2012’s RSA Conference kicks off February 27th. Executive Chairman, RSA, Security Division of EMC Arthur Coviello, Jr. will present a program focused on the fact that in the past 18 months, organizations throughout the world have been under attack by nation-states, “hacktivists,” and cyber criminals.

PBS NewsHour Senior Correspondent Jeffrey Brown will address “hacktivism”—the use of computers and computer networks to protest or promote a political agenda or ideology—which Brown will argue has reached a tipping point, requiring an adjustment in our approach toward enterprise security.

And Stuart McClure, Chief Technology Officer at McAfee, will discuss the rapid evolution of the threat environment, and how what was once considered theoretical has become reality.

No one is immune, whether you are a soccer mom, small business, major corporation, the federal government, or the president of Syria, whose email account (password: “12345”) was hacked by a collective known as Anonymous, who were able to access hundreds of private email messages. Anyone who attracts the attention of a criminal hacker is a target.

“Hacktivists” are activists who use computer hacking as a weapon against anyone they deem oppressive. There may be hundreds of thousands of hackers operating based on this justification for their hacking, with little to no oversight or guidelines beyond their individual impulses determining their next victim. In some cases, hackers are motivated simply by petty dislike or disagreement.

Protecting your networks starts with a few basics, including:

• Total, “all-access” protection, including antivirus, anti-phishing, and anti-spyware
• Full disk encryption
• Firewall security appliances
• WPA2 wireless security
• Up-to-date operating system and software critical security patches

Robert Siciliano, personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto.