CYBER24

On this episode of CYBER24, we sit down with Greg Johnson, CEO of Webcheck, a company that specializes in penetration testing. We discuss the difference between penetration tests and vulnerability scans, what you can learn from each and how to determine the frequency with which you should perform these types of tests. 

The U.S. takes military action against Iran and suddenly cybersecurity advocates don’t seem like they’re crying wolf. 

Experts and advocates have been saying for years that the time has come for the U.S. in both the private and public sectors to take their cybersecurity measures seriously and, suddenly, at the beginning of 2020, everyone seemed to begin to understand why. 

So, what does the potential of a cyberattack from Iran mean to your business? What about your state or local government? We dig in on that question on this episode of CYBER24, presented by VLCM. 

We also look back at 2019, which is now being called “the year of ransomware.”  A new report puts a hefty price tag on U.S. businesses that found themselves locked out of critical systems last year. We discuss why it’s a trend that will only accelerate this year. 

Utah is home to a tech boom of its own with top-names tech companies finding the Silicon Slopes a great place to do business and military and defense companies growing around Hill Air Force Base in Davis County. For policymakers, finding ways to encourage more Utah students to explore careers in those fields has been an ongoing challenge. This month, the Beehive State made two big announcements to show it is ready to do everything it can to ensure a steady pipeline of talent for decades to come. 

First, Gov. Gary Herbert announced he was including $10.2 million in his budget proposal to ensure every Utah student from K-12 has access to computer science education. That money is in addition to the private sector money pledged by the heads of some of Utah’s top tech companies - a total of $4 million to this point. 

That announcement came just a few days after the state had announced it would actively participate in the Girls Go CyberStart initiative, a program to encourage high school girls to explore their interest in and aptitude for careers in cybersecurity. 

Registration for Girls Go CyberStart opened this week, with online gaming commencing on January 13, 2020. Additional details and pre-registration can be found at www.girlsgocyberstart.org. 

Teacher information and student practice programs are available by clicking here. To see the types of challenges the students will face in the games, click here. 

On this week’s episode of CYBER24 presented by VLCM, we talk with the head of the Utah Dept. of Technology Services and the state’s chief information security officer about why these efforts are so important to the state and why finding talent to fill these jobs can be difficult. 

It’s a safe bet that over the past few weeks you have made an online purchase or two. You add your items to the cart and then check out. But just how secure is that shopping cart? Thousands of online vendors use a similar type of base-code for that shopping cart and hackers were recently able to access the systems at Macy’s, add a few small lines of code to the shopping cart and for a week they had access to data from every customer. 

On this week’s episode of CYBER24, presented by VLCM, we dive into what happened with Macy’s,learn more about the Megacart attack and how it is a concern for every website with a shopping cart.

Also, hundreds of millions of people may have had their text messages exposed online. If that’s not a headline that will catch your attention, I’m not sure what will. You may have become accustomed to data breaches or email compromise but text messages have become a primary source for information. We send a lot. We read a lot. And we generally trust that those texts are private. 

Cybercrime isn’t a uniquely American phenomenon. Recent high-profile attacks on Pemex, Mexico’s state-owned oil monopoly was hit with ransomware demanding $5 million comes just months after a similar attack on Norwegian aluminum producer Norsk Hydro. The former was offered a discount by hackers if they paid right away (which they did not) while the later refused to pay at all and has spent a reported $71 million to clean up the mess. 

On this week’s episode of CYBER24, we discuss these high-profile foreign attacks and outline some of the steps you can take to protect your business. 

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are all coming up this week. Besides needing to carefully develop a strategy to handle all the cardboard boxes about to hit your doorstep, it is also the right time to take some important steps to protect yourself from cybercriminals looking to make their holiday season brighter at your expense. 

With the biggest online shopping days of the year starting this week, today’s CYBER24 podcast topic is online shopping and the steps you can take to protect yourself.

Our expert panel includes: 

• Anthony Booyse, Sophos
• Paul Whittier, Sophos
• Dan Schuyler, VLCM

A recent study shows that businesses that have a cybersecurity policy in place - and are willing to talk about it - are more valuable to investors. 

Having policies in place for protecting your business against cybercriminals and to protect the data you collect is critical, but so is having an incident response plan including a communication plan. That much has become a more commonly accepted position. But calibrating just how much you should say publicly can be tricky. Businesses have to balance their interests between sharing with customers and potential investors that they value a culture of cybersecurity without drawing unwanted attention from hackers looking for a challenge. 

In this week’s episode of CYBER24, we discuss the pros and cons of talking about your commitment to cybersecurity with our expert panel (Mike Hussey, executive director of the Utah Dept. of Technology Services; Phil Bates, Utah Chief Information Security Officer; and Dan Schuyler, VLCM Cybersecurity Solutions Architect). Plus, we look at the recent adventures of the President’s top cybersecurity advisor and what you should know before you take your devices in for repair. 

Over the past 10 or 15 years, something really remarkable has happened: the face of business has transformed. 

I’m not talking about the way business is done, though technology has had an impact there. I’m talking about the way most people interact with companies everyday. Two decades ago, some businesses had some kind of a website but today, many if not all customers interact with a business primarily through its website. 

We buy clothes, household supplies and even groceries online. Just recently, Amazon began to offer grocery delivery within two hours, as a matter of fact. The idea (dream?) of never having to leave the house is becoming very real. 

With so much of a business’ success depending on its website, you can bet the good guys aren't the only ones who have noticed. 

Website security is the topic for today’s episode of CYBER24.

Poor cybersecurity leads to breaches and breaches cost your business time and money. But buying the right technology to keep the hackers at bay can only be so helpful if you don’t take the time to craft the right cybersecurity strategy. 

On this week’s pod, we look at a study showing two out of every five businesses have lost money thanks to lackluster cybersecurity practices and we talk you through the questions you should ask to ensure you have the right plan in place. 

We also look at one of the easiest and least expensive things you can do to improve your cybersecurity without breaking the bank. 

Panelist
Dan Schuyler, VLCM