Hook, Line, and Sinker: Recognizing and Combating Highly Evolving Phishing Techniques

As of January, 2014, there were 33,000 phishing attacks per month, worldwide.  Phishing is defined as trying to access information by pretending to be a trustworthy source through an electronic transmission. (Think of it as that wolf dressed up in the red hooded cape standing at the door saying "I am little Red Riding Hood! Please open the door?") 

It has been suggested that most of us are only slowly waking up to how terribly vulnerable we are to "spammers," "scammers," "spoofers," "phishers," "smishers," "spearphishers" and "whalers." Yes, those are the REAL names, which vary by the route and/or the target of the cyberattack. The key scary "fun fact" is that these attacks are evolving every single day. This site (iSecure on YouTube) is a great place to learn all about it. 

By the way, Sophos is the security product that I have been using for the past 5 years. Last month, on a flight from Boston to SFO, I sat next to a woman who had a "SOPHOS" logo on her phone and we chatted. She is from the UK and was recently transplanted here, with her family, as a SOPHOS employee. She was surprised that I knew about their company. I was surprised that they historically have spent virtually NO MONEY on marketing in the US. I love their products.

I also happened to run across Norse Corporation, which tracks worldwide cyberattacks. They have a very pretty "LIVE" map of these cyberattacks and I follow them on Twitter. I use Hotspot Shield Elite for my computer, tablet and phone. I started using 1Password after my laptop got lost at a security checkpoint for a terrifying "moment" a few years ago! AND I do REGULAR BACKUPS  with SuperDuper (because it is BOOTABLE) after the crash of my hard drive a year before THAT! (I felt very persecuted by the Computer Worst Case Scenarios Universe!) Yup, that was loads of fun, too. As the guy at the computer morgue said "Valerie, it's not "IF"... it's "WHEN."

So, these are a few places to get you started and keep you tracking the attackers. By the way, Sophos tools are designed for PC's and Macs and many of the Sophos tools are FREE. Happy Monday!!

"Bullies Kill, Words Scar, Rumors Destroy"

Kaelynn shouts it out (although she is silent in this brief video) against all bullies, after numerous years of enduring her own torturous abuse until her friend's suicide galvanized her to take action to stand up, speak up and call on all of us to protect others. It is very difficult for people to understand why this ability to "save " someone else motivates people to reach beyond their own perceived ability to help themselves. Yet, they can. History is full of examples of these people. They walk among us, every day. Social scientists have studied this and confirmed this ability (described as reflecting "empathy" or "agape", among other terms). What a brave heart lives within this young woman. She deserves our gratitude, our prayers and our willingness to demonstrate our courage to stand up in front of her and say no more. We will not stand by and say nothing. Nor will we participate or silently "pass it on." Thank you, Kaelynn. Thank you for finding your voice and sharing it here...

Mission Impossible: Protecting Your Data from CyberSpace, HIPAA Violations and Garden Variety Thieves