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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Hardening in Cybersecurity Cybersecurity hardening is a comprehensive approach to keeping your organization safe from intruders, and mitigating risk. By reducing your attack surface, vulnerability is reduced in tandem. Hardening (or system hardening) considers all flaws and entry points potentially targeted by attackers to compromise your system....

When did you last have a light-bulb moment? For me, it was very recent. I was working with a client, supporting them in their latest Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) annual compliance assessment, and, in discussion with the Qualified Security Assessor (QSA), I had a sudden urge to challenge something we’ve all, always, believed...

From its inception, the automotive industry has been shaped by innovation and disruption. In recent years, these transformations have taken shape in rapid digitization, ever-growing Electric Vehicle (EV) infrastructure, and advanced connectivity. These shifts have redirected the automotive industry, meeting and surpassing customer expectations for...

The world of security advisories is disjointed, with disparate systems holding critical documentation in various formats. To make matters more challenging, despite living in a digital-first era, most of these documents are not legible for machines and must be parsed, reviewed, or referenced by humans. As system administrators contend with a rapidly...

Governments play a key role in the continued operation of society. While getting a speeding ticket or paying taxes may not be anyone’s favorite thing to do, they contribute to the government’s ability to protect its citizens while maintaining its infrastructure and services. Cybersecurity is critical for all organizations and government agencies,...

Application dependencies occur when technology components, applications, and servers depend on each other to provide a business solution or service. Developers have a specific technology stack in mind when building solutions. This can typically include operating systems, database engines, and development frameworks (such as .Net or Java), as well as...

We create massive amounts of data daily, from the exercise stats compiled by our wearable devices to smart meters used at our homes to reduce expense consumption to maintenance statistics of critical systems in industrial settings. If data creation continues at its present rate, more than a yottabyte (a million trillion megabytes) will likely be...

Tripwire's January 2023 Patch Priority Index (PPI) brings together important vulnerabilities for Microsoft and Adobe. First on the patch priority list this month are patches for Microsoft Visio and Microsoft Office that resolve 6 vulnerabilities, including remote code execution and information disclosure vulnerabilities. Next are patches for Adobe...

The distribution systems of the U.S. energy grid — the portions of the grid that carry electricity to consumers — are growing more susceptible to cyber-attacks, in part due to the advent of monitoring and control technology and their reliance on them. However, the magnitude of the possible consequences of such attacks is not fully understood....

The cybersecurity landscape has become something of a battle royale: companies and cyber criminals are continually trying to outsmart one another in an effort to be the last one standing. Thankfully, many businesses are seeking a proactive approach, aiming to avoid the proverbial egg on their face when it comes to cybersecurity breaches. Learning...

Recent headlines have indicated that some major companies were affected by Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerabilities, just in the month of October. RCE flaws are largely exploited in the wild, and organizations are continually releasing patches to mitigate the problem. RCE is a type of an Arbitrary Code Execution (ACE) attack where the threat...

Mobile device use is pervasive, and has eclipsed traditional computing. We often hear how various malicious mobile apps are released into circulation. For these reasons, mobile app development needs to focus on cybersecurity just as much as it does on functionality and flexibility, if not more so. It’s an inevitable aspect of app development that...

Every person in an organisation has the potential to enhance security. Physical office barriers were removed during the pandemic, exposing companies to countless vulnerabilities as attack avenues have multiplied. However, this does not mean that all was lost. What it signals is the importance of promoting a culture of security across the entire...

The healthcare sector has become a popular target for cybercriminals and is one of the most targeted industries by cyber criminals. In 2022, 324 attacks were reported in the first half of the year. As bad actors continue to target the healthcare industry, cybersecurity experts and healthcare administrators should be aware that attacks are...