The Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot Program Office is launching a new course designed to keep kindergarten through sixth grade students safe on the Internet. The program, called the Elementary School Cyber Education Initiative, will feature several interactive modules designed to excite students and give them a fun activity while teaching them to stay safe online. The free course features different modules that progress in skill level and are designed for students in different age ranges. "Security Showdown" is an introduction to basic security practices designed for students in kindergarten through third grade. "Clean_Up" is ideally for fourth through sixth graders ...

Forty-five percent of all American adults failed a quiz about online and wireless safety, according to an AARP study released this week. The report, which focused on users’ cyber security habits as well as knowledge, found that while most Americans have a general idea of good cyber security practices, a significant portion of respondents  to each question were either not aware of or not implementing the guidelines. Of particular note are the findings regarding public Wi-Fi use. Public Wi-Fi poses greater cyber security risks due to its lack of firewalls, anti-virus and anti-spyware software. The report found that one quarter ...

About one out of every one hundred mobile devices (1.4 percent) in the world was infected by malware in the second quarter of 2015, according to a report released by 360 Mobile Security Limited, a mobile antivirus developer. Sixty-two percent of these phones had "privacy-stealing malware" designed to grab sensitive information such as login credentials, contacts and photos. American phones were less likely to be hacked (0.2 percent) than those overseas, due in large part to American Android users almost exclusively downloading Google Play applications, as opposed to applications from third party sources that are not as secure. Downloading secure applications ...

United States Senators Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey introduced legislation earlier this week designed to combat the rising threat of automotive cyber attacks, according to a release on Blumenthal's Senate website. The bill, known as The Security and Privacy in Your Car (SPY Car) Act, would direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Trade Commission to establish federal standards to secure cars and protect drivers’ privacy. When introducing new cyber legislation, two of the biggest concerns are security and privacy, and this bill seeks to address both issues. Regarding security, under this bill, all access points in the ...

Regardless of size, nearly three-quarters of companies lack the maturity to address cyber security risks, according to the inaugural "Cybersecurity Poverty Index" released by RSA, The Security Division of EMC. The index compiled survey results from more than 400 security professionals across 61 countries. Participants self-assessed the maturity of their cyber security programs against the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, and the results pointed to insufficient maturity across the board. Of the organizations surveyed with more than 10,000 employees, 83 percent rated their capabilities as less than "developed" in overall maturity, suggesting that they see room for significant growth. The area where ...

Most companies recognize that a cyber attack will require the company to engage outside counsel. But, do you know what that engagement should encompass, what role outside counsel should play, or what benefits can be gained by managing the relationship effectively? Trust me – you do not want to discover the answers to these questions in the throes of a crisis. Preparedness is key in the success of managing a cyber security incident. Here are four considerations for your cyber security plan. 1. Keep the roles of legal counsel and technical or forensic consultants separate. This sounds obvious, but highlights ...

In early February 2015, Anthem, Inc. reported that on January 29, 2015, it had discovered that it was the target of “a very sophisticated external cyber attack.” Anthem believes the attack happened over the course of several weeks, starting on December 10, 2014. Accessed information may have included the names, dates of birth, social security numbers, home addresses, email addresses, and income data of current or former members of one of Anthem’s affiliated health plans, or one of the health plans that Anthem provides administrative services to. Anthem is one of the largest health insurance companies in the United States, ...

A recent article from C4ISR & Networks noted that while the Department of Defense wants to take advantage of the flexibility and efficiency of commercial cloud computing, the agency harbors concerns about the security of cloud environments.  James Ryan, president of Litmus Logic and chief strategy officer for the Cyber Security Summit, told the site that moving into the cloud will necessarily involve some culture shock for many at the DoD. "Clouds are organizations — dynamic and full of people making decisions daily that are relevant to cybersecurity," he said. "How can the DoD govern [what] is an inherently governmental function without ultimate authority?" To ...

Andrew Borene, chair of the 2015 Cyber Security Summit, spoke about securing your company's infrastructure yesterday at an event hosted by The Center for National Policy and The Christian Science Monitor. You can view his full comments below. Borene is federal chief strategist at IBM for i2 Intelligence Analysis. You can read more on his presentation from the Christian Science Monitor: Transforming overwhelming data to actionable intelligence Editor's note: Cyber Security Business and the Cyber Security Summit are sister organizations.  ...