When choosing to take up government contracts, most businesses face one of the common compliance frameworks for security. They need to climb the mountain to achieve compliance with a framework like CMMC, FedRAMP, or maybe something like HIPAA if they’re in the healthcare space. Relatively few need to comply with a more esoteric – and higher-intensity – framework known as ITAR. What is ITAR, and what do you need to know if you’re a business that needs to use it? Let’s dig in.

In 2023, cyberthreats increased and diversified, resulting in increased security challenges for organizations around the globe. Meanwhile, AI greatly increased its presence in the realm of cybersecurity. It’s time to look ahead and focus on the anticipated cybersecurity threats and trends in 2024. What can we expect from threat actors and security specialists in the upcoming year? Read on and find out!

Organizations separate access to specific data and administrative capabilities into different types of privileged accounts in order to securely run their operations. Some types of privileged accounts include domain administrator (admin) accounts, local admin accounts, privileged user accounts and emergency accounts. If not properly managed or secured, cybercriminals can gain unauthorized access to these privileged accounts and steal an organization’s sensitive data.

Malware attacks continue to be the order of the day for businesses. The adaptability of threats and the fact that new attack models spread almost daily mean they are still very much a concern among cybersecurity professionals. The rise of malicious threat actors seems unstoppable. According to Gartner, by 2025, 45% of organizations worldwide will have experienced attacks on their software, which represents a staggering 300% growth since 2021.

According to Netskope’s recent “Year in Review” Cloud and Threat Report, the most common way cyber attackers gained access to organisations in 2023 was through social engineering. While a favourite tactic of cyber criminals, at its heart, social engineering isn’t about someone breaking code while hunched over a glowing keyboard. It relies on individual human vulnerability, tricking people into opening the door for the attacker to walk through.

The AI revolution that kicked into overdrive last year has taken the world by storm, and as the development and productization of Large Language Models and other AI technologies continue – the revolution shows no signs of slowing down.

The proliferation of technology in the present age, while undeniably a win for innovation and modern convenience, has unfortunately been paralleled by an upsurge in cyber threats that present a multifaceted challenge to both businesses and individuals. As people become more reliant on digital platforms for everything from commerce to communication, the potential for cyberattacks will only escalate.

As organizations shift their applications and operations to the cloud and increasingly drive revenues through software, cloud-native applications and APIs have emerged among the greatest areas of modern security risk.