Category Archives: Internet Security
Citing coronavirus disruptions, PhishCloud offers year of free service to prevent phishing scams – GeekWire
Some of the members of the PhishCloud team, from left to right: Lisa Jensen, front end developer; Kyle Hurst, co-founder and chief technology officer; William Floyd, product developer; and Terry McCorkle, founder and CEO. Not pictured: Brian Reyes, UX design, and Andrew Klein, acting chief financial officer. (PhishCloud Photo)
Phishing scams have evolved well beyond the Nigerian prince email ruse that for more than two decades has duped people into wiring cash abroad. Phishing solicitations trick unsuspecting recipients into sending money, sharing passwords and financial information, and installing malicious software. It arrives via email, ads, social media sites, chat tools and embedded in documents.
A Seattle-based startup called PhishCloud is helping businesses and their employees identify and avoid these common cyberattacks. The service analyzes and scores all of the links that subscribers come across, flagging them in green for safe links, yellow for suspicious content and red if deemed unsafe. The average internet user sees between 500-1,000 links per week, said PhishCloud CEO and founder Terry McCorkle.
PhishCloud is creating automated tools that anyone can understand and use to protect themselves on the internet, McCorkle said.
And given the unprecedented challenges being faced by businesses due to the novel coronavirus, McCorkle is offering its entry package, called PhishCloud Lite, for free for one year to any company looking for phishing protection.
McCorkle, who has worked in IT and security roles for two decades, launched the company in 2018 with co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Kyle Hurst. McCorkle sold his first company, SpearPoint Security, to California-based Cylance in 2013. PhishCloud is his second startup. Hurst, a long-time Amazon employee, has 21 years of experience in supply chain and program development.
The PhishCloud team has eight employees, including contract and part-time workers.
The product is available by subscription and marketed to business customers. For small-to-medium businesses, the cost is $6 per user, per month. The startup will soon release a more advanced tool for $8 per user, per month, with plans on the horizon for serving larger, enterprise-scale companies.
While many competitors offer security tools, McCorkle said his companys product is unique for providing transparency to users, educating them in real time about which links are dangerous. Instead of requiring employees to forward suspicious links to administrators for review, PhishCloud makes the call for them, saving everyone time for responding to more meaningful security threats.
We believe that empowering people is the solution to building a security-minded culture and stopping phishing, McCorkle said.
We caught up with McCorkle for this Startup Spotlight, a regular GeekWire feature. Continue reading for his answers to our questionnaire.
What does your company do? We engage people in cybersecurity.
PhishCloud provides artificial intelligence to employees to help them detect phishing and internet security threats in real time. By doing so, we simplify management and increase visibility for IT and security teams.
Inspiration hit us when: I was performing red team security assessments, and one of the primary tactics that I used was phishing. It was a very revealing test. There were many times that people realized they had clicked on a phishing attempt, but IT or security teams were to slow to respond. Sometimes they would never respond at all, leading to a full compromise of their network (luckily, it was only a test).
I realized that employees were trained to guess if a message was phishing, but never provided any tools for doing this. More specifically, I realized that IT and security teams could not scale to provide security support to everyone who saw a phishing attack.
After discussing the idea with Kyle, PhishCloud was born.
VC, Angel or Bootstrap: We started as a bootstrapped company and are currently raising an angel round. We have tried to stay lean while we pioneered and patented our technology. Now that we have brought it to the market, we are bringing on outside investors.
Our secret sauce is: People first. We engage people in cybersecurity, which has increased visibility into the threats people face on the internet, gives people a voice in cybersecurity, and allows IT and security teams to respond faster. The key to doing this is our patented, end-point security that is integrated into the applications people use every day. We make detecting phishing as easy as using a traffic light.
The smartest move weve made so far: Finding the right people. We have been lucky to build a fantastic team, including contractors and outsourcing partners.
The biggest mistake weve made so far: As with any startup, we have many. If we were to do this over, we would have started fundraising earlier.
Which leading entrepreneur or executive would you most want working in your corner? There are many people required to build a company, so this is a tough question. We discussed this as a team, and if we had to have just one, it would be Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. He is a visionary and has such amazing ambitions. Were inspired by his continued ability to lead companies that change the world.
Our favorite team-building activity is: We have a good time playing mini-golf and occasionally just hanging out in the office with a drink, talking at the end of the day.
The biggest thing we look for when hiring is: We love to work with people who are driven to succeed, which is important at any startup. The biggest quality we look for is the ability to learn quickly and be creative.
Whats the one piece of advice youd give to other entrepreneurs just starting out: Always be learning.
The Global Software Defined Perimeter Market size is expected to reach $10.7 billion by 2025, rising at a market growth of 23.7% CAGR during the…
New York, April 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Software Defined Perimeter Market By Component By Connectivity By Organization Size By Deployment Type By Region, Industry Analysis and Forecast, 2019 - 2025" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05885924/?utm_source=GNW Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) is a security-based approach that reduces network-based attacks. In this sense, a perimeter is dynamically established on the network to secure data present in the cloud, the demilitarized zone and the data centers. The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the changing patterns of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) are expected to further accelerate growth.
Traditional VPN access is liberal and allows remote workers access to the network, which is not needed to complete the tasks. This results in access to resources and is unreasonably obvious, vulnerable and can be easily targeted. Organizations require additional user communication and implementation through a variety of cloud instances. The cost of VPN or firewall rises immediately with the need for such additional authorizations. VPN also provides versatility and can therefore be used to connect Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs), data centers as well as multiple networks. Nonetheless, this connection costs a lot and is resource-intensive. SDP decreases the costs incurred and eventually drives demand for data security in the infrastructure.
