James Nelson Stickley III (born September 3, 1970) is the CEO of Stickley on Security, a co-founder and

board member A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...

of TraceSecurity, Inc., and a published author.The Truth About Identity Theft – http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Truth-About-Identity-Theft-The/9780789737939.page He is a

cyber security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, the ...

expert who is known for his unique research into vulnerabilities that affect organizations as well as exposing identity theft risks to the average person. Stickley is also the founder of Stickley on Security Inc., a cyber security education company and since 2015 has been the featured cyber security expert in Lifelock infomercials.

Early years

In May 2000, Stickley discovered a

buffer overflow In information security and programming, a buffer overflow, or buffer overrun, is an anomaly whereby a program, while writing data to a buffer, overruns the buffer's boundary and overwrites adjacent memory locations. Buffers are areas of memory ...

vulnerability in the

Gauntlet Firewall Gauntlet or the gauntlet may refer to: Common uses *Gauntlet (glove), protective gloves used as a form of armor *Running the gauntlet, a form of physical punishment Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Gauntlet (comics), a Marvel ...

manufactured by

Network Associates McAfee Corp. ( ), formerly known as McAfee Associates, Inc. from 1987 to 1997 and 2004 to 2014, Network Associates Inc. from 1997 to 2004, and Intel Security Group from 2014 to 2017, is an American global computer security software company head ...

(known today as

McAfee McAfee Corp. ( ), formerly known as McAfee Associates, Inc. from 1987 to 1997 and 2004 to 2014, Network Associates Inc. from 1997 to 2004, and Intel Security Group from 2014 to 2017, is an American global computer security software company head ...

). This vulnerability allowed an attacker to remotely execute arbitrary code which resulted in complete compromise of the firewall. Before this discovery,

application firewall An application firewall is a form of firewall that controls input/output or system calls of an application or service. It operates by monitoring and blocking communications based on a configured policy, generally with predefined rule sets to c ...

s had been considered by many security experts to be the most secure solution for protecting

networks Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

on the Internet, and Network Associates had claimed Gauntlet to be the "Worlds most secure firewall". In September 2001, Stickley discovered an additional buffer overflow vulnerability in the same Gauntlet product.

Discoveries and demonstrations

Stickley continues to educate the public about new cyber security risks and vulnerabilities. Many of his discoveries are featured in news publications and on network news. In 2012 Stickley created a device that was hidden inside a magic marker that allowed him to bypass the locks on hotel rooms throughout the United States. In 2015 Stickley released a video showing the weaknesses in hotel safes after discovering he could bypass the digital locks. In 2017 Stickley discovered a vulnerability in

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and ...

Gift Cards that allowed him to use any Nordstrom Gift Card that was currently active. These discoveries and demonstrations as well as the many other discoveries he has made over the years have led to increased security worldwide through updates to products and applications based on his findings.

Television

Stickley has appeared as an expert on several networks, including

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

, and

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

. Since 2015, Stickley has appeared as the "Cyber Security Expert" for

LifeLock LifeLock Inc. is an American identity theft protection company based in Tempe, Arizona. LifeLock's system monitors for identity theft, the use of personal information, and credit score changes. LifeLock was acquired by computer security compan ...

Inc. (NYSE:LOCK) in their televised and online infomercials.

Books

* The Truth About Identity Theft (2008)

Que Publishing Pearson Education is a British-owned education publishing and assessment service to schools and corporations, as well for students directly. Pearson owns educational media brands including Addison–Wesley, Peachpit, Prentice Hall, eCollege, ...

* Beautiful Security – Contributing Author (2009)

O'Reilly O'Reilly ( ga, Ó Raghallaigh) is a group of families, ultimately all of Irish Gaels, Gaelic origin, who were historically the kings of East Bréifne in what is today County Cavan. The clan were part of the Connachta's Uí Briúin Bréifne kin ...

* Corporate Insecurity – (In Development)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stickley, Jim 1970 births Living people American chief executives