If your organization is like many others, its cyber exposure continues to grow over time. During the pandemic, as attackers sought to exploit unprecedented changes in work environments, 35% of cyberattacks used previously unseen malware or methods, up from the norm of 20%. And with the average enterprise using well over 1,000 cloud services, it can be very difficult to get a handle on potential vulnerabilities or to know when risks will pop up.

Vendor relationship management is a process focused on overseeing relationships with third-party vendors. Vendors can range from small independent contractors for one-time projects to multi-year business partners critical to an organization’s success. Companies rarely handle all their business in-house and independently.

An effective third-party risk management (TRPM) program allows organizations to assess potential vulnerabilities and mitigate security risks across their entire ecosystem of vendors and suppliers. If your organization is expanding its third-party ecosystem by relying on partnerships to execute core operations, creating an effective TPRM plan is critical to regulating data risks across your growing attack surface.

GRC programs are often viewed as cost centers. But, they can in fact be profit drivers by contributing to sales acceleration, cost and time savings, and risk reduction. The real question is, how can you prove that to the board? TrustCloud teamed up with ISSA to discuss.

The NIS2 Directive, published in December 2022, sets out a series of measures for improving cyber risk management throughout the European Union. All EU member states must apply the Directive as part of national law by October 2024. By the same date, all applicable organizations must comply with the measures set out in NIS2.

Backdoor attacks are on the rise. In 2022, this relatively little known cyberattack vector overtook ransomware as the top action deployed by cybercriminals. According to the IBM Security X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2023, nearly a quarter of cyber incidents involved backdoor attacks. But what is a backdoor attack and how can you protect your organization from becoming a victim? Let’s explore this stealthy threat.

Yesterday the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3-2 to issue long-awaited regulations that mandate uniform cyber incident disclosures for public companies. The SEC’s rulemaking progress has been lengthy and controversial, and cybersecurity experts and business advocates have been eagerly awaiting the release of the final rules after more than a year of public comment and lobbying from business and cyber experts.

The financial services sector is one of the highest performing in terms of cybersecurity. One factor that contributes to this performance is regulation. Laws such as FFIEC IT, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, NYDFS, GDPR, and SOC2 have placed pressure on financial services companies to build and enforce some of the strongest cyber risk management programs across any industry. You should consider another factor, which is money.

On July 26, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to adopt new cybersecurity requirements for publicly traded companies, creating new obligations for reporting “material” cybersecurity incidents and requiring more detailed disclosure of cybersecurity risk management, expertise, and governance. Companies will be required to disclose risks in their annual reports beginning on December 15, 2023.

Network vulnerabilities can leave an organization’s entire IT environment compromised. Sensitive data can be lost or (even worse) stolen by cybercriminals. A data breach can severely harm your company’s reputation and bring substantial financial losses. Worse, these vulnerabilities are constantly evolving. Hackers have proven methods to infiltrate a seemingly secure network, and they employ various tricks, devices, and information to get the job done.

Data privacy has become a paramount concern in the digital age, as organizations collect and process vast amounts of personal information. As a result, governments are increasingly enacting data privacy laws. While the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets a global benchmark for data protection, the United States lacks a comprehensive federal data privacy law. Instead, businesses operating in the U.S.

SecurityScorecard recently joined the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Cybersecurity and UC Berkeley’s Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity (CLTC) for a private, invite-only workshop in Washington, DC alongside global leaders, CEOs, and CISOs to identify trends and insights that will most likely impact cybersecurity in the next decade of 2030 via future-focused scenarios with emerging cybersecurity challenges.

Awareness of potential threats is merely the first step; true change is brought about when secure practices become habitual through consistent reinforcement. The focus on cyber security behaviours is pivotal, as it converts theoretical knowledge into routine action. This ensures that employees not only understand the nuances of the threat landscape but also possess the capability to respond effectively during a genuine cyber attack.

The collection and evaluation of audit evidence plays an important role in assessing an organization’s compliance with established standards. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) serves as a guiding force, establishing methods that auditors should use to carry out their duties effectively. As auditors start their examination, they first collect and analyze various types of audit evidence, each serving as a piece of the puzzle that forms the auditor’s report.

Welcome to CultureAI! We're here to help you upgrade to a data-driven, human risk management approach. This is not just about understanding security but creating an environment where employees actively prevent security incidents. Our cyber security awareness platform is trusted by organisations of all sizes. It brings to light employee security behaviour data, driving personalised security coaching, technical interventions, and security nudges.

The recent discovery of a critical vulnerability in the MOVEit file transfer software is the latest driver in a series of high-profile software supply chain incidents. On May 31st 2023, Progress – the developer of MOVEit – published an advisory alerting the community to a critical vulnerability in its MOVEit Transfer product. The vulnerability, now tracked as CVE-2023-34362, allows an attacker to gain access to MOVEit’s database to steal and/or alter the contents.

