Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

October is a season of pumpkins, haunted houses, and that neighbor who puts up twelve-foot skeletons way too early. But for those of us in financial services, October has another spooky significance: Cybersecurity Awareness Month. And unlike a cheap jump scare at the local haunted house, the threats we face in financial data management aren’t imaginary.

Trust isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s the foundation your organization is built on, fueling everything from customer loyalty to stronger partnerships and confident employees. But today, trust must be built across more digital channels than ever: websites, social platforms, app stores, and much more.

In a world where internet connectivity intersects with just about every facet of our physical world—from cameras and door locks to power grids and factory robots—cyber risk intelligence has moved well beyond just protecting the bits and bytes of logical IT ecosystems. Security and risk professionals also have to be on the lookout for and aware of improperly secured cyber physical devices, like IoT devices, which greatly expand the enterprise attack surface.

Adversaries have shifted their tactics away from traditional malware and toward approaches that exploit the very tools organizations rely on. Instead of introducing malicious files that can be blocked outright, attackers weaponize legitimate applications such as built-in Windows utilities, remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools, file transfer software, and administrative programs.

Today marks a significant milestone in the technology landscape. As of October 14, 2025, Microsoft has officially ended support for non-LTSC releases of Windows 10, concluding one of the most widely adopted operating systems in history. From this point forward, the operating system will no longer receive security updates or feature patches by default. While Microsoft offers Extended Security Updates (ESUs) for Windows 10 version 22H2, these are temporary and designed as a bridge solution.

Organizations continue their digital transformation, with APIs now serving as the main communication links between applications, platforms, services, and partners. The widespread use of APIs introduces new security risks despite their common presence. The growing number of APIs significantly increases the cyber risks that security teams must address as they keep up with technological advances.

Today marks a strategic leap forward in LevelBlue’s mission to become the most complete cybersecurity partner on the market. I’m excited to announce that LevelBlue has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Cybereason, a global leader in Extended Detection and Response (XDR), digital forensics and incident response (DFIR), and elite threat intelligence. Together we’ll deliver unified, proactive, and outcome-driven security solutions around the globe.

What if you hired about 100 new employees for every one you already had, and then, on a whim, gave them all admin rights? Sure, these fresh hires would likely be brilliant and hungry to make an impression. But they wouldn’t always know the rules. Some would make mistakes. Others might take liberties. Before long, it’d be bedlam. That’s what’s happening right now inside financial services institutions.

The cybersecurity landscape has evolved, but many endpoint tools have not. Most still focus on known threats and signatures, blocking familiar malware and flagging suspicious files. They rely on static models that can only go so far. That approach worked for yesterday’s threats, but not for today’s attackers.

WatchGuard Technologies has been recognized as both a Leader and an Outperformer in the 2025 GigaOm Radar Report for Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR). Out of more than 25 vendors evaluated, WatchGuard is recognized as a top Innovator and ranked highly for the core EDR capabilities.