As the head of information security for a technology company with more than a thousand (now mostly-remote) employees, the COVID-19 pandemic has been — among other adjectives — an educational experience. And while it hasn’t been completely smooth sailing, I believe one of the reasons we were able to transition so quickly to remote work with relatively few hiccups is that we established practices to withstand precisely this type of scenario long before the virus swept through our community. 

Counterfeiters do not take time off. At its core, counterfeiting preys upon our vulnerabilities and takes advantage of the average customer at any cost. This is particularly true right now during the coronavirus pandemic, the most inconvenient and vulnerable moment in generations. In the midst of mass shortages and colossal demands for certain products, especially in the health field, the counterfeit community has seen a golden opportunity. Over the past few months, tens of millions of new counterfeit products have been seized or identified on the web. These include fraudulent face masks, ventilators, disinfectants and testing kits.

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad F. Wolf recently hosted the inaugural meeting of the Department’s China Working Group. The Group’s purpose is to holistically articulate, prioritize and coordinate the Department’s response to evolving threats to the Homeland posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Deloitte’s third edition of the “State of AI in the Enterprise” survey finds businesses are entering a new chapter in AI implementation where early adopters may have to work harder to preserve an edge over their industry peers.

As consumers increasingly turn to online shopping for essential and non-essential goods while at home, fraudsters have adapted their technique to use more sophisticated tactics against consumers, banks and merchants.

In the wake of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s Schrems II judgment, on July 23, 2020, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted a Frequently Asked Questions document to “provide initial clarification and give preliminary guidance to stakeholders on the use of legal instruments for the transfer of personal data to third countries, including the U.S.” The EDPB stated that the document will be updated, and further guidance provided, as it continues to examine and consider the judgment. The six-page FAQs provides the following guidance.

Joyce Flinn, Vice President and Information Security & Disaster Recovery Officer at First United Bank & Trust, has been appointed to the Cyber Risk Institute Board of Directors.

Transportation Security Administration officers at John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia Airports are using new technology at checkpoints that validates a traveler’s identification and confirms their flight information in near real time.

 Druva, Inc. announced the appointment of Andrew Daniels as the company’s new Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Daniels will be responsible for enhancing and scaling out Druva’s security operations, incident response and global IT infrastructure.