Today, Bitsight and Diligent launched an extension of our partnership focused on correlated, independent, and comparable cyber ratings from Bitsight within Diligent’s Board Reporting for IT Risk. Streamlined data collection and standardized dashboards enable CISOs to deliver clear and consistent insights to the board leveraging Bitsight and Diligent solutions.

Cybersecurity leaders are always working to make smarter investments to improve their programs. Not only do they look to reduce risk from the expanding attack surface and manage supply chain risk, they’re also juggling external pressures from regulators, insurers, and shareholders. As leaders look to technology solutions to help, many look at data analytics to reduce their organization’s risk, manage exposure, and improve overall program performance.

Ready for true stories of state-sponsored hackers and cyber espionage more riveting than any spy movie? Cue the James Bond theme song! Welcome, agents, to the global spy thriller unfolding right before our eyes. Join me in the enthralling world where politics and security intersect!

In the digital age, an organization’s cybersecurity posture is as strong as its intelligence. Open-source intelligence (OSINT) has emerged as a vital tool for businesses, non-profit organizations, and governments alike to fend off cyber threats. This guide offers a deep dive into the realm of OSINT, detailing its importance, applications, challenges, and how SecurityScorecard’s cybersecurity assessment platform empowers organizations to utilize it effectively.

Cyberattacks are on the rise. In 2022, there was a 38 percent increase in global attacks compared to the previous year—and security teams are struggling to keep up. It now takes an average of 277 days for teams to identify and contain a breach. With so many alerts being received by the Security Operations Centers (SOCs) each day, how do teams decide which issues to address first?

As your organization's attack surface expands—spanning across the cloud, remote locations, and interconnected digital supply chains—the potential for cyber risk exposure grows. Implementing a proactive cybersecurity exposure management program can enhance your understanding of your organization's cyber risk posture and facilitate informed decision-making about how to best allocate investments and resources.

Effective remediation management is critical as it has the greatest positive influence on your cybersecurity risk management lifecycle. Efficient remediation ensures vulnerabilities are completely addressed, supporting compliance management efforts and a healthy security posture, reducing overall data breach risks. Poor remediation burdens security teams with avoidable incident responses, distracting them from emerging cyber threats bloating remediation backlogs.

Our latest update incorporates risk evaluation built upon financial quantification. A critical component of the risk evaluation feature is the top risk matrix, which provides risk metrics for tracking, benchmarking, and reporting. By analyzing risk drivers through the ATT&CK MITRE framework’s initial vectors and event types, Kovrr provides a comprehensive breakdown that enables a detailed understanding of the likelihood and the potential of risks.

As cyber security threats proliferate, cyber risk conversations are no longer limited to the Security Operations Center (SOC); they command the attention of the C-suite and the boardroom. Ultimately, cyber-crime is a significant and prominent issue. The average cost of a data breach in the U.S. has soared to nearly $9.44 million this year. Since 2018, cyber insurance carriers report that incident-related claims increased by an astonishing 486%, the majority being ransomware-related.

The increasing number and sophistication of data breaches has led to increased concern among boards, regulators, and the public about threats to the data environment. That, in turn, has led to a desire for constant data protection – and a rise in the importance of continuous compliance monitoring to be sure that those data protection efforts are always sufficient and working.

CVE-2023-2868, a vulnerability in the Barracuda ESG was announced on May 23. On June 15th, a report surfaced, attributing the exploitation of this vulnerability to a threat actor group tracked as UNC4841, which analysts believe is conducting espionage on behalf of the Chinese government. SecurityScorecard’s STRIKE Team consulted its datasets to identify possibly affected organizations.

Utilizing a continuous security monitoring strategy for the purposes of cybersecurity can give your security team higher visibility into your threat landscape. To get the most value when investing in continuous security monitoring you first need to understand how data can be compromised. The three main ways are: In the current security landscape, it is imperative to engage in ongoing security monitoring. Doing so in to actively prevent the occurrence of the aforementioned situations.

Maintaining an accurate overview of an organization's assets can be a challenge for any Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). You are not alone in this.

As the industry’s first automated compliance platform, Vanta includes a wealth of pre-built content, which enables customers without existing compliance processes to quickly get up and running. ‍ But more mature organizations may already have a compliance program — from the processes they follow to the definitions of their compliance and security surface area — that is built to meet their unique compliance goals, auditor requirements, and tech stack.

Cyber insurers regularly get requests for new business and increased limits. How can they determine which organizations will be a risk worth taking? In my previous blog, I discussed how understanding an applicant’s cyber hygiene is the best indicator of whether they may experience a successful ransomware or other cyber attack. In this blog, I’ll walk through how to measure an applicant's cyber hygiene and which metrics are categorically proven to stand out.

