VIDEO - Protecting Businesses from Cyber Threats

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Peter S. Vogel

Given the recent disclosures of cyber attacks by Facebook, Google, and Apple, businesses need to establish policies about what their employees can do with Social Media whether on the job or just making comments about their employers. Each business needs to consider their employees, customers, and market places to decide what is best to protect against cyber attacks.

To learn more, please watch my recent video entitled “"Protecting Your Business: From Social Media to Cyber Threats." The video interview by Financial Management Network (& parent SmartPros Ltd.) is part of a series of educational videos provided for accounting, finance, and IT professionals. So please check out the programs on Financial Management Network.
 

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Cyber Attacks on 6 Banks

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Peter S. Vogel

Millions of bank customers were unable to access their bank accounts and bank online as reported by the New York Times. The bank customers “of Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo and PNC, ...could not get access to their accounts or pay bills online.” The report went on to say:

The banks suffered denial of service attacks, in which hackers barrage a Web site with traffic until it is overwhelmed and shuts down. Such attacks, while a nuisance, are not technically sophisticated and do not affect a company’s computer network — or, in this case, funds or customer bank accounts. But they are enough to upset customers.

Although experts believed these attacks were not sophisticated, rather by a “number of so-called hacktivists,” these acts show how easy it is to have successful cyber attack. So the US government should do more to protect US businesses.
 

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Disturbing Headline! "U.S. not ready for cyber attack"

Posted on December 21, 2008 by Peter S. Vogel

Although not much of a surprise to read this headline that the US is not ready for a cyber attack and I guess Yogi Berra was right with his famous “It's like deja-vu, all over again.” Clearly the September 11th attack was a wake-up call, but not a surprise that the US was vulnerable and has enemies foreign and domestic, but given our growing dependency on the Internet headlines of this sort do not portend well for the future. Last summer’s conflict in Georgia when Russia hijacked websites was not a surprise, and only reinforced how easily cyber attacks can occur.

How Easy it is?

A couple of years ago I attended a conference where a world renown hacker was the keynote speaker. He explained that because of known problems with Microsoft wireless software that he managed to access the hard drives of every passenger who was using their computer on his airplane flight a few days before. In spite of the fact that he had reported the flaw to Microsoft they failed to acknowledge or fix the problem. When I spoke at the next session I saw him in the back of the room using his computer, he told me that he was able to see the contents of everyone in the room who had their computer turned on except for those of us who had their wireless feature turned off.

What’s at Risk?

The economy is suffering badly enough and about the last thing the US needs is a cyber attack on our banking and/or electric energy systems. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff recommends the appointment of a White House "cybersecurity czar,” but that has not happened yet and we are vulnerable. Without doubt the Obama administration will have to deal with this sooner rather than later, but hopefully not after a major melt-down following some disastrous cyber attack.
 

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