Security awareness module on hacking

Our first awareness module for 2009 covers hacking - the exploitation of IT resources through unauthorized access to networks, systems and data. 

Hackers push technology and social acceptability to the limit, taking advantage of weak or missing security controls for various purposes ranging from the merely innocuous to criminal in nature. We’ll find out this month what keeps Black Hats (and some White Hats too, for that matter!) up all night. There’s a lot to be learnt from a closer look at who the hackers are, the techniques they use and their motivation, especially as we progress from the rose-tinted view of hacking as a largely ethical and harmless addiction with technology to a far more sinister criminal pastime.  Modern-day bank robbers use Trojans and botnets, not crowbars. Industrial competitors and spooks break into their targets’ data networks and systems to obtain far more information than they could ever have hoped to microfilm on those miniature cameras of yesteryear.

 Newsletter migrating to Google Groups

If you are not a customer already, please visit the newsletter subscription page to find out why we are migrating our mailing list from Topica to Google Groups, then sign-up to the “NB Newsletter” Google Group to continue receiving the free PDF newsletter every month.

 2009: the year for action on awareness

Are you already running an effective security awareness program or is it just another item jostling for position on a busy to-do list? We do security awareness not because we have to but because we want to.  We actually enjoy doing security awareness. It gets us going (rather like hacking motivates hackers). During 2009, we will continue to share our enthusiasm for security awareness with you through our blog, including a weekly diary-type entry on whatever is hot in security awareness. Our general aim is to highlight creative and innovative ways for raising awareness of current information security issues, and demonstrate the value of improving employees’ knowledge, skills and motivation to behave securely. It’s not just financial institutions, ENISA, that benefit from continuous security awareness programs addressing distinct audience groups. Creating and sustaining a culture of security is a worthwhile strategic goal for all organizations, not least in these intensely competitive times. Just imagine how much you could achieve with 53Mb of creative security awareness content this month.