Page 39 – BlackCloak | Protect Your Digital Life™

Compliance: Mississippi State Agencies Have a Long Way to Go

October 11, 2019/in News & Media/by Josue Ochoa

CareersInfoSecurity.com interviews our CEO on the potential exposure of personal data of citizens of Mississippi.

The personal data of Mississippi citizens is susceptible to breaches because many state agencies, universities and other organizations are failing to comply with all the mandates of the state’s cybersecurity law, according to a report issued by the Office of the State Auditor.

— See full story at https://www.careersinfosecurity.com/compliance-mississippi-state-agencies-have-long-way-to-go-a-13231

The Iranian flag superimposed with binary code.

Microsoft: Iran-Backed Group Targeted a Presidential Campaign

October 4, 2019/in News & Media/by Josue Ochoa

GovInfoSecurity interviews our CEO on the nation-state hacking of high-profile persons and presidential candidates.

‘Phosphorous’ Hacking Group Attempted Attacks on 240 Email Accounts Over Two Months

Microsoft says that over the past two months, a hacking group apparently linked to Iran targeted email accounts associated with the campaign of one 2020 U.S. presidential candidate, current and former U.S. government officials, journalists covering global politics and prominent Iranians living outside Iran.

Friday, the New York Times, citing two anonymous sources who have knowledge of the attack, reported that that the campaign account targeted by the hacking group belonged to President Donald Trump’s campaign.

– See full story at: https://www.govinfosecurity.com/microsoft-iran-backed-group-targeted-presidential-campaign-a-13198.

IAPP P.S.R. 2019 Conference Speech

September 24, 2019/in Press Release/by Josue Ochoa

BLACKCLOAK’s CEO and Cybersecurity Expert Dr. Chris Pierson to Speak at IAPP’s Privacy. Security. Risk. 2019 Conference

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — BLACKCLOAK, providers of Concierge Cybersecurity™ services to corporate executives and ultra/high-net-worth individuals, today announced that its CEO & founder Dr. Chris Pierson will be giving a speech on cybercrime at the upcoming IAPP “Privacy. Security. Risk. 2019” Conference, which will take place September 23-25 in Las Vegas, NV.

Every year the IAPP’s Privacy. Security. Risk. 2019 Conference brings together the best privacy and cybersecurity minds to share their knowledge on emerging privacy & data protection issues, data breaches, and global regulations. Dr. Pierson’s expertise spans cybersecurity, privacy, cybercrime, and national security and his speech will cover many of these areas. “It is imperative to understand the combination of privacy and cybersecurity on a global stage in this continuously changing environment,” said Pierson. “If you want to have policy and operational discussions that reach into the heart of the organization there is no better place than IAPP to have that conversation.” Having given over twenty speeches at IAPP on thought leadership, Pierson is excited to delve into a cutting-edge topic on cybersecurity that focuses on destructive attacks.

At this year’s IAPP conference, Pierson will speak on “Where Harm, Not Data, is the Attacker’s Goal.” This speech takes the notion of data breaches for pure cybercrime reasons to the next level. “Everyday our team witnesses the impacts of high-profile clients whose social media accounts have been taken over, whose home cameras are freely accessible on the Internet, and whose children and family members are subject to cyberstalking, reputational harm, and other types of non-financial damage,” said Pierson. “We still have the hacking incidents for financial reasons, but more and more we are seeing crimes committed against executives and high-profile persons for destructive purposes.”

As for the current status of cybercrime, Pierson says, “These attacks against executives and high-profile persons have been ramping up in recent years. This especially holds true as the lines between a person’s public/work life and personal life on digital devices overlap.”

About BLACKCLOAK

BLACKCLOAK provides concierge cybersecurity services to corporate executives and ultra/high-net-worth individuals to mitigate their cybersecurity, financial, reputational, and privacy risks. From Fortune 500 executives to high-profile/private wealth clients, the BlackCloak team is always protecting its clients.

Learn more at BlackCloak.io and @BLACKCLOAKCYBER.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blackcloaks-ceo-and-cybersecurity-expert-dr-chris-pierson-to-speak-at-iapps-privacy-security-risk-2019-conference-300923323.html?tc=eml_cleartime.

