When asked how we would do things differently, in the light of non-existent information on Bomb makers and potential terror suspects slipping by, we have to first explain what is done with all this information that bombards us on a minute by minute basis.
When each phone call, back in the early 1900's was to made, it had to go through an operator, which was normally a woman, she connected your call for you. I mean connected through a lead and plug. Today, Three billion phone calls are made every day in the US, which breaks down to 34,722 calls per second. There are not enough woman in the USA to connect those calls!
Now do you understand the information overload that is bombarding us?
It is years of analytic manipulation of data, utilizing successful algorithms and having a criminal/terroristic understanding through sane practice and ensuring that the computer connections are secure with Device DNA, not Human Passwords. This is what makes the CommSmart US standout.
It is no good just filling the hopper with data and letting it sit there. Data silos, just like grain silos, gather dust and clog. When placing data in an important database, you must be actioning the information, sorting in generalities and making it available for all that require and have access. Data that is never moved will kill you in more ways than one!
It is all well and good in having a collection system, it what is on the other end of that system that is important.
Britain, just like the USA was caught short on the terror chatter and information. The potential new threats from invisible bombers who are not on the radar, which you can try and explain it away, but the fact is perfectly clear, if they reach New York City, Time Square or any other city, USA, we would have mass panic on our hands by the public and law enforcement.
Britain revamped its security information system in the light of 7/7 and the worst nightmare of terror ever to strike the English shores. America must do the same!
Now is the time to review and implement standards for today and the future and we, CommSmart US, are willing to sit down and assist with our vast expertise on secure communications with 100% connectivity, Secure Evidentiary Capture Solutions and the ability to focus on social chatter with dedication to proactive services for the protection of this nation and its citizens.
Your Board, Shareholders & Clients/Customers Deserve Better…
By Nick Ashton, Founder, CEO, CommSmart US
Being at the top use to be looked at by some that you made it to an Easier Street through professionalism and hard work and could delegate the daily workload to your heart’s content. Gone thank goodness!
If you are worth your salt for the company and all that are attached to you, relying on its success, they will want much more from you. That is if you want to continue to be employed and not just some sort of nomadic individual like city/county managers looking for the next job and benefits package.
Sure, you can have heads of departments, VP’s of this and that, having them reporting to you, those are the highs and lows of the success within of the company.
Sorry, it might be working for you, that is pulling the wool over the eyes of
those that you think are below you, but really, you are moving in the direction to being out of a job, when the board sees the failure in your real connection to the daily goings on.
Paranoid top brass are distrustful, touchy, dour, quick to take offense and slow to forgive, sanctimonious, argumentative, and often extremely litigious.
It has been said, they are constantly on guard, searching for hidden motives and "antagonistic to them" undermining their authority in meetings.
Paranoid personalities find fundamental connections everywhere; nothing for them is accidental or coincidental. They think that others are taking special notice of them and derive confirmation for their fears from quite inoffensive behavior and irrelevant events.
That is the landscape at the so-called top of business today. These are the reasons they are out of touch and we have the serious corporate issues of today. This is not the same as in your Father’s day!
They are touchy to critique and may take offense where none is intended.
They appear emotionless and, in fact, often avoid becoming friendly with others.
They seldom show sensitivity and may avoid closeness; often they seem tense and abrupt.
They pride themselves on their level-headedness and impartiality when in reality there is none.
They seldom come forward to seek help from underlings.They often make decisions for subordinates without actually consulting them.
They build fortress like communications via their phones, emails and real connections.
Their Gate Keepers stop anyone from contacting, which reduces outside communications whatsoever.You get statements like, “the CEO does not take cold calls”.Is that the script on the screen?Is it like a telephone marketing caller reading the pre-written answers and having no inner understanding of the real world.
This includes of course, cyber infiltration by hackers, phishers and man in the middle brutal attacks. A frontline attack on our whole commercial trust that is required to do business with the public is being eroded because simple steps are not being taken.
