Here's the backstory on how this interview came about. More than a year ago my identity was stolen. What a miserable process to go through, not to mention how helpless and vulnerable I felt when I realized what had happened.
Ever since then I've jumped at opportunities to speak with people who know what's really going on in this area. I recently interviewed Marcus Sachs, director of the Cyber R&D Lab for the Department of Homeland Security. You'll hear this interview on EnterpriseLeadership.org in a future show.
During that interview I learned that breaking into computers to steal the monetary value of what it holds is much more alluring than creating a virus to disable it. Think about it - what value is a computer that can no longer function? Identity theft is a worldwide problem, a significant and deliberate movement by an underworld of shadowy business arrangements. In fact, these groups have developed sophisticated ways to reward computer-savvy teenagers to be their "mules" to write and distribute code for nefarious purposes - in a way that keeps the organized crime groups anonymous.
That opportunity to interview Marcus came from a new-found contact and friend - Deb Radcliff - who has been in the business of writing about computer security since the early '90s. I wanted to spend more time talking about these topics from a down-to-earth perspective. One that any person and any small business owner would understand.
Here's something I gleaned from Deb's bio:
Having been a general assignments newspaper reporter for the San Jose Mercury News and other daily papers, Radcliff had no idea what she was getting into in 1994 when she agreed to do research on a best-selling book about Kevin Mitnick, an infamous hacker who was on the run from the FBI at that time.
"From Mitnick's friends, I learned that computers -- and people -- are easy to trick into giving up information that they shouldn't," she says. "As such, our identity information has become fair game to every thief and stalker who really wants it."
Since then, she's written hundreds of articles that have appeared in business and consumer magazines, is working on a book, and teaches online safety education for dummies.
Now, Radcliff says, computer crime has reached a critical turn that could cost businesses their online revenue channels.
Alright ... this is where you, the listener, and I, the interviewer, come into the picture. Let's speak with Deb right now and learn more about the changes that are occurring in computer security and how all of us will be affected.
Music on this Podcast is from the album Shiva in Exile. Stefan Hertrich is the composer and responsible for all arrangements on the album. You can get this music at Magnatune.
