Content by Mathew J. Schwartz

Atlanta's Ransomware Cleanup Costs Hit $2.6 Million

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 24, 2018

The city of Atlanta's ransomware outbreak cleanup and response tab has hit $2.6 million after a March attack froze corporate servers, employees' PCs and resident-facing portals. Some security experts say the breach response funds would have been put to better use preventing the outbreak in the first place.

Vulnerability Management: Why the Problem Can't Be Solved

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 24, 2018

One measure of why it's so difficult for organizations to keep their software patched and better secured: Of the nearly 20,000 unique vulnerabilities in 2,000 products cataloged last year, only half involved Microsoft, Adobe, Java, Chrome or Firefox software, says Flexera's Alejandro Lavie.

Workforce Development: Reducing Barriers to Entry

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 24, 2018

What can be done to address the shortage of personnel to fill the ever-expanding roster of cybersecurity jobs - from entry-level positions through the CISO role? (ISC)2's John McCumber describes organizational and governmental efforts to lower barriers to entry and build tomorrow's workforce.

How Account Takeovers Subvert Victims' Social Networks

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 24, 2018

Attackers rarely bother with technical sophistication when easy social engineering schemes, such as "hacking" a victim's social network and using it against them, can give them what they want, says Markus Jakobsson, chief scientist at the cybersecurity firm Agari.

How to Battle Credential Stuffing Attacks

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 24, 2018

To combat credential stuffing and other types of rising attacks, organizations need data - and lots of it - to feed machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms to better detect these types of high volume attacks, says Shape Security's Dan Woods.

UK Teen Sentenced for 'Cyber Terrorizing' US Officials

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 23, 2018

British teenager Kane Gamble has been sentenced to serve two years in a youth detention center after he admitted to targeting U.S. officials - including hacking former CIA Director John Brennan's personal AOL email account - as well as dumping personal details for 20,000 FBI employees.

RSA 2018: Hot Cybersecurity Trends

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 19, 2018

Hot cybersecurity trends under discussion at this year's RSA Conference include artificial intelligence, facial recognition, protecting not just data but also knowledge, as well as rapid data breach response, says Chris Pierson, CEO of Binary Sun Cyber Risk Advisors.

Art Coviello Talks Breach Detection and Prevention

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 19, 2018

Organizations too often prioritize data breach prevention at the expense of data breach response - or vice versa, depending on current fashion - when an emphasis on both remains mandatory, warns Art Coviello, the retired chairman of RSA.

Privileged Access: Business Promise, Breach Peril

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 19, 2018

IT administrators and business partners require privileged access to enterprise networks to ensure that business continues to get done. Yet this very same access is all too often abused by insiders and outsiders, leading to otherwise preventable data breaches, says Matt Dircks, CEO of Bomgar.

Life After WannaCry's Wake-Up Call: What's Next?

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 17, 2018

At the opening of the RSA Conference in San Francisco, executives from RSA, Microsoft and McAfee offered an update on the state of cybersecurity, focusing on WannaCry. They called for the industry to work more closely together to protect not just individuals but also society.

Battling Social Engineering Attacks

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 17, 2018

Social engineering attacks, including ransomware, business email compromise and phishing, are a problem that can never be solved, but rather only managed via a continued focus on security awareness training, says Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4.

What's Artificial Intelligence? Here's a Solid Definition

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 16, 2018

What's the difference between artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning and neural networks? Don't trust vendors' marketing materials to help you find a workable, accurate definition, says Kris Lovejoy, CEO of the security firm BluVector.

Panera Bread Security Lesson: Rise to the Challenge

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 4, 2018

Panera Bread appears to have failed to fix a customer data leak for more than eight months after getting a heads-up from an independent security researcher. Here's what others should learn from the bakery café chain's mistakes.

LinkedIn Breach: Russian Suspect Extradited to US

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 3, 2018

Russian national Yevgeniy Nikulin, 30, has been extradited to the U.S. from the Czech Republic to face charges that he hacked LinkedIn, Dropbox and Formspring, offering at least some stolen data for sale.

Malaysia's Central Bank Blocks Attempted SWIFT Fraud

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 2, 2018

Malaysia's central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia, says it detected and successfully blocked an attack that attempted to steal funds via fraudulent SWIFT interbank money-moving messages. The attack against BNM led the central bank of the Philippines to issue an alert to banks in that country.