6th Day of Christmas: Lessons Learned in 2017

Heathrow Airport Data Leak

Heathrow Airport Data Leak

The Heathrow Airport data leak is definitely different from all of those we have previously spoken about in this series. Rather than a breach from an external source into the digital infrastructure, it looks a completely different type of leak. One that you would never expect to happen! 

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On the 5th Day of Christmas: 2018 Prediction

IoT 2018 Prediction

The Rise and Rise of the IoT, (and the ever increasing attack surface it creates!)

Have you ever sat down and counted all the devices in your house that have the capability to connect to the Internet?  If you really go through the exercise carefully, the result can be pretty astounding. Your car? Your bathroom scales? Your watch? Games Console? Hairbrush!! (We’re not making this stuff up!). It seems that in 2017, if you can make it, you can ‘Smart-ify’ it. There are some IoT devices that just make you think why? The irony is, if a device is called the ‘SmartBlah-blah’, it’s likely to be far from ‘smart’, is probably not a good idea and is probably not part of the Internet of Things.  No-one ever called Uber ‘Smart-Taxis’, or Deliveroo, ‘Smart-Takeaways’.

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4th Day of Christmas: Lessons Learned in 2017

Uber Data Breach 4th Day of Christmas

Uber Data Breach

Oh dear. What can we say? One of the more recent breaches to have been announced, but not the most recent to happen (hey Uber!). This was a big fail in terms of dealing with a breach proactively. Thought to have occurred in October 2016, the breach was not made public until November 2017. Not only that, 57 million customers were affected by the breach and we are yet to hear any more about it.

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3rd Day of Christmas: 2018 Prediction

Bitcoin Bubble Will Burst

The Bitcoin Bubble Will Burst

Well, we have a whole 12 months to get this one right, so it’s a bit of a sure bet, isn’t it? Or is it?

The news is rife with people who a few years ago, in an act of nerdy posturing, bought their mate a beer using bitcoins – a beer that has cost this poor chap what could have been a tidy profit of something in the region of £2,500 if he had sold the same amount of Bitcoin today.  One of our very own agents here at CounterHack towers ‘nearly’ bought a whole Bitcoin through Mt. Gox in February 2014 for approx £600, just as the currency exchange spectacularly imploded following a series of hacks and mismanagement.  That same Bitcoin today would be worth about £12,400!

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2nd Day of Christmas: Lessons Learned in 2017

Equifax Data Breach 2nd Day

Equifax Data Breach

Who could forget this corker? One of the biggest breaches recorded this year (at least so far) with as many as 143 million people affected. Data such as names, social security numbers, addresses, credit card numbers and driving license numbers were taken during the breach. The full breach lasted from March to July, but was wasn’t made public until September 2017.

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