In the world of cybersecurity, insider threats remain a potent and often underestimated danger. These threats can emanate not only from malicious actors within an organization but also from well-intentioned employees who inadvertently compromise security with a mis-click or other unwitting action.

Job hunters should be on their guard. Researchers at security firm WithSecure have described how fake job opportunities are being posted on LinkedIn with the intent of spreading malware. A Vietnamese cybercrime gang is being blamed for a malware campaign that has seen bogus adverts posted on LinkedIn, pretending to be related to jobs at computer memory and gaming accessories firm Corsair.

In recent years, there has been a major ongoing trend toward more digital infrastructure and an increased dependence on technology across a wide variety of sectors. In the property industry, this has manifested heavily in the growth of the property technology (PropTech) market. These developments have had a serious impact on the sector, enabling advances that both improve existing processes and add new features to real estate transactions.

The main reasons internet users choose to use a virtual private network (VPN) are to protect their online identity and bypass geo-restrictions. Cybercrime is on the rise and is expected to grow each year – the largest breach of 2023 so far occurred on Twitter. For those who reside in countries where internet freedom is lacking, a VPN is necessary to access certain content, and privacy is crucial. The rise in cybercrime has resulted in increased supply and demand in the VPN market.

Configuration management is vitally important as part of a sound cybersecurity strategy. We have previously published how patching alone is not enough, as that does not alter a system’s customized configuration. Misconfigurations can be as damaging to security as a deliberate attack on a system.

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) have profoundly transformed the internet's fabric. In the pre-API era, digital interactions were limited by siloed systems functioning in isolation. APIs dismantled these barriers by introducing a universal language that diverse applications could comprehend. This linguistic bridge facilitated an unprecedented level of interconnectivity between software entities.

In recent years, blockchain technology has garnered significant attention thanks to its remarkable tamper-proof features and robust security. It is also expected that the blockchain technology market will exceed 1.2 billion US dollars by 2030, with an annual growth rate of 82.8 percent. However, recent headlines have exposed numerous vulnerabilities and cyberattacks targeting blockchain technology.

The past half-decade has been a particularly tumultuous one for cybersecurity. It has borne witness to some of the most damaging attacks in history, unprecedentedly high data breach rates, and a staggering number of emerging threat groups. However, a new report from cyber insurance provider Coalition suggests that things are beginning to stabilize.

In the brisk air of early autumn, optimism fills our hearts as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, an annual event dedicated to fostering a deeper understanding of cybersecurity and inspiring behavior change. Two decades ago, the prevailing belief among security professionals was that raising awareness alone could lead to secure online behaviors. But in 2023, we've learned that hope is not a strategy.

A former US Navy IT manager has been sentenced to five years and five months in prison after illegally hacking a database containing personally identifiable information (PII) and selling it on the dark web. 32-year-old Marquis Cooper, of Selma, California, was a chief petty officer in the US Navy's Seventh Fleet when he opened an account in August 2018 with a company that maintains a PII database for millions of people.

We often hear of how we need to protect ourselves from online scams. Criminals seek our personal information in order to use it for multiple nefarious purposes. However, there is a population who, while not having a broad online presence, are equally vulnerable to identity theft. Children are particularly vulnerable to identity theft, as they often have clean credit histories and their personal information is not monitored as closely as adults.

There are countless tools and technologies available to help an organization stay on top of its IT assets, and a configuration management database (CMDB) is an extremely useful one. The database keeps track of relevant information regarding various hardware and software components and the relationships between them. It allows IT teams to have an organized view of configuration items (CIs) that can enable more streamlined processes when it comes to IT work.

These days, it’s not a matter of if your password will be breached but when. Major websites experience massive data breaches at an alarming rate. Have I Been Pwned currently has records from 705 sites comprising 12.6 billion accounts. This includes well-known names like Wattpad, Verifications.io, and Facebook.

Gaming companies collect data concerning user behavior for a variety of reasons: to inform investment and content decisions, enable game and advertisement personalization, and improve gameplay, to name a few. However, the data available provides a daunting task for those attempting to make use of it, as well as a ripe target for attackers. Effectively utilizing and protecting this data can be a challenge, especially as the volume of gaming data increases over time.

