The Andera Blog

I know what you're thinking.  Here comes another 500 words of blather about a concept that has been so worked over it's become nearly meaningless. Don't worry; I'm not going to pretend that I have anything useful to say about big data. Instead I'm going to summarize the ideas of someone who I think does. 

On May 11 Jonathan Levin  and Liran Einav  of Stanford University published a National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper called "The Data Revolution and Economic Analysis."  The paper is about how economists can use big data, but begins with an excellent discussion about the nature of big data in general. Specifically Levin and Einav outline four characteristics of big data that differentiate it from data available in the past

Before I joined Andera as the Director of Information Security, I led a team of 30+ security experts for a very well-known security company for over seven years, and before that I worked as a security consultant to two other firms.  I was a jack of all trades in this space; I did audits and assessments, I advised on system design and procedural best practices as a security architect, and I participated in security incident response teams.

I also did some ethical hacking. There has been some  debate over the appropriateness of the term "ethical hacker," and it's also possible to become a  certified ethical hacker, but in this case I mean specifically that I was contracted by a bank to identify weaknesses in their security system by trying to steal personal data.

As a college student, I feel like it's impossible to get a bank to trust me. I understand that banks need to prioritize security to protect themselves and their customers from fraud. Still, nothing is more frustrating than having a bank tell me they don't believe that I'm me.

I have a thin credit file. I've never borrowed from a bank, never accumulated debt. I have, however, paid regular and timely rent payments, cell phone bills, utilities, etc. I am a reliable and trustworthy customer. Unfortunately, banks don't usually check for those forms of credit, so I often get rejected on the basis that they don't have enough information on me to determine my trustworthiness.

I'm not the only one. According to FICO, 33 million adult Americans also have...

In the Wild Wild West atmosphere of the early internet era, companies raced to slap websites online without thinking too hard about what purpose their website should ultimately serve.  Consumer retail companies found their ROI in online shopping, and their websites gradually evolved to draw visitors in and drive them to checkout.  In contrast, financial institutions focused on expanding eServices, until their websites became little more than portals to online banking.  

In the last few years, we've seen institutions start to wise up to a second, essential function of the online channel.  As Joe Swatek from ACTON marketing said, "Your website has an important SALES...

The Organized Cybercriminal

The organized cybercriminal hacks for one reason: profit. They pose the greatest risk to most finanical institutions, because they want social security numbers, online banking credentials, credit card information, and other sensitve sensitive data, which after stealing they systematically use to steal your customer's money. And they're organized; they can distribute data packages or hacking guides to a wide net and attack from many angles.