CYBER SECURITY INFORMER - news and tips to help you stay safe online and protect your network

Top 5 Predictions for a Secure Future

What do we really want from cyber security? Better security is the means, not the goal. We want to be safe and not really have to think too hard about how it happened.

In Web Threats Weekly, we talked with representatives from e-commerce site owners, credit unions, colleges, social media companies, web developers other organizations across the spectrum who are all doing good things to provide better security for their employees, customers and business partners. These companies are doing great things that all companies ought to be doing: use a firewall, install anti-virus and anti-spyware software, patch your operating systems, educate your people about security, conduct regular code reviews on all of your web applications, use stronger passwords… all good, all useful.

Now it's time to review the long-term goals we’re striving for. That's what we're doing in our new Cyber Security Informer, which aims to help companies straining in a rapidly-changing cyber-security landscape with expert information to protect their business. 

We're optimistic we can get there.  Here are our Top 5 Predictions for A Secure Future:

1. You and your colleagues can work on your computers without ever dealing with weird pop-ups on your screen, corrupted files or grindingly slow performance. Also, your monitor always has a pleasant lemon-pine scent.

2. Your bank account is your bank account. No scammers, phishers or other fraudsters have access to your money. And of course, you have enough money to actually do something worthwhile, like buying one of those eco-friendly flying cars you've seen advertised on TV (we ARE predicting the future, after all).

3. You can prepare to go on your next business trip with that big New York client and trust that the government’s passport office keeps your information secure. Not only that, but your passport can take you to any country you want, because world peace and love of humanity has been achieved in every country except Belgium - and there are promising signs of detente from Brussels.

4. Your private health information stays private. No worrying about whether hospital records were stolen. Of course, you won't really need to register your data with a hospital after a breakthrough in genetic tinkering makes everyone young and healthy and living in California.

5. You, your colleagues, your customers and your Aunt Mabel can pay for stuff online knowing credit card information won’t used by ID thieves going on a shopping spree.  Plus, there are online Boxing Day sales every day.

Our vision of a secure future is pretty simple, really. We just want our computers to work the way they should. We want our money where we left it. When we do share our information with organizations we trust, we want that information protected like they say it will be protected. And we don’t want to have to think about it.

It’s really not too much to ask. We're confident we'll get there.

In the next issue of Cyber Security Informer, we’ll be continuing to profile organizations that are helping make the world a more secure place. If your organization is doing its part to build a more secure future by protecting partners, customers, website visitors and application users from cyber crime, contact us today. 

Identity Management Workshop at Massive Tech Show

Identity Management can be a critical part of a business, empowering employees while making the organization secure. PCIS President Vaclav Vincalek presents a workshop, "IDENTITY MANAGEMENT: What you need to know as a responsible business owner, executive, or department head" at the Massive Technology Show in Vancouver next week.

The workshop happens at UBC Robson Square in Room C225, Meeting Room Level on April 1 from 3:30-4:20 pm.

Building effective IDM involves making critical business decisions. How does IDM relate to social media and online identities on LinkedIn and Twitter? Who gives people access? When an employee moves on, what happens to their email, their passwords? How does IDM fit into your overall web and network security strategy? 

Attend this workshop for a hands-on approach to responsible Identity Management within your business. For more information, read the Identity Management workshop summary.

Webinars Security Webinars for IT and risk management experts

The Web Application Security Fundamentals Webinar by PCIS aims to help  the time-and-resource strapped  departments in charge of security cope with a complex and ever-changing web application security landscape. 

This webinar is a great opportunity for IT managers, web developers, webmasters and other professionals. Future PCIS webinars will also provide information for CEOs and people in charge of risk management to understand web security.

The first webinar is on April 8, from 8:30-8:45 am Pacific Time. Please note that registrations are limited for this first webinar. To ensure you are registered early, email info@pcis.com with the subject line "Webinar". 

More webinar and registration  details coming soon.

March 25, 2009

Cyber Security Informer is distributed by:

Pacific Coast Information Systems Ltd. (IT Consulting)

Boonbox, a division of PCIS (Security Packaged Services)

Contact PCIS

Toll-free 1.877.744.7558

In this issue:

* Top 5 Predictions for a Secure Future

* Identity Management Workshop at Massive Tech Show

* Web Security Webinar Happening on April 8

* Hacker Bait 

* Ask A Security Expert

Cyber Security Informer provides security news and tips to help organizations protect their business and their customers. 

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Hacker Bait

The latest Hacker Bait list contains highly trafficked websites, including some involved with security, that have been found to have vulnerabilities that hackers and cyber criminals could exploit. 

This is not a complete list of all vulnerable sites on the Internet, but only represents websites where vulnerabilities were found within the past 90 days. These are only the latest additions to an ever-growing club of sites found to be insecure according to various public sources and online tools used in the web security industry.

If you would like more information on our data and why these sites are listed here, please contact PCIS

Hacker Bait Sites With Vulnerabilities Discovered in Past 90 Days

Ask A Security Expert

"How do I know if my computer has been compromised?"

The short answer is that it can be difficult to know without a comprehensive forensics test of the suspect computer system. But there are warning signs.

It used to be that if your computer was hacked, what typically happened was that your machine crashed. Alternatively, you might see a bunch of pop-ups on your screen. These made your computer session so annoying that you were forced to shut it down and temporarily go back to pre-Information Age methods of getting your business done.

If these things happen to you, your computer is almost certainly compromised. But these kinds of problems aren't as common anymore. Cyber criminals have realized there isn't much profit to be made when someone's computer is shut down. The smarter ones are attempting to install malicious software that can record keystrokes or use your computer to take over other computers for various schemes.

If you can't connect to Windows Update or your virus definitions can't update, there's a good chance hackers have blocked those operations. Make sure your operating system is patched and up-to-date, and a trusted expert helps you set up your Firewall and monitor your log files. As for a forensics scan, remember that only a true expert can conduct this kind of test. This isn't the kind of thing most people can just do themselves, so seek professional help.

Boonbox and Pacific Coast Information Systems Ltd.

Boonbox is a division of Pacific Coast Information Systems Ltd., specializing in products for web security, network security, password management and data backup.

PCIS is a Vancouver-based company which provides strategic consulting, application development, technology solutions and managed services to companies and government organizations throughout North America.

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