Jeremy Kirk

Executive Editor, Security and Technology, ISMG

Kirk was executive editor for security and technology for Information Security Media Group. Reporting from Sydney, Australia, he created "The Ransomware Files" podcast, which tells the harrowing stories of IT pros who have fought back against ransomware.

Effective Security Programs: Keeping Pace With Threats

Jeremy Kirk • September 24, 2021

An effective security control program should focus on people and processes and not just technology, says Ashwin Ram, cybersecurity evangelist with Check Point. Ram also shares his insights on data breach trends.

Regulator Blasts NZ’s Stock Exchange Over DDoS Meltdown

Jeremy Kirk • January 29, 2021

New Zealand’s financial regulator has issued a searing report about IT security failures at NZX, the country’s stock exchange, that contributed to a disruptive DDoS attack. The regulator says NZX had inadequate IT security and failed to prepare for DDoS attacks.

Millions of IoT Devices at Risk From TCP/IP Stack Flaws

Jeremy Kirk • December 8, 2020

A critical component within millions of consumer and enterprise IoT devices has dangerous software flaws. New research from Forescout Technologies into open-source TCP-IP stacks shows millions of devices from 150 vendors are likely vulnerable.

Yet Again, Vulnerabilities Found in a Router

Jeremy Kirk • July 14, 2020

It's common for security researchers to be ignored when reporting a software vulnerability. The latest example - vulnerabilities found by Independent Security Evaluators in a router made by China-based Tenda.

Backing Up Data: How to Prepare for Disaster

Jeremy Kirk • May 15, 2020

If an organization fails to stop a ransomware attack, how does it recover the data? Backups, of course, are essential. But Peter Marelas of Dell Technologies says organizations should have a well-developed strategy for backups because attackers are increasingly targeting those systems as well.

Australia Warns Finance Sector of DDoS Threats

Jeremy Kirk • February 26, 2020

Australia's financial sector should brace for the potential of distributed denial-of-service attacks, the nation's top cyber agency has warned, pointing to threats from a group called the "Silence Hacking Crew."

Mirai Botnet Code Gets Exploit Refresh

Jeremy Kirk • March 19, 2019

Mirai, the powerful malware that unleashed unprecedented distributed denial-of-service attacks in 2016, has never gone away. And now a new version has been equipped with fresh exploits that suggest its operators want to harness the network bandwidth offered by big businesses.

UK Sentences Man for Mirai DDoS Attacks Against Liberia

Jeremy Kirk • January 14, 2019

A U.K. court has sentenced Daniel Kaye, 30, after he admitted launching DDoS attacks against Liberia's largest telecommunications company in 2015 and 2016. A rival internet services provider paid Kaye $100,000 to launch the attacks.

Collaborative Effort Defangs WireX, an Android Botnet

Jeremy Kirk • August 29, 2017

What was perhaps the largest-ever botnet composed of infected Android devices has been disabled. The Wirex botnet cleverly used legitimate looking traffic for DDoS attacks against web services.

Calling Telnet: Effort Focuses on Fixing IoT Devices

Jeremy Kirk • August 28, 2017

A list of weak credentials for vulnerable Internet of Things devices has prompted a new effort to notify their owners. The fear is of another mass, IoT-fueled DDoS attack along the lines of last year's Mirai attacks.

US Government Warns of North Korean Hacking

Jeremy Kirk • June 15, 2017

The U.S. government on Wednesday issued its most direct and technically detailed advisory about North Korea's hacking activity to date, warning that the country continues to target U.S. media, aerospace, financial and critical infrastructure sectors.

From MySpace to MagSpoof, Famed Hacker Pushes Boundaries

Jeremy Kirk • May 31, 2017

Samy Kamkar became everyone's virtual friend in October 2005. His MySpace worm is still the most potent one ever unleashed on a social network, but it was just the start of a prolific hacking career.

Panel: How Australia's Mandatory Breach Disclosure Law Will Impact Your Business

Presented by Patrick Gunning , Gordon Hughes , Jeremy Kirk , Kay Lam-MacLeod • May 31, 2017

After several years of discussion, Australia's Parliament passed a mandatory breach notification/disclosure law in February. It requires organisations to notify affected consumers and regulators, ensuring transparency in an era of ever-increasing cyberattacks. Although large organisations generally follow the advice...

Panel: Cyber Insurance: A Rising Role in Mitigating Risk

Presented by Ben Chung , Mark Doepel , Jeremy Kirk , Ian Yip • May 31, 2017

The financial risks to organizations from data breaches come from a variety of angles, from share price hits to class-action lawsuits to fines from regulators to reputational damage. As such, the insurance industry has jumped full steam into cyber. Larger insurers are already helping companies spot and mitigate...

We've Been Breached: Now What? How to Effectively Work with Law Enforcement and Regulators

Presented by Phil Cole , Jeremy Kirk , Stuart Mort , Daniel Rodriguez , Alex Tilley • May 31, 2017

Too many organizations continue to address breach response from a reactive mode - having a crude disaster-recovery plan in place in case something "does" happen, rather than accepting that something "will" happen and proactively preparing for it. In this session, a panel of legal, technical and law-enforcement experts...