International Cloud Computing Conference 2009

By Guy Bunker | March 6, 2009 | 1 Comment 

Guy Bunker

I’m speaking at the International Cloud Computing Conference and Expo in Prague in May. My talk is entitled: “The Darker Sides Of Cloud Computing: Security and Availability” where I am going to cover some of the issues which are not necessarily thought about when picking a cloud service provider. There are going to be some excellent sessions, but I’m sure the ‘hallway discussions’ will be where some great ideas will come out. See you there.

cloudcomputingexpoeurope2009

Nice Picture… Welcome To The Corporate Network

By Guy Bunker | March 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment 

Guy Bunker

I found the following story amusing, in essence (white hat) hackers used a photograph to circumvent facial recognition security software. It would seem an obvious way to do it, if you ask me… but it also shows that all too often technology experts can miss ‘the obvious’… just because it’s hard to recognise people’s faces, doesn’t mean that it’s hard to create a likeness – after all cameras have been around for a while now!

Job Offer… With Free Malware

By Guy Bunker | March 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment 

Guy Bunker

The latest round of social engineering phishing is starting to take shape – and it’s around jobs. Well, in this economic climate wouldn’t you take a look at a new job if it is offered to you? In this case, of course, its not a job but a nasty piece of malware that goes by the catchy name of – W32.Ackantta.B@mm.

Once more, the moral of the story is… if you don’t know who its from then don’t open it, or click on the link, or anything else… hit delete. If you are looking for a job, then you know who you have applied to – check for the sender and if in doubt, call them up and / or ask them to send the attachment as clear text (so not an attachment). If you are a recruiter, then think about sending out information in clear text – not attachments so that the recipients will be able to read them without wondering if they are going to be subject to malware.

Help Me… I’m Being Stolen

By Guy Bunker | March 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment 

Guy Bunker

Imagine a laptop that shouts if it has been stolen… well, imagine no more – it’s possible. Given that people don’t respond to car alarms or alarms in general, I’m not convinced that anyone will respond to a laptop shouting for help – or if the sound is turned down, whispering.

However, it is worth looking at how you might protect your system – shouting at the thief really isn’t going to make a difference. For potentially stolen or lost laptops (and smart phones for that matter), encryption is the way to go. Full disk encryption will prevent anyone accessing your data should you happen to lose your machine – so you can sleep well at night knowing someone isn’t stealing your bank account details from it, or logging into the corporate network as you. And… while we’re talking laptops… also remember to back it up… so when it disappears, all your hard work or digital photos can be recovered – from the backup. So this means, if you have a USB disk with the backup… don’t keep it with your laptop!

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