Michelle Alvarez

Threat Researcher and Editor, IBM Managed Security Services

Michelle Alvarez is a Threat Researcher and Editor for IBM's Managed Security Services; she brings more than 10 years of industry experience to her role. In this role she focuses communications efforts around threat research and mitigation. Michelle joined IBM through the Internet Security Services (ISS) acquisition, where she served as an Analyst on the X-Force Vulnerability Database Team.

Written By Michelle Alvarez

A hand dropping a smartphone into a trash can.

article

Disposing of Your Device: Don’t Throw the Data Out With the Old PC

Disposing of your device securely means wiping old data, deauthorizing account access and finding an ecologically sound home for the old device.

February 21, 2017 | By Michelle Alvarez

A health care professional entering data into a computer.

article

Health Care Data at Growing Risk From Ransomware, Insiders and Third-Party Breaches

A new report based on IBM MSS data revealed that ransomware, insider threats and third-party breaches plagued health care organizations in 2016.

January 31, 2017 | By Michelle Alvarez

article

Attackers Targeting Retail Are Shopping for Low-Hanging Fruit

A recent IBM study revealed that many high-profile attacks against retail companies originate from vulnerabilities classified as low-hanging fruit.

December 22, 2016 | By Michelle Alvarez

An American flag waving outside the U.S. Capitol building.

article

Rising Attack Rates and Massive Breaches Plague Government Organizations

IBM's "2016 Cyber Security Intelligence Index" reported that the government sector is now the fourth most frequently targeted industry in the U.S.

December 7, 2016 | By Michelle Alvarez

A businessman dialing on an internet-connected office telephone.

article

Hello, You’ve Been Compromised: Upward Attack Trend Targeting VoIP Protocol SIP

According to IBM Managed Security Services data, cybercriminals most commonly target the SIP and SCCP protocols in VOIP spam attacks.

November 30, 2016 | By Michelle Alvarez

Since fraudsters are becoming more and more adept at using the IoT and Telnet to commit large-scale DDoS attacks, IT professionals should limit the use of Telnet. Security teams should disable Telnet if possible or switch to Secure Shell (SSH).

article

Consequences of IoT and Telnet: Foresight Is Better Than Hindsight

Cybercriminals have learned how to exploit the IoT and Telnet servers to commit record-shattering DDoS attacks against major websites.

November 8, 2016 | By Michelle Alvarez

Unlike last month's wave of Shellshock attacks, which were sourced from hundreds of unique IP addresses, the most recent activity originated from only four IPs, all based in the U.S., and used a unique identifier resembling an MD5 checksum.

article

Researchers Detect Second Wave of Shellshock Attacks Since Two-Year Anniversary

Researchers detected an increase in Shellshock attacks — the second wave of activity since the malware celebrated its two-year anniversary in September.

October 21, 2016 | By Michelle Alvarez