Organizations such as banks and other financial services, healthcare and telecommunications providers, face difficulties in meeting security requirements in virtualized cloud environments. Financial institutions are expected to have a data center with several physical controls. It makes it difficult for financial institutions to use public cloud infrastructure. SDP simplifies these difficulties and allows using public cloud infrastructure when appropriate.
Software-Defined Architecture provides a stringent framework of access for specific resources and applications. There is also a limited threat surface because the target individuals remain hidden and the controller must verify the users. Software-Defined Firewall prevents credential theft, internal network attacks, ransomware, and man-in-the-middle attacks. Major factors driving market growth include a rising need for a policy-based security architecture to minimize network complexity, increase the adoption of cloud-based applications, and a growing need for regulation and enforcement to improve network security.
Based on Component, the market is segmented into Solution and Services. Solution segment is further bifurcated into Access Control, Risk Analytics & Visualization, Performance Management & Reporting, Security Compliance & Policy Management and Others. Based on Connectivity, the market is segmented into End Point, Gateway and Controller. Based on Organization Size, the market is segmented into Large Enterprises and Small & Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Based on Deployment Type, the market is segmented into On Premise and Cloud. Based on Regions, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, Middle East & Africa.
The major strategies followed by the market participants are Acquisitions. Based on the Analysis presented in the Cardinal matrix, Intel Corporation, Verizon Communications, Inc., and Cisco Systems, Inc. are some of the forerunners in the Software Defined Perimeter Market. Companies such as Palo Alto Networks, Inc., Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., and Akamai Technologies, Inc., NortonLifeLock, Inc., Fortinet, Inc., Dell Technologies, Inc., Pulse Secure, LLC are some of the key innovators in Software Defined Perimeter Market.
The market research report covers theanalysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include Cisco Systems, Inc., Palo Alto Networks, Inc., Dell Technologies, Inc., Akamai Technologies, Inc., Fortinet, Inc., Verizon Communications, Inc., Intel Corporation, NortonLifeLock, Inc., Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., and Pulse Secure, LLC.
Recent strategies deployed in Software Defined Perimeter Market
Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements:
Jan-2020: Pulse Secure signed a distribution partnership with SecureWave, a data security and IT infrastructure value-added distributor. Through this partnership, the company aims to increase its sales channels throughout Israel to meet the increasing demand for Zero Trust access security.
Dec-2019: Fortinet announced that Safe-T Group, a provider of secure access solutions has joined the Fortinet Fabric-Ready Technology Alliance Partner program with its Software-Defined Perimeter solution. Through this partnership, the companies aimed at helping the organizations in developing a secure and remote agile unit.
Dec-2019: Pulse Secure announced a distribution partnership with Cloud Distribution, a next-generation value-added distributor. The partnership was aimed at growing its channel community throughout Ireland and the UK for fulfilling the demand of Zero Trust access security.
Feb-2019: Cisco collaborated with Verizon Communications, a telecommunications conglomerate company. Following this collaboration, Verizon aimed at expanding its offerings and its Virtual Network Services also supports 5G devices on Cisco's software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) platform. This made it easier to manage network traffic and application performance across both private and public networks.
Jan-2019: Verizon collaborated with McAfee, a device-to-cloud cybersecurity company. Together, the companies aimed at protecting the home network with the help of Verizon's Home Network Protection (HNP).
Dec-2018: Fortinet collaborated with Symantec, a cybersecurity service provider. Following the collaboration, the companies aimed at delivering strong security solutions throughout the endpoint, network and cloud environments.
Acquisition and Mergers:
Oct-2019: Akamai announced the acquisition of ChameleonX, a provider of AI-powered Runtime Web Application Self-protecting solution. The acquisition provided the former company with a solution, which detects and blocks active attacks without limiting the use of website technologies or impacting the customer experience.
Sep-2019: Akamai took over KryptCo, a security startup. Through the acquisition, the company strengthened its presence in the zero-trust ecosystem.
Jul-2019: Palo Alto took over Twistlock, the leader in container security. The acquisition was aimed at extending its Prisma cloud security strategy. The acquisition extended the company's ability to secure today's modern applications throughout the entire life cycle.
Jun-2019: Cisco acquired Sentryo, a provider of cybersecurity and situation awareness solutions. The acquisition was aimed at maintaining resiliency in industrial networks and ensuring protection against security attacks.
Jun-2019: Palo Alto acquired PureSec, a visionary serverless security company for extending its Prisma cloud security platform.
Mar-2019: Palo Alto completed the acquisition of Demisto, a security operations platform. The acquisition expanded its security platform Cortex.
Mar-2019: Verizon took over ProtectWise, a company providing cloud-delivered Network Detection and Response. The acquisition enabled the former company to develop its product offering in Network Detection and Response.
Feb-2019: NortonLifeLock acquired Luminate Security to enhance the capabilities of Symantec's Integrated Cyber Defense Platform through integrating it with Luminate's Secure Access Cloud technology for accessing applications and workloads.
Jan-2019: Cisco completed the acquisition of Singularity Networks, a Network Analytics Company. The acquisition strengthened its business by improving network performance.
Jan-2019: Check Point acquired ForceNock Security Ltd., a security startup. This acquisition bolstered the security business of the former company.
Jan-2019: Akamai acquired Janrain to deliver security solutions against malicious and fraudulent activities by combining Janrain's Identity Cloud with the Akamai Intelligent Edge Platform.
Nov-2018: Verizon announced that it has acquired PrecisionAccess solution and other Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) related assets from Vidder, Inc. The addition of these assets into Verizon would enable it in helping the organizations in protecting application infrastructure against cyber threats.
