The JPMorgan Chase Hack and Why Companies Need to Rethink Their IT Security Strategy

As we have all heard by now, JPMorgan Chase Bank has fallen victim to the largest cyber-intrusion of a US corporation to date, affecting more than 83 million customers.  In the attack, which was discovered in late July, hackers were able to gain access to customers names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.  While the hackers allegedly did not make off with any passwords, account numbers, or other sensitive personal data, the fact hackers were able to compromise the security of a massive financial institution like JPMorgan is frightening and shows that modern businesses are completely under-prepared and ill-equipped to handle a determined and coordinated attack.

With the recent rash of high-profile corporate hacks over the past year, corporate cyber-security is going to (or should be) be one of the major focus points for companies moving forward.  Businesses will have to find ways of keeping customers sensitive information safe or risk losing customers for fear of having their information stolen.  As it stands now, companies cannot just throw money at IT for solely preventative measures such as virus protection and firewalls and expect to be protected. While a firewall might stop a virus, it cannot do much to prevent these engineered, targeted attacks.  It is time for businesses to begin thinking about cyber-security in some more effective ways.

Monitoring and response are two related areas of security that companies should put more focus on over solely preventative measures.  There need to be effective methods of monitoring systems for unusual behavior and then have planned actions if something is found to be amiss or a breach has been found.  Too many times companies take far too long to detect a breach in their security and do not have a planned response to quickly eliminate the threat.  Target, Home Depot, and JPMorgan all took weeks to recognize and eliminate data breaches in their systems which indicates other companies affected would likely not have the detection and response infrastructure in place. 

Companies will also need to be proactive with their security by finding and fix weaknesses before they can be exploited.  Being proactive and actively searching for ways to exploit your own system is one of the best things a company can do in order to minimize risk of a security breach.  Home Depot found this out the hard way as they had been warned months before of the potential of being hacked and they did nothing to strengthen their security and eliminate vulnerabilities and thus lost 56 million customer credit card numbers.

One preventative measure that companies should implement is to teach their employees about social engineering and how to stop it.  Social engineering involves someone using human interaction to manipulate and deceive in order to break through security.  Many security breaches are only made possible through the use of social engineering which enable hackers access to vulnerable parts of the system (either physically or by employee over-sharing).  Employee awareness of social engineering tactics, distinct company policies describing what information can be shared both internally and externally, as well as physical security measures would go a long way in minimizing the risk posed by these threats.  

As our lives and business continue to shift more towards completely digital, companies will need to invest more resources into digital security as well as being smarter and more proactive in stopping security breaches. 

Logging off...

Matt

Sources:

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/it-security/how-mid-to-large-companies-can-optimize-security-budgets/

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-18/home-depot-hacked-wide-open

Xbox One and PS4 Comparison

It has been almost a year since the release of the next generation gaming consoles, Xbox One and PS4, so it seems appropriate to have a comparison between the two and decide which one a person should really be spending their money on. There are two big factors that should be looked at when deciding which one of these consoles to purchase, the first is looking and at the hardware and what can be done on each one and second is obviously the cost that must be paid in order to obtain one.

            I would like to start by first comparing the similarities and differences between Xbox One and PS4.  Many of the similarities come from comparing the hardware between each console. The general hardware similarities for each console are 8 GB of RAM, 8 core processors, and 500 GB hard drive. A big difference in hardware that stands out is the 500 GB hard drive that comes with the PS4 can be removed and replaced with a bigger one or a solid state drive if that is what the user prefers, where as the Xbox One hard drive can not. This is surprising that the Xbox One does not have this functionality because its predecessor, the Xbox 360, was able to change out different sized hard drives very easily. Another Similarity is that each system has an online subscription that a user pays for in order to play with other users through the Internet around the world. The subscription for PS4 is called PlayStation Plus and for Xbox One it is called Xbox Live Gold. With the use of the Internet each console has the ability to download third party applications. Many of these applications can be downloaded onto both systems; one of the more popular applications is Netflix, which is where the next big difference comes from. On PS4 a user can download and use Netflix without having to be a PlayStation Plus member, with the Xbox One a user must be a member of Xbox Live Gold to use the Netflix application. A user can view this negatively since they must not only pay for Netflix but also for Xbox Live Gold to use the Netflix application. Those are just a few of the similarities and differences between the consoles to give a broad overview of what a common user is going to experience between them. The next thing to discuss is the cost.

            As of today the cost of each console is $399, which means that a user must think very carefully about what they are going to use their new gaming console for and what that is really going to end up costing them. As mentioned before the each console has an option for a subscription that allows for gaming online with other users. For a twelve month subscription PlayStation Plus costs $49 and Xbox One costs $59. If a user is just looking to use a console for many of the applications that can be downloaded and is not interested in online gaming, then the PS4 could be argued to be a better option since they would not have to purchase PlayStation Plus in order to use applications like Netflix. Again the user must look at what they are going to be using the console for and to not be blinded by the fact that the initial price for each is $399.

            Overall there are a few differences to the hard drive, application use, and a little price difference for subscriptions, but they are also very similar when looking at what the general user is going to encounter with these systems. The main thing that a user must keep in mind is what they want from their next generation console and what it is really going to cost.

Sources

http://www.ign.com/wikis/xbox-one/PS4_vs._Xbox_One_vs._Wii_U_Comparison_Chart

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox360/accessories/xboxlive/xboxlive12monthgoldsubcard

http://www.playstation.com/en-us/explore/playstation-plus/

iPhone 6 vs Samsung Galaxy 5s....which smartphone reigns supreme?

Even if you have not been looking for a new smartphone everyone has been talking about the release of the iPhone 6.  This talk has not necessarily been for good reasons.  Hundreds of people waited outside, some even for weeks, to get their hands on what Apple claims “isn’t simply bigger- it’s better in every way.”(IPhoneA 6)  But was the iPhone 6 worth the wait? Or should you open your options to the new Samsung Galaxy 5s?

            The new iPhone 6 plus features a larger screen than any iPhone before but how does it compare to the Samsung Galaxy 5s?  Both phones range similar in price so one should really compare the features of all smart phones offered.  The Samsung Galaxy 5s is similar in design to the Samsung Galaxy S4 except for the new rounded edges and the faux leather, which can be seen as a negative to some.  Though the iPhone may win to some with its design, the iPhone’s 750 X 1334 display doesn’t compare to the Samsung Galaxy 1920 X 1080 HD. 

            If processing power is a decision factor then look no further than the Samsung Galaxy S5s GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon core processor.  According to Tech Times website, the new iPhone “hovers around the 1.4 GHz mark.” (Samsung Galaxy)  Along with dominating in processing power, the iPhone 6 has the same RAM as their last phone, only 1GB, compared to Samsung’s 3GBs.  This means if you plan on downloading a lot of apps and playing high powered games, you’re out of luck.

            What maybe a deciding factor for some maybe the quality of camera the phone offers.  Unfortunately the iPhone loses the battle camera and Samsung once again triumphs with 16MP compared to the iPhone’s 8MP.  The 8MP iPhone camera can also be found on the iPhone 5s.  The front facing camera on the Samsung also reigns superior. 

            If still debating on upgrading your iPhone from the iPhone 5s to the iPhone 6 one may want to consider the upgrade.  The iPhone’s new design is better than ever with a larger screen and a lighter weight.  Though if looking for a better camera, one may not want to consider upgrading.  Apple has also decided to make a slimmer design over increasing the batter life.  Some people may be drawn to the introduction of Apple’s new Apple A8 processor.  This processor should, according to Apple’s website “you can do more, for longer periods of time, with better performance and battery life” (Apple)    

            Is the iPhone the phone for you? It’s personal preference, but when comparing the iPhone 6 with the features on the Samsung Galaxy 5s, there is no comparison.  The Samsung reigns supreme. If you are a new smart phone user and are looking for an easy user interface to understand then the iPhone 6s maybe the phone for you. All depend on personal preference and what you want in a smartphone, but don’t be shy to venture away from your typical band and try something new!

Signing out,

Sydney           

"IPhoneA 6." Apple. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2014.

"Samsung Galaxy S5 vs Apple IPhone 6: Which Flagship Smartphone Is Better?" Tech Times RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2014.

