UK police are texting 70,000 people who they believe have fallen victim to a worldwide scam that saw fraudsters steal at least £50 million from bank accounts. 200,000 people in the UK, including the elderly and disabled, are thought to have been targeted by conmen who masqueraded as highstreet banks. Scammers paid a subscription to a service called iSpoof.cc that allowed them to disguise their...

In the business world, compliance means making sure that companies of all sizes are meeting the standards set by regulatory or oversight groups in various laws and standards, such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOX, and GDPR. Sometimes, an organization will self-impose its compliance by adhering to guidance and frameworks from organizations such as NIST, ISACA, ISO, and other advisory bodies. When it comes to...

IT environments in businesses are often volatile. The value of hardware might depreciate over time. There is constant evolution in the world of software. Existing configurations go through a variety of transitions. While some of these updates are permitted since they are part of the organization's regular patching cycle, others raise red flags because they appear out of nowhere. Unauthorized...

It would be nice to imagine that when cyber criminals look for their next target, they ignore the small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that simply can’t afford an attack. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. In fact, 43% of cyber attacks are directed at SMBs. Today, a massive 80% of North American SMBs are at risk of a cyber attack. This is according to Vancouver-based CyberCatch’s Small and...

As we approach the holiday season, we wanted to focus this month’s post on you (and your family). Bad guys don’t just wait until the holidays to start causing havoc, they also relentlessly target all of us all throughout the year. Judging by our perseverance, nothing is going to keep us from a good holiday deal, and attackers love to use this season to their advantage. Therefore, we must all keep...

Tripwire's September 2022 Patch Priority Index (PPI) brings together important vulnerabilities for Microsoft. First on the patch priority list this month are patches for Chromium and Microsoft Edge based on Chromium. These patches resolve over 20 issues such as user-after-free, insufficient policy enforcement, out-of-bounds write, and heap buffer overflow vulnerabilities. Up next are patches for...

Every single blog you read on cybersecurity has at least one mention of the Zero Trust approach to cybersecurity (even this one 😊). Alas, don’t consider that Zero Trust is yet another hyped word that will soon vanish into thin air. Zero Trust, originally dubbed more than a decade ago, came up as a necessity to defend systems, networks, data and people against the increasing sophistication of...

Many enterprises perceive cyber-attacks as malicious actions predominantly executed by external actors. Enterprises devote time and budgets investing in methods to bolster their security perimeters against external threat actors. However, it is equally important for these organizations to remember that many cyber-attacks, which cost millions in losses, originate through an internal compromise. The...

Technology has expanded the avenues bad actors use to steal identities and sensitive data. However, digital tools are also giving users innovative countermeasures to protect themselves. Here are seven tactics anyone can use to help prevent identity theft. 1. Leverage Multifactor Authentication Strong passwords have always been an identity protection strategy, but security is evolving to meet...

If the eyes are the window to the soul, then the Application Programming Interface (API) is the window to the software. After all, an API is a way for products to communicate with each other through a documented interface, just as the eye is a human interface, communicating with the outside world (but it’s not as well-documented as to meanings). APIs allow companies to open up data to external...

Being in a more connected environment benefits all of us, from those using social media to stay in touch with far-away relatives, to businesses enjoying the rewards of remote working. But, while connectivity is great and offers many positives, it also creates vulnerabilities. Companies that handle sensitive data may find themselves the target and victim of cyber- attacks as malicious actors look...

Healthcare organisations in the United States are being warned to be on their guard once again, this time against a family of ransomware known as Venus. An advisory from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has warned that the cybercriminals behind the Venus ransomware have targeted at least one healthcare entity in the United States, and are known to be targeting...

Every security framework recommends that an organization has a cybersecurity training program for all employees, but few give much guidance about what the program should contain. What do you train them on? What actually works? Other than checking a box on the compliance forms, are these programs useful? Why Have a Cybersecurity Training Program? Don't discount “checking the box” on your compliance...

Do you know what “fangxiao” means in simplified Chinese? Before you Google it, let me tell you that it stands for “imitate” and this is exactly what Fangxiao phishing campaign actors try to do – imitate and exploit the reputation of international, trusted brands by promising financial or physical incentives to trick victims into further spreading the campaign through WhatsApp. Researchers at Cyjax...

If it seems like you’re constantly hearing about cybercrime these days, there’s a reason for that. Globally, reports of cyberattack instances increased by a staggering 125% in 2021, a trend that shows no sign of slowing. As businesses and consumers turn their attention to cybercrime and protective measures, enterprising cybercriminals continue to fine-tune their approach to exploiting...

In response to increasing societal concerns about the way businesses store, process, and protect the sensitive data they collect from their customers, governments and standardization organizations have enacted a patchwork of regulations and laws. Some of these are generic regulations (CCPA, GDPR), while others are industry specific (SOX, NERC, HIPAA, PCI DSS). These regulations impact literally...

PC manufacturer Lenovo has been forced to push out a security update to more than two dozen of its laptop models, following the discovery of high severity vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious hackers. Security researchers at ESET discovered flaws in 25 of its laptop models - including IdeaPads, Slims, and ThinkBooks - that could be used to disable the UEFI Secure Boot process. That...