Having your finger on the button and showing the daily interest in the issues of the day is important and not old school, it is common sense!
Delegation is over used and the “them and us” attitude is going to kill the dream of the founders, investors and the clientele.
Cyber terrorism is major issue and you should not be at arm’s length on this, nor should you be allowing the IT Department to be in control on their own man made kingdom. You, yes you must be in the trenches on this one, directing the war on your worse hidden enemy!
Internally you will not cope. Fact, not fiction. Today all IT is reactive, which means you are behind all the time and never catch up. You must be Proactive which means someone knows more than you do totally and has a worldwide picture, has solutions and is proven.
You must allow this outsourcing of requirements as you do not have the resources at your fingertips.
Everybody understands bad publicity can kill your business, never the less no one seems to be worried about the avalanche of cyber-attacks.
If you think I or my company’s message is not interesting enough, think again.
If you think it is not your responsibility but your customers’, think again.
You are responsible for the overall physical and digital security of your company and private, personal information, not your IT Department!
It is Your Duty of Care!
It is not if you will be compromised by a hacker, it is when!
You, your clients and customers bear the brunt of these issues when information regarding them, is stolen, sold and used. The cost and damage is enormous as Target, a US retailer, has found out on the dramatic drop in profits of 46% in the 4th quarter 2013 because one vendor lost his log-in credentials. One mistake by one person caused this gigantic drop in profit.
It is time to look at all this differently!
üFact: “digital access credentials are more vulnerable than physical”;
üFact: “Physical access is one on one compared to one on many when digital”;
üFact: “long lived access credentials have a higher risk than short lived credentials”.
KeyTalk uses the best of both worlds; we combine physical with digital access credentials using short lived access keys!
What does this mean for you and your organization?
Any user that needs to have access to your enterprise data will be granted the right to access based on the recognition of the device the user is using. This can be a Desktop PC/Mac, Laptop, Tablet, Smart Mobile Phone, etc.
At the IT Department registration completion, KeyTalk takes a DNA fingerprint of the user’s device and comprises of a combination of minimum 12 hardware components. Each time the users will access your enterprise data, KeyTalk will send a new timely key to give the user access.
With this key, KeyTalk sets up a one on one bomb proof connection between the device and server, protecting the transaction from cyber criminals.
With KeyTalk you irrefutably know who had access and when, to your enterprise data in case of data issues.
When a device gets stolen the “new” owner can’t use the device to get access to your enterprise data because the timely key has already been used.
In simple terms security of information is of the utmost importance, whether you realize it or not. This includes corporate and our own personal data, which includes day-to-day information which is transmitted from various locations via the Internet regarding you and your company.
It is said that information on each and every one of us and our businesses is stored in 1,700 locations at any one time. That is a lot of opportunities for others to search, seize, use illegally and sell. Oh yes, there is extreme value in the sphere of information.
Your IT Department will have in place software to check for Malware, which is being thrown at the corporate servers every single second of the day from all over the world. Hoping the IT Department is doing their job, when they have time from not being reactive to computer terrorists and hackers then that is a start.
Protection of your data in motion is of paramount importance.
KEYTALK has built, proven with our clients and successfully secured data transference for over twenty years. Through KEYTALK’s patented, proprietary solutions we transport all the data in a bomb-proof tube that connects end to end or machine to machine, unbreachable, impenetrable and delivers it all securely in a blip.
It means you can use KEYTALK from any device, as it is your device that is your verification. Not a password which is a human element, your device is an accepted method because of its approved DNA. It is a short lived certificate that is only in operation for the duration of the transaction. Unlike other methods of certification that left out there for years for the hackers and phishers to find, break and gain access to your corporate and private world.
Thought process is complicating the issue. Think of how many mistakes us humans make on a daily basis. Too many, right? Let us remove the biggest risk in Data in Motion, relying on a password. Passwords are like a glass window, they can be broken and then entry is gained and information is stolen!
