The Breaches We Don’t Know About

The Breaches We Don’t Know About

Stories of major data breaches continue to roll in. One victim announced during the spring was hard drive maker LaCie (now owned by Seagate). In March the firm confirmed a security blog’s report that its customer data was exposed to hackers for nearly a year....
Security Protection or Morality Police?

Security Protection or Morality Police?

Businesses have a right to pick and choose the customers they do business with, so long as they do not violate anti-discrimination laws. And decisions by a particular firm not to cater to specific customers do not keep those customers from doing business elsewhere....
Ignore Bad Data… Sort Of

Ignore Bad Data… Sort Of

In George Orwell’s classic Animal Farm there is a well-known quote that sums up the issues tackled in the book: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”. In terms of data, this is a truism: all data is equal, but some data...
Peeling the Onion of Ransomware

Peeling the Onion of Ransomware

Ransomware attacks on computers are increasing, and they can have devastating consequences. Just look at the heart-breaking story of 17-year-old Joseph Edwards, an autistic college student who killed himself after being on the receiving end of a ransomware email...
CyberWars – The Rules of Engagement

CyberWars – The Rules of Engagement

The internet has given the world many new things, including a new theatre of war. Attacks, defense and counter-attacks take place in cyberspace as much as they do on land, in the air, and at sea. So, in defense of national security, is it okay for a government to...
When Privacy and Security Collide

When Privacy and Security Collide

The US president, Barack Obama, attended a cyber security summit at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California in February. Around the same time he signed an executive order designed to encourage companies to share threat information with each other, and with the...