The deadline is nearly a year away, but time flies, so be mindful of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security deadline for obtaining REAL ID identification to enter federal facilities, nuclear power plants or commercial airplanes at federally regulated airports. A Security Today post makes clear that gaining REAL ID can be taxing to obtain […]
It’s been a year, indeed, for computer-based security scams, the KnowBe4 blog reports. “Scamming incidents have increased by 519% in 2020 compared to last year,” Stu Sjouwerman reports, “according to researchers at Baltimore-based ZeroFOX. The researchers compared their own data to a recent report from the Federal Trade Commission, which found that scams on social […]
The Department of Homeland Security has issued an assessment of threats to U.S. national security and there are seven clusters of them, too many, actually. Here’s the categories: 1. Cyber Threat to the Homeland – Based in our computers and information technology. 2. Foreign Influence Activity – “Russia remains the number one threat to US […]
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently hosted one of its periodic Digital Forums on Terrorism Prevention for Atlanta-based civil society leaders The aim is “to combat terrorist use of the internet”. “Digital Forums on Terrorism Prevention,” DHS explains, “bring community leaders and tech companies together to build the capacity of credible voices against terrorism […]
Police departments could benefit from adding training in soft skills, like emotional intelligence, to reduce their reliance on deadly force, Matthew Eldridge on the InPublicSafety blog suggests. “Soft skills,” Eldridge explains, “are often defined as people skills or skills, abilities, and traits that pertain to personality, attitudes, and behavior rather than to formal and technical […]
Know your office telephone system and its emergency communication capabilities, if it has them. That’s the advice of SecurityInfoWatch writer Paul Timm, a physical security professional (PSP). “The facilities in which I conduct security assessments typically have excellent telephone systems,” Timm notes. “When I ask an employee about the emergency communication capabilities, however, that person […]
What’s the value in information security? Nigel Sampson on The State of Security blog notes that, although business boards are pushing back on cybersecurity investments, “executives do not understand that one successful phishing email could cost the company millions of dollars.” (Phishing, Wikipedia explains, “is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information or data, such […]
Businesses mostly have been holding their own against cybersecurity attacks during the pandemic, Robert Lemos on the DarkReading blog reports. There has been an increase in attacks, yes. “Yet, advises Lemos, “the increase in attacks has not led to an increase in breaches, with 16% of firms experiencing a breach in the past 12 months […]
So-called ‘superspreader events’ are a big cause of coronavirus infections. What are they? In Homeland Security advises that they occur “when a single person infects a large number of other people, or when a gathering is linked to a large number of cases”. “There’s no rule for when a cluster of cases is big enough […]
Computer security blogger Graham Cluley calls our attention to the 2020 (ISC)2 Security Congress which is being held entirely online this year. “Yup, it’s the same great content as always, but from the comfort of your own PC, without having to worry about any health concerns or battle any travel restrictions your company may have […]