I’ve written a number of articles about cyber attacks and how much of it is self-inflicted. The proliferation of smart devices, at all levels of government, have also aggravated the situation. The smart device has done more to socialize the “sharing” mindset than any other electronic appliance in history. The problem with “sharing”, aka leaking, is that missions, operations or investigations can be compromised with devastating results.
Hacks come from the end user. Routers, gateways, switches are hard to break into but you the end user is not. The following is a hack attempt directed at Apple users, take a look.
This is a fairly official looking email message from a seemingly safe source. In reality it’s an attempt to capture your iCloud login details. Assuming it’s successful, the perpetrator now has access to all of your iCloud data which may include work related information, lists of passwords etc., etc. etc. This user may very well also use his or her smart device to access work systems which exposes the entire enterprise to a cyber attack.
IT Directors, need to take the bull by the horns and prohibit personal use of enterprise issued smart devices. Business issued smart devices are for business communication or access to business systems ONLY! Personal devices CAN NOT be used to access enterprise databases or other computing resources.
My suggested policies may seem Draconian but rest assured they are necessary and should be enforced by employee termination. This is step 1 of any effective counter cyber attack program.
FOG HORN 