Catherine Everett

Cloud computing – A question of trust

Both the Jericho Forum and the newly-established Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) have grabbed many a headline lately in their respective attempts to assuage some of the widespread information security concerns around cloud computing. The question is, are such initiatives enough?

Social media: opportunity or risk?

What are the information security risks posed by social media websites in general and Twitter in particular? Cath Everett examines where the situation stands today, how quickly the threat is growing and how well the average organisation understands the challenges involved in tackling it. She also explores why social media is growing in appeal and what this scenario is likely to mean for information security professionals. Finally, she offers best practice advice on what enterprises should consider doing to try and guard against this potential threat. Twitter appears to have been constantly in the headlines lately. If its not one survey saying that usage is exploding, its another claiming that harnessing its social networking potential has enabled x or y organisation to hugely boost its revenues despite the recession.

Credit Card Fraud Funds Terrorism

Abstract The Internet is a fraudster’s charter that enables criminals to commit a cybercrime every 20 seconds, according to Steven Philippsohn, head of fraud litigation at solicitors, Philippsohn, Crawfords, Berwald.

Stronger laws needed to stem spam

Abstract Without global legislation to combat spam, the problem will never be solved despite the fact that it is costs global businesses millions of dollars a year to tackle, believes the security industry.

Ethics – a question of right or wrong

The problem with ethics and other such moral codes is that everyones are different. Because one persons Lone Ranger is another persons vigilante, the issue of what constitutes ethical behaviour is a subjective one.

UK bank fraud gang busted

Abstract Six fraudsters have been sent down for a total of 15 and a half years, after using the Internet for social engineering purposes to swindle three UK banks out of £350 000.

Privacy: a dangerous crossroads

The European Union has been firing warning shots about privacy across the bows of online vendors from Google to Facebook lately as it gears up for a wider clampdown in this increasingly controversial space.

Professionalism: The old versus the new

What is being done to introduce officially-sanctioned professional certification into the information security sector? Why might such a move be important? Catherine Everett explores this question, asking how difficult such a prospect is likely to be given the fragmented nature of the industry. At the moment, the information security industry appears to be pulling in two directions. On the one hand, various organisations are actively trying to move practitioners towards chartered status and a clearly defined, formalised career path.

Will the e-identity Stork deliver a European baby?

Even though membership of the European Union entitles citizens to live, work and access public services in any affiliated state, putting such rights into practice can be a bureaucratic nightmare – as anyone who has tried it will testify.

Little things mean a lot

Catherine Everett looks at the mounting threat posed by data integrity attacks. She explores what form such attacks may take and how and why they might be dangerous. This article also considers why CIOs/CSOs and the vendor community have done so little to tackle the issue so far, leading to a dearth of off-the-shelf products to help. The feature likewise investigates possible solutions for addressing the problem, while raising the spectre that little is likely to be done in reality until a high profile breach takes place and organisations panic. This is a significant danger, not least because of the expense involved in dealing with the challenge, particularly during a recession. Data integrity attacks have been on the radar of both governments and the military for a good few years now, both in order to protect themselves against and to use them for their own ends. But while such risks may also have hit the consciousness of many a CIO/CSO already, so far it has spurred on all too few to take action.