ID Fraud and Your Taxes - Take Action!

   It's that time of year again.  Brian Krebs just put out two articles on the ongoing issue of tax fraud.  As is so often the case, the advice to protect yourself hasn't changed - and be assured, you must protect yourself because no one else will, certainly not the IRS!

   As noted below and in the Krebs' article, what you need to do now and always is:

1. file your taxes early
2. monitor your credit (I covered that topic here... in 2013!)
3. freeze your credit (two articles from Krebs, also from 2015)
4. become you before someone else becomes you (I wrote about that subject here and here)

   Here's a re-run of my article on this subject from three years ago.  It's all still true!  As I wrote nearly 5 years ago, the more things change the more they stay the same.

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   I did a series of posts last year (2014) on the problem of ID Fraud.  This is an ongoing issue, certainly because organizations struggle to protect information, there are cyber attackers out there, and also individuals don't often take steps to protect their own information.

   The bottom line is that your personal information, primarily your financial information, has tangible dollar value to a cyber attacker.

   We usually think about credit card fraud or maybe bank account fraud as the results of these kinds of data breaches.  But in this post and the next I'd like to talk about two other scenarios that have happened, are happening... and you need to be aware.

   It's that wonderful time of year again in the US.  Crisp weather, snow (most places), the days are starting to get a bit longer... and it's the beginning of tax filing season.

   Imagine you are doing your civic duty, filling out and filing your tax return.  You send it in to the IRS, only to find out that "you" already filed your return and "you' have already received your rather sizable refund - surprise!

   Unfortunately, this has happened.  And, as we've discussed in the past, these attackers are smart.  This is a business.  They need to be able to maximize profits because there is a limited timeframe in which to commit the crime.  So they need to attack a sub-population who:

1. makes good money;
2. might have many deductions;
3. might have complex returns, and;
4. for whom a large refund might not raise red flags.

   How about... Doctors!

   And, just as I finishing writing this article, we have new news out about tax fraud this year!  Reports say this is connected with Turbo Tax software, but it is more likely that scammers got people's info through other means and filed the fraudulent returns.  Maybe Turbo Tax is just the scammers software of choice! :-)

   As always, we want to talk about what you can do.

   In addition to the steps outlined in these previous blog posts, here is the IRS Guide on Identity Theft.  The IRS guide and my previous tips talk about not only what you should do if you are a victim, but tips to avoid the problem in the first place including:

• protecting your personal information, primarily your social security number
• don't click on links sent to you via email or in social media - type the link in yourself or do a search
• use link rating applications like Web Of Trust (WOT)
• don't give our your personal information via web, email, phone unless you can positively identify the person on the other end
• review your bills, credit record and other information that might provide early warning of a problem.

   Have you been the victim of tax-related ID Fraud?  Do you have any additional tips to share?

   Of course, this issue is not just about doctors!  Next time we'll talk about something perhaps even closer to your wallet... payroll fraud and misuse.

ID Fraud, Taxes and Doctors Again (Still?)

   It's that time of year again.  Brian Krebs just put out an article on "darkweb" sales of W-2 information.  You can read that article here.  As is so often the case, the advice to protect yourself hasn't changed - and be assured, you must protect yourself because no one else will, certainly not the IRS!

   As noted below and in the Krebs' article, what you need to do now and always is:

1. file your taxes early
2. monitor your credit (I covered that topic here... in 2013!)
3. freeze your credit (two articles from Krebs, also from 2015)
4. become you before someone else becomes you (I wrote about that subject here)

   Here's a re-run of my article on this subject from two years ago.  It's all still true...

---

   I did a series of posts last year (2014) on the problem of ID Fraud.  This is an ongoing issue, certainly because organizations struggle to protect information, there are cyber attackers out there, and also individuals don't often take steps to protect their own information.

   The bottom line is that your personal information, primarily your financial information, has tangible dollar value to a cyber attacker.

   We usually think about credit card fraud or maybe bank account fraud as the results of these kinds of data breaches.  But in this post and the next I'd like to talk about two other scenarios that have happened, are happening... and you need to be aware.

   It's that wonderful time of year again in the US.  Crisp weather, snow (most places), the days are starting to get a bit longer... and it's the beginning of tax filing season.

   Imagine you are doing your civic duty, filling out and filing your tax return.  You send it in to the IRS, only to find out that "you" already filed your return and "you' have already received your rather sizable refund - surprise!

   Unfortunately, this has happened.  And, as we've discussed in the past, these attackers are smart.  This is a business.  They need to be able to maximize profits because there is a limited timeframe in which to commit the crime.  So they need to attack a sub-population who:

1. makes good money;
2. might have many deductions;
3. might have complex returns, and;
4. for whom a large refund might not raise red flags.

