Court Upholds 1st Amendment Rights for Bloggers! (Big Win for Bloggers!) February 14, 2014
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: 1st Amendment, 9th Circuit Court, AT&T, bloggers, Chris Mark, Gertz, Gertz v. Robert Welch Inc
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According to an article in USA Today, On January 17th, 2014 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that “..bloggers and the public have the same First Amendment protections as journalists when sued for defamation: If the issue is of public concern, plaintiffs have to prove negligence to win damages.” At a high level, the Appeals Court ruled that Standards set by a 1974 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Gertz v. Robert Welch Inc., apply to everyone, not just journalists. What does this mean? Quite simply if you want to blog about a company, public figure, or anyone else and your blogs are in the ‘public interest’ and not driven by malice and are not negligent, then you have a right to do so without being sued for defamation. The court said specifically: “Because Cox’s blog post addressed a matter of public concern, even assuming that Gertz is limited to such speech, the district court should have instructed the jury that it could not find Cox liable for defamation unless it found that she acted negligently,” judge Andrew D. Hurwitz wrote. “We hold that liability for a defamatory blog post involving a matter of public concern cannot be imposed without proof of fault and actual damages.”
This is a great ruling for bloggers and individuals as it protects their comments and opinions under the 1st Amendment.
Chris Mark in February 2014 SC Magazine “The Need & the Challenge” February 14, 2014
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: AT&T, Chris Mark, cybercrime, information security, InfoSec, SCMagazine, security
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Chris Mark’s (this author) article “The Need and the Challenge” has been published in the February, 2014 edition of Secure Computing Magazine. The article focuses upon the need to define the term ‘security’ and the challenge associated with denoting such a term. Here is an intro “While used every day, the term “security” can be deceptively difficult to define and may contain various meanings to different people in divergent contexts. The industry at large seems to have adopted a stance of “I know it when I see it,” as opposed to objectively defining the concept. Unfortunately, this creates numerous problems for those who have a need to ‘secure’ data, or any other asset.” Continue reading here!
Chris Mark in September 2013 – SC Magazine (Interview and Article) August 21, 2013
Posted by Chris Mark in cybersecurity, Industry News, PCI DSS.Tags: AT&T, Chris Mark, cybercrime, cybersecurity, data security, SC Magazine, Secure Computing, security
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In the August, 2013 edition of Secure Computing Magazine (SC Magazine), I have an interview and article included. The interview is for the cover story called “Beyond the Checkbox; PCI DSS” and the article is called “Understanding Parallax and Convergence to Improve Security”. Below is an excerpt from the article..be sure to check them out!
“To address today’s threats, companies require a high degree of convergent perspective, information expertise, and coordination between personnel and groups. Previously, companies could “make do” with basic security controls such as firewalls, Intrusion Detection System (IDS), and anti-virus. Attempting to understand the threats facing an organization and analyzing risk was often an afterthought, as companies relied upon simple compliance matrices and lists of “best practices” to secure their environment. This is no longer sufficient to address the threats of 2013. A major mistake in information security implementation is what can be referred to as “security parallax.””
Update on Blogging and New Articles in TransactionWorld March 8, 2013
Posted by Chris Mark in cyberespionage, cybersecurity, Industry News.Tags: AT&T, Chris Mark, cyber security, data breach, Heather Mark, Network Exchange Blog, PCI, PCI DSS, requirements
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I want to apologize for not blogging as frequently. My new job has me hopping at the moment and I am writing extensively for AT&T’s Networking Exchange Blog. You can check out my blog posts at AT&T’s Networking Exchange Blog . In addition to my own articles, there are a number of other valable posts from other contributors. Finally, Heather Mark and I both have articles in the March edition of TransactionWorld Magazine. You can read Heather’s article here and Chris’ article here.
Chris Mark & Heather Mark in Feb 2013 TransactionWorld February 1, 2013
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: AT&T, Chris Mark, cybercrime, cybersecurity, Heather Mark, Maritime Security, PCI, risk management, somali pirates
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February’s edition of TransactionWorld was released today and both Chris and Heather have articles in the issue. Chris (that is me) wrote “Security in Dangerous Waters; Pirates & CyberCrime” while Heather wrote “Shifting Targets; Dealing with Regulatory Shifts in Data Security & Privacy”. Please be sure to check out the articles..
Global Security, Privacy, & Risk Management 