Many of our readers and those active in cybersecurity have been following ThreatWatch from Nextgov. This highly informative site provides a daily snapshot of the data breaches impacting organizations and individuals on a global level. Although not an authoritative list of cyber attacks, ThreatWatch provides a good overview of the most prevalent cyber events on a rolling basis. In addition to identifying the target, the alerts name the suspected attackers and their methods of penetration, highlight patterns of activity, and note emerging trends/threats.
The information found at ThreatWatch is now available in the palm of your hand in the form of a new iPhone app, which includes some additional features. Aside from a daily rundown of the latest reported breaches hitting agencies, retailers, and every other sector, you now also receive threat level scores and story feeds from around the globe. For example, today’s threat level is a 12 on a 100-point scale, according to data analytics company HackSurfer. On an industry basis, utilities are at a level 3, financials are at a level 5, and information technology is at a level 81. Under the “Breaches” tab, there is an article discussing how a system engineer hired by a staffing agency copied and sold personal data from 7.6 million contracts with the Japanese education firm Benesse Corp. Included within the “Newsfeed” tab, you will have access to technology security articles from Guardian, Wired, and other reputable publications that are streamed constantly, along with commentary from cyber firms, such as Sophos and Malwarebytes.
The app is free and available for download at the Apple iTunes store.
