Source: KPNX

Millions affected in federal cyber security breach

As a cyber-security expert and CEO of Lazarus Alliance, Michael Peters’ job is to find gaps in his client’s security and close them off.

It looks as though Uncle Sam could have used his help. “This is extremely valuable reconnaissance information,” said Peters.

Chinese hackers are suspected in the massive data cyber security breach affecting four million former and current federal employees.

In Arizona alone, there are 88,000 workers.

Names, birth dates and social security numbers are all part of the compromised personal information. “Identity theft, that will be part of the package. That will get sold off in darknets,” Peters said.

The real goal many people believe is to use confidential information and clearances to get inside the government.

Senator Ron Wyden, an Intelligence Committee member had this to say, “I continue to feel it is very important that we ramp up our efforts to go after foreign hackers and foreign threats.”

Still, what stuck out to several politicians and cyber experts, including Peters, was the federal government’s lack of cyber protection.

“No encryption, no multi-factor authentication,” said Peters. When asked if he was shocked by the lack of security tools he said, “At this state absolutely.”

Peters says both are common tools used to add extra layers of authentication and security.

He believes had they been in place, the breach could have been protected altogether.

“These are fundamental, you cannot go without, so why we’re talking about this still in the federal space, that’s a real problem.”

Several federal employees told 12 News, while they’re concerned about their information, they’re waiting to hear more from the government.

They all plan to keep an eye on their accounts and credit reports.

Video: https://youtu.be/8eRv4zc9l4M

TakeDownCon 2015 Keynote Address

The New Social Security: When Social Media Meets Social Engineering.

The convergence is upon us all; this influx of technology intermingled with information infused now in every possible facet of our business and personal lives. We live in the presence of infinite possibilities through technology. Business is being propelled into new trajectories never before possible. Out social spheres and human interpersonal interactions have all been augmented by the ever accelerating technological reality. While our brave new media world is evolving and pushing forward, there is a common denominator that is struggling to keep up. The singular chink in our armor; the weak link in our proverbial chain is much to our collective chagrin is the Human Element.

This reality is not slowing down. On the contrary, it’s moving exponentially faster. Our challenge as business leaders and individuals; as humans in general, is to intelligently manage this paradigm shift as our technological singularity enters its event horizon.

Here at TakedownCon, together we will explore a particular facet of our technological present, specifically our social sphere, and how as technology leaders we can work toward intelligent management. Our business success and our personal preservation depend on it.

We are honored that our CEO Michael Peters was invited to EC Counsel’s TakeDownCon as keynote speaker for the 2015 event. This year’s theme is “Building the Cyber Briefcase: From Binary to the Boardroom”. Discussions will cover the various tools, skills, and experience a CISO needs to build and run a successful information security program.

TakeDownCon brings together information security researchers and technical experts from corporate to underground industries, to a unique “Ethical Hacking” conference. In two days, they will present and debate the latest security threats, disclose current vulnerabilities, and share information crucial to the technical profession.

Say hello to Michael Peters, William Ochs and Jessica Parra-Johnson from Lazarus Alliance if you are attending!

An actual cyber security breach would put Hard Rock Hotel and Casino at the front of the corporate wreckage A-List and be hard hitting on both the business and careers.

The past twelve (12) months have produced cyber security breaches at Sony, Target, Neiman Marcus, Michaels, Affinity Gaming, P.F. Chang’s, Albertson’s and SuperValu, Home Depot, JP Morgan Chase, Staples and the list goes on. News that the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino may be joining the roster was reported by CNBC on May 4th 2015.

For the first time in history CEOs are losing their jobs because of data breaches. Scrutiny of corporate leadership’s management of cyber security preparedness and incident response will undoubtedly continue to increase in the form of litigation and regulatory action after a major incident. The impact an actual cyber security breach would have on Hard Rock remains to be seen.

The escalating prevalence of widely publicized cyber security breaches has lit the fires for change in the attitudes of business leaders and consumers when it comes to cyber security. Gone are the days when board members and the C-suite ignore the drastic business impact a cyber security breach has on a company.

Within this firestorm, consumers are adding fuel by demanding more transparency, accountability and rapid remediation from businesses after a data breach occurs. The result is that cyber security is one of the highest priorities facing businesses and regulators. All of these high-profile security breaches were avoidable through the diligent application of proactive cyber security assessment, audits and strategy.

Michael Peters, CEO of Lazarus Alliance said “It is undeniable that prevention is the better alternative to incident response. A company can be either proactive or reactive to cyber security and only one approach will keep a company off the breach reports!”

Despite overwhelming evidence, businesses will increase focus more on cyber security breach controls against external hackers and cyber criminals this year, many more will miss the importance of protecting against insider and trusted partner threats. Employees and trusted Third-Parties negligence will continue to be the leading cause of cyber security breach incidents for the foreseeable future.

Between human error and trusted insiders with malicious intent, history has shown that the majority of cyber security breaches originate inside the company’s technological and physical walls. Employees and negligence are the leading cause of cyber security incidents but remain the least reported issue.

The Proactive Cyber Security™ services at Lazarus Alliance is years ahead of this issue by offering IT Audit & Compliance, IT Risk Management and IT Governance & Policy solutions to companies that would rather proactively prevent data breaches than be in the news and in the next industry data breach report. These services include proactive SSAE 16 internal audit services.

Lazarus Alliance assessors have a deep wellspring of cyber security, regulatory and assessment experience to draw from. Continuing to shape the industry with breakthrough proprietary technology such as the IT Audit Machine (ITAM), the Policy Machine and Proactive Cyber Security™ methodology all of which exceed baseline requirements providing superior results to our clients.

Learn more about Lazarus Alliance and why Lazarus Alliance is Proactive Cyber Security™