Info Risk Today Podcast

Achieving international acceptance of PCI-DSS is an ongoing challenge, says Jeremy King, international director of the PCI Security Standards Council, who's working to educate merchants about baseline security that goes far beyond cardholder data protection.

In this edition of the ISMG Security Report, you'll hear reports on the U.S. government nabbing healthcare fraudsters; federal agencies at risk of exposing highly sensitive data; and the hacking of brokerage accounts.

With ransomware attacks surging, all organizations should ensure they have an enterprise backup and disaster recovery plan in place, and eliminate all unnecessary, outdated or disused applications and services running on endpoints and servers, says ESET's Mark James.

There is no such thing as "security by obscurity." Attackers <I>can</I> hack what they can't see. This means organizations must reimagine the fundamentals of API creation, says Jaime Ryan of CA Technologies.</

In this edition of the ISMG Security Report, you'll hear our editors explore how hackers use Java script for ransomware, the latest digital currency security issue and privacy threats posed by virtual reality.

In recent months, Cloud Access Security Broker solutions have emerged as a defacto, mandatory control. Which is better approach to CASB - proxy or API? Rohit Gupta of Palerra shares his insight and recommendations.

Crisis management expert Emily Mossburg discusses a new Deloitte study that shows why many organizations must reassess their approach to breach response to focus on what really matters: keeping the organization functioning.

As the PCI Security Standards Council celebrates its 10th anniversary, Troy Leach, the council's chief technology offer, offers his assessment of how its Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard could evolve in the next 10 years.

The ISMG Security Report kicks off with thoughts on how Watergate - its 44th anniversary is today - would have turned out differently if today's technology existed in 1972. Also, you'll hear the backstory on the breach at Democratic Party headquarters revealed this past week.

As evolving virtual reality technologies are embraced by corporate environments, including healthcare entities, for training and other purposes, organizations need to carefully consider the privacy and security risks they pose, says attorney Steven Teppler.

In an interview, Doug Johnson of the American Bankers Association explains why the ABA rejects the Retail Industry Leaders Association's contention that a legislative proposal to hold retailers to the same cybersecurity standards as banks is unfair.

With rampant password, patch management and data missteps, it can feel like information security déjà vu all over again as security professionals fight so many of the same battles as 10 or 20 years ago, says white hat hacker Cris Thomas, a.k.a. "Space Rogue."

IBM is deploying its Watson supercomputer to help organizations answer this essential question: In the face of nonstop security events, potential intrusions and patches, what's the next, best action that an organization's security analyst should take?

In the latest ISMG Security Report, our editors analyze Symantec's pending purchase of Blue Coat; vulnerabilities in mobile banking apps; retailers' objections to a national data breach notification bill; and the relaunching of the IRS Get Transcript tool after a breach.

For years, organizations have been threatened by DDoS attacks on several fronts, ranging from volumetric attacks to application-level and DNS strikes. Now come ransom-based attacks. Trey Guinn of CloudFlare discusses how to respond to each type of attack.

A settlement between the Federal Trade Commission and Practice Fusion, an electronic health records system vendor, serves as a reminder that regulations other than HIPAA apply to protecting patient privacy, says attorney Adam Greene, a healthcare regulations expert.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association is battling against passage of a national data security and breach notification bill known as the Data Security Act of 2015, arguing it would unreasonably require retailers to meet some of the same security standards as banks, says Austen Jensen, a RILA vice president.

While awaiting new guidance from the HHS Office for Civil Rights, healthcare organizations can take several steps to help determine whether a ransomware attack is a reportable breach under HIPAA, says compliance attorney Betsy Hodge.

In the latest ISMG Security Report, our editors examine the top concerns of security practitioners gathered at Infosecurity Europe, NIST's planned revision of its cybersecurity framework and U.S. government efforts to make sure patients can securely access their electronic health records.

The scale of the global IT security skills crisis is well documented. But what is its direct impact on cybersecurity with the government agencies of Washington, D.C.? Dan Waddell of (ISC)² discusses the problem - and a new way to address it.

Cybercrime alert: In March, 93 percent of all phishing emails studied contained ransomware designed to forcibly encrypt PCs, says PhishMe chief operating officer Jim Hansen. In an interview, he offers insights on how to respond.

Many organizations still fail to practice smart web security, warns penetration testing expert Ilia Kolochenko, who notes that 23 percent of all websites still use SSL version 3, despite it leaving them at risk from POODLE and BEAST attacks.

NIST plans next year to clarify certain provisions in its cybersecurity framework. "Just to be clear, we're not headed toward a version 2.0 right now," Program Manager Matt Barrett explains in an interview. "We're headed to something that's more like a 1.1."

This ISMG Security Report features a discussion of the impact on the global financial services industry of the SWIFT-related theft of $81 million from Bangladesh's central bank and similar thefts. You'll also hear reports on making IT systems more trustable and national governments' spending on cybersecurity.

In this special edition of the ISMG Security Report, a panel of top cybersecurity thought leaders analyzes the value of the Obama administration's cybersecurity framework and its long-term impact.

