The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned the public to be cautious if contacted by people claiming to be... FTC staff. In a warning published on its website , the FTC said that scammers were using its employees' real names to steal money from consumers. A typical ruse will see the bogus FTC staffer advising someone to wire or transfer money to "protect" it, send a victim to a...

In 2024, transformation is reshaping industries, and the financial sector stands at a crucial juncture. The Softcat Business Tech Priorities Report , a comprehensive survey encompassing over 4,000 customers across various sectors, sheds light on this transformation. Significantly, cybersecurity has emerged as the paramount concern for financial institutions for the second consecutive year. This...

Over the years, PayPal has earned a reputation for being a secure and easy way to send and receive money. However, no payment system is entirely immune to scams , and cybercriminals often exploit these platforms due to their widespread popularity and trust among users. PayPal is the most widely used online payment system in the US, making it a compelling target for scammers looking to capitalize...

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, as they may hold sensitive information on both...

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. Reports by the Government Accountability Office (GAO)...

The Cross-Sector Cybersecurity Performance Goals (CPGs) are a new baseline released jointly by CISA, NIST, and the interagency community, with a goal of providing consistency across all critical infrastructure. The primary webpage for these goals gives us a great understanding of what they are (and are not). It is worth delving into those specifics to understand where the CPGs apply, and how they...

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...

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework was meant to be a dynamic document that is continuously revised, enhanced, and updated. These upgrades allow the Framework to keep up with technological and threat developments, incorporate lessons learned, and transform best practices into standard procedures. NIST created the Framework in 2014 and updated it with CSF 1.1 in April 2018 . The National Institute of...

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...

Agencies of the US Government have issued a joint warning that hackers have revealed their capability to gain full system access to industrial control systems that might help enemy states sabotage critical infrastructure. In a joint cybersecurity advisory issued by the Department of Energy, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the NSA, and the FBI, a warning is given that...

Over the weekend, the Alpharetta-based Colonial Pipeline was hit by an extensive ransomware attack that shut down its information technology (IT) and industrial operational technology (OT) systems. Simply put, an all-too-common ransomware event targeting IT systems encouraged a voluntary shutdown on the production side (OT) of the business to prevent further exposure. Colonial Pipeline is...

Digital attackers are increasingly launching sophisticated campaigns in an effort to target U.S. federal agencies and other organizations. Two recent examples demonstrate this reality. These are the SolarWinds supply chain attack and the HAFNIUM Exchange exploit campaign. The SolarWinds Supply Chain Attack In mid-December 2020, the security community learned that an advanced persistent threat (APT...

Through the lens of the Florida water supply hack, Dale Peterson teaches how events like these remind us to take the necessary steps to maintain our cybersecurity. Founder and chair of S4 Events, Dale has been helping security professionals effectively and efficiently manage risk to their critical assets for over 15 years. https://open.spotify.com/episode/65nUedFSHvdRSPUHgYH2Qn?si=vd7cA3T7Q4CCh...

On 16 July 2019, UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) released the second annual report of the Active Cyber Defence (ACD) program. The report seeks to show the effects that the program has on the security of the UK public sector and the wider UK cyber ecosystem. The Active Cyber Defence Program NCSC was set up in 2016 to be the single authoritative voice for cybersecurity in the United...

Tripwire studied confidence vs. knowledge of financial services IT security pros on seven key security controls necessary to detect a data breach. For many controls IT pros believed they had the information necessary to detect a breach quickly but provided contradictory information about the specific data.