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Risk Tolerance: Understanding the Risks to your Organization

‘A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for,’ said Dr. Grace Hopper, Rear Admiral of the US Navy and a computer pioneer. As soon as the ship leaves the harbor, or even the dock, there are risks. Depending on conditions and purposes, the ship's crew might decide they are negligible, that they can be recovered from, or that the...
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Common Social Media Scams and How to Avoid Them

While there are an estimated 30,000 daily cyber attacks on business websites, there are roughly ten times as many attacks against social media accounts every single day, equating to roughly 1.4 billion accounts every month. Social media attacks and scams have become pervasive problems, with threat actors finding innovative new ways to deceive...
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Q1 2023 Privacy: In for Another Wild Year

2023 started much the same as the year before, with state legislatures producing an impressive list of privacy-related bills in the U.S. Twenty-three states introduced comprehensive privacy legislation, with many more targeted privacy bills being considered as well. Iowa's governor signed the sixth comprehensive privacy law to close out the quarter....
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Beyond the firewall: How social engineers use psychology to compromise organizational cybersecurity

A Social engineering attack is the process of exploiting weaknesses in human psychology to manipulate and persuade others to perform in a way that is harmful. Prior to the digital age, criminals would carry out these attacks in person, in what was known as a confidence game. The perpetrators were referred to a “con men”, regardless of their gender....
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Akira ransomware - what you need to know

What is Akira? Akira is a new family of ransomware, first used in cybercrime attacks in March 2023. Akira? Haven't we heard of that before? Maybe you're thinking of the cyberpunk Manga comic books and movie that came out in the 1980s. Or perhaps you're thinking of an unrelated ransomware of the same name which emerged in 2017. Maybe that's it....
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Supply Chain Compromise: The Risks You Need to Know

This piece was originally published on Fortra’s AlertLogic.com Blog. Thinking about your own network isn’t enough to keep your business safe and profitable. As more buyers, sellers, and partners collaborate ever more closely across the world, supply chain IT risks are rising with no slowdown in sight. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center...
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An overview of the OSI model and its security threats

The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is a conceptual framework developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO). It has been in use for over 40 years, and is cited in every computer network book. It is also a favorite resource for just about every cybersecurity exam. The OSI model is represented in seven layers that help us...
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Patch now! The Mirai IoT botnet is exploiting TP-Link routers

Businesses should patch their TP-Link routers as soon as possible, after the revelation that a legendary IoT botnet is targeting them for recruitment. The notorious Mirai botnet, which hijacks control of vulnerable IoT devices, is now exploiting TP-Link Archer AX21 routers to launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. The warning comes...
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Cybersecurity – Change is coming and that’s a good thing

“The cyber economy is the economy” Those words were spoken by the US National Security Advisor way back in 2005, and it is remarkable to see how prescient they were. The economy is not only supported by the cyber world, but that world is entirely data driven. Data has become a primary focus, not just for regulatory fodder, but for business survival...
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3 Tips to Strengthen AWS Container Security

This piece was originally published on Fortra’s AlertLogic.com Blog. If you’re building an application, you want to ensure it’s reliable, consistent, and rapidly deployable in any cloud environment. That’s what containers are used for — packaging instructions into a digital object for reuse. Without them, you’ll struggle to run some application...
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Allowlisting and Blocklisting: What you need to know

The phone rings, displaying "Potential Spam," warning of the possible downfall of accepting the call. We also have the option to set specific ringtones for the special people in our lives, so we audibly know immediately who’s calling. For other callers, like the once-a-year important call from our insurance or investment rep, we'll at least add...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...