Net Neutrality: Why It's Important and How We Might Lose It

If you have been following the news in recent months, you may have heard the term, "Net Neutrality" and you may have wondered what this term meant.  The official definition is "the principle that Internet service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet equally, not discriminating or charging differently by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, and modes of communication.”¹  That definition might not be the clearest for everyone, so at its most basic, it is simply that the people who provide your internet cannot censor, filter, artificially slow, or charge extra for anything on the internet based on based on the site,  the user, or any other reason.  “Well, why is this important,” you might ask.  Net neutrality is one of the most important functions of the Internet as it allows for free and open communication without the meddling of a third party.  It also allows for technological advancement and healthy competition between businesses.  ISPs are not able to filter content they don’t agree with or artificially slow content they may not want to provide.  All content must be provided equally.

“That sounds great,” you might say, “why would that be in danger?”  Well my friend, because the major cable providers want to make more money.  AT&T, Verizon, Time Warner Cable, and Comcast are four major telecom companies lobbying the government to do away with the principle of Net Neutrality.  These companies have actually spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the last several years on lobbying against Net Neutrality, with AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast spending a combined $66 million in 2012.² Verizon actually sued the FCC in order to challenge the government organization’s ability to enforce Net Neutrality rules and unfortunately for Net Neutrality, Verizon won.  All of these lawsuits and lobbying are leading to exactly what the cable companies want, the creation of internet “fast lanes.”  These so called “fast lanes” would allegedly allow for users or sites to pay ISPs extra for faster service while those that did not pay would be forced to use a much slower connection.

I’m sure you can see the inherent problems with this idea.  First, customers would have to pay a premium to their ISPs, on top of their already high prices, for “faster” internet.  An even uglier prospect is the idea of paying a la carte for sites or having sites “packaged” like cable channels as shown by these hypothetical images. 

Second, companies would have to pay ISPs to have their sites provided quickly instead of at an unusable crawl.  I’m sure those of you with some background in economics would then see that companies would start charging more for their products and services to cover the costs of paying for their sites to be in the fast lane.  Effectively hitting the consumer with a double whammy of price increases.  These fast-lanes would also crush start-ups.  Small companies with a great new idea but not much cash would never be able to afford to have their site in the “fast lane” and their idea would quickly die.  Without Net Neutrality we would never have things like Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Amazon, or any of the other wonderful sites we use the Internet for every day.

As you can see the death of Net Neutrality would be terrible for consumers and the economy.  “But what can I do?  How can I fight against these billion dollar telecom corporations?”  The first thing you can do is visit https://www.battleforthenet.com/.  There they will help you connect with your state’s elected representatives and you can let them know you support Net Neutrality.  You can find more information about what is happening at the FCC here: http://www.savetheinternet.com/net-neutrality-what-you-need-know-now.

Let’s keep the Internet free and open for everyone!

Logging off…

Matt  

1Tim Wu (2003). "Network Neutrality, Broadband Discrimination". Journal on telecom and high tech law. Retrieved 15 Sept 2014.

2Drutman, Lee, and Zander Furnas. "These Companies Spend the Most Money to Kill Net Neutrality." The Daily Dot. N.p., 5 Sept. 2014. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.

Images taken from Google Images

Introductions

Hello everyone,
Welcome to our blog!  We are Ben Wirzbach, Matt Patchen, and Sydney Wilkins.  The purpose of this blog is to discuss current subjects and issues relating to the tech industry, all by the warm glow of the server room.  Comments and discussion are encouraged!

Before we get started, we should probably start with some introductions...

I am Ben Wirzbach from Dubuque, Iowa.  I am a part time student at John Deere working in their Manufacturing Engineering Department.  I am currently a senior at the University of Northern Iowa majoring in Management Information Systems.  At the University of Northern Iowa I am a part of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon.   

I am Matt Patchen and I was born and raised in Mason City, Iowa.  I am in my fifth year at the University of Northern Iowa pursuing degrees in Management Information Systems and Economics and I will be graduating in May of 2015.  I am a huge football nerd (Skol Vikings!) and I also enjoy cycling, reading, and video games.  I currently work at John Deere in Waterloo as a part-time student in the Quality Systems department.

My name is Sydney Wilkins and I was born in Spring Grove, Illinois.  My major is Management Information Systems with a certificate in Computer Applications.  My anticipated graduation is May 2015.  After graduation I hope to obtain a job as a business analyst.  My interests are running and running.  I have even completed two half marathons and a full marathon through college.  I will be completing my third half marathon on September in Decorah, Iowa.  My current occupation is at John Deere as a part time student in the PDP engineering department.
We hope you will enjoy all our wonderful posts to come.


Logging off...

Ben, Matt, & Sydney