Learning is a lifelong endeavor. Sometimes, that means going for another degree or certification. But for most, one of the best ways to stay in the know is to keep reading and listening. In line with last week’s column about the best cyber podcasts, I have generated a list of my five favorite cybersecurity news and information websites.
Top 5 cybersecurity news and information websites
As with the podcasts, I have no affiliation with the websites other than reading them. None of the sites that I suggest requires a subscription to get most of the good content. I have tried to include a variety of styles and subject matter and again, done my best to avoid those that sound like an infomercial for the website owner.
1. Current Numbers and Events
I stumbled on Hackmageddon.com a few weeks ago while preparing for a presentation on higher education cyber-attacks. To put it bluntly, it is an amazing trough of timelines, statistics, data breaches and infographics collected by security expert Paolo Passeri from numerous sources including the public. What is cool is the world wide range of attacks he reports and his synopsis updates on new attacks every two weeks or so. His attribution analysis is a threat intelligence geek’s natural high. He also links his info to Twitter if you don’t want to take time to pour through the site, but believe me you should at least once.
2. From Novice to Expert Coverage
Some cybersecurity sites are excessively technical for the person who just wants to catch up on industry current events or is just starting to become interested in the field. DarkReading.Com has multiple talented authors and editors digesting and curating stories about events at every level of the security spectrum. For example the last issue contained articles about deepfakes, the status of email security, cyber warfare and TSA standards on cybersecurity of pipelines, in addition to very technical articles as well on things such as remote access tools. I use some of their articles in my class materials as they do a good job of breaking things down with simple explanations.
3. The Mysterious and Exciting
When you click on a site and the front page says “Be a Cyber Warrior, Stop Putin Now”, you know it’s going to be good. While there are some pay and subscriber options, the treasure trove of ethical (or not) hacking tips, information, and opinions that are free make hackers-arise.com a must see blog and website. It is ran by a gentleman named OccupytheWeb and if you are wanting to point someone to the excitement of cybersecurity as a career, this may be the only place you need to show them. This site is jam packed with practical applications, daring missions, war stories and motivational material.
4. Overall Deep Dives
My favorite for reading detailed explanations of current events, vulnerabilities and cyber-crime subjects is thehackernews.com. If I catch a story on Twitter about an event, there is a great chance if I want more detailed information on the subject, The Hacker News will have it. For example, this week they explored in depth Meta’s takedown of two espionage operations in SE Asia. The site is also really good about creating “list” and “step by step” guides (which is ironic since that is what I’m doing right now).
5. Law and Technology
This is a really tough category to have an honest relationship with-most sources are either of the infomercial variety I mentioned earlier or wildly partisan, mixing in fault assessments with legal analysis. My choice that meets halfway in between is jdsupra.com, specifically their cybersecurity section which is populated with articles from a wide variety of experts representing their firms. The site is very current on topics, and has a nice focus on both privacy law and critical infrastructure guidelines and policies.
There are countless other sites and blogs worthy of mention that I didn’t get to. The ones I picked are different enough from each other that you the reader shouldn’t feel like you are looking at five of the same thing. Hopefully, you will have some new material to bookmark soon.