Oct-2018: Cisco has acquired Duo Security for addressing new security perimeter. The acquisition boosted Cisco's position in the SDP market and the acquisition would accelerate its intent-based networking strategy and expanding endpoint visibility coverage.
Oct-2018: Check Point completed the acquisition of Dome9, a provider of security and compliance solutions. The acquisition enhanced its cloud security solution offerings.
Oct-2018: Palo Alto acquired RedLock, a developer of internet security software. The acquisition was aimed at expanding its leadership in security solutions.
Product Launches and Product Expansions:
Mar-2020: Fortinet introduced the FortiGate 1800F Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) powered by NP7, the company's seventh-generation network processor. This gateway has been launched for enabling the enterprises in achieving true internal segmentation as well as performance, scale, detection, and enforcement capabilities.
Feb-2020: Intel unveiled four new security capabilities. These capabilities include application isolation, VM and container isolation, full memory encryption, and Intel platform firmware resilience.
Oct-2019: Check Point launched new 1500 series security gateways for SMBs. These gateways would set new standards of protection against the most advanced fifth-generation cyberattacks and would deliver unrivaled ease of deployment and management.
Oct-2019: NortonLifeLock launched Symantec Endpoint Security (SES), a new platform. This platform has been designed for delivering detection, protection, and response in a single agent installation.
Sep-2019: Dell launched the next generation of its foundational Data Domain data protection portfolio, the new Dell EMC PowerProtect DD series of appliances. The company also announced Dell EMC PowerProtect software enhancements and PowerProtect Cyber Recovery enhancements. These products simplify and provide operational efficiencies for data protection for multi-cloud workloads.
Aug-2019: Dell together with VMware, a software company announced advancements in software-defined networking. These advancements enable the company to lower the cost of networking in today's multi-cloud world.
Jul-2019: Check Point introduced 16000 Plus and 26000 Turbo, two new security gateway appliances that help the organizations in adopting cloud technologies efficiently and securely for transforming digitally.
Jul-2019: NortonLifeLock introduced a new cloud access security solution. This solution helps in securing cloud and internet access and use in an enterprise environment.
Jun-2019: Check Point released CloudGuard Log.ic, a new security analytics solution to deliver cloud-native security intelligence and threat protection.
Jun-2019: Fortinet introduced the Secure SD-Branch platform. This platform has been designed for securing the WAN and access edge, as well as enabling security-driven networking for distributed enterprises.
May-2019: Palo Alto launched Prisma, a cloud security suite. This suite helps the company's customers in leading a more secure digital life.
Jan-2019: Check Point introduced Maestro, a hyper-scale network security solution that delivers flexible cloud-level security platforms to businesses.
Scope of the Study
Market Segmentation:
By Component
Solution
o Access Control
o Risk Analytics & Visualization
o Performance Management & Reporting
o Security Compliance & Policy Management
o Others
Services
By Connectivity
End Point
Gateway
Controller
By Organization Size
Large Enterprises
Small & Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
By Deployment Type
On Premise
Cloud
By Geography
North America
o US
o Canada
o Mexico
o Rest of North America
Europe
o Germany
o UK
o France
o Russia
o Spain
o Italy
o Rest of Europe
Asia Pacific
o China
o Japan
o India
o South Korea
o Singapore
o Malaysia
o Rest of Asia Pacific
LAMEA
o Brazil
o Argentina
o UAE
o Saudi Arabia
o South Africa
o Nigeria
o Rest of LAMEA
Companies Profiled
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Palo Alto Networks, Inc.
Dell Technologies, Inc.
Akamai Technologies, Inc.
Fortinet, Inc.
Women are essential helpers during crises but they need access to the internet | TheHill – The Hill
Stay-at-home orders in free countries, and lockdowns in those that arent free, are having profound consequences for international peace and security. While humanitarian leaders grapple with emergency response to the COVID-19 crisis, human rights leaders should be using this moment to call for lifting restrictions on fundamental rights such as internet freedom.
World leaders have rightly seized on the COVID-19 crisis to negotiate a global ceasefire. They also need to restore basic freedoms to keep a ceasefire in effect. In countries with fragile peace, such as South Sudan, or those under newly proposed ceasefires, such as Yemen, the need for communication is keen.
The virus is hampering communication such as womens networks that have helped to disrupt terrorist cells, counter violent extremism, and resolve disputes through nonviolent mediation and negotiation. Government-enforced lockdowns in some countries have torn away this part of the social fabric.
In humanitarian crises, women are essential to securing and sharing aid for families and communities, informing others, alerting to dangers, mediating disputes, reconciling differences. Congress recognized this in the Women Peace and Security Act of 2017. The law acknowledged that guaranteeing womens fundamental freedoms results in more inclusive and democratic societies and is critical to the long-term stability of countries and regions. We need these more than ever.
Today, every country is in crisis or on the verge of it. The U.S. economy went from unprecedented growth to full stop. We shield our eyes from how our children and grandchildren will pay back bailouts. We live online in our work and fragile social circles. We network to help the newly unemployed, the elderly and vulnerable, and to educate our children. Now imagine living in a country in lockdown and without internet freedom.
The global recession may destabilize societies for years to come. Womens economic participation, on the other hand, raises household income and national GDPs. The White House recognized this in its Women in Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, which has doubled its investment to $1 billion in its first year. A bipartisan bill in Congress seeks to double the investment again. Its sponsors argue, correctly, that womens free participation in the marketplace strengthens and pacifies nations and regions, a U.S. national security priority. And with businesses closed, internet access can help women to remain productive.
