Mathew J. Schwartz

Executive Editor, DataBreachToday & Europe, ISMG

Schwartz is an award-winning journalist with two decades of experience in magazines, newspapers and electronic media. He has covered the information security and privacy sector throughout his career. Before joining Information Security Media Group in 2014, where he now serves as the executive editor, DataBreachToday and for European news coverage, Schwartz was the information security beat reporter for InformationWeek and a frequent contributor to DarkReading, among other publications. He lives in Scotland.

Trump Hotels Confirms POS Malware Breach

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 29, 2015

The hotel chain bearing 2016 U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's name has confirmed that its point-of-sale systems were malware-infected for more than a year, but it's downplaying the possibility that card data was exfiltrated or used to commit fraud.

EMV Struggle: 7 Lessons from Europe

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 28, 2015

Europe's successful migration to EMV, which began more than a decade ago, employed deadline shifts, education for cardholders and merchants and an approach based on PIN codes. Here are lessons for the in-progress U.S. migration to EMV.

Malware Warning: Banks, Customers, ATMs Under Fire

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 25, 2015

Security experts warn about a trio of new threats: GreenDispenser cash-out malware, the Shifu banking Trojan being spread via malvertising attacks and Neutrino crimeware getting an upgrade to steal payment-card data.

Stolen OPM Fingerprints: What's the Risk?

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 24, 2015

The severity of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management breach continues to grow, with investigators now reporting that hackers stolen 5.6 million people's fingerprint data. The theft may have security implications well into the future.

Apple Malware Outbreak: Infected App Count Grows

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 23, 2015

The number of apps infected in the first large-scale Apple App Store malware outbreak is far higher than was first believed, according to the cybersecurity firm FireEye, which reports that at least 4,000 apps were infected with XcodeGhost malware.

We're So Stupid About Passwords: Ashley Madison Edition

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 22, 2015

For years, information security experts have been warning users to create complex, unique passwords, and organizations to secure them properly. But an analysis of 12 million cracked Ashley Madison passwords shows how much we're still failing.

Chinese President Dismisses Hacking Allegations

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 22, 2015

Responding to U.S. government criticism of China over its persistent online economic espionage campaigns, Chinese President Xi Jinping says that the Chinese government does not hack other nations, or support Chinese companies that do so, and calls for those responsible for cyberattacks to be prosecuted.

Apple Battles App Store Malware Outbreak

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 21, 2015

Apple is moving to contain an outbreak of malicious apps being distributed via its official App Store that were infected with XcodeGhost malware. Hundreds of apps and millions of users were reportedly infected.

Why Cybercrime Now Exceeds Conventional Crime

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 15, 2015

Drawn by the potential for low risk and high reward, criminals worldwide are increasingly pursuing online crime instead of conventional forms of property crime, such as burglary and robbery, warns cybersecurity expert Alan Woodward.

Russian Cybercrime Rule No. 1: Don't Hack Russians

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 14, 2015

Security experts trace many of the world's cybercrime attacks to Russia. But Russian authorities never extradite suspects, and they allow hackers to operate with impunity - if they play by some ground rules.

OPM ID Theft Monitoring: Waste of Money?

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 14, 2015

If the Chinese government hacked the U.S. Office of Personnel Management for espionage purposes, then the U.S. government's $133 million contract to provide ID theft monitoring services is a waste of money. Instead, the agency could have used the funds to safeguard its systems against future attacks.

Researchers Crack 11 Million Ashley Madison Passwords

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 10, 2015

A password-cracking group claims that, because of coding errors made by Ashley Madison's developers, it has been able to recover 11.2 million users' plaintext passwords. The group believes that up to 15 million of the dating site's passwords can be easily cracked.