Content by Mathew J. Schwartz

10 Highlights: Cryptographers' Panel at RSA Conference 2019

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 17, 2019

From blockchains and surveillance to backdoors and GDPR, a group of leading cryptographers rounded up the top cybersecurity and privacy matters of the day at the cryptographers' panel held at the recent RSA Conference 2019 in San Francisco.

Dark Patterns: How Weaponized Usability Hurts Users

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 10, 2019

Dark patterns are out to get you. The term describes the practice of abusing usability norms to create user interfaces that trick users into divulging their personal details or sacrificing their privacy. Bipartisan legislation proposed in the U.S. Senate, however, would make malicious design illegal.

15 Highlights: RSA Conference 2019

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 4, 2019

Keynotes and briefings at the recent 28th annual RSA Conference 2019 covered a wide range of topics, including privacy, hackers, cyber extortion, machine learning, artificial intelligence, human psychology, legal matters, career advice and internet-connected device concerns. Here are 15 highlights.

Suspect Arrested at Mar-a-Lago With Suspicious USB Drive

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 3, 2019

An "Asian female" has been arrested for attempting to access President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club while he was staying there, claiming she wanted to use the pool. Prosecutors say the apparent Chinese national was carrying a USB thumb drive containing "malicious software" - and had no swimsuit.

Hacker Who Hit Microsoft and Nintendo: Suspended Sentence

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 2, 2019

Security researcher Zammis Clark, who pleaded guilty to hacking Microsoft - with an accomplice - and later Nintendo, as well as stealing data and uploading malware to Microsoft's network, has received a suspended sentence.

Nation-State and Crime Groups Keep Blending, Europol Warns

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  March 29, 2019

Distinguishing nation-state attacks from organized crime continues to grow more difficult because some attackers wear both hats, a Europol official reports. Further complicating the picture: Young attackers enjoy access to ever-more sophisticated and inexpensive tools and services.

Huawei Security Shortcomings Cited by British Intelligence

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  March 28, 2019

Britain's intelligence establishment warns that Chinese networking giant Huawei's "software engineering and cybersecurity processes" continue to be beset by unresolved "defects" and that improvements promised by the manufacturer have yet to be seen.

Perpetual 'Meltdown': Security in the Post-Spectre Era

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  March 28, 2019

The information security world has been beset by the emergence of multiple side-channel attacks, including Meltdown, Spectre and most recently Spoiler, that have proven difficult to fully fix, says Bill Conner, president and CEO of SonicWall.

IBM X-Force Intelligence: What Are Latest Cyber Threats?

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  March 27, 2019

Charles Henderson, global managing partner for IBM X-Force Red, reviews some of the top new cybersecurity threats to organizations discovered by his team.

Why Criminals Love Cards Issued by US Banks

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  March 27, 2019

Some 96 percent of all compromised payment cards have been issued by U.S. banks, reflecting not only the prevalence of credit cards held by Americans, but the relative ease with which they can be used for fraud, says Liv Rowley, a threat intelligence analyst at Blueliv.

Why CISOs Must Be Involved in Digital Transformation

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  March 27, 2019

Many organizations that have numerous digital transformation, cloud migration, app and mobile projects underway lack CISO cybersecurity input, says Emily Mossburg of Deloitte Cyber research.

West African Scammers Graduate to Sophisticated Phishing

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  March 27, 2019

West African fraudsters have moved beyond Nigerian prince scams and embraced business email compromises and other types of attacks, says Crane Hassold of Agari.

NTT Security and WhiteHat Security Describe Deal

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  March 27, 2019

NTT Security has signed a definitive agreement to acquire WhiteHat Security. NTT Security's Khiro Mishra and WhiteHat Security's Craig Hinkley say the deal will help bring more application security - and DevSecOps - products, services and smarts to more organizations.

Report: Half of Breaches Trace to Hacking, Malware Attacks

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  March 26, 2019

Beazley Breach Response Services, a unit of global insurance company Beazley, reports that nearly half of the more than 3,300 breaches it investigated last year traced to a hack attack or malware infection. And half of those hacking/malware attacks were tied to business email compromise schemes.

Why Security for DevOps Is Lagging

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  March 25, 2019

Many large organizations are app developers, and individuals are increasingly using apps to access computing resources. But the age-old problem of code not being reviewed for flaws at every stage of testing and production continues, warns Joseph Feiman of WhiteHat Security.