The emergence of innovative Financial Technology (FinTech) has spearheaded rapid growth in the digital payments sector. In recent years, global payment revenues exceeded valuations of $2.2 trillion , with a steady Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) expected in the next five years. There is no denying the convenience benefits that the digital transformation of payments has brought consumers and...

The IBM i is a midrange server that is used across many industries and businesses varying in sizes. Backed by its long history and support by IBM, a world-class innovator, the IBM i platform stands alone in the midrange server offerings. Some of the largest companies in the world use IBM i running on the IBM Power server as their strategic platform for manufacturing planning, retail, distribution...

US federal agencies have teamed up to release a cybersecurity best practice guidance for the water and wastewater sector (WWS). The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have published the guide in an attempt to promote cybersecurity resilience and improve incident response in the WWS...

One of the most common factors that can lead to cybersecurity incidents is a security misconfiguration in software or application settings. The default settings that come with the implementation of these tools and solutions are often not configured securely, and many organizations do not invest the time and resources into ensuring that they are. Several regulatory organizations have established...

To most people, the process of logging into a Microsoft Windows machine is a simple process of entering a username and a password. However, for a cybersecurity professional, the process is a carefully orchestrated mechanism. Unfortunately, throughout the history of the various Windows operating system versions, criminals have also sought ways to disrupt this process in order to breach a network...

Like every other industry, the healthcare sector is barely recognizable when compared to its state 20 years ago. It, too, has been transfigured by technology. While this has brought many impactful benefits, it has also introduced at least one major challenge: keeping sensitive patient information private. At the heart of this privacy challenge stands the venerable Health Insurance Portability and...

Cybersecurity in Mental Healthcare - The Overlooked Risk Did you know the New-Age Therapeutic sector is unregulated? If that surprises you, then you’re not alone. I was a little surprised, too. Yes, there are various professional bodies a practitioner can join, and there are courses they can attend, but they aren’t forced to. It should be noted that professional, licensed psychotherapists and...

At Tripwire's recent Energy and NERC Compliance Working Group, we had the opportunity to speak with the Manager of Gas Measurement, Controls, & Cybersecurity at a large energy company. More specifically, we focused on SCADA and field assets of gas Operational Technology. The experience at the management level of such an organization provided a wealth of knowledge for the attendees. SCADA...

Back in 1992, when I was more concerned about my acne breakouts and being selected for the Junior cricket team, a freshman at Purdue University was studying the impact of the 1988 Morris Worm event and how it brought about unwarranted changes on Unix systems as it propagated across the network, resulting in the first Denial of Service (DoS) attack. He quickly realised that it was hard to know when...

What is an Attack Surface? An attack surface is the total number of channels, pathways, or areas that threat actors can utilize to gain unauthorized access to networks. The result is that they can obtain private information or carry out a cyber-attack. An attack surface comprises the organizational assets a threat actor can exploit to gain unauthorized access. Attack surfaces include systems that...

The payment industry is bracing for the transition to Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) 4.0 , heralding significant changes in cybersecurity practices. As we approach the implementation of this revised standard, a critical focal point emerges: the role and new mandate of web application firewalls (WAFs) in ensuring compliance. The shift from a best practice to a prescribed...

Electrical utilities are responsible for just about everything we do. This presents a tremendous burden on those who operate those utilities. One way these organizations offer assurance is through the audit process. While audits can generate tremendous anxiety, good planning, and tools can help make the entire process go smoothly. Moreover, these can also help to achieve positive results. At the...

Organizations looking to protect their sensitive data and assets against cyberattacks may lack the ability to build a cybersecurity strategy without any structured help. The National Institute of Standards and Technology ( NIST ) has a free, public framework to help any organization mature its IT security posture. Recently, the institute published an updated version of the cybersecurity framework...

It’s the small vines, not the large branches, that trip us up in the forest. Apparently, it’s no different in Healthcare . In November, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a Mitigation Guide aimed at the Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) sector. In the midst of current hybrid cloud security challenges, hyper-distributed environment considerations, an AI...

While the EU AI Act is poised to introduce binding legal requirements, there's another noteworthy player making waves—the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF) , published in January 2023. This framework promises to reshape the future of responsible AI uniquely and voluntarily, setting it apart from traditional regulatory approaches. Let's...

Tripwire recently held its annual Energy and NERC Compliance Working Group. This year's attendees included more than 200 Tripwire customer utility personnel representing over 80 different registered entities from all across the US and Canada. The company sizes ranged from public utility districts and city municipalities to medium and larger-sized investor-owned utilities, including many of the...

In late September 2023, the US-based National Institute of Standards and Technology ( NIST ) published its Cybersecurity Framework Profile for Hybrid Satellite Networks, otherwise known as NIST IR 8441. This blog will explore the reasons behind NIST developing the framework, outline its intentions, and summarize its key points. What is a Hybrid Satellite Network? To understand IR 8441, we must...

Server Message Block (SMB) protocol is a communication protocol that allows users to communicate with remote servers and computers, which they can open, share, edit files, and even share and utilize resources. With the expansion of telecommunications, this protocol has been a prime target for threat actors to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data and devices. In 2017, we introduced 5 general...

What Is Secure Access Control? Secure access control, part of the broader field of user management , is a key concept in the realm of information security, particularly in the business environment. It refers to the process of selectively restricting and allowing access to a place or resource. In the context of information technology, it is a vital element of data protection, dictating who or what...

Boards of directors need to maintain an appropriate level of cyber expertise, incidents must be reported within 72 hours after determination, and all ransom payments made must be reported within a day. Those are just some of the changes made by The New York State Department of Financial Services to its Cybersecurity Requirements for Financial Services (23 NYCRR 500) , effective November 1, 2023...