SpearTip Announces Strategic Alliance With ComSec

St. Louis, Missouri (PRWEB) November 03, 2011

SpearTip, LLC CEO Jarrett Kolthoff announced that SpearTip has formed a strategic alliance with ComSec, LLC, of Virginia Beach, VA, which provides professional technical surveillance counter measure (TSCM) services nationwide. ComSec’s expertise includes electronic eavesdropping detection, bug sweeps, counterespionage consulting, counter surveillance, cyber TSCM, and anti-surveillance services for businesses and individuals.

Kolthoff said the alliance continues SpearTip’s geographic growth to the eastern seaboard as well as adding skill sets and technical capabilities to SpearTip’s existing cyber counterespionage arsenal.

ComSec is headed by CEO/President J.D. LeaSure, a countersurveillance practitioner in defense and industrial sectors since 1984. LeaSure has extensive training, knowledge, and experience covering eavesdropping devices, detection methods and other surveillance tactics employed by those seeking to steal information. The SpearTip alliance expands ComSec’s capabilities in cyber counterespionage and computer forensics.

“We believe this combination of talents and expertise will strengthen the unique service SpearTip offers clients,” Kolthoff said. “We are able to offer the broadest range of countersurveillance protection of anyone in the industry.”  

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SpearTip’s Top Cyber Counterespionage Expert Gives TV Interview on TRICARE Data Theft

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Doubts custodian’s assurances. Fears possible extortion of military employees whose personal medical data was taken.

St. Louis, Missouri (PRWEB) October 07, 2011

Jarrett Kolthoff, CEO of Cyber Counterespionage firm SpearTip, was interviewed by CBS-affiliate KMOV about the recent theft of two-decades-worth of medical data on nearly five million military personnel. Part of the interview was broadcast. An expansion of that interview is included here.

The custodian of the records, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), reported the data breach had occurred two weeks earlier, when numerous back-up tapes were assertively stolen in a break-in of an employee’s car, while the tapes were in transit across town.

SAIC downplayed the breach, saying no financial information was involved, although SAIC acknowledged the tapes contained sensitive medical information. SAIC discounted harm from the loss of this information, saying: “The risk of harm to patients is judged to be low despite the data elements involved, since retrieving the data on the tapes would require knowledge of and access to specific hardware and software and knowledge of the system and data structure.” Kolthoff said this statement is not an assurance that data was encrypted. The news report indicated that only “some” of the tapes were encrypted.

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kmov.com

(KMOV) -- Wednesday night, TRICARE, the health care program for millions of military members, retirees, and their families announced a data breach that affects an estimated 4.9 million people.

Read TRICARE's statement here: www.tricare.mil/mybenefit/Download/Forms/DataBreach_PublicStatement.pdf

Science Applications International Corporation reported that one of its employees was driving backup computer tapes from one federal office to another in San Antonio, Texas. At one point, the car was broken into and the backup tapes were stolen. SAIC says it won't disclose how many tapes were taken, but says only "some" were encrypted.

The tapes that were lost included names, Social Security numbers, addresses, and medical treatment information of patients who were treated at San Antonio military treatment facilities (or patients who have had lab work processes there) from 1992 until September 7, 2011.

TRICARE and SAIC say they are working to identify all the beneficiaries whose information may have been lost and notify the affected people. TRICARE says that the risk of harm to patients is low because the thief would have to have access to specific hardware and software and know how to pull the data from the tapes.

Jarrett Kolthoff, who runs a cyber security firm called SpearTip, LLC, says people should be concerned.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to grab that information and than use that data in a nefarious manner," said Kolthoff.

"If it was unencrypted, my concern would be the leverage that somebody could use against individuals."

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SpearTip's Counterespionage Expert Warns of Emerging Cyber Threats to Private Industry

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Former U.S. Counterintelligence Agent Jarrett Kolthoff keynotes conference of counterespionage practitioners and technologists.

St. Louis, Missouri (PRWEB) September 27, 2011

Espionage Research Institute (“ERI”) Conference – This year’s keynote speaker was Jarrett Kolthoff, a former U.S. Counterintelligence Agent, now CEO of cyber counterespionage firm SpearTip. Kolthoff provided valuable insights into recent and emerging domestic and foreign cyber espionage threats. Kolthoff was recognized with a plaque presented by ERI President, former CIA officer, Glenn Whidden.

SpearTip’s Kolthoff described a number of “incidents” he has dealt with for his Fortune 100 and other national and international clients to emphasize the increasing prevalence of internet-based surveillance techniques, cyber espionage, malware, APT (Advanced Persistent Threats) that requires his team to learn and adapt constantly to the ever-changing playing field.

Whidden created ERI in an effort to bring together Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (“TSCM”) specialists, security practitioners, businessmen and corporate security executives to share information about hostile global espionage targeting business and industry.

Additionally, Kolthoff sees more and more corporate espionage by departing employees electronically transferring large amounts of competitively sensitive company data. The ease with which such data can be copied and transported requires far higher levels of vigilance by company executives. According to Kolthoff, it is not a matter of “if” data theft will occur, but what the company is prepared to do in mitigation of such losses “when” a company discovers that it has already been breached.

Kolthoff notes that threats exist for enterprises of all types and sizes, from governmental to non-profits to low tech service providers, in addition to obvious targets such as technology driven multinationals. No matter the organization, corporate espionage and cyber warfare are not simply on the doorstep – they are already a dramatic reality.

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