Scott Ferguson

Managing Editor, News Desk

Ferguson is the managing editor for the news desk at Information Security Media Group. He's been covering the IT industry for more than 13 years. Before joining ISMG, Ferguson was editor-in-chief at eWEEK and director of audience development for InformationWeek. He's also written and edited for Light Reading, Security Now, Enterprise Cloud News, TU-Automotive, Dice Insights and DevOps.com.

Washington, D.C. AG Wants Better Data Breach Protection

Scott Ferguson • March 22, 2019

Karl Racine, the attorney general for Washington, D.C., is looking to strengthen the District's data breach laws, specifically by offering greater protection for consumers and holding businesses accountable when they are breached or lose data.

EU Seeks Better Coordination to Battle Next Big Cyberattack

Scott Ferguson • March 22, 2019

Life after WannaCry and NotPetya: Europol, the EU's law enforcement intelligence agency, wants member states to be able to rapidly respond to the next big cyberattack against Europe. But with warnings of ongoing Russian election interference campaigns, the next big attack may already be underway.

Report: Facebook Stored Millions of Passwords in Plaintext

Scott Ferguson • March 21, 2019

Facebook has corrected an internal security issue that allowed the company to store millions of user passwords in plaintext that were then available to employees through an internal search tool.

North Carolina County Suffers Repeat Ransomware Infections

Scott Ferguson • March 21, 2019

Attackers have hit North Carolina's Orange County with ransomware for the third time in six years. Government officials say IT teams have been working overtime to restore systems, and that no data has been lost.

Former Hacktivist: Why Persistence Is Key

Scott Ferguson • March 20, 2019

At ISMG's Fraud Summit in New York, former Black Hat hacker and hacktivist Hector Monsegur explains why security executives need to listen to people like him and why attackers simply won't go away.

Gearbest Database Leaks 1.5 Million Customer Records

Scott Ferguson • March 19, 2019

An unprotected database belonging to Chinese e-commerce site Gearbest exposed 1.5 million customer records, including payment information, email addresses and other personal data for customers worldwide, white hat hackers discovered.

UN Report: N. Korea Targets Cryptocurrency Exchanges, Banks

Scott Ferguson • March 18, 2019

North Korea's cybercrime capabilities have given the country the ability to flaunt international sanctions by allowing the regime to steal millions in currency not only from banks but also from cryptocurrency exchanges, according to a report from the United Nation's Security Council.

Congress Considers IoT Cybersecurity Legislation - Again

Scott Ferguson • March 15, 2019

Backers in the U.S. Congress are hoping that the third time is the charm for an internet of things cybersecurity bill that would set minimum security standards for the connected devices that the federal government purchases for various projects.

Ursnif Banking Trojan Variant Steals More Than Financial Data

Scott Ferguson • March 13, 2019

A variant of the long-running Ursnif banking Trojan is able to better evade security protection and has the ability to steal not only financial information but also email user accounts, the content of inboxes and digital wallets, researchers report.

Georgia County Pays $400,000 to Ransomware Attackers

Scott Ferguson • March 12, 2019

Officials in Jackson County, Georgia, along with the FBI are investigating a ransomware attack that crippled IT systems over a two-week period and reportedly led local officials to pay a bitcoin ransom worth $400,000 to restore systems and infrastructure.

Why CISOs Need Partners for Security Success

Scott Ferguson • March 11, 2019

CISOs need to work with partners in other departments to help ensure the success of major security projects, says John Pescatore, the director of the SANS Institute, who spoke at RSA Conference 2019.

GDPR: Still Plenty of Lessons to Learn

Scott Ferguson • March 7, 2019

Nearly 10 months after the beginning of enforcement of the EU's GDPR privacy regulation, organizations around the world are still learning plenty of compliance lessons - including how to locate all personal data so it can be protected, according to regulatory experts on a panel at RSA Conference 2019.

Content by Scott Ferguson