In an industry prone to going overboard with fear-based marketing, the cyber threat intelligence (CTI) community has a refreshing emphasis on questioning assumptions. CTI teams will often deploy a variety of structured analytical techniques to ensure their assessments are as objective as possible. This involves a variety of processes, including…
The Zao app: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. While the launch of the trending deep fake app began with friends happily using the app to share amusing videos, it concluded in predictable infosec dystopian fashion with concerns regarding overly intrusive privacy policies, unease…
Amongst the online hacking courses, conference talks uploaded to youtube, and hot takes offered by infosec’s Twitter thought leader army, it would seem aspiring infosec professionals have access to more personal development resources than they would ever need. Yet, by just looking at online resources, an infosec novice would…
Despite its fair share of flashy marketing, enough IPOs and acquisitions to make your head spin, and the emergence of a thought leader army sprouting generic LinkedIn posts, it would be easy to forget just how immature the infosec industry really is. Despite all the progress being made in a…
In addition to the ongoing challenges I have discussed in previous blogs, there are also two future challenges that remain largely neglected although critical to address in the long-term. I’m Not RunningSIGINT agencies are under increased pressure to avoid the perception that they have become politicised or act in…
Intelligence agencies have turned to social media and advertising campaigns as recruitment tools in an increasingly competitive job market. The limited supply of those with skills in computer science and cyber security means that university graduates can earn significant sums in the private sector that government agencies have struggled to…
It is no coincidence that SIGINT agencies have become more publicly facing at a time when they have witnessed their reputations corrode. The classified NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden in 2013 renewed long-standing privacy debates and led to public mistrust over the US intelligence community. In 2015, the majority…
SIGINT agencies face a paradox in confronting the cyber security challenge. One the one hand, they possess some of the rare pockets of cyber security expertise that sit within government. The traditional mission of SIGINT agencies has involved intercepting electronic and telephone communications — an experience that has also given them…