Cyber Attack: United Airlines, WSJ, NYSE … Oh My!!

While United Airlines grounded their entire fleet and the Wall Street Journal was off-line and the New York Stock Exchange could not conduct trading yesterday for an extended period of time, they all have stated that they were not under a cyber attack.

We do not believe in coincidences!

Apparently we are not alone with this cyber attack sentiment. The Phoenix Business Journal conducted an engaging cyber attack conversation with us about it.

Computer network problems and outages brought the New York Stock Exchange to a halt, temporarily grounded United Airlines flights and took down The Wall Street Journal’s website Wednesday.

While none of the affected businesses blamed the problems on cyber attack by Russian, North Korean, Chinese or ISIS hackers, their troubles show the vulnerability and potential minefields for U.S. computer and communications networks.

Businesses, large and small, as well as consumers are dependent on communications systems and computer networks in their day-to-day lives.
If technical glitches can halt NYSE trading on Wall Street and force United to ground and delay flights, think of what they can do to Main Street businesses, startups and personal lives.

United Airlines’ troubles adversely impacted a couple dozen flights at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport today, according to FlightAware.com. Chicago, New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles had major delays.

A cyber security expert suspects today’s problems may stem from malware contracted from a third-party vendor rather than from nefarious hackers invading U.S. business systems from a dark room in Moscow, Pyongyang or Shanghai. “If you look at all the cyber attacks in the last 12 months, 100 percent of their breaches happened due to human interaction on third party networks,” said Michael Peters, CEO of Lazarus Alliance, a cyber security company:. “Employees of a third party company will download malware and forward it to a company, allowing cyber attacks.”

United officials blamed router problems on their network problems. “An attack can certainly happen through a router,” said Peters. “A router isn’t any different from network devices, they follow all the same rules. So a cyber attack can happen when a router is hacked and traffic is rerouted.”
Peters explained that routers are like highways, controlling network traffic. When cyber attacks happen, hackers can “reroute” traffic and effectively send data to other locations where it can be forwarded to another location.

Peters said most companies who are hacked, even large organizations, don’t have proactive measures in place, leaving them vulnerable.

The Proverbial Identity Theft Bus Will Run You Over!

Think about a time when you had a single credit card lost or stolen and how much of a pain that experience was. Now imagine if your entire wallet was lost or stolen and the exponential magnitude of pain in the patootie that would be for you.

If you are a subscriber to identity theft protection disservice providers, they are the custodians of a subscriber’s (this means you!) entire portfolio of financial account information, credit cards numbers, current and former address history, family names, social security number, power of attorney and everything else you care to chuck into their systems. To make matters worse, you can now add web site account user names and passwords.

What you now have is a cornucopia of identity theft and cyber criminal fun all in one place, neatly packaged up for hackers in one convenient location. Referring back to my wallet analogy, the database entrusted to these identity theft protection disservice providers is bigger than your wallet; it’s now your entire financial and personal history.

Not only are these providers reckless, they are incompetent from a cyber security and consumer protection perspective. Further proof that you are precariously about to be swinging in the wind is to only look as far as their advertisements and marketing campaigns. They seem to think that it makes great advertising to ridicule Russian hackers or other cyber criminals portrayed as troglodytes.

When you poke a stick into a hornets’ nest, eventually you are going to get stung. In doing so, these identity theft protection disservice providers risk the subscribers mother lode of personal identity data for the sake of theatrics. You may recall a rather stupid marketing stunt by a CEO with a bullhorn shouting his social security number out. He could not prevent his own identity from being stolen 12+ times and counting. How can they protect subscribers?

Now comes a bigger consumer problem that would add insult to injury. Have you ever looked at the policy acknowledgement for your financial institution? I’ll share some current language to Chase which states:

“We may at our option change the parameters for the password used to access the Online Service (“Password”) without prior notice to you, and if we do so, you will be required to change your password the next time you access the Online Service. To prevent unauthorized access to your accounts and to prevent unauthorized use of the Online Service, you agree to protect and keep confidential your Card number, account number, PIN, User ID, Password, or other means of accessing your accounts via the Online Service. The loss, theft, or unauthorized use of your Card numbers, account numbers, PINs, User IDs, and Passwords could cause you to lose some or all of the money in your accounts, plus any amount available under your overdraft protection credit line, or draws on your credit card account. It could also permit unauthorized persons to gain access to your sensitive personal and account information and to use that information for fraudulent purposes, including identity theft. If you disclose your Card numbers, account numbers, PINs, User IDs, and/or Passwords to any person(s) or entity, you assume all risks and losses associated with such disclosure. If you permit any other person(s) or entity, including any data aggregation service providers, to use the Online Service or to access or use your Card numbers, account numbers, PINs, User IDs, Passwords, or other means to access your accounts, you are responsible for any transactions and activities performed from your accounts and for any use of your personal and account information by such person(s) or entity. If you believe someone may attempt to use or has used the Online Service without your permission, or that any other unauthorized use or security breach has occurred, you agree to immediately notify us at 1-877-242-7372, (J.P. Morgan Online clients only, call 866-265-1727 or 302-634-5115 for international clients).”

Here is another from Wells Fargo which states the same:

“You are responsible for protecting your password and account information by not disclosing your personal account information to others (including your ATM PIN, online username, and password).”

I can’t help but see the proverbial bus that will run over consumers when an identity theft protection disservice provider is breached. Consumers will look to their banks for assistance and the banks will refuse to cover the damages. It’s not due to consumer negligence. It’s due to custodian negligence and deceptive business practices of these identity theft protection disservice providers.

Look before you leap!

Lazarus Alliance is Proactive Cyber Security®

We are excited that you are interested in this Lazarus Alliance Employment Opportunity. Please review these position highlights and complete the form below to initiate your consideration for employment.

Job Location:

Candidates must be United States citizens and reside within the continental United States to be considered.

Job Responsibilities:

In this position, you will be responsible for conducting IT audits, integrated IT/operations audits, Compliance testing and special projects as assigned. You will lead audits and deliver recommendations that add value to, and improve the efficiency of company operations.

All Lazarus Alliance employees are responsible for assisting in business development.

Responsibilities Include (but are not limited to):

• Plan and perform internal audits to assess control design and effectiveness for information systems and SOX controls testing as outlined in the Annual Internal Audit Plan.
• Supervise Information Systems Internal Audit engagements, as assigned.
• Prepare audit programs, work papers detailing audit procedures, and ensure adequate audit evidence in accordance with departmental and professional standards.
• Communicate audit findings and opportunities for improvement to management.
• Assist the external auditors, as applicable.
• Perform special projects of varying complexity and business focus as directed by Internal Audit Management. Provide IT audit assistance on financial, operational, and integrated audits.
• Act as a department liaison to various PetSmart business functions and committees as determined by Internal Audit Department Management.
• Develop and maintain relationships with various control owners and other constituents throughout the organization.
• Understand and assess the Information Systems (IS) business area objectives, risks and controls to ensure significant risks are identified and appropriate controls are established to reduce risk to an acceptable level.
• Develop and maintain knowledge of emerging professional standards, regulatory initiatives, and IT and retail industry trends and threats.

Education Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Business Administration, or other relevant analytical field.
• Minimum of 3 years experience in IS/IT audit, information security, and/or compliance.

Certification Required: One or more of the following certifications is required:

• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
• Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) (Lazarus Alliance will sponsor QSA certification holders.)
• Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
• Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP)
• Certified Internal Auditor (CIA)
• Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

General Experience Required:

• Working knowledge of IS/IT Auditing and Internal Auditing concepts.
• Familiarity with some but preferably all of our core assessment frameworks including: PCI DSS, FedRAMP, HIPAA, Sarbanes Oxley 404, SSAE 16, ISO 27000, Safe Harbor and CIP NERC standards and compliance requirements.
• Experience with internal control frameworks, professional audit standards, leading practices, security and trust models, and guidelines (e.g. HORSE, COSO, COBIT, NIST, ISO).
• Working knowledge of business management concepts (i.e. objectives, risks, and controls).
• Proven experience documenting and performing a full audit program to completion.
• Good understanding of technologies and controls including those related to OS, database, network, and application security.
• Ability to work effectively with all levels of management (technical and non-technical) and other colleagues, demonstrating strong initiative, mature judgment, professionalism, adaptability, and a customer service orientation.
• Must possess a “can-do” attitude with excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Proactive in researching business best practice concepts in order to apply as appropriate.
• Solid listening skills and ability to identify gaps in logic – inquisitive.
• Strong planning, organization and time management skills.
• Ability to work independently, productively and follow through on all responsibilities to bring projects to a successful conclusion.

Additional Training Provided by Lazarus Alliance:

Candidates will receive training in Lazarus Alliance proprietary technologies and methodologies unique to the industry including:

• The IT Audit Machine®
• The Policy Machine®
• Continuum®
• Your Personal CXO®
• The Security Trifecta®
• HORSE Project wiki®

About Lazarus Alliance:

Lazarus Alliance is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, genetics, and protected veteran status, as well as any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.

Lazarus Alliance is Proactive Cyber Security®

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