With the increase occurrences of cyber security incidents throughout the world I thought it’d be a great idea to go with an article that addresses some threats users may face. In terms of ransomware the article suggests that it’s always a great idea to back up your data. It’s always important to backup data because in some situations attackers will abandon payment web sites and victims will lose their data forever. 

Router attacks are a form of attack in which the router is used to enable attacks on the victim. These attacks can log what you type in your computers and mobile devices. To protect from router attacks you should make sure that routers are updated and the router password is unique and strong. 

Last of all when on the web its best to avoid pirated software because they may contain malware and spread them to other computers. 

I’ve never used Quora before or even heard of it until recently on the radio, which is why I chose this article on the Quora data breach to learn more about the situation that occurred. Quora is a question and answer website that recently experienced a data breach affecting approximately 100 million users. Data such as account information and users’ histories all have potentially been compromised through the data breach. Quora’s data breach was due to phishing. Quora just recently discovered on December 7th, that a malicious third party gained unauthorized access to one of their systems. Quora is still investigating the incident is currently notifying users whose data have been compromised. 

As a frequent user of Steam I found this article very interesting. Discovering a bug that could potentially get you any game on Steam for free is ground breaking. I was surprised Maskowsky did not expose the vulnerability and make money out of it by selling keys. Instead Maskowsky did the honorable thing and reported the bug to Steam in exchange for a one time payment of $20000. The bug took advantage of an issue with Steam’s developer tools, using specific parameters anyone with access could’ve made the service spit out keys for games. The bug was never taken advantage of and no evidence of misuse has been found. Maskowsky was able to give himself 36000 keys for the game Portal 2 using this bug alone. If exposed this bug would’ve cost Steam millions of dollars but instead only cost them a one time payment for $20000 to an ethical hacker. 

One effective way of improving cyber security is through the work or White hat hackers also known as ethical hackers. Companies hire their own hackers to break into their systems so that they can fix the vulnerabilities before hackers can get in and steal information. Black Hills Information Security is a locally owned information security company specializing in penetration tests. In less than 10 years owner John Strand and his wife turned their local start up into an international company. Having worked in the field for so long the company encourages everyone to live assumed compromised, because even our most protected data is at risk. They suggest five simple things everyone should do to mitigate themselves as targets. First is to acknowledge that everyone is a target and limit what is put on social media. Second is to freeze your credit to prevent people from using your money. Third is to make your passwords longer with at least 15 characters long. Fourth is to use two factor authentication. Last of all, do not use public WIFI or things like location services on your phone. 

Improvements in cyber security should be a necessity in all businesses. In Europe the European Commission is encouraging all corporations to ensure improved cyber security. If Cyber security is not are not addressed it puts the digital economy in danger. The European Commission is looking for ways to enable more robust and effective structures to ensure strong cyber resilience and respond to cyber attacks. The commission has proposed an overall budget of 9.2 billion euros for cyber security research and innovation through the Horizon Europe program and the new Digital Europe program. The Digital Europe program is aimed at supporting procurement of advanced equipment and reinforcing capabilities for network and information systems. It is imperative to improve cyber security and other nations should do the same.

As a frequent online shopper it’s always worrying when hearing of data breaches from online stores. A recent attack on Computer Lounge’s online store occurred due to a vulnerability that the company failed address until recently. The attack could possibly have allowed hackers to extract personal information form the website. Computer Lounge reports that no credit card details or passwords were compromised but the company still does not know the full extent of the data leaked and are current working with data forensics specialist to find out. They have since taken down their website to minimize impact on customers while working on an update website. If there’s one thing to be learned from this incident it is that identified vulnerabilities should be addressed as soon as possible. Hopefully the company learns from their mistakes and continue to strengthen their security as with all other online retailers.

We’ve used history to learn from our mistakes with Cyber security being the one exception. Our current ignorance is our belief that block chain technology, artificial intelligence and machine learning are the solutions to every cyber security challenge we face today. The problem is that we cling on to these methods instead of putting in the work to build a better cyber security program, which is why we need to go back to the basics of cyber security. An organization must identify their assets, assess their risks, change their companies culture, and last of all have a response plan.

