Protecting your company from the kinds of data breaches that groups like LulzSec and AntiSec are capable of is largely a matter of covering the basics, according to "SparkyBlaze," a former member of the hacking group Anonymous.

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) interviewed the former hacktivist, who spoke out against some of the recent antics by LulzSec and AntiSec, reports Mathew J. Schwartz at InformationWeek.

SparkyBlaze, who left Anonymous in August, outlined 14 tips for businesses to make information security initiatives more effective.

They include using a strict data security policy, regularly employing a third party to do security audits, hiring security savvy system administrators, using encryption, and knowing what data is being exposed publicly.

Intrusion prevention and detection systems, as well as effective physical security, are also critical. Plus, be sure that employees are aware of the latest social engineering schemes.

In a blog post in August, SparkyBlaze said he was "fed up with Anon putting people's data online and then claiming to be the big heroes." Schwartz notes that this sentiment indicates that there is no consensus on what "hacktivism" means, and some hackers clearly are put off by recent actions taken by Anonymous and its spin-offs.

"I love hacking and I believe in free speech and anti-censorship, so putting both together was easy for me. I feel that it is ok if you are attacking the governments. Getting files and giving them to WikiLeaks, that sort of thing, that does hurt governments," SparkyBlaze told Cisco.

The hacker does not condone some of the recent antics of AntiSec and LulzSec, however. "AntiSec has released gig after gig of innocent people's information. For what? What did they do? Does Anon have the right to remove the anonymity of innocent people? They are always talking about people's right to remain anonymous so why are they removing that right?" he said.

For more:
- see Mathew J. Schwartz's article at InformationWeek

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