Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

From September – November 2025, Cato Networks threat researchers observed a global campaign involving suspicious Modbus/TCP (transmission control protocol) activity against internet-exposed PLCs (programmable logic controllers). The targeted footprint spanned 70 countries and 14,426 distinct targeted IPs, with the largest share of activity in the United States.

Accessing modern infrastructure requires more than a network-level foothold. As services spread across clouds, clusters, and regions, the question of who can reach what stops being a network question and becomes an identity question. Reverse proxies are the component that answers it. A reverse proxy sits between clients and backend services, validating identity and enforcing authorization on every inbound request before any application is touched.

Enterprises don’t struggle with whether users should have access. They struggle with how that access happens and how to secure it without creating more complexity. Employees work from managed laptops, personal devices, and third-party systems. Contractors need fast onboarding. Partners can’t install agents. Some users rely entirely on a browser. This mix isn’t temporary; it’s how modern enterprises operate.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) has released its first five-year strategic plan, following the broader national cybersecurity strategy. It’s coming at a time when the energy cybersecurity landscape is changing quickly, in some cases faster than operators can realistically keep up.

VPNs have long been considered the backbone of secure remote access, especially as organizations shifted to distributed work environments. By encrypting data in transit, they create a secure tunnel between users and corporate systems. On the surface, this appears sufficient to protect sensitive business operations and internal resources. However, encryption alone does not guarantee security. VPNs do not verify who is accessing the network, only that the connection is valid.