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Roger Halbheer

Job title:
Chief security advisor, Microsoft

Areas of expertise:
Policy, architecture, law enforcement, cybersecurity, processes

Biography:
Roger Halbheer joined Microsoft as Chief Security Advisor of Microsoft Switzerland in 2001 and was promoted to the role of Chief Security Advisor for Microsoft Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in February 2007. Roger leads a team of national Chief Security Advisors across EMEA who work with organizations in the commercial and public sectors - including national governments, law enforcement and intelligence agencies - on information technology issues and strategies. He is a trusted advisor to C-level executives, governments and law enforcement agencies and has established relationships with security communities and government agencies across the region. Roger is a regular speaker at industry events and has worked with national and international print and broadcast media both to represent Microsoft and to provide expert comment on broader security issues. A Swiss national, Roger holds a Master of Computer Science degree from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and is a Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP). Before joining Microsoft, he was responsible for e-Business Risk Management at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Switzerland. He lives in Zurich and is married with two sons.

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Targeted Attacks – the “Real” Problem

When I talk to customers, the different attacks are often something we discuss (obviously). I often mention that Virus and Worm attacks on a broad scale (like Conficker, etc.) are a serious problem, but at least they are ones we see, understand, and can fight (because we see and understand it).

However, my real concern are targeted attacks on governments and companies, as they are incredibly hard to detect. In the last few months, every once in a while we read in the press about an attack on a government, and sometimes that they went undetected for months until either something happened, like a server crashed, or law enforcement found out somehow.

This morning I read an article that actually claims the problem is even bigger than I thought: Report Details Hacks Targeting Google, Others – actually the article just uses the Google attacks to attract the readers as it does not really talk about it, but the content is interesting nevertheless.

Roger

Posted 05/02/2010 by Roger Halbheer

Tagged under:Incidents,Cybercrime

RE: Targeted Attacks – the “Real” Problem
Posted 08/02/2010 by Alex Clayton
I completely agree that targeted attacks are a serious problem for organisations. These types of attacks can often bypass traditional security controls. Consider the crafted malicious code specifically designed for a company. Anti-virus software will not have a signature for it and, apart from possibly being stopped by holistic scanning, malware could fly through email and internet malware filters straight to the end user. So, from a vulnerability point of view, organisations are wide open. However, considering the traditional risk equation of threat * vulnerability * asset value, the threat could be seen as much lower than generic malware as an attacker has to specifically target an organisation. The level of threat is obviously determined by the character and position of the organisation, e.g. a Government department of defence is much more of a target than a small charity in Milton Keynes! I think that this is an area which is frequently overlooked and need to be considered when an organisation tries to understand its security risks and deploys mitigating controls.

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