Computer Security US Blog

Computer Security News and Insights

Cyber Incident Reporting

How to Report a Cyber Incident: A Step-by-Step Guide

In July 2020, Twitter suffered one of the most visible cyber incidents of the year — a coordinated social engineering attack that compromised high-profile accounts including Barack Obama, Elon Musk, and Apple. The attackers walked away with over $100,000 in Bitcoin. But what stood out to me wasn't

Carl B. Johnson Dec 20, 2020 7 min read
Insider Threat Awareness

Insider Threat Awareness: What Your Team Isn't Telling You

In July 2020, a 17-year-old in Florida convinced a Twitter employee to hand over internal credentials. Within hours, threat actors had hijacked 130 high-profile accounts — including those of Barack Obama, Elon Musk, and Apple — and used them to run a Bitcoin scam. The breach didn't start with a

Carl B. Johnson Dec 20, 2020 7 min read
Insider Threats

Insider Threat Examples: Real Cases That Cost Millions

In July 2020, a 17-year-old in Florida convinced a Twitter employee to hand over internal credentials. Within hours, the attacker had hijacked accounts belonging to Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Joe Biden, and Apple — tweeting a Bitcoin scam that netted over $100,000. The most sophisticated firewall in the world wouldn&

Carl B. Johnson Dec 20, 2020 7 min read
Insider Threats

How to Prevent Insider Threats: A Practical Guide

In July 2020, a 17-year-old in Florida convinced a Twitter employee to hand over internal tool credentials. Within hours, threat actors had hijacked high-profile accounts — Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Apple — and ran a Bitcoin scam that netted over $100,000. The breach didn't start with a zero-day exploit

Carl B. Johnson Dec 20, 2020 7 min read
Insider Threats

Malicious Insider vs Negligent Insider: Real Threats

A Disgruntled Engineer, a Careless Accountant, and $11.45 Billion in Losses In 2018, a former Tesla employee reportedly sabotaged the company's manufacturing systems and exfiltrated sensitive data to third parties. That same year, countless organizations bled data because an employee clicked a phishing link or misconfigured a

Carl B. Johnson Dec 12, 2020 7 min read
insider threat indicators

Insider Threat Indicators: Spotting Danger Before Damage

In July 2020, a 17-year-old in Florida convinced a Twitter employee to hand over internal credentials. Within hours, the attacker hijacked accounts belonging to Barack Obama, Elon Musk, and Apple — tweeting a Bitcoin scam to millions. The breach didn't start with a sophisticated exploit or zero-day vulnerability. It

Carl B. Johnson Dec 12, 2020 7 min read
Zero Trust Security Model

Zero Trust Security Model: Why Perimeter Defense Is Dead

In July 2020, Twitter disclosed that attackers had compromised 130 high-profile accounts — including Barack Obama, Elon Musk, and Apple — by socially engineering their way past internal employees. The attackers didn't breach a firewall. They didn't exploit a zero-day vulnerability. They simply convinced insiders to hand over

Carl B. Johnson Dec 12, 2020 7 min read
Zero Trust

What Is Zero Trust? A Practical Guide for 2021

The SolarWinds Hack Just Proved Your Perimeter Is an Illusion As I write this in December 2020, we're watching the SolarWinds supply chain attack unfold in real time. Threat actors — likely nation-state sponsored — compromised a trusted software update to infiltrate the U.S. Treasury, the Department of Commerce,

Carl B. Johnson Dec 12, 2020 7 min read
Zero Trust Network Access

Zero Trust Network Access: A Practical Guide for 2021

The SolarWinds Breach Just Proved Your Perimeter Is Dead As I write this in December 2020, we're watching one of the most devastating supply chain attacks in history unfold. The SolarWinds breach — disclosed just days ago — compromised U.S. government agencies and major corporations by exploiting trusted software

Carl B. Johnson Dec 12, 2020 7 min read