Footprinting, also known as fingerprinting, is a methodology used by penetration testers, cybersecurity professionals, and even threat actors to gather information about a target organization to identify potential vulnerabilities. Footprinting is the first step in penetration testing. It involves scanning open ports, mapping network topologies, and collecting information about hosts, their operating systems, IP addresses, and user accounts.

Interconnected, data-enabled devices are more common now than ever before. By 2027, it is predicted that there will be more than 41 billion new IoT devices. The emergence of each new device offers a fresh vulnerability point for opportunistic bad actors. In 2022, there were over 112 million cyberattacks carried out on IoT devices worldwide. Without sufficient protection, attackers can exploit these weak points to gain access to sensitive data or restrict access to internet networks.

One of the most reliable constants in the cybersecurity world is that threats are always increasing as cybercriminals advance their tactics and develop new ones. It can be a daunting task for organizations to continually stay on top of these threats, protect their own data and assets, and monitor the threat landscape for changes.

Attacks against industrial control systems (ICS) are on the rise. Cyberattacks are more prevalent, creative and faster than ever. So, understanding attackers’ tactics is crucial. The IBM Security X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2023 highlights that backdoor deployments enabling remote access to ICS systems were the most common type of attacker action in 2022.

As cyber threats grow more frequent and sophisticated, the need for vigilant defense is paramount, and cybersecurity is top of mind for organizations nationwide. Understanding the threat landscape and current and future trends is crucial to designing effective security strategies to mitigate risk and keep companies, their employees, and their data safe. The following threat trends are of particular importance, affecting organizations of all sizes.

Data is expanding beyond environments, applications, and geographical boundaries. It is safe to say that we are currently experiencing the era of the Big Bang of Data. It is driving economies and industries. Organizations that can leverage data to its fullest potential take the helm of their industry, leading it peerlessly. However, with the proliferation of data comes increasingly serious risks to data security and privacy.

Compliance and security often go hand in hand as ideas that attempt to protect against cyber threats. While both compliance and security are designed to lower risk, they are not mutually inclusive—that is, not everything that is required for compliance will necessarily help with security, and not everything that bolsters security will necessarily put you in compliance.

A joint cybersecurity advisory from the United States's National Security Agency (NSA) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has shone a light on the top ten most common cybersecurity misconfigurations found in large private and public organisations. The report aims to detail the weaknesses found in many large organisations, and the need for software makers to properly embrace the principles of security-by-design.

While always a part of business, compliance demands have skyrocketed as the digital world gives us so many more ways to go awry. We all remember the Enron scandal that precipitated the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). Now, SOX compliance means being above board on a number of cybersecurity requirements as well. Fortra's Tripwire recently released a new guide: How Managed Services Can Help with Cybersecurity Compliance.

Cyber Security Awareness Month kicked off its nineteenth anniversary this year. One would hope that after nearly two decades, this would be a time to celebrate, however, the outlook is not as bright as one would expect. There are so many aspects of cybersecurity that have been promoted to make the world a safer place, but one that stands out as the largest failure seems to be the use of password managers.

One of the most pervasive and unavoidable threats on the internet, domain impersonation can be used by bad actors as the basis for a wide range of attacks. The various ways in which cybercriminals make use of lookalike domains often fluctuate, and the first half of 2023 has exemplified this fact. Staying on top of security and not falling victim to these attacks requires knowing what the dangers are and keeping track of the threats that are likely to spring up.

Electric grids are part of every nation’s critical infrastructure. Every societal activity and business depends on reliable and safe electricity distribution. The US electric grid is a huge network of powerlines, distribution hubs, and renewable and non-renewable energy generators that is increasingly exposed to cyber-physical risks due to the accelerated reliance on cyber-enabled systems and IoT-connected devices, such as smart meters.

On August 10th, the Pentagon introduced "Task Force Lima," a dedicated team working to bring Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the core of the U.S. defense system. The goal is to use AI to improve business operations, healthcare, military readiness, policy-making, and warfare. Earlier in August, the White House announced a large cash prize for individuals or groups that can create AI systems to defend important software from cyberattacks.

The evolution of the cyber threat landscape highlights the need for organizations to strengthen their ability to identify, analyze, and evaluate cyber risks before they evolve into security incidents. Known unpatched vulnerabilities are often exploited by criminals to penetrate Industrial Control Systems (ICS) environments and disrupt critical operations.