Guest Blog Post
The case for wider use of Next Generation Firewalls
November 1, 2011
Cyberattacks have gotten very sophisticated, to say the least.
Traditional perimeter firewalls are still in wide use as a fundamental defense mechanism. But a group of security vendors are pushing for wider use of so-called Next Generation Firewalls, or NGFWs, that integrate firewall, intrusion detection and prevention, application monitoring and authentication and policy-use controls.
These vendors include NSS Labs, Barracuda, Check Point, Cisco, Fortinet, Juniper, Palo Alto Networks and …More
A 23-year-old’s perspective on privacy
October 5, 2011
When he wakes up every morning, Jeremy Pepper, an engineering student at West Virginia University, rolls over, grabs his iPhone, opens USA TODAY’s iPhone app, and glances at headlines. He then checks e-mail, browses favorite Web sites and gets on with his day.
Pepper uses his iPhone and a Windows 7 PC to access the Web. He spends much of his time online using Facebook, Safari, e-mail, Flashlight …More
Why denial of service attacks are harder to detect
September 13, 2011
Hacktivism has risen to new levels. Members of the hacking co-op Anonymous have gained infamy for disrupting the online operations of companies, such as Visa, PayPal and HB Gary, deemed to be misbehaving. Sony has been bedeviled by denial of service onslaughts and data theft stemming from business practices thought by some to be abhorrent. And the antics of the LulzSec hacktivist group has resulted in …More
Mobile data still at risk 10 years after 9-11
September 13, 2011
By Patricia Titus, VP and CISO, Unisys
LastWatchdog guest post
I recall 9-11 like it was yesterday. I was among a small group of Treasury employees standing in the small fitness center in our office building in downtown Washington, D.C., staring in disbelief at the TV mounted on the wall as we helplessly watched the second plane crash into the second tower. In this room was the Treasury CIO, Jim …More
DefCon Kids get guidance at Vegas hackers conference
August 8, 2011
Children 8 to 16 were welcomed for the first time ever at the DefCon hackers conference, held at the Rio hotel in Las Vegas this past weekend. It was part of a series of such confabs organized by Hackid.org. Federal agents spoke to participants of DefCon Kids — to persuade them that its cool to be a good guy hacker, who helps fight crime.. The kids got to …More
The case for tighter security of all Internet-connected devices
July 26, 2011
The rapid and frenetic shift to commerce built around Internet-connected devices and online services continues to far outpace measured consideration of the profound security and privacy implications for individuals, small businesses and large organizations.
We may well be heading for a a day when it will be compulsory to use company-issued locked-down devices for connecting securely to company networks, and separate consumer devices for which …More
Why the corporate sector should do more to protect the Web
July 19, 2011
Tabloid snoopers hacking cellphone voice mailboxes. Hacktivist groups bedeviling giant corporations, big media companies and government agencies. The Pentagon maneuvering to win public blessings to engage in proactive, open cyber warfare against China, which has been doing just that for more than a decade. Cyber criminals corrupting search results, web pages, email and social network messaging with malware to pilfer corporate secrets and …More