Author: Tony Bradley

What keeps security managers and analysts up at night? According to the bi-annual Voice of SecOps Report–a survey from Deep Instinct–there are a variety of persistent challenges that cybersecurity professionals worry about. The bigger issue, however, is that despite these concerns many organizations cling to legacy security tools that can’t protect against modern threats and remain unprepared to address these issues. Diving Into the Voice of SecOps Report Deep Instinct commissioned the survey in cooperation with Hayhurst Consultancy. Hayhurst Consultancy conducted interviews with 1,500 cybersecurity professionals across 11 countries to understand the threats they face and the steps they are…

TechSpective Podcast Episode 079 It isn’t easy to maintain your security posture and be prepared to face the latest cyber attacks. Vulnerability management and threat research are two important elements that can help. Effective vulnerability management enables you to identify and mitigate weaknesses in your environment, and proactive threat research can provide you with valuable intelligence about what to look for. Bharat Jogi,  Senior Manager of Vulnerability and Threat Research for Qualys, joins me on this episode to talk about the importance of vulnerability management and threat research, and share some insight into how Qualys and his team approach it.…

TechSpective Podcast Episode 078 Wi-Fi security is plagued by some incorrect or outdated myths and misperceptions. Some stories refuse to die no matter how much time goes on or how verifiably false they are. For example, a significant percentage of people are positive that Stella Liebeck was just clumsy and trying to cash in–and that she got a payout of hundreds of millions of dollars from McDonald’s after spilling coffee on herself. The reality is, almost none of that is true. When it comes to Wi-Fi security, the stubborn story is built on an a truth–but it is a truth…

For as long as cybersecurity has been a thing, the concept of security by obscurity has been debated. The premise is simple—that by hiding or obscuring elements of your network infrastructure, applications, or data, you make it more difficult for attackers to find and compromise those things. The idea that you can secure something by hiding it has also been the focus of one of the prevailing myths about Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi Security by Obscurity From a wireless network standpoint, security by obscurity generally means “hiding” the SSID of the network by disabling the SSID broadcast. When you open a computer…

Organizations of all sizes are facing a serious threat from cyberattacks. As the volume and sophistication of attacks continues to go up every year, there are two significant challenges: their security posture is reactionary, and they lack the resources to react effectively. Most organizations still rely on outdated, legacy security tools that are ill-equipped to face the threats of today. Traditional security tools like firewalls, anti-malware solutions, and intrusion detection or prevention are still considered to be a staple, more or less, for cybersecurity. However, these tools are primarily signature-based. They give attackers the first shot because detection and blocking…

TechSpective Podcast Episode 077 In theory, the fact that the internet provides virtually instantaneous access to the sum total of all human knowledge should make us smarter as a society. Unfortunately, it seems to be having the opposite effect in a lot of cases. As much information as their is out there, there is also a ton of mis-information, both incidental and intentional, and people appear to be very bad at telling the difference. My guest for this episode of the TechSpective Podcast is Helen Lee Bouygues. Helen is a former partner with McKinsey, and is a graduate of Princeton…

One of the greatest benefits of Wi-Fi® is the virtually ubiquitous access provided by means of public Wi-Fi hotspots. What originally began as a service provided by a handful of niche businesses quickly exploded to become the de facto model for hotels, coffee shops, restaurants, and other businesses. As public Wi-Fi hotspots became mainstream, though, so did the myth that they are inherently insecure and should be avoided. Public Hotspot Security Public Wi-Fi hotspots can fall into two categories: Open (or unauthenticated) and secure (or authenticated). Open Wi-Fi networks have no security at all. They do not require a password…

TechSpective Podcast Episode 076 Compliance frameworks and mandates are just a fact of life for anyone working in IT or cybersecurity. The PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) guidelines provided by the credit card industry has had a significant impact. When a compliance mandate includes penalties that might prevent a business from being allowed to accept or process credit card payments, executive management tends to pay more attention. Jeff Man joins me on this episode of the TechSpective Podcast to chat about PCI-DSS compliance. We also talk about compliance in general, and some of the issues around auditing and…

One of the most common myths associated with Wi-Fi® security is that wireless encryption is weak and easily cracked. To be fair, this myth does have a basis in reality, but that reality is two decades old. Practically speaking, there is no perfect security and no such thing as unbreakable encryption, but the simple fact is that a lot has changed since then, and the encryption available in Wi-Fi is significantly stronger. Breaking WEP Security Wireless networking exploded into mainstream acceptance in early 2000, and fundamentally changed the technology landscape from that point forward. The 802.11b standard dramatically increased throughput,…

Wireless networking has fundamentally changed the way people access information and get things done. It allows devices to connect natively to the network and access resources from almost any device and without being tethered to a desk or a specific location. Wi-Fi® has evolved significantly over the last 20 years to where we are now with Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E, and has become relatively ubiquitous – more than 16 billion devices are in use today. In spite of pervasive mainstream availability and use, there are a few myths about Wi-Fi security that continue to persist. I will be debunking…