Cybersecurity

Educators and government officials met recently to discuss cybersecurity education for elementary and high school students at a conference in Nashville, Tenn. A number in attendance expressed the need for cybersecurity education to begin as early as elementary school to prepare students for possible technology careers as reports of cyberattacks multiple. One of the keynote speakers even went as far as saying, "If you're in high school, it's almost too late." Experts are asking teachers to weave cybersecurity principles into core academic subjects.

A recent survey administered by Carbon Black looks at consumers’ responses to ransomware, and you may find the results surprising. The study found that if hacked, 52% of consumers would shell out a ransom for their data, and 12% would pay $500 or more. It was also found that consumers are less trusting of retailers with their data than they are of banks and health care providers. Furthermore, the majority of consumers believe the responsibility is on the individual businesses to keep their data safe, ahead of cybersecurity companies/cybersecurity software vendors, software providers (Microsoft, Apple, Google, etc.), and government organizations (FBI, NSA, CIA, etc.).

A report from Kaspersky Lab has revealed that mobile ransomware attacks increased globally during the first quarter of 2017 by 253%, evidenced by the recent WannaCry attack, and with the US being hit the hardest. Four ways users can better protect themselves are outlined in an article on the TechRepublic site, and includes advice such as doing regular scans on devices to check for infection and never entering personal information into a website that seems at all suspicious. Additional tips for protecting yourself were also recently discussed in an article in the Tech Section of The New York Times entitled How to Protect Yourself From Ransomware Attacks.

Tim Berners-Lee, who is largely thought of as the creator of the Internet, thinks the World Wide Web needs a bit of a rethink to cut down on spying, cyberbullying and the general nastiness often associated with life online. "How come nasty, mean ideas, seem to have traveled more prevalently than constructive ideas on Twitter sometimes? Is that the way it has been designed? Could Twitter be tweaked?" he asks. He also questions why even though the web gives school children from India, China and Syria the ability to interact with each other, people are broadly parochial, choosing to communicate only with others like themselves.

Tim Berners-Lee, who is largely thought of as the creator of the Internet, thinks the World Wide Web needs a bit of a rethink to cut down on spying, cyberbullying and the general nastiness often associated with life online. "How come nasty, mean ideas, seem to have traveled more prevalently than constructive ideas on Twitter sometimes? Is that the way it has been designed? Could Twitter be tweaked?" he asks. He also questions why even though the web gives school children from India, China and Syria the ability to interact with each other, people are broadly parochial, choosing to communicate only with others like themselves.

Fingerprinting has become a standard method of authenticating your identity, being that no two fingerprints are exactly alike. As it turns out, researchers at New York University and Michigan State University have recently found they are hardly foolproof. The team has developed a set of fake fingerprints that are digital composites of common features found in many people’s fingerprints. Through computer simulations, they were able to achieve matches 65 percent of the time, though they imagine the scheme might not be as successful in real life. Still, it is another link in the reasoning behind more two- step authentication methods for accessing information that many companies are promoting.

Fingerprinting has become a standard method of authenticating your identity, being that no two fingerprints are exactly alike. As it turns out, researchers at New York University and Michigan State University have recently found they are hardly foolproof. The team has developed a set of fake fingerprints that are digital composites of common features found in many people’s fingerprints. Through computer simulations, they were able to achieve matches 65 percent of the time, though they imagine the scheme might not be as successful in real life. Still, it is another link in the reasoning behind more two- step authentication methods for accessing information that many companies are promoting.

According to a study by CBT Nuggets, those who call themselves tech-saavy and who have high levels of education are more likely to be victims of identity theft. "Knowing about cybersecurity, understanding the risks, yet thinking that your tech smarts are enough is a recipe for a security disaster," writes Sue Marquette Poremba in a blog post. It turns out that people, including kids, do not use what they have learned about staying safe online for reasons cited as being too lazy, not wanting to be inconvenienced, or just not caring.