As businesses have evolved, so have cybercriminals and the means they use to try and penetrate their digital assets. Every day, new threats arise and unscrupulous organisations create means to attack physical networks, cloud services, and other key business functions and this is why having a robust cyber security risk management plan is critical.

Communication protocols govern data transmission between computer networks. These protocols, such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), determine how data is transferred between devices through a port, which is a unique connection endpoint for a specific service. Because file transfer moves files over the internet, insecure file transfer ports create opportunities for hackers to send their own malicious payload or for other threat actors to intercept traffic.

As third party outsourcing and cloud services become commonplace for enterprise organizations, security leaders need to understand and assess the cybersecurity risks of businesses that they partner with for “technology infrastructure services.” Security leaders want accurate, up-to-date information about their infrastructure provider’s security policies, procedures, and program performance so they can better understand risks to their own organizations.

When it comes to cybersecurity governance, 2023 stood out as one of the most eventful in a very long time. With everything from the enactment of stronger new cybersecurity regulations around incident disclosure from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to significant changes afoot for financial and cloud services providers operating within the European Union, many companies worldwide will be called to adjust to a new normal in 2024.

Apache Log4j 2, a Java-based logging library, was affected by a zero-day vulnerability on December 9, 2021. The vulnerability, known as Log4Shell and identified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as CVE-2021-44228, allows cybercriminals to take control of vulnerable systems and servers. Many web applications, open-source cloud platforms, and service providers utilize Log4j.

The healthcare industry is no exception to the rapid levels of transformation we’re seeing across multiple industries right now. As more facilities begin to leverage electronic health records (EHRs) and internet-connected medical devices for patient care, organizations are becoming more reliant on advanced technologies. While these changes have helped advance patient care in many ways, they have also introduced the healthcare sector to greater levels of risk.

The last 12 months have been awash with incidents that led to significant data breaches, government regulatory and legal sanctions, and loss of business services availability. In 2023 we saw the most private personally identifiable information exposed, business services shut down, and CISOs fired—and even charged for legal violations by the federal government.

In response to the growing number of malicious actors that have managed to exploit cybersecurity vulnerabilities and cause irreparable damage to organizations, governments worldwide have decided to intervene, recognizing a need for a systematic approach to safeguarding national assets. Helping to lead the way in this institutionalized effort is the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). ‍

Cloud Monitoring is a crucial part of the security stack for many modern enterprises. More businesses have continued to shift their services and operational activity into the cloud in the form of Software (SaaS), Platform (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). They have done this for several reasons, including: This is taking place in both small- and large-scale enterprises. Threat actors have responded by targeting cloud services with increased frequency.

Recent research identifying nearly 100,000 exposed industrial control systems (ICS) around the world should serve as a critical wake-up call to national government policymakers responsible for ensuring national security, public health, and safety within their borders. These systems, fundamental to our critical infrastructure, underpin essential services that sustain modern society… and they should not be publicly exposed on the Internet!