   How about... Doctors!

   And, just as I finishing writing this article, we have new news out about tax fraud this year!  Reports say this is connected with Turbo Tax software, but it is more likely that scammers got people's info through other means and filed the fraudulent returns.  Maybe Turbo Tax is just the scammers software of choice! :-)

   As always, we want to talk about what you can do.

   In addition to the steps outlined in these previous blog posts, here is the IRS Guide on Identity Theft.  The IRS guide and my previous tips talk about not only what you should do if you are a victim, but tips to avoid the problem in the first place including:

• protecting your personal information, primarily your social security number
• don't click on links sent to you via email or in social media - type the link in yourself or do a search
• use link rating applications like Web Of Trust (WOT)
• don't give our your personal information via web, email, phone unless you can positively identify the person on the other end
• review your bills, credit record and other information that might provide early warning of a problem.

   Have you been the victim of tax-related ID Fraud?  Do you have any additional tips to share?

   Of course, this issue is not just about doctors!  Next time we'll talk about something perhaps even closer to your wallet... payroll fraud and misuse.

It's Not If, but When

   Have you heard???  2015 was the "Year of the Breach".  Of course, 2014 was the year of the breach.  And, 2013 was the year of the breach.

   2016 is shaping up to be quite a year as well.

   Of course, when we talk about breaches, we're usually talking about someone "stealing" data.  It's not actually "stolen" because you still have it.  It's more accurate to say that in a breach the data is exfiltrated.  This is also called an attack on the confidentiality of the data.

   In security, we talk about the C-I-A triangle, Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability.  Confidentiality is about the secrecy of data.  Integrity is about the accuracy of data.  Availability is about being able to properly access data when it's needed.  A well-rounded security program needs to consider all these aspects.

   What is somewhat different this year is the crypto-/ransom-ware attacks.  In these cases, the attack is a virus that typically gets in as an email attachment.  Someone opens the attachment and the virus executes.  It finds files in network shared directories and encrypts them.  Now, encryption is often a good thing, but that's when you (or your organization) has the decryption key.  In a crypto-ware attack, only the attacker has the key.  That's a problem.  It becomes ransom-ware when the attacker offers to provide the key for a "small" consulting fee, usually paid via the anonymous crypto-currency, bitcoin.

   These are basically attacks to the availability of data.  We've seen instances of hospitals or other organizations temporarily shutting down as a result.  These could also be considered attacks to the integrity of the data - though I think we have not yet seen the real integrity attacks... and they are coming.

ID Fraud, Taxes and Doctors, Oh My!

   I did a series of posts last year on the problem of ID Fraud.  This is an ongoing issue, certainly because organizations struggle to protect information, there are cyber attackers out there, and also individuals don't often take steps to protect their own information.

   The bottom line is that your personal information, primarily your financial information, has tangible dollar value to a cyber attacker.

   We usually think about credit card fraud or maybe bank account fraud as the results of these kinds of data breaches.  But in this post and the next I'd like to talk about two other scenarios that have happened, are happening... and you need to be aware.

   It's that wonderful time of year again in the US.  Crisp weather, snow (most places), the days are starting to get a bit longer... and it's the beginning of tax filing season.

   Imagine you are doing your civic duty, filling out and filing your tax return.  You send it in to the IRS, only to find out that "you" already filed your return and "you' have already received your rather sizable refund - surprise!

   Unfortunately, this has happened.  And, as we've discussed in the past, these attackers are smart.  This is a business.  They need to be able to maximize profits because there is a limited timeframe in which to commit the crime.  So they need to attack a sub-population who:

1. makes good money;
2. might have many deductions;
3. might have complex returns, and;
4. for whom a large refund might not raise red flags.

   How about... Doctors!

   And, just as I finishing writing this article, we have new news out about tax fraud this year!  Reports say this is connected with Turbo Tax software, but it is more likely that scammers got people's info through other means and filed the fraudulent returns.  Maybe Turbo Tax is just the scammers software of choice! :-)

   As always, we want to talk about what you can do.

   In addition to the steps outlined in these previous blog posts, here is the IRS Guide on Identity Theft.  The IRS guide and my previous tips talk about not only what you should do if you are a victim, but tips to avoid the problem in the first place including:

• protecting your personal information, primarily your social security number
• don't click on links sent to you via email or in social media - type the link in yourself or do a search
• use link rating applications like Web Of Trust (WOT)
• don't give our your personal information via web, email, phone unless you can positively identify the person on the other end
• review your bills, credit record and other information that might provide early warning of a problem.

