Guest Blog Post

GUEST ESSAY: Caring criminals — why some ransomware gangs now avoid targeting hospitals

By Zac Amos

Ransomware is a significant threat to businesses worldwide. There are many gangs that work together to orchestrate increasingly damaging attacks. However, some of these groups follow codes of conduct that prevent them from purposefully targeting hospitals.

In mid-March 2020, representatives from the cybersecurity website BleepingComputer contacted numerous ransomware gangs to ask if they’d continue targeting hospitals during the unprecedented COVID-19 public health threat.

Many responded by saying they already avoid hospitals and emergency services infrastructure. Others promised to cease attacking health care facilities until the pandemic eased.

An April 2020 study from VMware Carbon Black revealed a 148% ransomware increase between March and April 2020. However, it’s worth noting that health care was the seventh-most targeted industry during that time, when it was

GUEST ESSAY: The timing is ripe to instill trust in the open Internet — and why this must get done

By Hannah Aubry

In today’s digital age, trust has become a cornerstone of building a better Internet.

Preserving privacy for a greater good

The Internet was designed as a platform for peer research, not for the vast scale and diverse uses we see today. Over the decades, it’s grown in a way that has left it with many inherent vulnerabilities.

These vulnerabilities, not borne out of malice, were the result of choices made with limited information available at the time.

Fastly addresses these technological vulnerabilities by utilizing tools like Rust and WebAssembly. Leveraging WebAssembly’s sandboxing capabilities allows us to isolate potential risks, while Rust provides the memory safety essential for our modern internet applications.

Taming the human side

But the challenges facing the internet don’t just lie in its technical foundations. The societal aspects of technology, the human side, have grown equally unruly.

The trust deficit we experience today is palpable. People are wary of technology and its creators. Our major platforms, tools integral to modern life, are now used as vehicles for misinformation and chaos. A disconnect exists between those

GUEST ESSAY: Robust data management can prevent theft, guard intellectual property

By Clark Frogley

In an era of global economic uncertainty, fraud levels tend to surge, bringing to light the critical issue of intellectual property (IP) theft.

Related: Neutralizing insider threats

This pervasive problem extends beyond traditional notions of fraud, encompassing both insider threats and external risks arising from partnerships, competitors, and poor IP management. Organizations dedicate substantial resources to detecting and preventing fraudulent activity in customer accounts.

Yet, the rise of internal fraud presents a unique challenge. Perpetrated by insiders who already possess unrestricted access to highly sensitive data and systems, internal fraud not only defies easy prevention but also imposes substantial costs.

Annually, American businesses suffer losses exceeding $50 billion, underscoring the impact on competitiveness in today’s fiercely competitive landscape. To navigate this complex landscape, business leaders must strike

GUEST ESSAY: Securing your cryptocurrency — best practices for Bitcoin wallet security

By Ronin Ashford

Over time, Bitcoin has become the most widely used cryptocurrency in the world. Strong security measures become increasingly important as more people use this digital currency.

Preserving privacy for a greater good

For managing and keeping your Bitcoin assets, you must need a bitcoin wallet, which is a digital version of a conventional wallet. The protection of your priceless digital assets will be guaranteed by this article’s discussion of the best techniques for protecting your Bitcoin wallet.Bu

A Bitcoin wallet is a piece of software that enables users to transmit, receive, and store bitcoins securely. While it performs similarly to a regular wallet, it stores digital assets in the form of cryptographic keys rather than actual cash or credit cards. These wallets are available in a variety of formats, including hardware wallets, online wallets, mobile wallets, and desktop wallets. Users can select depending on their unique needs

GUEST ESSAY: Where we stand on mitigating software risks associated with fly-by-wire jetliners

By Vance Hilderman

The threat of bad actors hacking into airplane systems mid-flight has become a major concern for airlines and operators worldwide.

This is especially true because systems are more interconnected and use more complex commercial software than ever before, meaning a vulnerability in one system could lead to a malicious actor gaining access to more important systems.

Here’s what you should know about the risks, what aviation is doing to address those risks, and how to overcome them.

It is difficult to deny that cyberthreats are a risk to planes. Back in 2015, a security researcher decided to make that very point when he claimed to have hacked a plane, accessed the thrust system, and made it fly higher than intended.

Thankfully, the incident ended safely (or perhaps was unproven), but it clearly highlighted a need for stiffer security measures, particularly

Comment | Read | August 29th, 2023 | Guest Blog Post | Top Stories

GUEST ESSAY: Lessons to be learned from the waves of BofA phone number spoofing scams

By Richard Grant

Phone number spoofing involves manipulating caller ID displays to mimic legitimate phone numbers, giving scammers a deceptive veil of authenticity.

Related: The rise of ‘SMS toll fraud’

The Bank of America scam serves as a prime example of how criminals exploit this technique. These scammers impersonate Bank of America representatives, using the genuine bank’s phone number (+18004321000) to gain trust and deceive their targets.

Victims of the Bank of America scam have shared their experiences, shedding light on the deceptive tactics employed by these fraudsters. One common approach involves a caller with an Indian accent posing as a Bank of America representative. They may claim that a new credit card or checking account has been

GUEST ESSAY: A call to decentralize social identities — to curtail social media privacy abuses

By Chris Were

Social media giants have long held too much power over our digital identities.

Preserving privacy for a greater good

Today, no one is immune to these giants’ vicious cycle of collecting personal data, selling it to advertisers, and manipulating users with data metrics. By making people feel like mere products- this exploitative digital environment further encourages a bubble of distrust amongst social media users.

With numerous incidents to cite, tech behemoths have time and again proven their inadequacy to securely handle their user’s digital identity and data.

In recent years, Meta (previously Facebook) has faced a number of fines for violating user privacy. In 2019, the company was ordered to pay a record-breaking $5 billion penalty by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for violating consumers’ privacy rights.

The fine was the largest ever imposed on a social media company for privacy violations. Last month, again, Meta was penalized for more than €1.2bn (£1bn) and ordered to suspend data transfers to the US by an Irish regulator for its handling of user information. This hefty penalty set

Comment | Read | August 15th, 2023 | Guest Blog Post | Top Stories

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The Last Watchdog

Guest Blog Post

GUEST ESSAY: Caring criminals — why some ransomware gangs now avoid targeting hospitals

By Zac Amos

GUEST ESSAY: The timing is ripe to instill trust in the open Internet — and why this must get done

By Hannah Aubry

GUEST ESSAY: Robust data management can prevent theft, guard intellectual property

By Clark Frogley

GUEST ESSAY: Securing your cryptocurrency — best practices for Bitcoin wallet security

By Ronin Ashford

GUEST ESSAY: Where we stand on mitigating software risks associated with fly-by-wire jetliners

By Vance Hilderman

GUEST ESSAY: Lessons to be learned from the waves of BofA phone number spoofing scams

By Richard Grant

GUEST ESSAY: A call to decentralize social identities — to curtail social media privacy abuses

By Chris Were