Positions in
life are earned. That is, if they are to mean something. Daddy’s or Mommy’s boy or girl needs to work it, before they understand what a working life is all about. Given something on a “Silver Platter” does
not bring experience, which is sadly lacking in today’s social and business
world.
Decision making is a lived art!
Respect,
responsibility and importantly, accountability are not even understood in the
Board rooms of the world. It is about
expectations, percentages and predicted profitability. In fact, they don’t even care how you get
there! Just give me the damn figures and we
had better have beaten expectation!
Words heard around the world at the end of each month, prior to the
termination notices going out.
Do not get me wrong, companies have to be profitable, it is how you get there which is important.
Have you
notice they never fire the person who causes the issues, it always someone who
is now the scapegoat. The real culprit
either gets a bonus or promotion!
It is all
our social and corporate responsibility to protect those that cannot help
themselves. In this case it is the
customer, client, yes the public. It is the information of everyone that is at stake. If your company is selling something, you
have to take a payment of some sort.
Mostly by a bank card which contains very personal information regarding
each customer. When they swipe that card
on your equipment, you know have a responsibility to protect that very personal
information.
Most
management have no idea of the intricacies entailed in how this payment is
processed and the protection that is required, no demanded, when dealing in a
retail environment.
How would you like
your bank account emptied, social security number stolen, all your personal information
in the hands of a low life who only wants to make a buck from the details, which are
worth money, many times over in the criminal cyber miscreant world.
Computer security
is absolutely the #1 priority for all! A
great statement that is being ignored over and over again.
Noblesse Oblige is something that should be, but is
not!
It is all about data in motion and end to end secure connections. This is all at the front end of the process, which saves time, money and frustration for all.
It is not
the ability after the fact to track who stole the information and how it occurred. It is shutting the door tightly, securely and
barricading ourselves from the cyber terrorist.
It is not just a corporate matter, it is for us all!
Secure
connections is first step! We all are
using computers in virtually all we do.
A telephone is not just a method of communication. Today it is a full voice and data center and
all we do on those devices, what we look at, open in an email affects us all.
It is past
the time to think about security, it is time to act and be accountable to all!
It is stopping
Negating
Your Duty of Care and Corporate Governance as your
insurance company will not pay out on your failure to amend the situation. The excuse of “I didn’t know”, is not
acceptable and it will be a very personal liability to those who have chosen to
ignore!
CommSmart Global has put you on notice, that help is here!
For those
of you that do not understand Noblesse Oblige, we have given the derivation below:
Noblesse oblige is a French phrase literally meaning "nobility obliges". It is the concept that nobility extends beyond mere entitlements and requires the person with such status to fulfill social responsibilities, particularly in leadership roles.
1. Whoever claims to be noble must conduct himself nobly.
2. (Figuratively) One must act in a fashion that conforms to one's position, and with the reputation that one has earned.
The Oxford English Dictionary meanwhile says that the term "suggests noble ancestry constrains to honorable behavior; privilege entails to responsibility."
Is The Bank The Most Trusted Place For Your Money?
by Nick Ashton, CEO, CommSmart US
You work
hard for the money, placing it in a trusted place, the bank. Why?
Simply because that is what you have been indoctrinated to do. We have always trusted the bank and believe they have our full
security interest at heart.
Their security solutions are in
reverse to the sane majority of the world.
Logically you lock and bolt the doors, make the walls impenetrable and
have CCTV cameras surround the money pit.
All that if they are going to protect against a physically attack
and
steal what they think is rightfully theirs, the good old stocking masked bank
robber.
The
stealing of your money from your bank does not work that way anymore! It is all completed without using explosives,
a good “safe-man” and a getaway car.
Today, it is achieved purely by a programmer, computer and the Internet. All from the comfort of their beach house in
the Turks and Cacaos islands or the Jersey Shore.