The U.S. Women Peace and Security Strategy pledged to promote the protection of women and girls human rights, access to aid, and safety from violence, abuse and exploitation around the world. This is no time to go wobbly. Women need access to alert authorities to dangers in and around the home to, and from, those in lockdown with them.
Governments may suspend some human rights during crisis and conflict. Not so humanitarian principles, which are specific to crisis and war. Protecting women, even in a health crisis, is still required. Access to information, and the ability to communicate freely, are essential.
The COVID-19 crisis is exposing the asymmetry of information freedom. Beijing was free to condemn feminist activists Ai Xiaoming and Guo Jing publicly for publishing their diaries from Wuhan abroad. The women were not free to publish them at home or defend themselves from the government. Human rights leaders and policymakers who are huddled around home computers for panel discussions must not forget that rights belong to everyone. The silence is disconcerting.
The crisis also has exposed the alarming failure of global health institutions in their core mission. Thats even more reason to democratize health information. Pregnant women all over the world are reaching full term and going into labor. Babies wont be locked down, yet travel and a hospital visit incurs an added threat of encountering a death-dealing virus for mother, child and companions. More than ever, women need access to online support and, if necessary, coaching in childbirth.
Seizing this moment to lift restrictions on freedom of speech is not a test of a political agenda. It is not a test of what human rights or humanitarian principles trump in a crisis. It is a reminder of why we value those freedoms. They are the only hope of helping to prevent the next crisis, and the one after that. Had the world more timely and accurate information about the novel coronavirus and its effects at its earliest stages, after all, how different matters might be today.
Internet freedom can never replace the unique power of womens networking quiet commiserations over tea, forgiving embraces, visits in haste to rescue, share or offer encouragement. All that, like our economies, has come to a halt. But until genuine human networking can resume, world leaders must use this crisis to insist that nations lift restrictions on information freedom.
Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D., is founder and president of the American Council on Women, Peace and Security. Follow her on Twitter @susan_yoshihara.
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Women are essential helpers during crises but they need access to the internet | TheHill - The Hill
How To Browse The Internet Privately on Your Phone (Our #1 Tips) – Know Your Mobile
If youre using Chrome or Safari, even in Private/Incognito mode, your data is being logged and recorded. If you want to browse the internet privately on your phone, youll need a couple of things
Your phone, whether iPhone or Android, stores and shares all kinds of data about you from browsing cookies about your browsing history to your location via apps like Tinder and Google Maps. If you own a phone, youre on the grid and that means youre trackable. In more ways than one.
Theres not much you can do about this, and you shouldnt be too concerned about it either unless youre doing illegal stuff. For 99.9% of people, Internet security isnt something that should keep you awake at night, however, there are a bunch of things you can do to ensure youre safer when browsing the web especially on public WiFi networks.
And the first port of call is getting a VPN.
Why do you need a VPN? Simple: a VPN will keep ALL your internet activity completely anonymous, so whether youre downloading torrents via PirateBay or browsing Facebook and chatting to friends, whatever you do will be completely hidden no ISP, government snoop, or hacker will be able to view your activity or data.
And when it comes to VPNs, youll want to use a quality provider I use NordVPN because it offers military-grade encryption, its super-fast, and it is has a 100% no-logs policy, meaning it doesnt log, track, or store any of your data, unlike free VPNs which track and share your data with third-parties like advertisers and marketing companies.
Dont scrimp on your VPN, go with the best and know that youre 100% covered from all angles. Anything less and youll be left exposed.
How do you browse the web in a completely anonymous manner, without your ISP, or anybody else for that matter, knowing what youre doing? Again, the simplest way to do this is using a VPN; it hides your IP and masks all your activities, so no one not the government nor your internet service provider will be able to monitor and/or track your browsing activity online.
This is why people that download a lot of P2P and torrents use VPNs. They do it because not only does a VPN allow you to get around web restrictions, like blocked sites (think PirateBay), but it also ensures that you can then download media (legal and illegal) without getting caught. Basically, if you DO use torrents in 2020, and youre not using a VPN, youre leaving yourself wide open to some pretty serious expose
Chrome, like a lot of browsers, has a private browsing mode; Chromes is called Incognito Mode. But how incognito is Googles Incognito Mode? As it turns out, not that much your data and activity are still accessible by your ISP, even when using Incognito Mode.
Using Incognito Mode will prevent anyone on your network from seeing your browsing history, but it will not stop your ISP from viewing what youve been looking at. And if your IP is traceable, your data can be extracted and sold to the highest bidder (advertisers).
On top of this, the government can also force your ISP to hand over your data too.
The ONLY way to get around this is to use a VPN. This is the #1 reason why millions of people use them in the first place; its not because they have something to hide, but because they dont want billion-dollar corporations like Google using their online activities to make money. And I can totally get behind that.
If you have an Android phone or an iPhone and you want to get away from Google and Apple and Microsoft, you do have another way of browsing the web. Its called DuckDuckGo and it is basically the ANTI-GOOGLE; it doesnt track or store any data about you and its search results have been shown to be more, how should I say this less politically-motivated than Googles
If you want to browse the web completely anonymously, your best bet is DuckDuckGo combined with a VPN like NordVPN. Having these two things combined will ensure that NO ONE, not your ISP, the feds, or Google, will be able to track, monitor, and access any past records of what youve been doing online. Again, just make sure you dont use a free VPN; theyre terrible and will use your data to make money.
If youre keen on upping your security and online privacy in 2020 (and you really should be), your best bet is using a VPN (we recommend NordVPN; its fast, secure, and 100% no-logs) when youre accessing the web on unsecured networks basically, when youre out of your home and using public WiFi and mobile data.
