds through to ponzi schemes and romance frauds or any other abuse of trust... So, we all know better, don't we?...