Kevin Mitnick Details Modern IT Threats

In the world of computer security hackers, few are as well-known as Kevin Mitnick. Mitnick’s activities in the mid-1990s led to his arrest by the FBI and subsequent imprisonment. Today he works as a security consultant with his own firm, Mitnick Security Consulting.

In a video interview with eWEEK, Mitnick discusses what his firm does and how he now works to help organizations secure themselves.

As a well-known security professional, Mitnick’s Website is the target of constant attacks.

“I run a security company, so it’s quite embarrassing to have my business Website defaced,” Mitnick said.

After being kicked off his former Website hosting provider, Mitnick today hosts his site with secure cloud hosting vendor Firehost, which he said is doing a good job for him.

Mitnick also discusses the most dangerous types of attacks today, which for him are all about social engineering.

“It takes one employee to make a bad business decision and it’s game over,” Mitnick said.

While there are lots of social engineering threats online today, Mitnick also has a few ideas on how both consumers and enterprises can protect themselves. For consumers, he suggests that they use Google Docs to open attachments, instead of just simply opening them up with a desktop client. For enterprises, he suggests user training and education to make sure they understand what not to click.

In the final analysis, Mitnick agrees that it is users who are often the weak link in security.

Watch the full video with Kevin Mitnick below:

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist