Cyber security

Ask the Cyber Security Expert: What is an APT?

16:13 21 October in Cyber security by robp

You've heard a lot about APTs. Advanced Persistent Threats. They sound scary. Should you run screaming? Buy some expensive equipment? Or trust the wisdom of the cyber security expert? In this short note we try and clarify the following What is an APT? What does that mean? Who is...

Cyber crime and the real world

16:51 20 October in Cyber security by robp

BBC news this week reported on a novel use of hacking by a drugs gang. This was an audacious, long lived and multiple pronged attack. The ultimate aim was to allow the criminal gang to smuggle drugs into Europe through being able to monitor and control...

Putting a price on cyber attacks

16:48 20 October in Cyber security by robp

A member of the South Korean national congress has claimed that clearing up after a series of attacks from the north has cost the country 500 million dollars. This total is split over several years, however 470 million of it was caused by the most...

Anonymous #OpUSA goes without a bang

22:15 08 May in Cyber security by robp

The Anonymous collective of online mischief makers pledged to launch a series of disruptive attacks against American companies and government on May 7. Whilst Anonymous have had some high profile successes in the past, Tuesday passed largely without note. Anonymous is a loose collective, which grows...

Outsourcing – the weakest link?

17:31 25 March in cyber insurance, Cyber security, outsourcing by robp

The FT today has an article on the dangers of trusting subcontractors with your company data. Security experts generally decry outsourcing, maintaining the drive to lower costs means security is forgotten. There are some reasons to be sympathetic to that posture. The modern organisation is utterly...

What is a cyber attack?

11:02 23 March in attack, Cyber security, Espionage by robp

The phrase cyber attack gets used a lot, in a lot of different contexts. Any bad thing done over the internet is generally characterised by the media as a cyber attack. But does the phrase really mean anything? This week South Korea was under cyber attack...