How can
these cyber miscreants gain such access?
Isn’t the financial, insurance and investments institutions taking steps
to protect what is rightfully ours and placed in their trust?
Banks want to investigate why or how
it happened and are always in a reactive mode which is like shutting the stable
door after the horse has bolted. Now you
are chasing, expending energy that you did not have to do, if the door was
bolted shut in the first place! Yes,
Proactive secure connection methods work and are far more cost effective for
all involved.
It is not
good enough to address the issues with the largest businesses worldwide, as the
leadership is not up-to-date on computer security and only listen to either a
Chief Technology Officer or IT Manager.
You must fully understand the ramifications of data throughput and how
the information is stored for yourself.
Access is
the key, secure access only and we do not mean by using traditional passwords!
The Financial Times reported that in
March 2014 London was under attack. The financial sector was suffering
catastrophic computer failures. ATMs stopped working. The stock exchange put
initial public offerings on hold because its computer systems are
malfunctioning.
The source
of the problem was traced to a piece of malicious code that was spreading over
the internet. The transport network, power grid – and even a nuclear power
station – are at risk. It is unclear whether the code had come from criminals,
terrorists or a hostile government. In a bunker below the UK’s defense
ministry, cyber security teams are working feverishly to find out.
Notice it
is not the financial industry that is working on it, they believe others will
fix this national attack.
There lies
the problem, the malaise and it has been festering for far too long!
Believe it
or not, it was a test of sorts by a Cyber Security Challenge UK Master Class, an
exercise. During the London Olympics many
attempts were made against the city. “We tracked 20 million cyber events, of
which 77 were orchestrated attacks, stated Rob Partridge, head of the BT
Security Academy.
None of these
succeeded in disrupting the games. But can a big city like London or the
financial institutions of the world continue to be this lucky? No!
Since a
suspected Russian cyber-attack took down much of the civil infrastructure in
Estonia in 2005, most countries have started to prepare for cyber warfare. When
Russia invaded neighboring Georgia in 2008, its tactics included taking
Georgian government websites offline in a denial of service attack.
In 2012 a targeted cyber-attack,
attempting to disrupt oil production, put 30,000 computers out of action at the
Saudi Arabian Oil Company.
And last
year, ATMs, mobile payments and television broadcasts in South Korea were
disrupted for several days after a suspected cyber-attack by North Korea. South
Korea’s defense ministry estimated that the attack cost nearly £500m in
economic damage.
US
government files leaked to the press by former defense contractor Edward
Snowden indicated that many governments now have the capability to disrupt
internet networks in rival nations.
It is
imperative we keep our own house in order and not think we can rely on
others. “I’m Sorry”, is not the answer people want or need to hear.
Chris Forsyth, partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, the law firm. “Companies may not feel they need to take this seriously until they are in danger of breaching legislation. Of course, they take it seriously when they get attacked. But by then it is too late.”
Banking, Insurance and Investment Institutions are traditional and entrenched in doing things the same old way, after all, they invented it! It is not just good enough to say we must be more responsible, it is about accountability.
It is way past the time for you to review and fully understand why!
Negating your Duty of Care or Corporate Governance is more of a risk than you
think. Failure to address computer security which results in a compromise is not going to be just a corporate matter, it is a personal one too! Business insurance will not cover known issues that were ignored, it is now a personal liability!
Time to
take a deep breath, pick up the phone or send an email and CommSmart USwill listen and decide
what steps have to be taken.
It is that simply and that Straight
Talking…
CommSmart UShas the elucidations and will discuss how we can assist in all facets of
your information security.
When each phone call, back in the early 1900's was to made, it had to go through an operator, which was normally a woman, she connected your call for you. I mean connected through a lead and plug. Today, Three billion phone calls are made every day in the US, which breaks down to 34,722 calls per second. There are not enough woman in the USA to connect those calls!