Cyber threat hunting is a proactive security strategy that involves searching for threats within a network before they can cause significant damage. Unlike traditional methods, which are reactive and wait for an alert before taking action, threat hunting seeks to actively identify and mitigate hidden threats that have evaded initial security measures. Threat hunting involves constant monitoring and data analysis to spot suspicious behavior that may indicate a cyber attack.

TrustCloud teamed up with Dansa D’Arata Soucia on our Risk Rodeo webinar, to discuss everything you need to know to wrangle up risks with confidence. Our panelists weighed in on the four things that auditors look for in risk management processes.

Every day, businesses grapple with phishing attacks, data breaches, and other cyber threats that can cause significant damage. These potential risks underscore the need for cyber security awareness training for employees. Such training isn't about identifying the weakest link, but about fostering a security-conscious culture where all staff members are informed and confident.

Cybersecurity is not an easy task. New threats are constantly emerging—in your IT infrastructure and that of your vendors and partners. But, as a cybersecurity leader, you can help your organization mitigate these threats if you adopt cyber risk exposure management practices. In this blog, we explore everything you need to know about how cyber risk exposure and management can help you reduce the risk of gaps and vulnerabilities in your network and across your third-party supply chain.

Are you considering whether cyber insurance is worth it for your organization? It could be. With the rise in ransomware, DDoS attacks and data breaches, cyber insurance is being used as a way for companies to protect themselves as they realize risks in their business. However, many insurers are now excluding ransomware1 and state-backed attacks2 from their coverage. So, how can you determine whether cyber insurance is worth it?

The necessity for robust cybersecurity measures, especially those like CultureAI's simulated phishing training, can't be overstated. Designed to effortlessly assess and enhance your employees' cybersecurity awareness, our automated phishing simulation solution offers a smart and resource-efficient way to stay one step ahead of cyber threats.

As digital transformation picks up pace, companies are working with more vendors than ever. According to Gartner, 60% of organizations now work with more than 1,000 third-party vendors — including partners, sub-contractors, and suppliers. These third parties are essential to helping businesses grow and stay competitive, but third parties can also introduce unwanted cyber risk and overhead into the organization.

Compliance testing, also known as conformance testing, is a periodic, independent, and objective assessment of compliance-related processes or controls. As the name implies, you’re testing those controls to see how well they actually work.

Cyber risk uncertainty is growing. Despite massive spending worldwide to the tune of $173 billion, cyber attacks keep occurring. Ransomware attacks—a type of cyberattack that encrypts an organization's network or locks users out of their devices and requires a ransom before restoring access—are costing companies 20 days of downtime on average. Within the next few years, nearly half of companies worldwide will experience cyber attacks on their software supply chains.

Threat intelligence is one of the most potent weapons we have against digital hazards. Yet, many organizations remain uncertain about what it entails, how to apply it effectively, and what threat intelligence solution to choose. This lack of understanding could be detrimental as cyber threats continue to evolve, becoming more sophisticated and disruptive. So, what is threat intelligence, and how can it help bolster an organization’s security posture?

Compliance is often viewed as a “one and done” activity – an annual rite of passage, for example, performed during yearly audits. That is an archaic approach to compliance in the modern business world, and won’t suffice any longer. Instead, organizations must adopt a mindset of continuous compliance, where adherence to regulatory requirements becomes integral to day-to-day operations. How can a company achieve that evolved state?

The evolving threat landscape necessitates proactive approaches to identify, assess, and mitigate potential cyber security risks. Threat intelligence is one of the most potent weapons we have against digital hazards. Yet, many organizations remain uncertain about what it entails, how to apply it effectively, and what threat intelligence solution to choose. This lack of understanding could be detrimental as cyber threats continue to evolve, becoming more sophisticated and disruptive.

Every organization faces cyber risk. But that risk can vary by industry, business size, the regulatory environment, supply chain, and more. Understanding your security risk posture is essential for targeting your security budget and effective resource allocation. Conducting a risk assessment can assist you in this endeavor, but to gain optimal insights, you should also include a comprehensive cybersecurity risk analysis as part of this process.

The demands and pressure on GRC and cybersecurity professionals are increasing more than ever before, which means teams need to expand and grow to keep up. However, companies are finding it difficult to fill their open positions with skilled staff. In fact, 80% of GRC and IT security professionals agree that their cybersecurity and risk teams are understaffed, found the 2023 RiskOptics Cyber Risk Viewpoints Report. What does this mean for you?

Over the following years, the costs associated with cybercrime, projected at $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, will exceed the estimated worldwide cybersecurity spending—$267.3 billion annually by 2026. Leadership needs to change its perspective on managing cyber risks instead of just spending more money to match the losses incurred.

A crucial part of building a robust and effective enterprise risk management (ERM) program is to perform a periodic review of your organization’s risk management activities. This assessment process is best accomplished using an established risk maturity model, an essential tool to plan and mitigate enterprise risk. A risk maturity model (RMM) is an assessment tool focused on your organization’s risk culture and risk management program.