Friday, August 22, 2014

Denny’s Daily Zinger: Is a Thief Running Rampant in Your Office?

By Denny Hatch 

Julian Assange (Wikileaks), Edward Snowden  and Pfc. Chelsea (née Bradley) Manning became household names overnight. 

They downloaded U.S. Government secrets. Diplomatic relations, American politics and military secrets were seriously compromised.
How'd it happen? Up to 4 million peopleOpens in a new window—including 500,000 government contractors—hold Top Secret clearances.

That's how.

The Lions Gate Film Studios' $100 Million Theft
In late July at Lions Gate film studios, a perfect copy of the upcoming Sylvester Stallone  movie, "Expendables 3Opens in a new window," was stolen. The film cost an estimated $100 million to produce.

It was immediately offered free all over the Internet on such sites as KickassTorrents, or KAT, and The Pirate Bay, or TPB, and a slew more.

Millions of co-conspirators downloaded the film for private viewing resulting in a box office catastropheOpens in a new window when it opened in theaters.

Reuters headlineOpens in a new window
August 11, 2014:
U.S. judge orders websites to stop 'Expendables 3' film piracy
 Lotsa luck. 

Takeaways to Consider  
  • In your organization, who has the equivalent of Top Secret clearance?
  • Who has keys to your digital vault and access to the most sensitive R&D?
  • Does a system exist whereby every time a major asset is in transit-not in its usual place-it can be tracked by user?
  • Should you monitor employees' email to see who in your organization may be feeling underpaid or contemplating retribution?
  • Two-thirds of companies monitor employees' InternetOpens in a new window use and "almost 33 percentOpens in a new window of 140 North American businesses nationwide conduct regular audits of outbound email content."
  • Your future could depend on it.
Denny Hatch 's new book is "Write Everything Right!" Drayton Bird writes, "Just had to say again how bloody good this is. Who else could tell me in one book how to write a resume, which words irritate people and how to review a film? (Sent from my iPhone)." Click here to download (Opens as a PDF) and read the first three chapters FREE. The title is also available on KindleOpens in a new window. Reach Denny at dennyhatch@yahoo.com.Opens in a new window