The Loadout Room
Menu
  • Shooting
        • Pistol
        • Pistol Accessories
        • Rifle
        • Rifle Accessories
        • Shotgun
        • Machine Guns
        • Air Guns
        • Ammunition
        • Optics and Sights
        • Weapon Lights
        • Tips & How-To
        • Concealed Carry
        • Holsters
        • Suppressors
        • Precision Rifle Shooting
        • Firearms Training
        • 1A Gun to Ride the River With: The Smith & Wesson 686
        • The Tristar folding shotgun is ready for your wilderness adventuresThe Tristar folding shotgun is ready for your wilderness adventures
        • maxim defense cqb stock (8)The Maxim Defense CQB Stock: Short and Sweet
        • Perfecting your zero | A little help goes a LONG wayPerfecting your zero | A little help goes a LONG way
    • Close
  • Gear Reviews
      • Mission Gear
      • Camping Gear
      • Survival Gear
      • Medical Gear
      • Adventure & Travel
      • Knives & Tools
      • Overland
      • Disaster Preparedness
      • Footwear
      • Womens Gear & Clothing
        • RIP-MVehicle Preparedness: Fast access to essential items | Grey Man Tactical RIP-M
        • Midland radioOverland Essential | Midland Radio MXT275 | GXT1000
        • ppGrab your gear and go | Here’s everything you’d need to build an adventure go bag
        • Scrubba Washbag: Keep your clothes clean in the fieldScrubba Washbag: Keep your clothes clean in the field
    • Close
  • Men’s Lifestyle
      • Fitness
      • EDC
      • Eyewear
      • Watches
      • Electronics & Technology
      • Downtime
      • Mens Clothing & Accessories
      • Manly Skills
      • Style & Grooming
      • Gentleman Drinks
      • Crate Club
        • The Outdoor Edge ParaClaw: A concealed stingerThe Outdoor Edge ParaClaw: A concealed stinger
        • How to determine how long you have before the sun setsHow to determine how long you have before the sun sets
        • fireWilderness survival expert breaks down how to build a fire
        • 5.11 Tactical Expedition Long Sleeve Shirt5.11 Tactical Expedition Long Sleeve Shirt, SWAT Tested and Approved
    • Close
  • News
  • Video Demo
  • Shop

Cyber Security First Steps | Protect yourself against you

Cyber Security – First Steps “Protect yourself against you”

March 24, 2017 by Richard Moore Leave a Comment

You may be a BAO (bad-ass operator) or a bad-ass cyber warfare technician but the single most leveraged point of failure is the human element. The con artist has changed their approach in the digital world, by using modern techniques like “phishing”, “spear phishing” or “whaling” to get you to release something of value (e.g. Money, Passwords, Information, etc.). The average person will have a hard time trying to remember all the passwords for different web-sites, and personal accounts, etc.. So the easiest (remember human element looks for simplicity) is to continue to use the same password for every account. This is where people fail to keep up with technology, we have read or heard news stories on how malicious actors used a password from another site to gain access to your work account, social media account, or banking information. According to the Verizon Data Breach data – VERIS data over the previous three years, they noticed that almost half (49%) of all breaches involve human element failures.

Don’t worry we will get to the cool parts of protecting your home, your mobile devices, and your digital personas in upcoming articles, but first we need to get the human element risk reduced. I also wanted you to note that there are many folks that will have you buy or download their guide to securing your technology and digital personas. Most of this is a ridiculous bit of freeware tools, inaccurate information, and not surprisingly many tools the bad guys use themselves. These articles will only include industrial-strength facts, processes, and some tools that will help you stay relatively safe. As this article states the human element can be undone very quickly. As a former Intelligence Chief and Chief Information Security Officer for Fortune 100 institutions, I am going to give you advice, but it is up to you to make this a part of your routines and realize that you will need to protect your digital world very similar to how you protect your physical world. The same principles can be used related to that like, situational awareness while carrying a concealed firearm, to force protection principles, to SHTF survivalist ideas.

