On the latest episode of the Security Soapbox podcast, I spoke with Ramy Houssaini, Chief Cyber and Technology Risk Officer at BNP Paribas, about the challenges Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) face in an increasingly complex digital landscape. Change happens quickly in the cloud, and many organizations are faced with the issue of evolving their security strategy at the same pace. This ends up leaving sensitive apps and data vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Here at Lookout we have a long tradition of supporting the cybersecurity requirements of all levels of government in the U.S. This is why I’m thrilled to announce that we have received a Level 2 certification, the highest tier of authorization, from the Texas Risk and Authorization Management Program (TX-RAMP).

Apple recently announced a new feature in its upcoming iOS and iPadOS called Lockdown Mode. The aim is to protect users such as corporate executives, government officials, journalists, activists and other users that are likely targets of sophisticated surveillanceware. The goal of Lockdown Mode is to restrict certain device capabilities that spyware has exploited in the past in order to reduce the attack surface on Apple devices.

Lookout and VMware recently announced the debut of Workspace ONE Mobile Threat Defense (MTD), a new mobile security solution incorporating Lookout mobile protection technologies. Through this partnership with VMware, Lookout Mobile Endpoint Security is built in and can be activated seamlessly within Workspace ONE. This new solution is an extension of past integrations of Lookout with the Workspace ONE Trust Network.

Lookout Threat Lab researchers have uncovered enterprise-grade Android surveillanceware used by the government of Kazakhstan within its borders. While we’ve been following this threat for a while using Lookout Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) these latest samples were detected in April 2022, four months after nation-wide protests against government policies were violently suppressed.

Recently, Atlassian issued a major security notice to all of its users about a critical vulnerability, identified as CVE-2022-26134, in its widely-used Confluence Server solution. The vulnerability would allow an unauthenticated malicious actor to execute arbitrary code on a Confluence Server or Data Center instance that could grant an attacker full command of the vulnerable server.

It’s hard to think about personal digital safety and enterprise cybersecurity without referencing passwords. This is why I’m excited that Lookout has acquired SaferPass, an innovative Password Management company that provides secure online identity solutions for both consumers and businesses of all sizes. With the rise in identity theft and threats that seek to compromise corporate applications and emails, passwords offer a critical line of defense.

With the release of the 2022 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Security Service Edge (SSE) there is an abundance of information on the newest framework created to address security requirements in a cloud-first world. SSE was introduced in 2021 to refine Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) by focusing on the convergence of security capabilities within the framework. Check out my blog breaking down SSE and SASE for a more in depth explanation.

To keep pace with the demands of a digital-first economy, organizations are accelerating cloud adoption and expanding work-from-anywhere initiatives. But as operations become more efficient, security teams struggle to keep pace. Existing solutions are not built to scale and can’t provide seamless access that safeguards data, which now reside in countless applications on premises and in the cloud.

When a leading financial technology provider began posting record success and rapid customer growth, it needed a holistic security strategy to protect its customer data and comply with regulations such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).