IT Security Consulting

The Call of The Dark Cyber Side

July 22, 2015 — Leave a comment

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The most recent scandal in the IT security community has raised quite a few eyebrows, while making us to examine one more time the unsustainable claim that hacking can sometimes be an ethical thing to do. So, what happened actually, and why it is so important for us?

It turns out that one young and promising IT security consultant had an “intriguing” hobby and a part time job. The “hero” of our story was creating malicious software solutions. In addition, he was selling them online. You can imagine the surprise of his colleagues at work.

To make the situation even more interesting and even funnier, this consultant was working on his own “case”. During his regular working hours, he was solving problems he created the nights before. This modern time Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde did not have a happy ending.

It is hard to say what is the proper moral of this unusual story. It seems that the call of the dark-cyber-side can be quite a strong one. This does not necessarily mean that we should play spy games with our friends and colleagues. However, we should be aware of the true power of the dark cyber side.

Internet Security: Who Is To Blame?

July 25, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Finally! Someone has spoken our minds on this matter. The troubles with the IT Security are not one month or a year old. Seth Hanford, who is the head of Cisco’s Threat Research Analysis and Communications, has hit the right nerve with his observations. The proper IT Security has only been an illusion all of this time.

What does it mean to be a little bit more precise? Well, for what is worth, the situation with our IT Security has not been worse or better compared to the previous periods of time. The only difference is that we are now more aware about it. We conduct more surveys, tests and analysis. That is actually the only difference in this story.

In other words, it is similar to the situation when someone has accidentally turned on the light after nights and nights of complete darkness. And, we have apparently become aware of our current condition. On the second thought, this does not have to be necessarily bad. How do we dare to come up with such a claim?

Well, now that we are fully aware of all threats and dangers that are waiting for our next move in the cyberspace, we can finally do something about it. Not bad for a change and something that should have been done years and years ago. The old and wise Chinese said something like that a long journey starts with a small first step.

Payment Networks – Invaluable Lessons

July 23, 2014 — Leave a comment

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The troubles we have with our passwords and proper identification required for numerous online services can be overcome based on the experiences from one of the least likely fields in this matter. We are talking about the different payment networks. What they got to do with the identity protection challenge?

Well, for what is worth, the payment networks had the same problems we are facing now. We all know that these systems rely heavily on credit cards. The basic presumptions about the identity protection are absolutely the same. At some point in time someone has figured out that credit cards have to be protected in order for the entire system to work.

This does not mean that we have to hire rocket scientists to solve our password puzzle. All we have to do is to closely evaluate the invaluable experiences and solutions left by the top security experts for some of the most successful payment networks. In our case we pay with something far more valuable than our money.

We trade with our privacy. So, let us do our best to ensure that this is a fair deal where both sides of the process are equally protected and safe from any harm. We should look for more appropriate analogies around us. You never know where you can find a solution for your problem. Right?

Korben’s Report

July 5, 2014 — Leave a comment

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It seems that one French blogger was a busy little bee. He had apparently discovered one, at least to say quite a bizarre security flaw associated with the MediaTek chips. So, let us see what has our friend Korben discovered and why it is so important from the security point of view? Should we hate or adore him for what he had done?

Here is the funny part of this intriguing story. Korben has figured it out, that when you send “=” through an SMS to some smartphones, which uses MediaTek chips, the following happens. Your smartphone restarts automatically after receiving this message. Really disturbing, isn’t it? What can we do about it?

Well, you have two options. Either you will acquire a new smartphone without these chips, or hope that your friends will not kill your phone with these “=” SMS. How can this happen and be possible in the first place, is yet unknown. What we need to know to eliminate this trouble, is also unknown.

We do not have to guess twice what is happening in your head as you read this post, do we? You are probably wondering, what can happen if you try some other symbols for these MediaTek related SMS? How thin is a borderline between restarting and hacking a smartphone? Well, we hope youwillnot be the one to find out.

The Hacker Wars

June 30, 2014 — Leave a comment

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It is really a breathtaking experience. We strongly encourage you to visit the Norse’s websites, which is a company that specializes in Internet security. Choose an option to see a map of hacker’s attacks all over the world in the real time. It is just like you are watching a movie. The difference in this case is that the casualties of these wars are real people and companies.

To be more precise, while watching this map you have a feeling that you are witnessing the WW3 scenario. There is this striking resemblance to the lines left by the nuclear missiles, which are flying from one corner of the world to the other one. You can rest assured that the impact and consequences can be compared to the atomic explosion and immense damages in the cyber world.

Our recommendation is to use Chrome for this live follow-up of an unprecedented cyber war. You do not have to wait too long to see for yourself how the USA is being used mostly as the punching bag for the restless cyber-attacks from the East. Although, it is impossible to present the entire web in one web page, this one can be quite indicative about what is really going on.

If you have not considered the IT security protection and anti-hacking measures, after seeing this “movie” you will definitely change your mind. Our word of advice is to run a security check of your IT infrastructure as soon as possible. The last thing you need is to see your country or your town on this map. Not to mention your company. That is definitely too much for your health.

Watch Out! Godzilla Is On The Road!

June 10, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Here is something you do not hear about it every day, not even in San Francisco. Well, the electronic notification system for drivers in California had a couple of quite unusual announcements for its users. One of them, warned drivers about the Godzilla menace on the road. Some of the drivers accepted this prank quite well by ignoring it. What happened with the others?

Well, for what is worth, we saw some panic on the roads. Do not get us wrong. We are far away from any serious comparison with the notorious radio prank show, which included legendary Orson Welles and “The War of the Worlds”. However, the hackers responsible for these actions have proven themselves of being capable to influence this extremely important system.

Not so long ago, we got one more funny looking notice. This time about the zombies walking around. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to figure out yourself what can happen, if these hackers decide to become more serious for a change. They can easily collapse the entire notification system for drivers. Because things are so serious the government had to interfere, as well.

So, what is the moral of this story? Listen carefully to all notifications you get this way or another while on the road. No matter how strange they may seem at the first glance, but above all, trust only your own eyes and ears, including a reasonable logic. We sure hope there are some hackers out there with enough moral and empathy to know their limits.