As I mentioned passwords are the single most abused cyber-attacks and the effort today by malicious actors is easy to say the least. There are techniques that have been automated that can identify, find, break (if encrypted), and reuse your singularly used password. To protect yourself against you, you will need to get a password manager. I recommend two paid programs; 1Password or LastPass password managers based on your risk levels and technology platform. I heard the shock on paid as there are free apps out there. However, with paid applications you get more robust security, more functions and you are better ensured by the company that vulnerabilities and backdoors are removed.

1Password works the best on Macs and IOS devices, but has portability to Windows and Android. From a security perspective, I like the 1Password manager the best as it stores your password information in a local encrypted vault and certain configurations of synching between devices must be done manually. I do not recommend signing up for an online account as you are more vulnerable to configurations you may not know about; such as simply synching your devices, vaults or sharing an account over the Internet. Synching over a secured Wi-Fi network is a better option and stops you from sharing your vault where you may forget that you opened it up to others and compromise the integrity of your vault.

Cyber Security – First Steps “Protect yourself against you”

LastPass is good for platforms such as Windows, Linux, Android, IOS, Windows Phone, and Blackberry (if you’re still stuck in the 90s) and features an additional layer of security using what is referred to as two-factor authentication (basically besides a master password, there is another login process). It features auto-change features that change all your passwords in one swoop. It is the most comprehensive password manager out there, but note that in 2015, they did suffer a breach that exposed user email addresses, password hints, and encrypted master passwords; so make sure if you use their online vaulting services you need to change your master password at least semi-annually.

You should do your own web searches to figure out which one is more secure for the options you want and the platform you operate on. As a cybersecurity professional, I only state the following:

  • Cloud options are not as secure as you might be led to believe.
  • Sometimes manual processes are better than automated as it makes you take additional steps to think about what you are doing.
  • Think similarly about how you protect your physical world and apply those same concepts to the digital world; the tools are just that, tools to help you be more secure.

Share This

Filed Under: Electronics & Technology, Op-Ed Tagged With: 1Password, Cyber Security, Hackers, LastPass, Passwords, Technology

About the Author

Avatar

Richard Moore Rich Moore is a currently a Cybersecurity Executive and travels OCONUS frequently. He served 15 years in the Marine Corps in the following MOS(s) 0351 Infantry Assaultman, 8531 Primary Marksmanship Instructor, 8111 CRRC Coxswain, 8151 Marine Security Guard (Department of State, U.S. Embassy), 0291 Intelligence Chief. Besides his current work that is subsidizing his gear buying hobbies, he is also an NRA Instructor.

See All Richard Moore Articles

More From The Loadout Room

Comments

What’s Hot

Top 8 upgrades every Kel-Tec Sub 2000 owner needs: MCARBO parts review
Featured

Top 8 upgrades every Kel-Tec Sub 2000 owner needs: MCARBO parts review

Gear Reviews

Best Budget Fixed Blade - Gerber StrongArm

AR Build Kits under $300
Firearms Technology

Peak AR: Davidson Defense AR Build Kits under $300

Gear

The Liberator 2.0 By Safariland - Hear the Difference

Featured

Watch: Halle Berry and Keanu Reeves used live rounds to train for John Wick 3

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive email updates daily and to hear what's going on with us!

In Case You Missed It

Gear

The Liberator 2.0 By Safariland – Hear the Difference

April 2, 2021 Leave a Comment

Gear Reviews

Best Budget Fixed Blade – Gerber StrongArm

March 9, 2021 Leave a Comment

Firearms

Covert Operations Case – Keep Your SMG Discreet

February 26, 2021 Leave a Comment

Gear Reviews

KA-BAR LDK – Slash, Stab, and Escape

February 22, 2021 Leave a Comment

Get it on Google Play

© Copyright 2021 Crate Club Group · All Rights Reserved.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Advertisers