Info Risk Today Podcast

Merrill Halpern of the United Nations Federal Credit Union, a pioneer in the use of chip cards, says high-profile retail breaches reinforce the long-term value of EMV for various forms of payment within the U.S.

Michael Daugherty, CEO of LabMD, offers his perspective on a longstanding dispute with the Federal Trade Commission over two data security incidents. He has even written a book on the subject.

Editor's Note: Excerpts of this interview appear in ISMG's Security Agenda magazine, distributed at RSA Conference 2014. Privacy should be built into the design of all healthcare information technology and related processes, says Michelle Dennedy, who's writing a book on the concept of "privacy by design."

Expenses linked to the data breach at Target Corp. have already cost the 58 member institutions of the Consumer Bankers Association more than $170 million - a price they should not have to pay, says the association's David Pommerehn.

Employing quantum physics, Yi-Kai Liu, a computer scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is attempting to devise a way to create a one-shot memory device that could help secure transactions or administrative passwords.

Organizations in all sectors can improve their compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard by taking five critical steps, says Rodolphe Simonetti of Verizon Enterprise Solutions, which just issued a new PCI compliance report.

A new identity fraud study shows that consumers who are victims of a payment card breach are at greater risk of fraud than victims of other types of breaches, says Al Pascual of Javelin.

When breaches result from retailers' lax security practices, merchants should be obligated to help banking institutions cover fraud losses and other post-breach expenses, says Viveca Ware of the Independent Community Bankers of America.

Expanded with more educational tracks and sessions on emerging hot topics, the 2014 edition of the RSA Conference will be the largest ever, says Hugh Thompson, program committee chair.

The PCI Security Standards Council has no plans to modify its standards for payment card data security in response to high-profile payment card breaches at Target and Neiman Marcus, says Bob Russo, the council's general manager.

Karen Evans, formerly the federal government's top IT executive, prescribes a way to get inspectors general and federal agencies on the same page in regards to annual IT security audits.

Retail data breaches are growing. ISight Partners' Tiffany Jones, a researcher who helped the Department of Homeland Security prepare its report about malware attacks, offers new insight into the latest cyber-attacks.

Cybercriminals exploiting weaknesses in how users employ passwords is a significant factor behind an increase in records exposed in breaches during 2013, says Craig Spiezle of the Online Trust Alliance.

In 2013, attackers proved that sophisticated DDoS attacks could be launched as effective disruptions and distractions. What are the evolving solutions that now help organizations mitigate these strikes?

A new, free iPhone app is designed to help organizations navigate 46 state data breach notification laws as well as federal statutes, such as HIPAA, attorney Scott Vernick says.

To avoid the risk of staff using social media to communicate about patients, healthcare organizations need to offer more secure alternatives, says security and privacy expert Andrew Hicks.

Technology is the biggest challenge to ethics and compliance in organizations today, says Deloitte's Keith Darcy. "We have the capacity to do things before we ever consider the ethical consequences ..."

Dan Clements of IntelCrawler, the research firm that claims it traced malware apparently used in the Target breach and other retailer attacks to a 17-year-old hacker in Russia, offers an exclusive, in-depth explanation of his company's findings.

From new malware to the Target breach, cyber-attacks reached an all-time high in 2013, says Cisco's Annual Security Report. Cyberthreat expert Levi Gundert tells how organizations can regain the advantage in 2014.

From access controls to intrusion detection, mobility to privacy, many organizations face similar network security challenges. Isabelle Dumont of Palo Alto networks offers a new, unique approach for healthcare organizations, and the key concepts of this approach can be applied to any security environment.