Cyber-terrorism attack on TelePacific last week-"SmartVoice" customers couldn't make/get calls. Is THE CHINESE CONSPIRACY being tested ?
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THE ENTERPRISE--TEN STEPS TO PROTECT AGAINST CYBER-CRIME
THE ENTERPRISE--TEN STEPS TO PROTECT AGAINST CYBER-CRIME
FOLLOW UP TO LAST WEEK'S QUESTION ABOUT GOP PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS
There were not a lot of responses, but of those who did, the most consistent "Yes" vote was for Mitt Romney. As I see it, Mitt has four obstacles to overcome to gain the Republican nomination (and getting the nomination is arguably harder for him than beating Obama in a general election).
1) He's still Mormon. (Is that worse than Obama who seems like a Muslim sympathizer but claims to be a Christian--who just never goes to church?)
2) His MA Health Care program is not doing well (It is a lot like Obamacare, with the personal mandate to buy insurance, etc., so he'd have trouble differentiating himself from Obama) and
3) His past "flip-flops" on issues such as abortion (I don't consider these all that serious because I think the government ought to get out of personal lives anyway)
4) As head of Bain Capital, his companies (Bain owned interests in them) both "outsourced jobs" and "fired people." It was done to keep the remainder of the business viable, but none-the-less, it will be used against him in a campaign--especially with the uninformed, anti-business, supporters who only absorb 7 second sound bites before making their decisions. (And that includes a vast number of minorities)
The other potential candidates gained a scattering of Yes votes with the most popular ones being people who, so far, are not running: Chris Christie (NJ Gov.) and Mitch Daniels (IN Gov.), and the most resounding No votes: Sarah Palin and Donald Trump. I don't think many people take them seriously--for two entirely different reasons.
At least half of the American people (including many readers of THE ENTERPRISE) want a qualified, responsible leader as their President--not a "pretender," a "speech maker," a "socialist," and a "big government--big spender."
I supported Mitt Romney in 2006. I thought he was the best man for the job. He actually still is. BUT--The question is whether he can be elected. Can he beat Barack Obama? Maybe, maybe not--but it's time to start that dialogue.
WE NEED A STRONG PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND A SOLID RUNNING MATE. Who could that be?
I want to close this portion by proposing a presidential candidate (or running mate?) You should consider:
HERMAN CAIN
"Once you see and hear Herman Cain, you will not forget him"
Check him out: http://www.hermancain.com/ and here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Cain or better yet, watch and listen to him speak here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZDkacOveF0 Want to neutralize some of the minority bias in the 2012 election? Here's a terrific leader, a great speaker and a good man whose ideas are right! Take a long look, not just a glance. I "excerpted from his bio" to shorten it and added emphasis on his achievements.
I was raised in Atlanta, Georgia by loving and hardworking parents. We grew up poor, but we grew up happy. Things weren’t always easy, but my mom and dad knew that if they kept their faith in God, faith in themselves and their faith in the greatest country in the world, they, too, could achieve their American Dream.
The first dream was realized by getting a brick home on Albert Street--our new home. Their second dream was realized when I proudly accepted my degree in mathematics from Morehouse College in 1967 (my brother also got his degree). Both of my father’s American Dreams were achieved. Now, I set off to achieve mine.
One year after graduating, I married the love of my life, Gloria. And together, we started our journey to achieve our Dreams. This meant relocating to Indiana where I would begin my Master’s degree program at Purdue University, while working full-time as a mathematician at the Department of the Navy. After earning my Master’s degree and six years working for the Department of the Navy, I began to climb the corporate ladder with the Coca-Cola Company.
I enjoyed a successful career at the Coca-Cola Company and later moved to the Pillsbury Company, and rose to the position of Vice President. When I got there, I thought I had already achieved my American Dream on the 31st floor of the new Pillsbury Corporate Headquarters with a corner office. But I quickly realized I wanted something more.
