A Secret Service Agent’s Guide to Protecting the C-Suite from Hackers

A Secret Service Agent’s Guide to Protecting the C-Suite from Hackers

Source: www.entrepreneur.com

Cybersecurity is on the minds of most businesses today, but there’s one area where companies often screw up: failing to protect their key executives when they’re on the move.

In today’s environment, there are an abundance of well-funded and sophisticated hacking groups out there, many with nation-state or organized crime affiliations and interests, who are looking for any way possible to defraud or steal information from American business interests. Like any other criminal, hackers look for weaknesses in the security perimeter before they attack -- and often, that sweet spot is to be found in the personal security of key company figures. One example is “Darkhotel,” the Korean-speaking hacking group that targeted countless business executives via hotel Wi-Fi from 2010 to 2015.

As a former Secret Service agent, it was my job to protect the President from both physical and digital attacks. (Few realize this, but the USSS was one of the first federal agencies to develop a strong cyber defense and intelligence unit.) From a cyber standpoint, this meant implementing a robust security perimeter around the President’s personal devices and communications (e.g. stripping down the phone, limiting access, multiple layers of encryption, constant monitoring and defense), particularly when the President was outside of the White House.

Read more...