   Have you been the victim of tax-related ID Fraud?  Do you have any additional tips to share?

   Of course, this issue is not just about doctors!  Next time we'll talk about something perhaps even closer to your wallet... payroll fraud and misuse.

How Do You Spell CISO? - What's a CISO Do? part 2

   A while back I started a new job as a CISO.  It's the second time I've held that title at an organization.  What's interesting about that is that both time it was a new position to the organization.  I wrote about my initial thoughts and plans in a post here.  I expanded upon those ideas in a follow-up post here.  This post will round out this series.  They will also serve as the "outline" of a talk I'll be doing at Secure360 this year.

   For those of you who are not familiar with Secure360, it's THE upper midwest US security conference.  There's still time to register, come on out and enjoy!

   There are many demands on the CISO.  But part of the art of the position is to juggle the more granular tasks with overall priorities while trying to be strategic.

Are You a "Target"? - Incident Managment (part 2)

   I'm calling this part 2, but it's really the third in a series covering the consumer and enterprise sides of incidents and breaches.  This is always an important infosec topic, but the recent highly publicized issues effecting Target, Neiman Marcus and, as we're told, 3 other organizations to be named later brings this to the forefront.

   Many say that it's not a question of if we will suffer a breach, but when and how we will suffer a breach.  And yet there are organizations that consider this an optional capability.

   Last time we talked about the first two parts of the Incident Management program: Prevention and Planning/Preparation.

   Next is:
Communication. So these groups know their roles:

Are You a "Target"? - Incident Managment (part 1)

   It seems that every few days we get additional news about the Target breach.  There has been plenty posted about this including articles here, here and here.  And, unfortunately for my colleagues at Target, I don't think we heard the last on this.

   Last time I talked about the consumer side of the issue, and how individuals should protect themselves from the effects of an information breach.  Today we'll look at the corporate side... Incident Management.

   Incident Management is a critical part of any information security program.  I don't think there's any governance framework that doesn't include this important topic.  I'm a fan of the way NIST lays this out in SP800-61, with a few modifications.

   In boxing and martial arts, the saying goes: the best way to avoid getting hit is to not be there.

Stuff I Say - Do What Makes Sense

   Today I'm continuing a set of posts I started last year.  These ideas are covered in a fun talk entitled #*%! My CISO Says, covering a range of security governance and management topics.  Slides are on my slideshare page.  The first two posts are here and here.

   The idea of doing what makes sense is central to my thinking (about many things).  In security, many people base their strategies and tactics on what they read or what others are doing.  But you can't provide useful information security based on what you read in a book.  One size does not fit all.

   When we don't do what makes sense, we end up with ineffective controls (like this ineffective control from one of my favorite security pictures).



   What works in one organization does not necessarily work in another.  This can be true for a variety of reasons including differing regulatory environments, organizational culture and kinds of assets/information.  This is why I've never liked the phrase, or idea of, "best practices".  I prefer "good practices" (more on that some other time...).

   It's easy to say we want to do what makes sense.  But how do we put that into practice in our organizations?

   Here are 2 considerations:

Risk Management approach.  Rather than using strategies and practices from a book, we need to understand a number of things about our organization including:

• what "stuff" do we have?
• what stuff do we need to protect?
• what threats do we know of?
• to what threats are we vulnerable?
• what is the potential impact if these threats manifest?

   Asking these, and subsequent, questions can help lead to a better understanding of the environment

   Then... Seek out and destroy policies/practices that do not add value!  Consider:

• ineffective controls - find them and get rid of them!  And, if you do remove a control, make sure that you let the users know!
• annoyances that effect people's perception of security - convenience v. security is always a trade-off, but your controls must take into account people's work practices
• what makes work harder - security and IT must support the business.  If complying with controls negatively impacts the business you may find your program overruled.
• overly strict practices can cause people to try to circumvent controls to get things done.

   This doesn't mean that the security organization allows a free-for-all.  My point is that by considering how users need to use the systems, examining alternatives, and working with your business partners, you can come up with a set of controls that protect systems and data, meet regulatory requirements AND allow people to get their work done.

   Can you think of ineffective or unnecessary controls in place at your organization?  How have you partnered with business users to come up with controls that meet all needs?

Attack Surface

   Last week I did a national webcast with Capella University.  The topic was the Insider Threat.  But my take on this is a bit different than what's usually said on this subject.  I talked a bit about this topic in my post last week.  You can see my slides here.

   As happens in some (perhaps not enough) InfoSec talks, during the presentation we touched on the topic of Risk Management.  In particular, we were talking about how to help keep honest people honest and good people to do the right thing.

   There are all kinds of "formulas" used to calculate, or more correctly - estimate, risk.