You wont need it active] all the time, just when you want to access things that your mobile data provider blocks P2P sites, certain websites, and content that is locked to a specific region. At home, you can use a VPN to unlock things like Netflix and Disney+, accessing their full US catalog of content.
Ditto for US-exclusive services like HULU.
And if you dont want Google, Apple, or Microsoft mining your data for profit, stop using their browsers. Go with DuckDuckGo instead. Its totally free, they dont track or store anything about you, and its search engine, while not quite as sophisticated as Googles, is ideal for 90% of search queries. In fact, in some cases, it is preferable.
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How To Browse The Internet Privately on Your Phone (Our #1 Tips) - Know Your Mobile
Faster Internet and protection against cyberattacks: UPC Business offers customers free additional services during the coronavirus crisis -…
UPC operates the largest and strongest broadband network in Switzerland. With the current extension, fibre optic connections make up 97 percent of the UPC network. Thanks to the closely woven fibre optic network, a wide variety of locations throughout Switzerland can be connected to each other using the shortest possible route and redundantly. This unique network infrastructure is of great importance for Switzerland as a business location, both in the current situation and in view of accelerating digitisation.
Internet bandwidths increased to the maximum possible
Internet speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s are available throughout UPC's coverage area. In the fibre optic network, UPC can provide business services with bandwidths of up to several Tbit/s. In order to support its customers with the massive increase in teleworking and to ensure flawless connectivity, UPC Business is now proactively increasing Internet bandwidths to the maximum possible at no extra cost until the end of May 2020. Marco Quinter, Managing Director Business Services: "UPC Business is aware of its great responsibility and is doing everything necessary to optimally support its customers in these uncertain times. We are conducting intensive dialogues with our customers so that their needs can be covered as quickly and comprehensively as possible."
Protection against cyberattacks even when working from home
UPC Business has observed a sharp increase in cybercriminal activity since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis. Teleworking is a weak spot that attackers are currently exploiting on a large scale. Companies therefore need an Internet security service that reliably protects computers from cyberattacks everywhere, whether they are using the company network, working from home or on the road.
In addition to the bandwidth upgrade, UPC Business is offering its customers the Business Secure Web security service free of charge until the end of July 2020. Business Secure Web is a cloud service that effectively protects companies, including their teleworking employees, from infections and prevents attacks. The service can be activated with little effort and
updates itself automatically. Another advantage: using Business Secure Web does not affect the speed of your Internet connection.
Faster Internet and comprehensive protection against cyberattacks: with UPC's broadband network, companies are optimally equipped for the next surge in digitisation.
Media representatives are welcome to contact us for more information:UPCMedia RelationsSwitzerlandTel. +41 58 388 99 99media.relations@upc.ch@UPC_Switzerland
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Faster Internet and protection against cyberattacks: UPC Business offers customers free additional services during the coronavirus crisis -...
Teaching your kids to surf the internet safely – The Star Online
The internet is a wonderful place to learn and search for information, connect with friends, be entertained, and create opportunities for ourselves and others.
Yet, the virtual world is also a dangerous place.
It is filled with online threats, e.g. cyberbullying, scams/fraud, identity theft, viruses/malware, harmful/illicit content, digital piracy, sexual predators, fake news, etc.
However, we should not avoid this amazing resource out of fear of what might happen.
Instead, we should teach our kids (and ourselves) the importance of cyber-security and protecting our privacy/data.
Cyber-security is important as many things are now done online.
However, due to convenience, we may neglect our data/privacy security, and this can cost us financially, psychologically, and even physically.
Here are some useful tips to teach your kids and keep them safe online:
Educate yourself first
Stay updated with the latest news and alerts on internet safety.
Install antivirus software on your computers and smartphones and update them with the latest security patches regularly.
Discuss the dos and donts
As your kids start to use the internet, discuss what is proper online behaviour.
Highlight that the online world mirrors the real world and remind them: If you wouldnt do it face to face, dont do it online.
Many employers and university admissions offices do look at social media profiles when researching applicants to get a truer picture of that person.
It is therefore wise to showcase ones personality and character fairly through the use of social media.
Be their friend online
Know what social media sites your kids are using and connect with them on those sites.
They should be able to share comfortably with both their friends and you. This allows you to monitor their activities.
Remind them that everything online is captured forever
So they should avoid posting revealing or embarrassing pictures, and always remember to be respectful and responsible when posting comments.
Remind them that what goes online might still be found even after deleting it.
Be aware of cyberbullies
If your kids are bullied online, encourage them to ask for help from yourself, older siblings or teachers.
They do not need to handle the situation alone.
Dont share fake news
Teach them not to share contents that are hot, controversial or viral as they may be fake news.
They should always verify the information first.
Under the Anti-Fake News Act, knowingly creating and spreading fake news is a crime in Malaysia.
Create strong passwords
Help your kids create sensible passwords with a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols, of at least eight characters in length.
Never use a real name, user name, birth date or mobile number.
Ideally, they should use different passwords for each email, social media or other online accounts they have.
Be careful with personal information
Teach them not to put sensitive or personally identifiable information online or give it to strangers.
Anyone can claim to be someone else online, so they should not trust easily.
They should also avoid posting regular locations (school, after-school activities, etc) or tagging their current location, as this gives child predators ready access to their location.
Better yet, turn off their location services.
Demonstrate to them how to use antivirus software or detect suspicious phishing websites, which may steal account passwords or other confidential information (e.g. by offering free stuff or with a clone website).
Teach them that generally, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Be careful on public WiFi
As nothing is private when using public WiFi, anyone using it is vulnerable to cybercriminals viewing or stealing your information.
