![Recognizing Spam. . .Not As Easy As It Used To Be [Quiz]](http://www.impermium.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/iStock_000003989354XSmall-290x290.jpg "Recognizing Spam. . .Not As Easy As It Used To Be [Quiz]")
Google, FIDO and the Future of Account Security
It seems that not a week goes by without another spate of articles about the mounting threat of account hijacking and cybercrime. Last week, The Onion revealed how the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) gained access to their social media accounts, and just this past weekend, The New York Times reported that a new wave of...
Crime Fighters Wanted: A Peek Inside Impermium
Who would guess that tucked away on the second floor of what appears to be an ordinary office building near downtown Redwood City is a dedicated team of web lovin’, crime fightin’ defenders of the internet? Each morning they make their way by freeway, train or bike to fulfill their mission of battling the rising...
Stemming the Account Takeover Tide
This week’s Associated Press Twitter hacking event highlighted the fact that bad guys are successfully targeting diverse websites. The AP is far from alone–Burger King, Jeep, HMV, National Public Radio, and other large companies have had their sites or social media feeds hijacked in recent months. Beyond damaging an individual or brand’s reputation, these hacks...
Fighting ‘Mobile Malware’
Recent months, and recent security industry gatherings, have brought numerous stories raising the specter of “mobile malware,” pernicious botnets running on our smartphones and mobile devices, inflicting damage and burning through our precious data plans in the process. While the technology is certainly possible, and proofs-of-concept have been constructed, at this stage the threat of...
Internationalization in Python 2
Why does a security company like Impermium care so much about internationalization? We care about User Generated Content (UGC). A lot. At Impermium, we employ patented machine learning algorithms to stop the bad guys from spreading spam, taking over accounts and exploiting the vulnerable. When discussing adversarial machine learning, the temptation is to focus on...
Closing the Loop on Account Compromise and Social Fraud
In the process of protecting user accounts and content, Impermium sees many different types of fraudulent account activity. Tracing these instances both upstream and downstream to examine the actors and infrastructure being used to perform attacks almost always reveals a root based in economic incentive. Understanding the ontology of web fraud in order to create...
The Four Types of Spam Attacks
“Whoa, I just logged into my admin panel and found 10,000 new comments!” Typically, high numbers of page views and user interaction is a good thing. However, when you experience an explosion of comments in a short period of time, typically they turn out to be spam. Has this ever happened to you? Did you...
The Spell Caster – A Case Study in Adversarial Machine Learning
In a recent talk at the 2013 Strata Conference, I presented a few insights into adversarial machine learning and how it challenges traditional machine learning. I received a lot of positive feedback from attendees, and was subsequently flooded with requests for my slides and additional materials. Here, I will present an abridged version of my...
In Feudal Security, Who is Responsible for Account Protection, the Serfs or the Lords?
In a recent talk, Bruce Schneier spoke of the emergence of “feudal security,” a system in which we’re forced to cede our data security to our device manufacturers and service providers. Just as peasants and merchants relied on the local lord for defense against marauding vandals, so too must we trust in our cell phone...
RSA Panel – The Loophole: Federal Crimes Not Being Addressed
On Thursday, February 28, day four of RSA Conference, people congregated at the panel The Loophole: Federal Crimes Not Being Addressed. The panel featured business professionals and academics with expertise in technology, copyright issues, and censorship law. Moderated by Impermium CEO, Mark Risher, the panel used several real-life examples to illustrate the grey area faced by...
This Week in Cybersecurity – Headlines and Highlights
It’s our second installment of our series highlighting and summarizing the week’s biggest headlines in cybersecurity. In case you missed any of the news stories this week, we’ve highlighted and summarized a few the latest in security flaws, hackings, and cyber espionage accusations for your reading pleasure. Hackers Publish Large Amount of Bank of...
