Concerned about data security? Why the ICO and FSA do not do businesses any favours.

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Category: Cyber Security (Personal)

In 2011 Sony was fined £250,000 for leaking personal data including passwords, email addresses, names and possibly financial details (story: 24/1/2013). Stories relating to data breaches are often seen in the press, inciting strong comment from the Financial Services Authority and the Information Commissioners Office. David Smith, the ICO’s deputy, said “there’s no disguising that this is a business that should have known better”.

With data breaches happening frequently, the general public would think the FSA and ICO are taking the necessary steps to make legislation and guidance clear. Well think again. When contacting these organisations with a question, businesses can expect to wait up to a month for a response.

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Website security speak is often marketing baloney speak

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Category: Cyber Security (Personal)

We buy products and services online every day, and naturally the supplier will claim their website security is fantastic. Often we see sentences like: “We use the latest encryption technology, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for encryption and authentication to protect the transfer of your personal data from unauthorised parties. SSL software uses 128-bit encryption to secure the personal information you input before it is sent to us”.

But what does this mean? If you wanted to stop someone reading a postcard you could write the postcard and put it in an envelope. A basic postcard can be thought of as ‘insecure’, but now it cannot be read until it is taken out of its envelope at the other end. This is a bit like SSL encryption; it turns clear text into jumbled numbers and letters. ‘Great!’ you may think, but the postcard is still insecure before and after it is placed in the envelope.

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Cloud computing: don't put all your eggs in one basket

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Category: Cyber Security (Personal)

We have all the heard the maxim ‘don't put all your eggs in one basket’ but what does it have to do with cloud computing?

Nearly every single IT support company in the country is offering the latest craze of cloud computing to the masses and, lest you accuse me of shooting myself in the foot, I do have a cloud division of my company, albeit not conventional cloud computing.

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