“Pinky and the Brain” – Chris & Heather Mark’s Articles in Transaction World Magazine June 21, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in cybersecurity, Industry News, InfoSec & Privacy.Tags: compliance, credit card, cybersecurity, data breach, information security, PCI DSS, privacy, transaction world
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I heard yesterday from the EIC of Transaction World Magazine that they will be publishing one of my articles in their August 2012 issue. Stay tuned! I have written for TW numerous times over the past 7 years or so and Heather has written for them consistently since about 2005. You can read her current article here and see archives of Heather’s articles at this link. If you are not in the payments industry and want to know about the exciting world of credit card issues, check out TransactionWorld. It has great articles covering everything from compliance, to security, interchange, and more. Here are two links to a couple of my previous TW articles..1) Why Regulation Cannot Prevent CyberCrime and 2) Lessons from the Heartland Breach…clearly in this relationship Heather is the Brain and I am Pinky 😉
“Al Qeada’s Arab Spring”- Guest Post by Charlie Jacobs June 19, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: al asqa, al qaeda, Arab Spring, charlie jacobs, inspire, security, terrorism, ummah
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This is a guest post by Charlie Jacobs. Charlie is completing his Master’s Dissertation and he had commented on a previous post. He has some interesting information and insight so I have invited him to publish a post. He has a brand new blog you can read here. Enjoy!
In the Fifth Edition of its English-language online magazine released in March 2011 al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula decided to discuss the Arab Spring. The main areas of discussion were the events of the Arab Spring, the Western view of ‘al-Qaeda’s Arab Spring’ and where the revolutions should head next.
The Tsumani of Change
“The friends of America and Israel are being mopped out one after the other.” Al-Qaeda’s view of the Arab Spring is viewed through the trans national prism of defeating the influence of its enemies within the Islamic world. The fall of Mubarak was historic for the region but was also “a day that exposed America’s two-faced policy on democracy.” (more…)
“Proxy Wars 101” – Russian Attack Helicopters Caught Bound for Syria June 19, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in News.Tags: assad, geopolotics, HIND, mark consulting group, Mi25, muhajideen, proxy war, revolution, Russia, syria, terrorism
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According to a story on MSNBC, a ship carrying military attack helicopters and missiles from Russia to Syria was stopped off the coast of the UK yesterday. The insurers cancelled the coverage of the ship forcing it to turn back. The interesting part of this scenario is the fact that the ship was carrying Russian Mi25 (HIND) attack helicopters to Syria. Thee Mi25 is one of the most noticeable and lethal attack helicopters in history. It was highlighted in numerous movies including Red Dawn and Rambo 3. It is very effective at ground support. For those who have been living in a cave for the past few months, Syria is currently engaged in a revolution and the government has been accused of a brutal crackdown on the revolt with the indiscriminate killing of civilians. The international community has nearly universally condemned Assad’s actions….nearly. Russia and China appear to in support of the Assad regime. Syria and Russia have a long standing relationship extending to the days of the Soviet Union. You can read more about it here. (more…)
“The Rise of CyberEspionage” – Chris Mark Published in Homeland Security Network June 18, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in cyberespionage, cybersecurity.Tags: anonymous, china, cybercrime, cyberespionage, cybersecurity, data breach, data security, homeland security network, L3, mark consulting group, RSA, security
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An article I wrote on the Rise of Cyber Espionage was picked up by the Homeland Security Network. I must admit that the article title is not what was submitted but the article is one I wrote. If you are interested, spin on over to the Homeland Security Network and read the article. Any feedback would be appreciated..here is an excerpt:
“On April 15, 2011, the US Congressional Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations conducted a hearing on Chinese cyber-espionage. The hearing revealed the US government’s awareness of Chinese cyberattacks. In describing the situation in her opening remarks, sub-committee chairperson Dana Rohrbacher astutely stated:
“[The]United States is under attack.”12 “The Communist Chinese Government has defined us as the enemy. It is buying, building and stealing whatever it takes to contain and destroy us. Again, the Chinese Government has defined us as the enemy.”
“See, Hear & Speak no Evil”- Google Censorship Requests June 18, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Industry News, privacy.Tags: Censorship, cybersecurity, freedom of speech, google, InfoSec, mark consulting group, privacy, requests, satire
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Google today released information related to the censorship requests by Governments around the Globe. While many are familiar with China and other nations restricting access, it is interesting to see so many “Western” countries requesting censorship. An interesting example is the Canadian Government requesting the removal of “…YouTube video of a Canadian citizen urinating on his passport and flushing it down the toilet. “ To their credit, Google did NOT comply with this request. In another request, Google “…received a request from the Central Police in Italy to remove a YouTube video that satirized Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s lifestyle.” Again, Google did not comply. The interesting part of these requests is that they request removal of material that is typically considered a right of free speech and protest. Satire has been used as a form of protest in West for centuries (look at Voltare, Oscar Wilde…etc.etc.) and civil disobedience (urinating on a passport, is a good example) has certainly been used as form of protest. One has to wonder whether how much more information ‘free’ governments have kept from the public. You can see the Google removal requests here.
Global Security, Privacy, & Risk Management 