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...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a trending topic for many industries now. A variety of organizations currently employ AI mechanisms to support their operational functions. Automated tasks, natural language processing, deep learning, and problem-solving; such AI characteristics have made business tasks much easier. The factor of security in AI is largely overlooked, and with the increasing number...

Cybersecurity, like broader technological disciplines, is an ever-changing landscape that industry professionals must adapt to. The zero-trust model of cybersecurity has grown recently as organizations update their security practices to keep pace with, and stay ahead of evolving threats. Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) increased by 230% from 2019 to 2020, and more than 80% of C-suite leaders cite...

Change detection is easy. What is not so easy, is reconciling change. Change reconciliation is where most organizations stumble. What was the change? When was it made? Who made it? Was it authorized? The ability to answer these questions are the elements that comprise change management. Historically, the haste of accomplishing a task consisted of a sysadmin moving full-speed ahead to satisfy the...

Have you ever walked up to an ATM after another person finished with the machine only to find they left it on a prompt screen asking, “Do you want to perform another transaction?” I have. Of course, I did the right thing and closed out their session before beginning my own transaction. That was a mistake an individual made by careless error which could have cost them hundreds of their own currency...

As the healthcare industry becomes more digitally inclined, there’s a need for systems to be put in place to avoid breaches in the security of data records. Most healthcare organizations are already embracing the DevOps (Development and Operations) model, but unfortunately, security seems to be neglected, resulting in data breaches and numerous cyber attacks on software and mobile applications...

The third quarter saw some major developments across the privacy space. In the U.S., we saw a federal bill for comprehensive privacy achieve more than ever before, children’s privacy proved to remain a top concern, and the Federal Trade Commission formally began its heavily criticized “Magnuson-Moss rulemaking” process. Not to be outdone, the international community saw marked progress as well...

As everyone has surely heard by now, Elon Musk has bought Twitter . The controversial tech maverick's takeover of the site has caused some consternation for the site's users , employees , and advertisers - and has also proven a golden opportunity for scammers . Numerous verified Twitter users have reported receiving phishing emails from fraudsters, purporting to be a legitimate message from the...

Every year has been an unfortunate year for online privacy for the past few years. Data breaches and social engineering attacks are at an all-time high, and the concept of online data privacy is challenged to its core, with millions of users being affected every month. IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report highlighted that the average data breach cost increased 2.6%, from USD 4.24 million in 2021 to...

If you’re not aware already, then be prepared for change, because a new version of ISO27001 was published in October 2022 ! It’s all very exciting! The last change to the standard was in 2017. The changes made back then were fundamentally cosmetic, with a few minor tweaks to wording. The changes barely caused a ripple and, even today, organisations are still certified to ISO27001:2013, meaning...

The supply chain is a complex environment that goes deep inside a business and involves the majority of its infrastructure, operations, personnel, and outer relations: vendors, partners, and customers. To protect that matrix is extremely difficult, as there are numerous sensitive nodes, lines, and processes that a security team has to take care of: software and hardware resources, cloud , hybrid...

LinkedIn says it is beefing up its security in an attempt to better protect its user base from fraudulent activity.

October is “Cybersecurity Awareness Month,” a time when cybersecurity specialists everywhere push hard to get the message out that cybersecurity is important.

If you were to take a look at the cybersecurity news cycle, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s only large enterprises with expansive customer bases and budgets that are the most vulnerable to attacks. But that’s not entirely true. Even if it’s at a much smaller scale, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) still have stores of sensitive information that’s appealing to bad actors — and...

In the past, teams incorporated security testing far after the development stage of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) . Security testing would influence whether the application would to proceed to production, or get passed back to the developers for remediation. This process caused delays while teams worked on remediation or, worse yet, it increased security risks when teams released...

Cybersecurity funding in corporate environments has always been a source of anxiety for those who seek to keep organizations safe. When we examine the cybersecurity readiness of many state, local, and territorial governments, this funding struggle is taken to new heights of scarcity. Fortunately, a new program has been created by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to improve this shortfall...

When companies drive a wedge between their workforce and their security culture , not only do they reduce best practices, but they also increase stress and jeopardise secure behaviours. We need to stop blaming employees for cybersecurity breaches and look at the real reasons that data is compromised. Furthermore, as long as there are humans at work, there will be human error at work. It is natural...

One of the most important parts of a solid security program involves testing to see where your weaknesses lie. Continual improvement cannot be achieved without continual review. However, many people confuse the importance of vulnerability scanning with penetration testing. As a means of protecting an enterprise, one can never take precedence over, or replace the other. Both are equally important...

Cloud adoption has come a long way from its early days where corporate executives questioned the stewardship of their data. The initial suspicions of “where’s my data” have been laid to rest, as administrative tools and contractual obligations have emerged to give better visibility to, and accountability of, data custodianship. Even the capabilities of technology professionals have been enhanced...