Teach your children that it is safer to perform sensitive transactions (e.g. online banking) on secured networks using your mobile data service.
Check your apps
Only install applications (apps) from trustworthy sources, and read user reviews and ratings before downloading.
Teach your children to read the privacy policy before installing to consider how much personal information and phone access the app requires.
Free apps may only be free for a limited time and will start charging after the trial period.
Consider parental controls
As parents, you have the right to impose limits on your kids online access.
You may install parental control apps to filter online content, set rules and time schedules on device usage, and block pornography and other unsuitable content.
To be safe online, equip your kid with internet literacy to face the world.
After all, we may not be there to guide them all the time.
By teaching them these guidelines, you can increase the safety and benefit of having the world at their fingertips.
Alexius Cheang is a behavioural psychologist. This article is courtesy of the Malaysian Paediatric Associations Positive Parenting programme in collaboration with expert partners. For further information, please email starhealth@thestar.com.my. The information provided is for educational and communication purposes only and it should not be construed as personal medical advice. Information published in this article is not intended to replace, supplant or augment a consultation with a health professional regarding the readers own medical care. The Star does not give any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to the content appearing in this column. The Star disclaims all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.
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Teaching your kids to surf the internet safely - The Star Online
No, the Internet Is Not Good Again – The Atlantic
The early promise of the webthat it would be a place for ingenuity and shared knowledgehas been glimmering for everyone to notice. Though just months ago we were a couple of solid years into a big-tech backlash, each day bringing new questions about the surreal powers of companies such as Facebook and Google and Apple, today we feel grateful to have them, and blessed to use their products for most of our waking hours.
Read: Theres no Zoom party like a college Zoom party
The coronavirus crisis is showing us how to live online, The New York Times Kevin Roose argued, as states directed residents not to leave their home. After spending years using technologies that mostly seemed to push us apart, the coronavirus crisis is showing us that the internet is still capable of pulling us together, he wrote. Has coronavirus made the internet better? The New York Times Jenna Wortham asked a couple of weeks later, concluding that it had.
Its a tempting thought, but a premature one. Major platforms are struggling to adapt to enormous amounts of additional activity and strange new use cases. Moderation decisions that were difficult under the best of circumstances, with people responsible for them, are now being made by artificial intelligence. Platforms that had big user bases now have huge user bases, making the exploitation of security flaws far more worthwhile. Companies that were hoovering up our personal data when we spent eight hours a day on our phones are now in touch with our most intimate anxieties and desires around the clock. The internet feels better only because its all we haveand all the pressure were putting on it may, ultimately, make things worse.
As stay-at-home orders rolled out across the country, Facebook announced that it would send workers home, including content moderators, explaining that many of them would be unable to do their jobs at home for various reasons: The data they look at are sensitive, and shouldnt be pulled up on a home network, the jobs they perform are emotionally taxing and require on-site resources, etc. Some human moderators are still working, but Facebook, along with other major internet platforms such as YouTube and Twitter, announced that it would be relying far more on artificial intelligence than before, which it acknowledged would lead to mistakes.
AI content moderation has a lot of limitations. Its a blunt instrument solving a problem that has endless permutations, and it can produce both false negatives and false positives. A computer can deduce a lot about a video or a sentence: how many people have seen it, which IP addresses are sharing it, what its been tagged as, how many times its been reported, whether it matches with already-known illegal content. What its not doing is looking, and itself making a decision, says Sarah T. Roberts, an internet-governance researcher at UCLA. Thats what a human can do. As a result, moderation algorithms are likely to over-police in some contexts, over-moderate in some contexts, and leave some other areas virtually uncovered, Roberts told me. All of the benefit of having the human moderation team, their cognitive ability, their sense-making ability, their ability to deal with a whole host of types of content, not just the ones for which they were expressly designed, and so on, get lost.
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No, the Internet Is Not Good Again - The Atlantic
Cyberattacks on endpoints will rise by up to 40 per cent unless we act quickly – Techerati
Whether its organised cyber-criminals for whom the current health crisis has just broadened their attack landscape, or malevolent opportunistic hackers with time on their hands, theres no doubting the rise in cyberattacks in recent weeks.
Every day we are seeing reports of phishing and hacking attempts which have grown with the enforcement of remote working.
Sad as it is to acknowledge, despite every kind deed we witness during this period, the world is full of people with no good intent and we are inadvertently opening the backdoor and inviting them in. What is more, we can stop this, and we need to do it now.
The main issue is that the workforce, by setting up at home, has moved away from the security blanket of the workplace. In many cases employees are relying on personal laptops, home computers, possibly shared computers, and even mobile phones to connect with their corporate networks. These endpoints are notoriously vulnerable, with as many as 42% being unprotected at any given time, according to the Absolute 2019 Global Endpoint Security Trend Report. With so many people using compromised devices, a weak link in the security chain is being prised open, and this could cause potentially devastating damage to businesses at what is already a very testing time.
Most enterprises have little or no control over what software is running on the endpoints their employees are using at home, or what programmes have previously been executed, and the rush to set up from home and protect the health of workers has left them with limited options for checking and addressing any deficiencies. Some will be using anti-virus or internet security software, but for employers theres no knowing whether its up to date, or indeed sufficient to protect them, particularly when they are then logging in to the corporate network. For this reason, during the course of the coronavirus crisis, we believe that cyber attacks on endpoints will rise by between 30 and 40%.
