The ALS Group Risk Management Articles

I’ve headed off on vacation with my wife and kid in sunny Florida, but didn’t want to miss posting something useful for Cyber Tuesday.  Having been preaching the “dos” and “don’ts” of data security for businesses, I had to make sure my own mobile devices were secured while on the move.  My wife will probably disagree, but, in my opinion securing your data (both personal and professional) while on the go is just as, if not more important than making sure you packed your toothbrush and sunscreen.

Cisco has released the 2016 Midyear Cybersecurity Report and their findings point to future, more sophisticated types of ransomware that will take full advantage of systems with less than satisfactory security measures, patching practices, and detection rates.

Another hack of a big name corporation has hit the news. CiCis Pizza the victim this time. Over 135 CiCis locations were hit with malware on their Point of Sale (“POS”) system, causing a breach of customer credit card numbers. After several locations reported issues with their POS system, the POS vendor began an investigation that uncovered malware that had been present on some systems as far back as July 2015. A statement on the CiCis website notes: “Not all payment cards used at the affected restaurant locations were compromised; however, some information from some payment cards used in such locations may have been accessed by the malware.” – Not

Former Major League Baseball director of scouting for the St. Louis Cardinals, Christopher Correa, has been sentenced to 46 months in prison for hacking the scouting records and email system of the Houston Astros. Correa “repeatedly viewed confidential information” on the Astros scouting database using “sophisticated means” to hide his identity. Correa’s actions violated the “Computer Fraud and Abuse Act” Federal Law, which prohibits unauthorized access into another business’s computer with the intent to steal data from that computer. Hence, the lengthy sentence. However, the important piece of information to note here is how Correa gained access to the Astros database.