Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

Prompted by a new era of cyber-attacks surging downtime and data breaches, the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) regulation came into force on 17th of January to reshape how organisations approach security, privacy and cybersecurity. Cybercriminals are becoming increasingly daring and creative, with an expected rise in the exploitation of new vulnerabilities in 2025.

In 2024, ransomware continues to be the most prevalent form of cyber-attack, affecting three out of four organisations, according to Veeam. The increasing frequency and sophistication of these attacks are driven by easy access to ransomware kits on the dark web and the significant profits cybercriminals generate through extortion schemes.

If you’re not familiar with Entra, you might still think of it as “the artist formerly known as Azure Active Directory.” While its roots lie in being a cloud-based Active Directory (AD), Entra has evolved far beyond that. The name change reflects its expanded capabilities, making it much more than just AD. Many of our customers leverage Microsoft 365 or other Azure services that rely on the Entra platform.

It is no secret that the financial industry is a serious target for cyber criminals, driving the need for more stringent regulations to help protect these institutions and their employee and customer data. Recent research undertaken by Security Scorecard indicates that in 2023, 78% of European financial institutions experienced a data breach involving a third party. Also, 84% of financial organisations have been affected by a breach involving a fourth party.

As we enter a new era of cybersecurity threats, which has prompted the evolution of new vulnerabilities, organisations are challenged on how to best respond to these evolving attacks. The threat landscape is more complex than ever causing organisations to grapple with new tactics to safeguard their critical data.

The rate of adoption for cloud computing has grown steadily across many industries, driven by the need for flexibility, innovation and cost efficiency. One of the key verticals that has fully embraced cloud technology is the financial services sector. Cloud is particularly suited to this industry as it allows for more efficient storage, faster processing of large amounts of data, and consolidation of records which gives firms the ability to accurately analyse data.

It doesn’t matter if you’re running a boutique hotel or a high-traffic resort, the hottest new restaurant in town, or a local staple. If you work in hospitality, there’s simply no room for downtime. These days, slow or unstable connectivity can derail everything from online reservations and digital menus to loyalty apps and staff coordination. Network downtime, no longer a minor inconvenience, can disrupt service, delay revenue, and damage trust.

The famous Hall of Fame and Olympic basketball coach John Wooden once said, “Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.” With that in mind, we are thrilled that 11:11 Systems is part of those in the “repeat” category. We have just been awarded the Zerto Global Partner of the Year for 2024, the fifth prestigious recognition from Zerto, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company.

The dictionary (at least the online version) defines the word trend as a general direction in which something is developing or changing. It also does have a secondary definition relating to fashion, but unless we want to cover off on some questionable choices I made when younger, we can skip that one. When does something move beyond being a trend, and create a lasting shift in behavior–or for the purposes of our discussion, technology?

When I was a young boy besides wanting to be a pro football player and an astronaut, I also wanted to be a firefighter. There was something about trucks, sirens, and danger that made firefighters heroes.