This week in Infosec takes us back to the origins of a phrase regularly used to describe vendor’s upcoming magic products Rant of the Week is a story about Infosec pros not understanding how to talk to the board Billy Big Balls is the story of a man in pyjamas taking on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Industry News brings us the latest and greatest security news stories from around the world And Tweet of the Week is security career path advice
This Week in InfoSec (05:24)
With content liberated from the “today in infosec” Twitter account and further afield
30th January 1982: The first computer virus was written. Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple II boot program called “Elk Cloner“.
3rd February 1986: "Vaporware" Announced. Time magazine reports on frustrations with the slow development of software for use in the computer industry. Reporter Philip Elmer-DeWitt complained about delays in Microsoft Corporation's new Windows operating system, which had been delayed much longer than promised. Silicon Valley pundits had taken to calling such software "Vaporware," the magazine noted.
30th January 2007: Six years after the launch of Windows XP, the infamous operating system, Windows Vista, was released to an unsuspecting public. For various reasons, the launch of Vista was marred by numerous incompatibility, stability, and otherwise onerous problems. While Microsoft actually made Vista much more palatable after 2 Service Pack upgrades, the damage was already done. Vista’s reputation never recovered. Many wonder if this is why Microsoft so quickly followed only two years later with Windows 7.
Rant of the Week (10:45)
Execs keep flinging money at us instead of understanding security, moan infosec pros
Fresh from years of complaining about underfunding and not having enough staff to deal with problems, infosec bods are now complaining that corporate execs merely firehose cash at them without getting their own hands dirty or engaging with the problem.
That's one conclusion that could be drawn from a Trend Micro study published yesterday. Around half of businesses surveyed are spending more on "cyber attacks" than they used to, it said, while a similar number reckon their C-suites don't know what "cyber risk management" means – possibly something about ensuring monitors are firmly bolted to desks.
Billy Big Balls of the Week (16:55)
How a US hacker took down North Korea's internet in a revenge cyber-attack
The blame for North Korea's persistent internet failures does not lie with the United States Cyber Command or any other state-sponsored hacker organisation.
In fact, it was the work of an American man, who sat in his living room night after night, watching Alien movies and munching on spicy corn snacks—and periodically walking over to his home office to check on the progress of the programmes he was running to disrupt the internet of an entire country.
US Hacker Brings Down North Korea's Internet After Latter's Attack On Security Researchers
Facebook says Apple iOS privacy change will result in $10 billion revenue hit this year
Industry News (23:55)
Social Security Numbers Most Targeted Sensitive Data
FBI: Olympic Athletes Should Leave Devices at Home
British Council Students' Data Exposed in Major Breach
Data Leak Exposes IDs of Airport Security Workers
Scottish Agency Still Recovering from 2020 Ransomware Attack
Fake Influencer Flags Hacking Tactics
Online Thieves Steal $320m from Crypto Firm Wormhole
Home Improvement Firm Fined £200k for Nuisance Calls
Growing Number of Phish Kits Bypass MFA
Tweet of the Week (30:23)
