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Cyber Security Definition

Cyber Security Definition: What It Actually Means in 2021

Colonial Pipeline Just Gave Us a Real-World Cyber Security Definition On May 7, 2021, a single compromised password shut down the largest fuel pipeline in the United States. Colonial Pipeline halted operations after a ransomware attack attributed to the DarkSide group, triggering fuel shortages across the Southeast. If you want

Carl B. Johnson May 18, 2021 6 min read
Computer Security Jobs Pay

Computer Security Jobs Pay: What You'll Earn in 2021

Colonial Pipeline just paid a $4.4 million ransom to a threat actor group called DarkSide. That attack — which shut down fuel distribution across the U.S. East Coast this month — has done more for cybersecurity hiring than any recruiting campaign ever could. Every board of directors in America is

Carl B. Johnson May 18, 2021 6 min read
Computer Security Service

Computer Security Service: What Actually Works in 2021

Colonial Pipeline Just Showed Us What Happens Without a Real Computer Security Service On May 7, 2021, a single compromised password shut down the largest fuel pipeline in the United States. Colonial Pipeline went dark. Gas stations across the Southeast ran dry. The company paid a $4.4 million ransom

Carl B. Johnson May 18, 2021 7 min read
Cybersecurity Definition

Cybersecurity Definition: What It Really Means in 2021

Colonial Pipeline just paid a $4.4 million ransom to get its systems back online, shutting down fuel delivery across the U.S. East Coast for nearly a week. If you searched for a cybersecurity definition expecting a clean, academic sentence, this incident should tell you everything textbooks leave out.

Carl B. Johnson May 18, 2021 6 min read
Cloud Computing Security

Cloud Computing Security: What Goes Wrong in Practice

Capital One Lost 100 Million Records Because of One Misconfigured Firewall In 2019, a former cloud services employee exploited a misconfigured web application firewall to steal the personal data of over 100 million Capital One customers and applicants. The breach cost Capital One over $80 million in fines from the

Carl B. Johnson May 18, 2021 6 min read
computer security software

Computer Security Software: What Actually Stops Breaches

The Colonial Pipeline Just Proved Your Software Isn't Enough On May 7, 2021, a single compromised password shut down the largest fuel pipeline in the United States. Colonial Pipeline's systems went dark, gasoline shortages spread across the Southeast, and a ransomware gang called DarkSide walked away

Carl B. Johnson May 18, 2021 6 min read
Define Cyber

Define Cyber: What It Actually Means for Security

In May 2021, a single compromised password shut down the largest fuel pipeline in the United States. The Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack disrupted gas supplies across the Eastern Seaboard, triggered panic buying, and cost the company a $4.4 million ransom payment. If you ever needed a reason to define

Carl B. Johnson May 15, 2021 7 min read
NIST Standards

NIST Standards: A Practical Guide for Real Security

In April 2021, the Colonial Pipeline hadn't yet made global headlines — but the SolarWinds breach was still fresh, and the Microsoft Exchange Server vulnerabilities had just rattled tens of thousands of organizations. Every one of those incidents had something in common: the affected organizations either ignored or incompletely

Carl B. Johnson May 15, 2021 7 min read
Security in Cloud Computing

Security in Cloud Computing: What Goes Wrong First

In April 2021, a misconfigured cloud storage bucket at a major Android app developer exposed the personal data of over 100 million users. Names, emails, passwords, chat messages — all sitting in plain view because someone forgot to toggle a single setting. This wasn't an exotic zero-day exploit. It

Carl B. Johnson May 13, 2021 6 min read