Facebook believes that spammers are the ones who gained access to private information of 30 million Facebook users. Researchers believe that these hackers present themselves as a digital marketing company. These attacks allowed the hackers to steal millions of phone numbers and email addresses. The hackers used 400000 accounts under their control to steal access tokens of 30 million Facebook users. 14 million users had their names, contact details and other sensitive information exposed. Another 15 million had just their names and contact data breached and 1 million users only had their access tokens stolen. Facebook has reset the access tokens for all of those users.

In today’s world almost every new and advanced weapons system involves computers and with computers come vulnerabilities. The US has spent trillion of dollars on its advanced weapons systems with little regard to its cyber security which is contradictory in itself. The weapons systems have been tested by red teams and the results are terrifying; with just a two person team, they were able to gain full control of the system in one days time. The potential damages that come from these compromised systems are extensive. The US has been warned of such issues decades ago but has yet to make any changes and have focused more on the security of their networks. It is scary knowing how vulnerable our weapons systems are. 

With October being Cyber Security Awareness month, I thought it’d be a great idea to introduce an article that could help with your password troubles. With many of our personal information online and the amount of hacking incidents going on these days; strong passwords are a must to protect our personal data. It is recommended that you have a different password for every site you use that contains important information. With so many passwords to keep track of it’ll be difficult to remember them all. That’s where password managers come in handy. With a master password you can use a password manager to manage all of your passwords. The only down fall is that if someone figures out your master password they’ll have access to all of your passwords. To prevent such a thing from happening take precautions when not using your computer and ensure that your master password is long, complex and strong.

Magecart is a hacking group that specializes in stealing credit card details from websites. Magecart attacks continue to grow and improve upon each successful attack. Magecart recently just attacked Newegg, compromising an unknown amount of victims credit card information. This is scary, considering the fact that I frequently shop at Newegg, and could possibly be a victim of Magecart’s attack. If you’ve recently shopped at Newegg, you should be on the look out for fraudulent activity in regards to your credit cards.

How safe are autonomous cars and cars of the future? In today's standards, many systems in a vehicle are computer based which makes it vulnerable to attacks by hackers. One way to ensure vehicle security is by having OEM’s create and enforce strict guidelines to minimize security threats. OEM’s could possible offer OTA (Over the Air) updates for counter attacking threats and overall security of car systems, but this is a more complex and expensive method. Even with the best solutions, it’s on the owners of the vehicle to understand the importance of cyber security and make efforts to maintain it and take measures to avoid threats.

When starting a small business do people take into account the possible cyber security risks that comes along with it? It’s not often that many people take this into consideration which is why many small businesses are targeted and tend to go out of business more often than not. This article introduces ways in which small businesses can take to prevent cyber attacks. First of all, businesses should do risk assessments on their assets and from there decided how to implement ways of securing them. Businesses should not always rely on their IT staff and should adopt a security policy framework by going to security experts. Last of all businesses should all use two-step verification process and password vaults to secure their passwords and information.

I’ve always wondered whether it was safer to use my computer vs my smartphone when accessing my bank account. This article does a great job at informing us of the potential security threats that we could face and ways to mitigate them. It turns out that there’s more to it than just the device we use. It’s all about reducing the exposure points of your device. The best way to mitigate security threats is to use applications from the Google play store or Apple app store specifically made by your bank, whether you’re on the computer or on a phone. It’s best to stay away from shared connections, keep your devices updated and activate multi-factor authentication options for the fewest exposure points, since nothing is truly ever completely secured.

How important is cyber security and why should people be aware of cyber threats? In today's world we rely heavily on computers without knowing much about the potential threats that are out there. Not only is cyber security important to us but it’s equally as important to businesses that store our personal data. In the world of accounting, cyber security awareness should be embraced to add that extra trust. Informing customers of the potential threats that the business could face and ways on how they protect the customers from these threats is more assuring than having customers find out about potential threats with no information on the business’s cyber security plans. Businesses should always identify ways to secure their stored data and inform clients of the issues of cyber attacks as a service to improve cyber security and customer service.