One particular danger is phishing attacks. Researchers have reported that hundreds of thousands of spear phishing attacks have been launched. These include emails from bogus delivery companies offering an update on how coronavirus is impacting its operations, through to scammers posing as representatives of the World Health Organisation asking the potential victim to click on a link or open an attachment. Of course, if the attachment is opened, malware including Emotet, NanoCore and Azorult can be installed, which gives attackers the opportunity not only to steal personal data, but to also gain backdoor access into corporate networks.
Another problem is with ransomware. Just this week, the Sodinokibi ransomware has tried to exploit a vulnerability with one particular virtual private network (VPN), which despite being patched quickly, was not fast enough to stop people from being targeted. VPNs are increasingly being used by enterprises to stop the corporate network from being exposed to the public internet, but any chink in the armour that allows malicious code to bypass perimeter security controls is dangerous.
Security companies, including ourselves, are doing everything they can to try and help businesses and their employees prevent and manage the onslaught. The challenge is that none of us know where the next attack will come from, and its very difficult to educate our new remote workforce, accustomed to the stringent security of their corporate infrastructure, in how to protect themselves.
Our advice to organisations is to use security solutions that are specifically designed to protect data entry on Bring-Your-Own-Device and unmanaged devices, particularly into remote access apps like Citrix, VMWare, Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD), web browsers, Microsoft Office applications and VPNs. Browsers that access the corporate network should be locked down, including URL whitelisting, enforced certificate checking and enforced https. This is just a baseline of security, but it will deliver sufficient protection to ward off most attacks.
When it comes to phishing, we take a slightly different approach to most companies, but one which protects against a new phishing attack from the instant it goes live. Phishing pages look to the average user like a real login page. We have created a digital fingerprint of the typical target login pages, which are usually well-known banks, online shopping sites, payment services, etc. When employees are surfing the internet, our software compares each page they visit against our set of digital fingerprints. If theres a match we check to see whether its genuine. If it fails this check, its flagged as a phishing site and is blocked from loading. This technique works as soon as a new phishing attack is launched, and is therefore proactive in the sense that it doesnt need prior knowledge of the phishing attack before its effective.
With attacks ramping up, its important for enterprises to identify endpoint security solutions that can be deployed rapidly within 24 hours and which do not involve specially configured software or hardware a simple download and install from pre-configured software is a better option. This means selecting proven anti-keylogging software that can protect every keystroke into any application and prevent screen-scraping malware from stealing credentials and sensitive corporate data. Its also important that there is access to a portal that allows simple configuration by administrators.
Even in normal times we face an ongoing battle with cyber-criminals. The coronavirus crisis has just seen inordinate numbers come crawling out of the woodwork, intent on exploiting the vulnerabilities presented by people working from home. Help is out there however, and its important to source this, and deploy the right solution as quickly as possible to keep risk at bay.
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Cyberattacks on endpoints will rise by up to 40 per cent unless we act quickly - Techerati
RBR’s CyberPatriots Continue their Winning Ways – The Two River Times
LITTLE SILVER If it was a sports team, the Red Bank Regional CyberPatriots would have paraded through town amid endless media attention. While not a traditional sport, there is a scoreboard for the six-person team that competes in the world of cybersecurity. And the numbers dont lie.
Competing in three stages in an international competition that is organized by the U.S. Air Force, RBRs top team, dubbed The Swashbucklers, finished as the state champion in New Jersey and 32nd out of over 6,200 teams from North America.
Three stages throughout the school year gave the team a real-world set of problems to solve in a six-hour window. The Bucs team looks for vulnerabilities within machines using four operating systems, Windows, Windows Server 2019, Ubuntu and Debian, and answers forensic questions.
CyberPatriot is a great opportunity because it encourages us to consult guidelines and recommendations actual security experts use, junior Connor Costic said. We read countless hours of documentation from the Center of Internet Security as well as the Department of Defenses Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs).
Red Bank Regional has been at the forefront of cybersecurity, winning the first open CyberPatriots national championship in 2011 with 678 teams competing. In 2017, RBR placed second in the nation against 4,404 teams. With four juniors and two sophomores, the entire Swashbucklers team is back next year, determined to qualify for the Top 12 national finals in the nations capital.
Our goal for next year is to make it to nationals, junior Luke Chrampanis said. We all definitely share the desire and that is apparent in our commitment. What works in our favor is that we experienced all the rounds up to nationals this year and were better for it.
Like on any team, everyone on the RBR roster has their role to play in getting the assignments done in the quickest time possible with the fewest mistakes. Costic handles Windows Server 2019 while Chrampanis looks after Windows 10. Sean OMara and Dennis Dayan monitor Ubuntu. Matthew Schmitt covers Debian and Cole Zucosky rounds things out with Cisco networking. The Swashbucklers work well together and put in the extra time that pays off with great results when its time to compete. Led by teacher and coach Jeremy Milonas, the team has gone above and beyond a weekly meeting.
Were a very dedicated team. Every weekend we meet for 3-4 hours doing lots of research and creating new strategies, Costic said. It doesnt just end there. At home and in school we take it a step further and try to automate the process and free up time to work on more difficult challenges.
The global cybersecurity market is currently worth $173 billion and is forecasted to reach $270 billion by 2026 according to the Australian Cyber Security Growth Network.
I feel this experience is so important because each of us will begin with a strong head start in the cybersecurity field, Chrampanis said.
Business leaders of any size know the importance of cybersecurity and Red Bank Regional is producing elite talent in this rapidly expanding field.
This article originally appeared in the April 9th, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
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RBR's CyberPatriots Continue their Winning Ways - The Two River Times
The Weaponization of Dogs on the Internet – Lawfare
In 1993, Pete Steiner published the New Yorkers most reproduced cartoon of all time: A mutt on a computer commenting to a fellow hound, On the Internet, nobody knows youre a dog.
