Resources

Blog

What is a WAF? (Web Application Firewall)

This piece was originally published on Fortra’s AlertLogic.com Blog . A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding WAFs: How it Works, Types, and Security Models Web applications drive digital transformation , remote work, employee productivity, and consumer interactions. The ability to connect to critical applications over the internet gives workforce members a way to work synchronously and...
Blog

Spring is the Perfect Season for a Digital Declutter

Spring is here! Who’s up for some digital spring cleaning? Digital de-cluttering helps you organize your life and has the bonus of reducing your vulnerability to common threats. But knowing where to begin can be hard; most of us leave a larger digital footprint than we realize. I have created a checklist to help you clear away the clutter and reap the rewards of a clean digital slate. Benefits of...
Blog

The K-12 Report: A Cybersecurity Assessment of the 2021-2022 School Year

The K-12 Report breaks down the cyber risks faced by public schools across the country and is sponsored by the CIS (Center for Internet Security) and the MS-ISAC (Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center). Published “to prepare K-12 leaders with the information to make informed decisions around cyber risk”, the report provides a data-driven analysis of what went well, what could be better...
Blog

US charges three men with six million dollar business email compromise plot

Three Nigerian nationals face charges in a US federal court related to a business email compromise (BEC) scam that is said to have stolen more than US $6 million from victims. 29-year-old Kosi Goodness Simon-Ebo was extradited from Canada to the United States earlier this month, according to a Department of Justice press release , and will appear before a federal court on Friday. Two of Simon-Ebo...
Blog

FTC accuses payments firm of knowingly assisting tech support scammers

Multinational payment processing firm Nexway has been rapped across the knuckles by the US authorities, who claim that the firm knowingly processed fraudulent credit card payments on behalf of tech support scammers. A Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint argues that Nexway and its subsidiaries broke the law by helping scammers cheat money from unsuspecting consumers. Victims were tricked into...
Blog

EPA Has ‘New Rules’ for Protecting Public Drinking Water

The EPA isn't mincing words when it comes to protecting public drinking water. Earlier this month they released a memorandum putting specifics into the general advice to maintain cybersecurity at public water systems (PWSs). Per the report, “[The] EPA clarifies with this memorandum that states must evaluate the cybersecurity of operational technology used by a PWS when conducting PWS sanitary...
Blog

A Day in the Life of a SOC Team

This piece was originally published on Fortra’s AlertLogic.com Blog . Managed detection and response (MDR) would be nothing without a SOC (security operations center) . They’re on the frontline of our clients’ defenses — a living, breathing layer of intelligence and protection to complement our automated cybersecurity features. These are the people who make our MDR services best in class so...
Blog

What Is Microsegmentation and 5 Compelling Security Use Cases

What Is Microsegmentation? Microsegmentation is a security technique that partitions a network into small, isolated sections to reduce the attack surface and reduce an organizations risk. Each microsegment is typically defined by specific security policies, accessible only to authorized users and devices. Microsegmentation is often seen as a more effective security strategy than traditional...
Blog

Microsoft warns accounting firms of targeted attacks as Tax Day approaches

Accountants are being warned to be on their guard from malicious hackers, as cybercriminals exploit the rush to prepare tax returns for clients before the deadline of US Tax Day. US Tax Day, which falls on Tuesday April 18 this year, is the day on which income tax returns for individuals are due to be submitted to the government. Inevitably it's a busy time for accounting firms and bookkeepers who...
Blog

Glamourizing fraudsters hurts victims of fraud, and society

We seem to be fascinated by fraudsters, and recent documentaries prove this. The documentary landscape is populated with many fraud-centered stories, such as The Tinder Swindler, Fyre, The Con, Fake Heiress, The Inventor, and many others. Some have even been made into series, such as the story of Elisabeth Holmes in The Dropout , and the story of Anna Delvey in Inventing Anna . We just can’t get...
Blog

The U.S. Army Is Revamping Its Cybersecurity Approach

Military cybersecurity operations are shifting to a digital battlefield, where tools and technology work to save lives and increase efficiency. With these advancements comes the increased need for resilient measures to meet the needs of soldiers, leadership, and civilians alike. A ransomware attack rocked the U.S. Marshals Service in February 2023, compromising critical state data on everything...
Blog

Tripwire’s Vulnerability Exposure Research Team (VERT): What you need to know

Each month, at the State of Security, we publish a range of content provided by VERT. Whether it’s a round-up of all the latest cybersecurity news , our Patch Priority Index that helps guide administrators on what they should be patching , a book review, general musings from the team, or most notability our Patch Tuesday round-up . VERT is helping organizations stay abreast of the cybersecurity...
Blog

CISA Publishes Advisory on Improving Network Monitoring and Hardening

CISA released in late February a cybersecurity advisory on the key findings from a recent Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) red team assessment to provide organizations recommendations for improving their cyber posture. According to the Agency, the necessary actions to harden their environments include monitoring network activity to spot abnormal behavior, conducting regular...
Blog

30 Ransomware Prevention Tips

Dealing with the aftermath of ransomware attacks is like Russian roulette. Submitting the ransom might seem like it’s the sole option for recovering locked data . Ransomware also continues to evolve as a threat category within the past year, with old names like REvil rearing their heads and new players like Black Basta emerging in 2022. Malicious actors employ ransomware to extort money (at least...
Blog

Securing your Digital Life: MFA, Password Managers and Risk

In security, there are always tensions; the balancing act between security, convenience, and functionality. While these three, often competing interests cause many people to become frustrated, there are some simple steps that can ease the security struggle: Any Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is better than no MFA. Any password manager is better than not using one. Determine your current level...
Blog

Distributed Energy Resources and Grid Security

As the United States government, the energy industry, and individual consumers work toward cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions, it is crucial to consider how new and advancing technologies affect, and are affected by, cybersecurity concerns. ­­­­Increasing use of smart energy devices can be useful for consumers to have more control over their energy consumption, but can also pose a...
Blog

5 Secure Ways to Avoid Crypto Theft in 2023

The rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies has brought about significant concerns regarding wallet vulnerabilities and digital theft among individuals and businesses transacting in the market. While the meteoric rise in the value of cryptocurrency has attracted legitimate investors, it has also caught the attention of malicious actors who are constantly searching for vulnerabilities to exploit...
Blog

How to Secure Your Mobile Device: 8 Tips for 2023

The rapidly changing technology and portability of mobile devices have forced people to rely heavily on those products. With their increased functionalities, mobile devices carry out a number of our day-to-day activities, such as surfing the web, booking appointments, setting up reminders, sharing files, instant messaging, video calling, and even mobile banking. Given all these functionalities...
Blog

Motivations for Insider Threats: What to Watch Out For

While a majority of discourse in the cybersecurity industry is focused on external threats – malicious hacking, phishing , and the like – the fact is that internal actors are just as capable of causing damage to an enterprise, if not more so. An insider threat may have access to resources or areas of the network that someone outside the organization would need to do extra work to obtain. Insider...
Guide

2023 Zero Trust Security Report

The concept of Zero Trust is quickly gaining momentum among enterprise IT security teams, with 87 percent saying their organizations have zero trust access in place and projects underway or planned. The 2023 Zero Trust Security Report reveals how enterprises are implementing zero trust security in their organizations, including key drivers, adoption trends, technologies, investments, and benefits...