6 rules to avoid disaster: a practical guide to phishing and spear-phishing

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Are you that link? Hackers don’t come in through the firewall. They come in, most of the time, through a much easier route: the staff. How? By exploiting basic psychology, and being prepared to do a little research. The easiest way to get someone’s password … Continue reading 6 rules to avoid disaster: a practical guide to phishing and spear-phishing →

What a year it’s been – review of IT security 2014

By rights, 2015 should be the year of cyber security. After all, 2014 was the year of cyber-security failure. Just consider some of the highlights: Target Michaels JP Morgan Sony Pictures Viator Home Depot Goodwill Nieman Marcus US Postal Service iCloud (if none of the others mean anything to you, this one will. Just think … Continue reading What a year it’s been – review of IT security 2014 →

The agonising problem of infrequency

Here’s a thing: all software vendors and all websites assume they’re at the centre of your universe. Most of them are wrong. Why do I say this? Because they make it so astonishingly difficult to use their products and services infrequently.Observation 1: software updatesIf you use a given computer, or other device, every day then … Continue reading The agonising problem of infrequency →

IOS 7 – another BYOD nightmare

Here we go again. Despite greybeards (sorry, “industry veterans”) like me reminding everyone that they should wait for the x.1 release of any major version, the world, its dog and its mother-in-law all frantically stabbed at download buttons to get IOS 7 the moment it came out. People wasted hours, work ground to a halt, … Continue reading IOS 7 – another BYOD nightmare →

PRISM: will the cure be worse than the disease?

Now here’s a thing. As a private citizen, are you horrified or reassured by the revelations that the American NSA has been intercepting and monitoring internet traffic wholesale? I suspect you’re closer to appalled than comforted. Certainly, this is the public mood. The Europeans have been particularly vocal in expressing their concern at governmental level, … Continue reading PRISM: will the cure be worse than the disease? →

Another day, another breach

Today’s report that Evernote have been hacked raises an interesting point. Evernote deny that any content has been breached, which is fine as far as it goes. I use Evernote but since it has no encryption at rest I wouldn’t put anything in there that I wouldn’t want on the front page of the Times. … Continue reading Another day, another breach →