Security Made Simple
Whaling When people launching spear phishing attacks against senior members of staff, this is known as whaling (because they’re after the big fish). That’s the only real difference in the terms, though the types of attack may differ slightly. Whales are more likely to be the target for mandate fraud, where an email purporting to … Continue reading W is for …
VPN A virtual private network (VPN) is a form of network connection between two points which is encrypted. This helps protect the network traffic from being intercepted by others, and helps to keep the message secure. It’s a really good idea to use a VPN if you’re away from home eg in cafes or using … Continue reading V is for …
Smishing This is very similar in concept to phishing, but instead of email being used to deliver malicious code or links to malicious website, SMS text messages are used. The messages often look as though they’ve come from someone you know and / or trust, but they have typically been spoofed to make you think they … Continue reading S is for …
Red Team Just as penetration testers try to get access to an organisation electronically, red teams try to get physical access to the organisation. They use a combination of Open Source Intelligence gathering and social engineering to get access. These teams are typically engaged by senior management to test processes such as visitor registration, tailgating, signing in, … Continue reading R is for …
Password There has been much written about passwords, but for this entry I thought it worth defining what a password actually is. It’s a code, phrase or sequence of letters and numbers which is used to validate that you are who you say you are. It’s often used in conjunction with a username or when … Continue reading P is for …
Hacking I’m pretty sure that you’ve all heard the term “hacking”, and you probably know that it has negative connotations. But what exactly is it? Put simply, it’s trying to get access to a computer or network using vulnerabilities in the security of the target. Note that I don’t necessarily say software: people can be … Continue reading H is for…
It’s a fact of life these days that we constantly seem to have people giving out dire warnings about being careful what information you share online, who can overhear you giving out your credit card numbers etc. It seems like we’re being warned that there are ears everywhere. Do you know what? There are. But … Continue reading Do you have privacy fatigue?
You’ve no doubt heard the stories about cars being hacked over WifI or Bluetooth, but today I want to talk about an easier security risk: second-hand, hire and courtesy cars… I’ve recently had my car in the garage to have it serviced, and I was provided with a reasonably new courtesy car. I had to … Continue reading Vehicle Security
Just thought I’d share this piece from the Hoax-Slayer website (great site to visit often, in my opinion) which basically confirms everything I said in my previous article on here. It’s good to know I wasn’t giving you false information! Other things to look out for, which I hadn’t mentioned previously are: the sensationalist videos, … Continue reading I told you so…
As a regular and long time Facebook user, I’m often surprised at some of the behaviour that goes on there. I’m not just talking about the harassment and ridicule of people, the cat videos and all that, but there are a number of things which are putting you and other users at risk. I’ll going … Continue reading Things you do on Social Media which you shouldn’t
Easy Cyber 