I resigned my position and started on another path--the restaurant industry. I knew that in order to be successful, I had to start from “the ground up.” This meant broiling hamburgers at Pillsbury’s Burger King division. After nine months of a grueling restaurant experience, I was assigned to lead a low performing region of 450 Burger King restaurants. Within three years, we became the best-performing region in the U.S. ... after consulting with my wife, we decided to take one of the biggest risks of our marriage: picking up , relocating our young family yet again and accepting the call to become CEO and President of Godfather’s Pizza, a company teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
In 14 months, we turned the company around and returned it to profitability, and I ultimately led my management team to a buyout of Godfather’s Pizza. The company never went bankrupt, and today, there are still hundreds of locations across the U.S. My success at turning around Godfather’s got the attention of fellow restaurateurs who invited me to join the Board of Directors of the National Restaurant Association and later elected me its chairman. In 1996, they retained me as the full-time President and the CEO of the National Restaurant Association.
Through these and other appearances on behalf of the National Restaurant Association, I began working with business leaders across all sectors of the American economy. This led to my acceptance of a position on the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and I was subsequently elected their chairman. [Herman is a cancer survivor, which interrupted his life for several years] Today, I host a radio talk show, “The Herman Cain Show,” on Atlanta’s WSB 750 AM/ 95.5 FM. I serve as a regular contributor on several broadcast networks and as a keynote speaker at conferences and events around the nation.
NOW THERE IS AN AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY--AND A PROVEN LEADER'S STORY--
To see more videos, go here:
http://www.hermancain.com/inner.asp?z=2
NOW, ON TO THE TITLE TOPIC...
IS CYBER-CRIME A THREAT TO YOU? YES!
Every time I read my email, I learn about new intrusions, invasions, thefts and malicious mischief. The crowd-sourced hacker group "anonymous" is now targeting a wider range of targets. There are a lot of forms of cyber-crime. One of the simplest has already struck a number of THE ENTERPRISE readers. Their email address was hi-jacked and used to send spam. Sometimes this can be fixed by the ISP and sometimes it requires the creation of a whole new address--which is inconvenient when many people already have the old address in their email lists.
WHEN I'VE BEEN DOING ALL THIS RESEARCH, I SHOULD SHARE IT
I am NOT an IT expert. I am not a computer programmer or a security specialist. I am, however, a voracious reader. If you read and research enough, you can learn a lot. I decided to write this piece for several purposes--as an Op Ed proposed to magazines and newspapers, while I was down in Marco Island. I'm sharing it with all of you, in hopes that it can help you avoid the unpleasant experience of being struck by cyber-crime.
Ten Steps to Protect Yourself from Cyber-crime
Experts tell us that the government needs to form an agency or some other organization that has high enough stature to do what it needs to do to combat Cyber-crime and Cyber-terrorism. First of all, the two are different. They overlap, but Cyber-terrorism has much different roots and much wider consequences—as in THE CHINESE CONSPIRACY—to shut down an entire nation, versus stealing your credit card number and going shopping.
Companies will try to protect their own systems—and they must do that. They know most of the ways to do it. What they need is an interactive way to report what invasions or attacks they stop so a database of collective knowledge can be built. This can then be the starting place from which to alert everyone and devise and then share security solutions.
Meanwhile, individuals and small businesses are sort of “on their own.” They must protect themselves until help arrives. Larger scale help will stop larger attacks at the Internet gateways, and the large Internet Service Providers (AOL, Microsoft/MSN, Google, Yahoo, Cisco, et. al.) will have to do a lot of the “heavy lifting” to stop attacks before they spread across their networks.
What can small and medium size companies do? Here’s a list of ten steps that will make it much more difficult for cyber-criminals. If someone is trying to hack the Pentagon or the White House, these are of only marginal value. But it they are trying to take down your company network or raid your private database, these will help.
1. Protect your computer at home and away. It’s like protecting your home from break-ins. A locked door is no guarantee, but it is a great first line deterrent. Don’t leave your computer (or smart phone, iPad, etc) lying around unlocked and unprotected. The same goes for company portable computers and smart phones. These are “mobile data leaks,” and often unprotected and not backed up regularly. Companies overlook this far too often.
2. Install security software, and keep it up to date. Implementing a series of security measures adds layers of deterrent to make your machine less attractive to cyber criminals.