Executive recruiter Bill Liguori helps many organizations find CISOs. What skills are these companies looking for today? Find out in this in-depth interview.

Don't blame a lack of information security standards, security products or cybersecurity competence for the failure of breach defenses. In many cases, the culprit is design and implementation flaws in IT products, Robert Bigman, former CIO at the CIA, contends.

ISMG editors, in a special report, examine the status of data breach notification laws in a number of regions, including the European Union, which this past week implemented the General Data Protection Regulation, although enforcement won't take place for two years.

Financial fraud expert Avivah Litan, a Gartner analyst, says the SWIFT-related heists, which have defrauded banks out of millions of dollars in recent weeks, are not cause for "the sky is falling" alarm. She recommends key security steps to prevent further such incidents.

Start preparing immediately for the EU's new General Data Protection Regulation - even though it doesn't go into force for two more years - because it mandates a number of new privacy and security requirements, warns cybersecurity expert Brian Honan.

The U.S. Congress delves into the issue of whether CISOs should report to CIOs, a topic that leads the Friday, May 27, 2016, edition of the ISMG Security Report, an on-demand audio report offered every Tuesday and Friday.

Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4, has seen first-hand the devastating impact of ransomware on healthcare entities. And he knows traditional defenses aren't enough to ward off attackers. What's needed is a whole new approach to user education.

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives is calling on Congress to create financial incentives for healthcare providers to boost their cybersecurity. Leslie Krigstein of CHIME offers examples of potential incentives in this in-depth audio report.

Identity and access management should empower businesses, satisfying customers and other stakeholders who need secure access to an enterprise's data and systems, says security expert Jeremy Grant, former leader at the federal government's National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace.

Information Security Media Group is premiering the twice-weekly ISMG Security Report, a concise, on-demand audio report in which ISMG editors and other experts analyze the latest IT security news.

Data today is money - especially in financial services, where account data is every hacker's target. How, then, can institutions mask that data and protect it when it's in non-production environments? Mike Logan of Delphix offers new insights.

Walmart's lawsuit against Visa, which claims the card brand is unfairly preventing retailers from requiring that customers enter PINs when they conduct EMV debit transactions, poses important questions about fair business practices, says Liz Garner of the Merchant Advisory Group.

The manufacturers of wearable health devices should incorporate key privacy and security best practices into the R&D of their products, says privacy advocate Michelle De Mooy of the Center for Democracy & Technology, who describes recommendations in a new study.

In today's rapidly changing cyber threat environment, the federal government needs to take a lead role in making sure mobile device security is adequate, says security researcher Stephen Cobb, who analyzes ongoing investigations by the FTC and FCC in this audio interview.

Organizations chosen for remote "desk audits" of their HIPAA compliance, which will begin this summer, need to be prepared to quickly provide supporting documentation, Deven McGraw, deputy director of health information privacy at the HHS Office for Civil Rights, explains this in-depth audio interview.

Cyberattacks are increasing in frequency, complexity, nuance and stealth. But human error, business compulsions and increasingly complex environments make it difficult to maintain adequate defenses, says Juniper Network's CTO for India and SAARC

With hack attacks continuing against banks, SWIFT must follow in the footsteps of other vendors - notably Microsoft - and begin offering detailed, prescriptive security guidance to its users, says Doug Gourlay of Skyport Systems.

The $940 billion compensation awarded to Epic Systems in its case against Indian IT major TCS is unprecedented - shaking the industry out of its complacency to information security. Cyber law expert "Naavi" takes a close look at the implications for India.

There are two elements of a ransomware attack - the infection and then the action that takes place on infected devices. And both elements are evolving, says Ben Johnson of Carbon Black. He shares insight on how to improve ransomware defenses.

Many financial institutions struggle with implementing effective multifactor authentication solutions. They may lack confidence in new methods or grapple with the difficulty of integrating newer technologies with legacy investments. So, what technologies and processes need to be in place to ensure MFA's adoption throughout the financial sector? Crossmatch's Chris Trytten offers insight and strategies.

Breaches in the healthcare sector are continuing to surge, in part, because cybercriminals are building big data resources that can be used to fuel fraud, security experts Larry Ponemon and Rick Kam say in an audio interview discussing findings of a new Ponemon Institute report.

It's one thing to talk or even plan about "What happens if we are breached?" It's quite another to undertake a true breach exercise. What are the critical elements of such a drill? Author Regina Phelps shares advice from her new book.

The emerging threats posed by cybercrime and evolving banking services, including mobile banking, will be among the focal points of a keynote address by the Information Security Forum's Steve Durbin at ISMG's Fraud & Breach Prevention Summit in Washington May 17-18.

With today's multi-layered attack surface, traditional vulnerability management no longer suffices. Security leaders must embrace a new strategy to help identify and secure true assets at risk. Gautam Aggarwal of Bay Dynamics explains how.

Establishing new laws and regulations to address privacy and cybersecurity concerns related to the Internet of Things would likely be ineffective, attorney Steven Teppler, who co-chairs an American Bar Association IoT committee, says in an audio interview.