Author: Professor John Walker

Over the last two/three years, when chatting with clients, or delivering training, there has been occasions when the following question has come up: ‘How do I know FIPS/140-2 encrypted drives are as secure as claimed by the commercial sales bumph of the provider?’ AKA- how confident can the user be in the modern era of data breaches – can they be assured that, if the worse-case scenario does occur, their sensitive data objects are not placed in readable reach of the finder, or for that matter criminal? So, having decided that there is a real need to prove (or disprove)…

This month, as a prediction for the world of Cyber in 2021, I wrote the following: “In the period of 2021 more successful security attacks and compromise will be encountered, with many high profile organisations, in multiple sectors falling on their own sword of insecurity, and will thus pay the price of the reactive style of a supposed security posture. Sadly, 2021 in my opinion, will not be the year we see real steps taken toward Cyber Resilience – but it will be the year in which we finally see a more serious mindset toward addressing cyber insecurity with a…

There is currently a big push from some Cyber Security/Commercials, and Agencies such as the CIA, who are promoting the fight against, what we now call Fake News – but my thoughts here are ‘proceed with caution’. So – What if I were to tell you that around three decades ago there was a high profile kidnap, in which the authorities insisted they did not know where the victim was being held – what if you were to learn that the public message was flawed and misinformed, for a number of reasons, ranging from the performance and capabilities of technology…

On the 29th October 2020, IsBuzzNews ran an article under their Expert Comments section on Experian and the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office findings of the credit agency being found criminally wanting for sharing the personal information of millions of people without their consent, in what the ICO viewed as a blatant disregard of the mandated requirements of GDPR. However, unbeknown to IsBuzzNews, I was already conducting research into the topic of Net Privacy and Data Abuse, which included the said data abuser found culpable by the ICO – Experian who have been (are) still sharing the personal information of millions…

As of October 2020, we would seem to be dug in even deeper into the pit of the global Pandemic with no end game in our forward vision. Thus, those Remote Working, Out of Office forced conditions would not seem to be something that will be going away anytime soon – so time to adapt – not on a Tactical basis, but with long-term Strategy at the forefront of our minds-eye. On the 27th of October I ran a Webinar which showcased the serious plight businesses are finding themselves in – picking up on the massive exposure that multiples of…

Introduction to the New Age of Warfare It was in Amsterdam 1993 when presenting a paper at the Virus Bulletin 93 Conference, subject – bypassing anti-virus scanners. It was there in the luxurious Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky where I was baptised by Winn Schwartau to a topic which caught my imagination – that topic was ‘Cyber War’. I admit at that time the general opinion of the delegates seemed to be that of rejection of any such concept of adverse cyber-condition could ever materialise with any real-world effect! However, I was consumed by the words delivered by what I saw (see)…

In the current 2020 era of cyber insecurity and the associated everyday logical dangers impacting both global organisations and individuals alike, with the resulting effect on the economy being significant in financial loss realised by an extraordinary amount in the form trillions of dollars. We also see, what has become an almost everyday encounter of the security breach or leak which manifests in exposure of sensitive business and and end-user customer data. The Threats The logical risks are now proving very difficult to keep up with, and pose a significant overhead on even those organisations who have technological resources. However,…

As many are now aware, the Chinese Leadership and its underpinning agents have not taken kindly to some of those who have been outspoken against their antics, such as human rights abuse, continued cyber warfare attacks, and not no mention the current situation the world is facing with the human and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, resulting, potentially in the viral kill-chain of COVID-19. Yes, many have been understandably outspoken, but here we have seen another underhand tactic attacks against some who have dared comment – with the deployment of disinformation and other such verbal and technological attacks. Here,…

Distanced, out of office (off campus) operational dictated by the 2020 pandemic has imposed a heavy burden on business operations, and forced the need for operational requirements to evolve to meet the demands of New Age Working Practices (NAWP) to sustain secure, assured operability and communication. However, in this impasse of criminal opportunity, hackers, organised criminals and even state sponsored actors have sought to leverage the enhanced surface of attack presented by multiples of international companies. In some cases, manifesting in social engineering to persuade the transfer of multi-million £/$ transactions into illicit accounts through the use of manipulated communications;…

Post the imposition of the coronavirus Lock-Down, myself and Shirley (my wife) decided to take some time out, and went over to Norfolk to spend some time on the edge of Her Majesty the Queens  Sandringham Estate. To enjoy some relaxation time on the beach, we headed off to the not very busy location in Old Hunstanton. We had only been there for about half an hour when a frantic lady came over to us in very clear distress and asked ‘have you seen a little 6 year old girl go past’. I replied no. Then, the lady told us…