Macs seem to be “safer” than PCs, but no computer is immune. Keep your security updated—whether it is a third party application like Symantec’s or the Mac Security Upgrades. Companies & Government agencies must have both an IDS and an IPS (Intrusion Detection System & Intrusion Prevention System)…assuming they both work, and stop or detect the intrusion—and do Third Party Testing to assure they are working.
3. Turn on your firewall and leave it on. A firewall makes your machine invisible to other computers hooked onto the Web. Be careful about Wi-Fi web connections. They can be used at a distance from where they originate and offer access the owner never intended—to almost anyone nearby.
4. Use strong passwords and protect them, and change them fairly often. Simple passwords that contain your birthday, or other “public info” are little better than using no password at all. Use passwords with upper and lowercase letters and numbers and/or symbols. Avoid actual words. Longer is better. Change passwords as often as is practical for you. Avoid automatic login features. Also, don’t store all your passwords on your machine where a hacker can find them. (I know, these last two are inconvenient! But so is being hacked and having your vital information stolen. See number 5)
4. Use the best Anti-virus Software you can get, and keep it updated. (A partial repeat of number 2, but specific systems guard against different kind of invasions.) Invasions change constantly, so outdated virus/spyware protection software may be no protection at all. Your Tech Support people can advise you on the best options and can make sure everything is properly installed and regularly updated.
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5. Keep sensitive data off your machine or at least make it hard to find (which is hard to do). It’s better not to store passwords, financial records, identity information, or even birthday lists on your computer. If you do, they can be at risk. Storing them all in one place is like helping a thief by putting all your valuables in one container and labeling it. Move sensitive information off onto memory devices and store them (with backups for duplication) in secure places—safes, fireproof containers, etc.
6. Store vital information securely, elsewhere. If you do your taxes on your computer, and you might be giving a thief everything he needs to steal your identity and your assets. Store this information on a removable drive that is disconnected when you are online. If you have a lot of data to store, as some mid-size companies do, contract with a specialty service provider to store it. This might be a good time to consider a backup disaster plan for your system too.
7. Use extreme care online—once you put yourself and your information out there, anyone can find it. Apps on Facebook, free music downloads, poisoned Websites, and email attachments are common ways criminals gain access to your computer. Do not trust, verify.
8. Never open an attachment to an email from an email address you do not recognize. Don’t open attachments with .exe and other invasive system suffixes. Even if a friend seems to have sent them, email them and tell them politely that you have decided to simply trash such attachments as a security measure—and encourage them to not send them. Friends can have their address book hacked and stolen. They can innocently pass on all sorts of malware into your system. It happens every day.
9. Don’t fall prey to “Social Engineering” or “Phishing.” This is where someone (a “Phony”) either calls you via phone and asks for your sensitive information, or sends you an email that looks like it is from a bank or credit card company where you have an account—and it asks you to enter your sensitive information. Banks and credit card companies don’t do this. They will either give you your information—to verify that they are legitimate—or they will invite you to call them or come to their secure site to interact with them.
10. Back up. Back up. Back up…Brush your teeth every night. Be sure to floss. And back up your computer. Online backup sites could be vulnerable in a large-scale cyber attack. A removable hard drive is a good backup but you need a safe place to keep it. And keep paper copies of all important tax and financial statements in a fire-resistant place just in case you need proof. Some places (the IRS) would still only accept paper records in certain situations.
Is this a hassle? Sure. But try losing everything on your computer system(s) and see what a hassle that is to reconstruct—if that is even possible. Worse yet, try losing it to thieves or competitors—or both. Now does the hassle seem worth the effort?
Cyber-crime won’t be going away. It will be growing as more and more devices are networked around the globe. Look at what happened with Wiki-Leaks. Cyber-terrorism can damage a country as badly or worse than physical attacks, and many times faster, and with less investment in “machines of war.”
Your country needs to be ready to defend—and when it can find the enemy—counterattack. Your company needs to be ready to protect its valuable assets, of which “information” is at the top of the list, right under “people.” Finally, you need to take responsibility to protect your systems, and your private information. If you don’t, who will?
THAT'S IT FOR THIS WEEK!
BEST, JOHN
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