The tragic events of September 11, 2001 forever changed the way the US and, consequently, the rest of the world came to view airline travel and security. While things have calmed down greatly in the airline industry since the attacks over a decade ago, new technological discoveries have many people incredibly nervous about airline travel for the first time since.
Enter Hugo Teso at Hack in the Box
Hugo Teso is a man of many talents, including his skills as a cyber security researcher at n.runs AG in Germany and the fact that he’s a trained commercial pilot. Last Wednesday (April 10), Teso dropped some pretty heavy discoveries on the audience at Hack in the Box in Amsterdam. He had created an exploit framework (called SIMON) and an Android App (called PlaneSploit) that could be used to theoretically hack an airplane. (more…)
On March 26, 2013, Cisco announced a redesign for several of their associate-level Cisco certification programs. Cisco attributes these changes to the phenomenon called “The Internet of Everything.” These changes will better align with the requirements and knowledge needed for an ever-changing industry and job market. (more…)
In our blog post titled, “ The Weakest Link: How Malicious Hackers Break into the Most Secure Organizations,” it was discussed that even organizations with the funds needed to implement the most secured malware protection and surveillance can still be easily hacked and they are at a shocking rate. The previous post referenced the recent attacks on Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, LinkedIn and other big names who had fallen victim to the psychological tactics of social engineering.
Only recently has social engineering become associated with computer professionals and seen as a means to gain access to secured computer networks or systems either physically or virtually. Prior to that the term was in reference to the social sciences, but the basic meaning behind it remains the same. Social engineering can be any one of a number of tactics aimed at manipulating people into divulging confidential data of either a personal or corporate nature. (more…)
Apple, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Microsoft are a few of the big players to recently report incidents of malicious software infiltrating their security walls. Each of these companies utilize sophisticated intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS) in order to stop malicious activity from causing damage to their organizations, so how is it that hackers are penetrating these systems with ease? The answer is simple; they are exposing and entering back doors via the weakest link, an organization’s unsuspecting employees. (more…)
Phoenix TS is proud to announce the addition of the CompTIA A+ 800 series course and exam to our class schedule. CompTIA requires updates to their certification exams every three years to keep the content relevant and valuable to the student. The three year cycle has ended for the 700 series exams and it will expire in August 2013. The CompTIA A+ 800 Series’ objectives and testing methods changed greatly and will be sure to provide students with a more valuable learning experience. (more…)
We are proud to announce that Phoenix TS has been selected as one of Baltimore’s “Best Places to Work” by Baltimore Magazine.
Baltimore Magazine, the oldest city magazine in America, is an award-winning, trusted news source, that been covering everything “Baltimore” for over a century. Whether living in or visiting Baltimore, this publication is the guide for an enriched Baltimore experience.
Based on feedback from national and local recruiters, employers and employees, Phoenix TS was chosen as one of the best places to work in the Baltimore area out of hundreds of nominated firms. (more…)
We are pleased to announce that Phoenix TS has been named one of the Baltimore area’s 50 fastest growing companies by SmartCEO Magazine.
SmartCEO is a publication for CEOs, executives and other business leaders and is meant to educate and inspire today’s leaders. Phoenix TS was selected as one of the Baltimore area’s “Future 50” companies out of over 550 nominees based on employee and revenue growth over the past three years. Together, the winners of this prestigious award have generated $875 million in annual revenue and employed over 5,000 people in 2012. (more…)
In the 19th century, Auguste Kerckhoff stated that everything about a system should be public knowledge except for the system’s key and this will maintain the overall effectiveness and security of a system. Kerckhoff’s principle remains relevant in terms of cyber security today. Today, passwords are the keys necessary to grant users access to entire software systems, databases, etc. Passwords make it possible to handle security breaches simply by changing the key instead of the entire system behind it; but if you want to prevent future breaches into your system how do you create a key that cannot be broken?
The best way to understand the thought process necessary to creating a secure password is to understand the methods hackers use to crack a password. Password crackers are primarily after root or administrative account passwords which grant the administrator full access and privileges to the operating system. They use systems which rapidly convert passwords into the system’s appropriate hash codes in order to find a match. (more…)
Our hard work and dedication to providing quality information security training has helped us land the EC-Council Accredited Training Center “Circle of Excellence” award for the third year in a row.
Of the 450 accredited training centers in more than 87 countries that offer EC-Council training; only a handful of training organizations have received this great honor. Phoenix TS is thrilled to be among those that were chosen for a third straight year. (more…)
The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) devotes the month of October to educating about and encouraging online safety. National Cyber Security Awareness month stresses that no one organization, government or business is responsible for ensuring the security of the Internet; instead it is a role that all Internet users share.
Everyday activities intersect with the digital world: mobile banking, e-mail, social networking, online learning, e-readers, etc. Americans find themselves constantly connected to the Internet and this has led to nearly 1 in 5 people becoming the victims of online crimes. The NCSA continues to work with leading cyber security companies in order to decrease the number of cybercrimes but it is an effort all Internet users can help with. (more…)