Mathew J. Schwartz

Executive Editor, DataBreachToday & Europe, ISMG

Schwartz is an award-winning journalist with two decades of experience in magazines, newspapers and electronic media. He has covered the information security and privacy sector throughout his career. Before joining Information Security Media Group in 2014, where he now serves as the executive editor, DataBreachToday and for European news coverage, Schwartz was the information security beat reporter for InformationWeek and a frequent contributor to DarkReading, among other publications. He lives in Scotland.

Oil Services Giant Halliburton Disrupted by Hack Attack

Mathew J. Schwartz • August 22, 2024

Oil services giant Halliburton is reportedly dealing with a disruption tied to a Wednesday hack attack, after which the Houston-based firm advised employees to not connect to any internal IT resources - a sign that the incident could be a ransomware attack.

Latest Cyber Insurance Policy Takes Aim at Phishing Attacks

Mathew J. Schwartz • June 19, 2024

Generali Poland’s innovative approach to cyber insurance includes an anti-phishing initiative and market education efforts to enhance cyber resilience. Learn how these measures aim to support small and medium-sized businesses in Poland - and bridge the knowledge gap in cybersecurity.

Cyber Psychological Warfare: Hacking Operational Technology

Mathew J. Schwartz • May 29, 2024

Defenders of operational technology environments should look beyond the technical controls and incident response plans they've put in place. They also need to consider how attackers might undermine confidence in the service itself, says Ian Thornton-Trump, CISO of Cyjax.

SEC Regulations Demand Greater Transparency in OT Security

Mathew J. Schwartz • May 16, 2024

Edgard Capdevielle, president and CEO, Nozomi Networks, discusses how new SEC disclosure regulations are reshaping cybersecurity strategies in industrial organizations. He also shares insight on legacy OT systems, IT-OT convergence and the need for industry collaboration.

Effective Operational Technology Security? Embrace Response

Mathew J. Schwartz • May 16, 2024

While critical infrastructure operators have historically focused on securing their operational technology networks by preventing intrusions, the ongoing increase in nation-state attacks demands they master the ability to "identify, detect, respond and recover," said Robert M. Lee, CEO of Dragos.

Cyber Insurers Pledge to Help Reduce Ransom Payments

Mathew J. Schwartz • May 14, 2024

A coalition of cyber insurance associations has pledged to back fresh government cybersecurity guidance designed to help victims avoid ever paying a ransom as part of an ongoing push to reduce ransomware's profitability for criminals, in part by improving organizations' resilience and recovery.

Cinterion IoT Cellular Modules Vulnerable to SMS Compromise

Mathew J. Schwartz • May 13, 2024

Multiple types of Telit Cinterion cellular modules for IoT and machine-to-machine devices, which are widely used across industrial, financial services, telecommunications and healthcare environments, are vulnerable to being remotely compromised via malicious SMS messages, security researchers warn.

Backdoor Found and Defused in Widely Used Linux Utility XZ

Mathew J. Schwartz • April 1, 2024

Nation-state attackers apparently backdoored widely used, open-source data compression software as part of a supply chain attack. Malicious code inserted into recent versions of XZ Utils was designed to facilitate full, remote access to an infected system.

UK Nuclear Cleanup Site Faces Criminal Cybersecurity Charges

Mathew J. Schwartz • March 29, 2024

Britain's nuclear power watchdog said it plans to prosecute the country's "largest and most hazardous nuclear site," Sellafield, for violating nuclear industry cybersecurity regulations from 2019 to 2023. Both Russian and Chinese nation-state hackers reportedly infiltrated the site's networks.

Cybersecurity in the UK: Government Sees Improvements Slow

Mathew J. Schwartz • March 20, 2024

The pace of cybersecurity improvements has stagnated at many Britain organizations over the past year, driven in part by budget and staffing challenges, according to a new U.K. government report designed to assess domestic business resilience and the country's collective cybersecurity posture.

Memory Safety by Design: How Emerging Hardware Blocks Bugs

Mathew J. Schwartz • March 18, 2024

What if the world had access to memory-safe hardware for both IT and operational technology environments that could outright block many types of vulnerabilities from being exploited as well as make code safer to run on legacy systems? Enter the U.K.'s Digital Security by Design initiative.

Ransomware Attacks on Critical Infrastructure Are Surging

Mathew J. Schwartz • March 7, 2024

Cybercrime reports submitted by victims to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center surged last year, and the total reported losses exceeded $12.5 billion. Investment fraud and business email compromise losses dominated, and ransomware attacks spared almost no critical infrastructure sector.

Defending Operational Technology Environments: Basics Matter

Mathew J. Schwartz • March 4, 2024

Cybersecurity truism: Focusing on the basics helps defenders arrest many of today's top attacks, as well as tomorrow's. While IT defenders have been repeating that mantra for years, experts say it also applies to operational technology environments, including ICS and SCADA systems.

Russia Continues to Focus on Cyber Operations and Espionage

Mathew J. Schwartz • February 15, 2024

Russia continues to focus on running cyber operations and espionage that target Ukraine's military, government and civil society in support of its ground campaign, researchers at Google said, warning that the information operations will likely soon be brought to bear on Western elections.

Ransomware on Tap as Major Water Providers Fall Victim

Mathew J. Schwartz • January 24, 2024

Two major water providers in the U.S. and U.K. report that they recently fell victim to ransomware attacks. In both cases, attackers appear to have stolen employee or customer data that they're now holding to ransom. Ransomware trackers say known attacks, affecting all sectors, have been surging.