The Weekly Cypher is specially curated to keep you up-to-date on the latest in cybersecurity, biometrics, and related news and innovations. This week’s topics are:
Three Things to Know When Deploying Biometrics | Dark Reading
Biometrics may be the only truly viable alternative to passwords for user authentication, but deploying biometric solutions can be tricky. From protecting private user data to utilizing multiple biometrics and other factors for authentication, Dark Reading’s Todd Thibodeaux offers three pieces of advice for any CISO considering a biometric deployment. Having the right strategy in place before adoption will ease any transition away from passwords. [Read More]
Fugitive Captured After 17 Years Thanks to Facial Recognition | Ars Technica
A fugitive wanted for child abuse was captured by the FBI after matching the photo in a passport application to a 20-year-old photo. The suspect was arrested at his workplace in Salem, Oregon, after his passport photo was run through the Face Analysis, Comparison, and Evaluation test in December. He vanished in 2000 from Indiana when authorities sought to question him. He had assumed the identity of an 8-year-old killed in a 1975 automobile crash. [Read More]
Latest Gmail Phishing Attacks Highlight Need for Multi Factor Authentication | ITBusinessEdge
The latest phishing attacks aimed at Gmail users are being touted as the most sophisticated yet. The attackers send a warning to users directing them to a false login page, then send a similar message on to the victim’s own contacts. Many security experts believe that this is only the tip of the iceberg as well and that we should expect such phishing attempts to continue to advance in both sophistication and success. This highlights a strong need to adopt multi factor authentication to stop these attempts and better protect our personal accounts. [Read More]
Most Firms Need to Focus More on Cybersecurity | ITPro
Experts believe that many businesses are still too naive when it comes to cybersecurity and how safe they really are. A recent poll of British firms found that 22 percent saw an increase in cyber incidents in 2016, but a PricewaterhouseCoopers study found that 18 percent don’t even know how many attacks they had last year. The simple truth is that organizations don’t understand how vulnerable they are or how to fix it. [Read More]
Most Consumers Blame Businesses for Data Breaches | Information Age
It may come as little surprise that consumers often blame a business for losing their data, but in many cases the user is just as much to blame. Reusing passwords and security questions, using weak or common passwords, and succumbing to social engineering or phishing attacks are often the cause of a major corporate data breach. However, a recent study found that 70 percent of consumers blame a business, with only 30 percent believing they are also responsible for preventing breaches. And, only 29 percent of consumers think that companies take protecting personal data seriously enough. [Read More]