At the time, Steiners cartoon captured an amusing point about the early days of going online, and how hard it was to figure out who was really who. Twenty-seven years later, those dogs are long-dead (because dog years), yet the cartoon is truer than ever.
If anything, the problem has gotten worse. In 2020, dogs on the internet are being actively weaponized. Identity is the most commonly exploited attack vector used to breach systems and commit cybercrimes. A report published in 2019 showed that more than 80 percent of breaches could be traced to some sort of compromised digital identity. More recently, dogs on the internet have been exploited by foreign adversaries to interfere in our democracy through social media manipulation.
There is a reason why we are still struggling with this issue 27 years later: Its a very hard problem to solve. But we are getting closer to some useful answers and, with some timely investments in digital identity infrastructure, we can make a dent in the problem.
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As the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) pointed out in a 2017 publication:
Digital identity presents a technical challenge because this process often involves proofing individuals over an open network, and always involves the authentication of individual subjects over an open network . The processes and technologies to establish and use digital identities offer multiple opportunities for impersonation and other attacks.
The problem has only been exacerbated by recent events. As the United States shifts to social distancing because of the coronavirus, the challenges with dogs on the internet are taking on new, more complex dimensions:
But it doesnt have to be this way. Indeed, most of our peerssuch as Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the European Uniondo not have the same problems (at least not to the same degree as we do). As a March 24 European Commission announcement boasted:
Thanks to the trust enablers eID and the eIDAS regulation, citizens do not need to leave their homes to interact with public administrations, they do not have to meet face-to-face to sign or even mail documents. In times of crisis, this is another way to achieve social distancing.
Why is the U.S. so far behind? While our international peers have invested in digital identity solutions, our federal and state governments have stayed stubbornly rooted to paper and plastic credentials.
In the governments absence, industry has tried to fill the gap. They have built products such as knowledge-based verification (KBV) as an alternative to government-verified identity. But KBV can get you only so farand today attackers often know the answers to the questions in KBV quizzes, just as they know the last four digits of your Social Security number. As attackers have caught up with these solutionsand identity fraud has risenit has become clear that there is no substitute for the unique role that government plays as the authoritative source conferring legal identity.
The governments unique role in identity verification arises because it has proved to be in the best position to address our challenges and make identity better. Not by issuing a national ID but by allowing consumers to request the government to stand behind the paper and plastic credentials it already issues in the physical world.
As Congress and the Trump administration prepare to consider a fourth coronavirus stimulus bill, they should recognize that most of the economy has shifted to a digital basis and invest in foundational building blocks of digital infrastructure. Digital identity is one such building block.
Where should the government focus? Echoing recommendations from the Better Identity Coalition, we offer three suggestions.
First, the government should establish a Federal Digital Identity Task Force (with sufficient funding) assigned to craft and implement a government-wide approach to digital identity. Today, some agencies dabble in digital identity solutionseither for supporting their own online services or for providing limited data-validation tools for the private sectorbut there is no coordinated approach. What is needed is leadership, a government-wide approach for agencies to stand up new privacy-enhanced identity-validation services rooted in consumer consent, along with seed money (we estimate that no more than $50 million is necessary, which is a pittance in the post-pandemic world) for agencies to establish new digital identity services.
Second, NIST should create a Digital Identity Framework to ensure that any government agency, be it at the federal, state, or local level, can follow a standard approach to creating digital identity services that is secure, is designed around the needs of consumers and protects their privacy. This, too, will require only modest funding.
The idea of government taking a bigger role in digital identity raises concerns about the impact new identity services might have on security and privacy. The best way to mitigate these concerns is to make sure that any deployed services follow standards that set a high bar for security and privacy, thereby making sure new identity tools preserve privacy and empower consumers rather than create risks.
Third, yet more money. (Yes, it is a theme, but the benefits are so great that we think it worthwhile.) The federal government should fund new grants to the states for digital identity. The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is the one place where almost every adult American goes through a robust, in-person identity-proofing process that is based on a federal standard (REAL ID). DMVs are ideally suited to help improve identity through mobile drivers license applications and other identity-validation services. But they have antiquated infrastructure, and DMVs dont have an incentive to focus on these issues.
These new grants could provide up to a billion dollars in seed money over five years to help states start to invest in closing the identity gapby rolling out new mobile drivers licenses and other digital identity solutions. Dollars could be spent only on solutions that implement the NIST Framework, thereby ensuring that federal investment fund systems set a high bar for privacy and security, and are interoperable across states.
While this is a large investment, the security and efficiency benefits to the country will be significant. States can leverage these solutions to enable more trusted online services, cut down on fraudulent benefits claims and protect citizen information. And by allowing their residents to ask the state to vouch for them online when they are looking to prove their identity in the private sector, states provide a critical service to businesses that are eager to know if prospective clients are internet dogs or legitimate customers.
* * *
Countless services, including banking, health care, government and e-commerce, depend on knowing who is on the other side of a transaction. In 2020, the ability to offer high-value transactions and services online is being tested more than ever, due in large part to the challenges of proving identity online. The lack of an easy, secure and reliable way for entities to verify identities of people they are dealing with online creates friction in commerce, leads to increased fraud and theft, degrades privacy, and hinders the availability of many services online.
The United States must act to improve identity verification. These three initiatives (a federal task force to lead the effort, standards from NIST and funding to help state DMVs upgrade their technology) will not solve every challenge in the identity space, but they represent three common-sense steps that are practical to implement and will be meaningful in their impact; they will make the state of digital identity better. And they will make the dogs on the internet entertainment, rather than nefarious weapons.
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The Weaponization of Dogs on the Internet - Lawfare