Don’t Fall for Jury Duty Scam


Written by Paul Kirvan on January 29, 2009 in InfoSecurity.

The phone rings, you pick it up, and the caller identifies himself as an officer of the court. He says you failed to report for jury duty and that a warrant is out for your arrest.   You say you never received a notice. To clear it up, the caller says he’ll need some information for “verification purposes” -  your birth date, social security number, maybe even a credit card number.

This is when you should hang up the phone.  It’s a scam.

Continue reading Don’t Fall for Jury Duty Scam

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BSI: Data Mobility ‘A Challenge’


Written by Paul Kirvan on October 14, 2008 in Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, InfoSecurity.

According to a news report from the British Standards Institute (BSI), data mobility presents a “serious and complex” challenge to many businesses and organizations. According to Mike Spinney, communications director of the Ponemon Institute, an increasingly mobile workforce has complicated information security and that companies should implement measures which take this into account. The popularity of technologies such as netbooks, memory sticks and external hard drives have all increased business mobility, he explained.

However, Mr Spinney added that there was not a simple universal solution but that businesses would have to tailor security measures to meet their own needs. “The procedure must be a strategic initiative that requires a thorough understanding of the organization’s current systems, level of training, types of data collected and used, industry and more,” he stated.

One of the more serious challenges Mr Spinney identified was recently highlighted, with reports that PA Consulting had lost a datastick containing tens of thousands of criminals’ personal details last month.

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NIST Announces Two New Guidelines


Written by Paul Kirvan on August 20, 2008 in Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, Standards.

NIST Announces SP 800-41 Rev.1 and SP 800-124

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, based in Gaithersburg, Maryland), recently announced two Special Publications (SPs) of interest to business continuity professionals. First is SP 800-41 Revision 1, Draft Guidelines on Firewalls and Firewall Policy, which provides recommendations on developing firewall policies and on selecting, configuring, testing, deploying, and managing firewalls.

Second is SP 800-124, Draft Guidelines on Cell Phone and PDA Security. This guideline provides an overview of cell phone and personal digital assistant (PDA) devices in use today and offers insights for making informed information technology security decisions regarding their treatment.

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