During the COVID-19 pandemic, more UK employees have worked from home than ever before. According to a YouGov survey, around one in five people went from never working from home to doing so constantly. Coronavirus and the resulting lockdown have significantly increased cyber security risks for organisations, with many lacking sufficient controls to protect workers outside the workplace. This has been compounded by threat actors seeking to exploit the crisis.

Finding the right network security tools to secure your sensitive data can be a significant challenge for any organization. Choosing a firewall may seem like a simple task, but companies can get overwhelmed by the different firewall types and options. Making the distinction between a firewall and other security solutions can also pose challenges. Here are the answers to some of the most common firewall questions.

A phishing attack used real-time validation against an organization’s Active Directory in order to steal users’ Office 365 credentials. According to Armorblox, the phishing attack targeted an executive working at an American brand that was named one of the world’s Top 50 most innovative companies for 2019 on a Friday evening.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused an abrupt change — a sudden and lasting shift to remote work for the majority of knowledge workers. The number of people working remotely more than doubled in the span of a few weeks. Among the many challenges that security organizations faced during this transition was a change in user behavior.

European cryptocurrency exchange platform Eterbase has announced that it has suffered a security breach which saw malicious hackers access its network and steal funds worth US $5.4 million. In a message posted on Telegram, the Slovakian cryptocurrency exchange listed the six hot wallets plundered by cybercriminals for their Ether, Tezos, Bitcoin, ALGO, Ripple, and TRON riches.

Installation: At this stage, SOC analysts are advised to deploy a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Host-Based Intrusion Detection System (HIDS) to detect attacks. To deny an attack, Cyber Kill Chain recommends using Two-Factor authentication, strong password, and privilege separation as well as disrupting attack using data execution prevention.

Ransomware attacks have become the most common security threat faced by businesses today. A recent report from TrustWave indicates that the number of ransomware attacks quadrupled last year; this type of attack now accounts for more than 20% of all digital security incidents. It’s now more common than even credit card theft.

As new types of security incidents are discovered, it is absolutely critical for an organization to respond quickly and effectively when an attack occurs. When both personal and business data are at risk of being compromised, the ability to detect and respond to advanced threats before they impact your business is of the utmost importance.

The year 2020 has shown us that cloud computing is among the most powerful capabilities humanity has, enabling people around the globe continue their everyday business and education uninterrupted. We continue gathering the most interesting findings from industry research. If you’re interested in learning statistics on cloud usage, top cloud initiatives and cloud security concerns, read the 2020 State of the Cloud Security Statistics article.