Christopher Burgess
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Christopher Burgess (@burgessct) is an author/writer, speaker, advisor, consultant and advocate for effective security strategies, be they for your company, home or family.
He founded and led Prevendra, a security, privacy and intelligence consultancy and content provider. Prior to Prevendra, he served as the Chief Security Officer, President Public Sector and Chief Operating Officer (2011 to 2013) of a small start-up within the big data analytic space, Atigeo. And he also served for a number of years as the Senior Security Advisor to the Chief Security Officer of Cisco, where he focused on intellectual property strategies. Additionally, also while at Cisco, Christopher led the following teams within the Corporate Security Programs Office: Global Threat Analysis providing geopolitical, economic and security analysis to Cisco strategists; Global Investigative Support providing forensic support to the enterprise’s investigatory groups; Global Government Security Office implementation; the US Government Security Office (NISPOM/DCID); and the eLitigation & eDiscovery support (EDRM) efforts within Cisco.
In addition, he has substantial international public sector experience, having served 30+ years within the Central Intelligence Agency. He lived and worked in South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Central Europe and Latin America where he acquired a deep understanding of the people, cultures, and business practices of these respective areas. During this career he served in various positions, including that of Chief of Station. As Chief of Station, he was the personal representative for the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and concurrently for the National Intelligence Director within his geographic area of responsibility. He served as an executive member on numerous regional federal collaborative entities: Joint Terrorism Task Forces, U.S. Attorney Terrorism Task Forces and Regional Counterintelligence Working Groups. Upon his retirement, the CIA awarded him the Career Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the highest level of career recognition.
Christopher authored the ebook, Senior Online Safety (Prevendra, March 2014, Spanish version September 2014), and co-authored the book, Secrets Stolen, Fortunes Lost, Preventing Intellectual Property Theft and Economic Espionage in the 21st Century (Syngress, March 2008) and contributed to Bringing the Social Media Revolution to Healthcare (Mayo Clinic, October 2012), with a chapter on privacy.
Christopher contributes on a regular basis to the The Huffington Post beginning with the seminal piece, “A Common Sense Approach to Social Media,” as well as on occasion to the Spanish language edition, El Huffington Post. He is a compensated contributor to various enties.
In addition, Christopher's early CSO magazine contributions are highlighted by three pieces, “Social Elements of Security Policy and Messaging,” the study “Nation States’ Espionage and Counterespionage, Overview of the 2007 Global Economic Espionage Landscape,” and Inadvertent Disclosure: Know the Risks."
Christopher is an invited speaker to a plethora of events and venues, to include AARP’s Scam Jam, Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab, Mayo/Ragan Social Media Healthcare Summit, Seattle Interactive/Gnomedex; Taia Global’s Suits & Spooks, Washington Technology Industry Association, Cisco Live!; the Interpol Intellectual Property Crime Conference; and numerous times at the NATO Information Assurance Conference. He has appeared on the BBC, CNBC, i24, China TV, Fox Business, Bloomberg and AARP’s Inside E-street.
The opinions expressed in this blog are those of Christopher Burgess and do not necessarily represent those of IDG Communications, Inc., its parent, subsidiary or affiliated companies.
Iran targeting international IP for theft and extortion
Various Iranian hacker groups are successfully stealing or illegally procuring IP using all the tools in the toolbox to achieve their results.
Paradise Papers: Data leak shines a light on the monies of the elite
Whether a hack or an insider leak, the 13.4 million records in the Paradise Papers detail the investments of offshore law firms and corporate investment firms.
Twitter employee deleting POTUS account is a lesson for all companies
A trusted insider turned the lights out on Twitter account of President Donald Trump, reminding us all how superuser access can be abused.
Swiss spy confesses, says he acted out of patriotism and profit
The saga of Daniel Moser, acting on behalf of the Swiss FIS to penetrate German tax authorities, comes to a close but not without an interesting twist.
Insider information leads to fraud scheme, arrests and conviction
Employees at HSBC Bank plc used insider information to their benefit, defrauding a client and generating millions of dollars for themselves.
China goes looking online for government secrets
China’s president painted a picture of openness and diplomacy, but cyber activity that seems to come from the country indicate Chinese hackers pose a threat.
Insider tries to scam Dice after hacking company he sold to Dice
David Kent sold his social network to Dice, created a competing company, hacked the first company to build up the new company, then tried to sell the new company to Dice.
North Korea’s cyber fingers are in many pots
North Korea cyber activities are designed to fund the Kim Jong-un regime and can be expected to increase in both frequency and intensity.
How China got its hand on U.S. nuclear technology materials
Allen Ho infiltrated the U.S. nuclear power program over a period of 20 years and helped advance the Chinese nuclear program.
Trusted insider at the federal level raises concerns
Charged with bank fraud, Imran Awan provided IT services to the U.S. House of Representatives for 14 years. Is he a white-collar criminal or something more sinister?
Industrial espionage in Finland — sometimes crime does pay
Six years after the incident, 10 trusted insiders were convicted of industrial espionage but received only suspended sentences and fines.
The need to be victorious — espionage in sports
From the early Olympiads to today's modern sports, espionage in sports has existed. Here's a look at some modern-day incidents — hacking, spying and insider antics.
Greed drives malevolent insider to steal former employer's IP
An insider leaves to set up his own competitive company, and he accesses his former employer's systems to steal IP and marketing plans — for two years.
An insider sifts through 108,000 client files. What can go wrong?
Bupa Global responds after an employee in its international health insurance division was caught copying and removing information from client files.
Germany warns of nation-state cyber espionage threat
Report from Germany's domestic intelligence and security service says Russia, China and Iran are targeting German companies and interests.
Developer hangs patient data out in a cloud—for two years
In 2015, a developer at UIHC inadvertently put the personal data of about 5,300 patients in an open store in the cloud. UIHC found out about it in 2017.
Insider wreaks havoc on company—after he resigns
Over the course of several weeks, a former Navarro Security employee used off-the-shelf tools to destroy files, compromise email and redirect the company's web traffic to a competitor.
U.S. defense contractor arrested for giving U.S. secrets to Chinese operatives
Kevin Mallory, a U.S. defense contractor, was arrested for allegedly passing secret and top secret U.S. documents to Chinese intelligence.