An artistic rendering of data and videos online.

Privacy Advocates Criticize FTC's Google Settlement

September 4, 2019/in News & Media/by Josue Ochoa

BankInfoSecurity interviews our CEO, Dr. Chris Pierson, on Google’s FTC fine for YouTube.

Google to Pay $170 Million Fine for YouTube’s Child Privacy Violations

Google will pay a $170 million fine to settle allegations that its YouTube subsidiary illegally collected personal information about children without their parents’ consent, according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

But some children’s right groups and members of Congress say the penalty is far too low.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawler, R-Mo., who has been increasingly critical of large technology companies for profiting from users’ data, ripped the agreement in a tweet, arguing that the FTC has not done enough to ensure privacy.

– See full story at https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/privacy-advocates-criticize-ftcs-google-settlement-a-13022.

A woman frowns at a computer with her credit card in hand.

Woman Arrested in Massive Capital One Data Breach

July 30, 2019/in News & Media/by Josue Ochoa

BankInfoSecurity interviews our CEO on the arrest of the Capital One hacker.

Authorities Allege Paige A. Thompson Referenced Stolen Files on GitHub

A Seattle-area woman has been charged with accessing tens of millions of Capital One credit card applications after allegedly taking advantage of a misconfigured firewall.

Page A. Thompson, 33, is charged with one count of computer fraud and abuse, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Seattle. She was arrested at a residence on Monday.

Thompson is accused of accessing Capital One files that were stored with a cloud service provider, which appears to be Amazon, between March 12 and July 17. Investigators allege that she posted information related to the intrusion on the code-sharing site GitHub and on social media, which apparently resulted in her quick arrest.

According to a statement released by Capital One, acknowledging the breach, the incident affected approximately 100 million individuals in the United States and approximately 6 million in Canada.

– See full story at: https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/woman-arrested-in-massive-capital-one-data-breach-a-12852.

A lock on a laptop beside a credit card.

Capital One Breach Affects 100M US Citizens

July 30, 2019/in News & Media/by Josue Ochoa

DarkReading interviews our CEO on the Capital One data breach.

The breach exposed credit card application data, Social Security numbers, and linked bank accounts, among other information.

Another massive data breach has struck the US financial sector: This time it’s Capital One, which has officially confirmed a breach affecting about 100 million Americans and 6 million Canadians.

On July 29, 2019, the bank and credit card issuer reported an unauthorized intruder had gained access to several types of personal information belonging to Capital One credit card customers and people who had applied for credit cards between 2005 and early 2019. The FBI has arrested and charged one suspect, who is now in custody.

Most of the compromised information belonged to small businesses and consumers who had applied for credit cards. This included applicants’ names, addresses, ZIP codes and postal codes, phone numbers, email addresses, birth dates, and self-reported income. Beyond application data, the intruder obtained portions of credit card customer information, including “status data” such as credit scores and limits, balances, payment history, and contact info. The breach also exposed pieces of transaction data from 23 days during 2016, 2017, and 2018, Capital One said in a statement.

– See full story at: https://www.darkreading.com/cloud/capital-one-breach-affects-100m-us-citizens-6m-canadians/d/d-id/1335385.

FaceTime Bug an AppSec Fail

July 28, 2019/in /by Josue Ochoa

DarkReading interviews our CEO on the Apple FaceTime security exploit.

Apple has shut off Group FaceTime while it prepares a fix for a newly found security flaw found by a 14-year-old gamer.

The glaring security flaw in FaceTime that has rocked the Apple community since it went viral late yesterday was actually was first found on January 19 by a 14-year-old who stumbled upon it while setting up a group chat with friends playing Fortnite.

Apple disabled the Group FaceTime service yesterday, January 28, at 10:16 p.m. PDT, after word of the bug and a video of how to abuse it spread like wildfire over social media and caught the attention of security experts. And the company — which late yesterday said it will issue a patch for the bug this week — was a little late to the party: Michele Thompson, the mother of the teenage gamer, Grant, who found the flaw, told media that she attempted to contact Apple about the bug but got nowhere. She even tweeted about it on January 20 after not getting a response from Apple Support:

– See full story at: https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities—threats/facetime-bug-an-appsec-fail/d/d-id/1333753.

RSA 2019 Conference Speech

February 27, 2019/in Press Release/by Josue Ochoa

BLACKCLOAK’s CEO and Cybersecurity Expert Dr. Chris Pierson to Speak at RSA Conference

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — BLACKCLOAK, providers of concierge cybersecurity services to ultra/high-net-worth individuals and top C-Suite executives, today announced that its CEO & founder Dr. Chris Pierson will be giving two presentations at the upcoming RSA Conference on cybersecurity, which will take place March 4-8th in San Francisco.

Every year the RSA Conference brings together the best global cybersecurity minds to share their knowledge on emerging cybersecurity threats and solutions. Pierson’s expertise spans cybersecurity, privacy, law, and homeland security and his speeches this year will cover each of these fields. “It is always a great privilege to engage with other thought leaders, CEOs, CISOs, and those in the entrepreneurial ecosystem at the conference,” said Pierson. “If you want to find cutting-edge technology and solutions providers, this is the place to be.” Having given over fifteen speeches at RSA in the past that push cybersecurity and privacy thought leadership to the next level, Pierson continues to be an RSA Conference “top-rated speaker.”

Pierson will be joined by members of a federal government agency as they explore the world of biometrics and facial recognition technologies – from a privacy, security, and national security perspective. “These topics of privacy and security intersect in many different technologies and none is riper for discussion that facial recognition,” said Pierson. “As the technology improves and cloud computing democratizes access to algorithms that were out of reach in prior decades, the utility of facial recognition has moved from the movies to the mainstream.”

Separately, in a more immersive learning lab environment, Pierson and James Shreve from Thompson Coburn LLP will tackle the essential cybersecurity and privacy laws that every cybersecurity professional should know. “Being able to provide the background on the past twenty years of cybersecurity and privacy law to a hand selected audience that will use this knowledge to better inform their companies is exciting,” Pierson said.

As for the current influx of attacks targeting his company’s clients, Pierson says, “These attacks have been ramping up as Internet of Things devices and poor personal cybersecurity allow for an attacker to capture bank accounts, credentials, and corporate secrets in the home. The threats and damage are real.”

More than 50,000 cybersecurity professionals attend RSA globally each year, making it the largest and most respected cybersecurity event in the world.

About BLACKCLOAK
BLACKCLOAK provides concierge cybersecurity services to ultra/high-net-worth individuals to mitigate their financial, reputational, and privacy risks.

Learn more at BlackCloak.io and @BLACKCLOAKCYBER.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blackcloaks-ceo-and-cybersecurity-expert-dr-chris-pierson-to-speak-at-rsa-conference-300803051.html.

Case studies in risk and regulation

January 30, 2019/in News & Media/by Josue Ochoa

The Cyberwire interviews our CEO on cybersecurity, privacy, risk, and the law.

In the final episode of our four-part series, called “Ground Truth or Consequences: the challenges and opportunities of regulation in cyberspace,” we examine some of the game changing high profile breaches like Yahoo, Equifax and OPM, along with their impacts and lessons learned. Our guest is Dr. Christopher Pierson, CEO and founder of BlackCloak.

Later in the program we’ll hear from Jason Hart, CTO for enterprise and cybersecurity at Gemalto. They’re the sponsors of this show.

– See full podcast at: https://thecyberwire.com/podcasts/cw-podcasts-cwx-2019-01-30.html.

Apple Rushes to Fix Serious FaceTime Eavesdropping Flaw

January 29, 2019/in News & Media/by Josue Ochoa

Bank InfoSecurity interviews our CEO on Apple privacy and security issues.

Callers Can Hear and See Recipients Before They Pick Up

Apple has disabled Group FaceTime after reports emerged on Monday that the feature could be abused to eavesdrop on iPhone users.

Apple’s system status page says that Group FaceTime, as of 3:16 a.m. British Time, remains “temporarily unavailable” due to an “issue.”

The technology giant’s move follows an exploit for the flaw going viral via social media and Reddit on Monday after a proof-of-concept demonstration video was posted.

PROTECT YOUR DIGITAL LIFE™