PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

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Tag: Security Training

This blog covers privacy training, information security awareness training, and HIPAA training topics

Mr. Robot: My Review of the New TV Series

Daniel Solove
Daniel Solove @danielsolove
Founder of TeachPrivacy
July 13, 2015

Mr Robot 01by Daniel J. Solove

I’ve really been enjoying the new TV series Mr. Robot on USA. Network.  It presents highly-engaging depictions of hacking and social engineering, and it is great entertainment for privacy and security  geeks.

Mr Robot 05aThe protagonist is Elliot Alderson (played by Rami Malek), a tech who works at a cybersecurity firm in New York City.  The show is narrated with voiceover by Elliot, and we get a glimpse into the mind of this reclusive and quiet person.  Voiceover can often falter as a technique, but here it works wonderfully — and all the more impressive because Elliot speaks softly, often in monotone.  But Elliot is such a fascinating character and Malek delivers Elliot’s monologue so effectively, that it becomes surprisingly engaging.

Elliot is very smart and clever, and he sees many around him as idiots.  He suffers from severe bouts of depression, is a recluse who wants to be invisible, and he is very awkward around other people.  He lives most of his life inside his head.  The show presents the stark contrast between what he says to others and what he is thinking.  In one scene, we see him speaking to his psychiatrist, telling her hardly anything.  But we hear his thoughts and know that he is pondering quite a lot.
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Baseball’s “Hacking” Case: Are You a Hacker Too?

Daniel Solove
Daniel Solove @danielsolove
Founder of TeachPrivacy
June 25, 2015

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By Daniel J. Solove

 

I’m a St. Louis Cardinals fan, so I guess it is fitting that my favorite team becomes embroiled in a big privacy and data security incident.  At the outset, apologies for the feature photo above.  It pulled up under a search for “baseball hacker,” and as a collector of ridiculous hacker stock photos, I couldn’t resist adding this one to my collection.  I doctored it up by adding in the background, but I applaud the prophetic powers of the photographer who had a vision that one day such an image would be needed.

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Cybersecurity in the Boardroom

Daniel Solove
Daniel Solove @danielsolove
Founder of TeachPrivacy
June 17, 2015

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by Daniel J. Solove

A few days ago, I posted about how boards of directors must grapple with privacy and cybersecurity.   Today, I came across a survey by NYSE Governance Services and Vericode of 200 directors in various industries.

According to the survey, about two-thirds of directors are less than confident about their company’s cybersecurity.  This finding is not surprising given the frequency of data breaches these days.  There is a growing sense of exasperation, as if we are living in an age of a great plague, with bodies piling up in the streets.

Plague 01

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Boards of Directors Must Grapple with Privacy and Cybersecurity

Daniel Solove
Daniel Solove @danielsolove
Founder of TeachPrivacy
June 15, 2015

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By Daniel J. Solove

Privacy and cybersecurity have become issues that should be addressed at the board level. No longer minor risks, privacy and cybersecurity have become existential issues. The costs and reputational harm of privacy and security incidents can be devastating.

Yet not enough boards are adequately engaged with these issues. According to a survey last year, 58% of members of boards of directors believed that they should be actively involved in cyber security. But only 14% of them stated that they were actively involved.

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Is Data Security Awareness Training Effective?

Daniel Solove
Daniel Solove @danielsolove
Founder of TeachPrivacy
February 25, 2014

data security awareness blog 1

by Daniel J. Solove

A recent article in CIO explores the question: Is data security awareness training effective?

The answer: Yes.

The article points to an ISACA study that seeks to measure the effectiveness of data security awareness training. The study concludes: “Security awareness training is a vital nontechnical component to information security. As such, it is in the interest of the public and private sectors to continue to research this component that directly impacts security’s weakest link: humans.”

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