This article was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on December 2, 2014

The cybersecurity field is growing rapidly, with more new and vital roles to fill in government and the private sector than the number of qualified applicants. To prepare our future network defenders, CyberPatriot is working to inspire students toward careers in cybersecurity or STEM fields. CyberPatriot features a National Youth Cyber Defense Competition in which students defend networks against online adversaries. In 2013, Leilehua High School made it to the national finals! It's an exciting opportunity for Hawaii's middle and high school students to learn and test the waters in the cybersecurity realm.

This article was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on November 4, 2014 

If you're not among the tens of millions of American consumers who have had their credit cards and other personal information breached in the last few months, you're in the shrinking minority. Here are some tips consumers can use to protect themselves.

This article was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on October 7, 2014 

This month marks the 11th anniversary of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Cyber Security Awareness Month, an effort designed to remind the public of the hazards they might face while using the Internet. Read DHS's five weekly focus topics for this month and additional tips from our Expert.

This article was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on September 9, 2014 

Few people had heard the term "catfishing" before Manti Te'o famously revealed last year that he had been a victim of the scam, which involves people who create fake social media profiles to pursue online romances. But Te'o is hardly alone in being duped by ficticious online personas, and most instances of catfishing have far greater--and often financial--consequences. Read what our Expert recommends so we don't fall prey to catfishing.

We’d like to remind all our High-Speed Internet customers of the dangers of illegal downloading of music, movies, and television shows from the Internet. Hawaiian Telcom is receiving notices that some of our customers are copying or sharing songs, movies, and television programs from the Internet in violation of the copyright laws. These notices identify the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the alleged violators and threaten to take legal action against the violators. There are legal ways to find movies, television shows and music on the Internet. Learn more...

 

This article was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on August 12, 2014 

News broke last week that a Russian crime syndicate had amassed the largest known collection of Internet credentials, including 1.2 billion username-and-password combinations. Thanks to events such as this, Two-Factor Authentication, sometimes abbreviated 2FA, is gaining momentum. 2FA has been around for decades, but it only recently has become accessible to the general public. 

This article was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on July 15, 2014 

When news broke in late June about Facebook running unsanctioned psychological experiments on their user population in the name of science, the reaction was overwhelmingly negative. The truth is that Facebook experiments on its user base quite frequently, and probably constantly. Facebook isn't alone here: Other social media sites conduct research on their users or allow third parties (like the government) to conduct their own. What can we learn from the revelations about these activities?

Online advertising is big business. In 2013, U.S. online ad revenue reached $4.28 billion, surpassing broadcast television ads for the first time in history. That’s a 17% increase over the prior year. Unfortunately, as advertisers scramble to claim their slice of this growing pie, they sometimes leave the door open to cybercriminals who exploit weaknesses in the ad ecosystem to spread viruses and other malicious software through malicious advertisements or “malvertisements.”

This article was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on May 20, 2014 

In recent columns I've advocated for the general use of password managers as a mechanism to improve your password hygiene. Password managers generate strong passwords on a per-site basis and store them, eliminating the need for you to remember dozens of passwords for the different websites that you regularly visit. It also should eliminate the more common and very unsafe practice of reusing the same password on different websites. Naturally the question has come up: How safe are password managers? Aren't they the digital equivalent of putting all our eggs in one basket?

This article was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on April 22, 2014 

With the recent Heartbleed vulnerability blowing up in the news, it's a good time to remind everyone that good passwords, and good password hygiene, are critical for the long-term protection of you and your online accounts. Site operators have a huge role to play in keeping their systems secure from hackers, but if you use weak passwords or don't change them often, you can weaken the site's security.

Here are some key tips for making sure you are doing your part in keeping your accounts secure...