Addressing digital transformation needs in the public sector [Q&A]
Many organizations are embracing the benefits of digital transformation to improve efficiency and customer experience.
Historically the public sector has often lagged behind when it comes to new technology, but digital transformation can have a significant effect in delivering better value and services. We spoke to Praveen Karadiguddi, CEO at Scrumconnect Consulting, to find out more about how transformation projects can work in the public sector.
New tool lets enterprises build their own secure gen AI chatbots
Many companies have blocked access to public LLMs like ChatGPT due to security and compliance risks, preventing employees from taking advantage of the benefits of generative AI for day-to-day use.
Even when employees do have access, mainstream LLMs lack the ability to query an organization’s internal data, making insights unreliable and considerably limiting enterprise value for chat applications.
Younger women are going into cybersecurity but more needs to be done
New research from ISC2 shows improved representation of women under 30 in cybersecurity roles but concludes that more need to be done to improve diversity.
The study gathered responses from 14,865 people who participated in the latest ISC2 Workforce Study finds 36 percent of those under 30 were women compared to only 13 percent of those 65 or over and 17 percent overall.
Politically motivated DDoS attacks on the rise
This year has already seen several warnings of attacks targeting elections that are happening around the world.
A new report from NETSCOUT has identified a rise in politically motivated DDoS attacks. Peru experienced a 30 percent increase in attacks tied to protests about former Peruvian President Fujimori’s release from prison in December.
Free test lets you check how websites measure up to privacy rules
Governments around the world have been busily introducing privacy rules over the last few years and only this month the US Congress introduced a draft of a new federal law, the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA).
But how do you know if the websites you use are following the rules? ImmuniWeb is launching a new free website privacy test with checks and verifications that cover specific requirements of the majority of modern privacy, data protection and consumer protection laws in the US, UK, Europe and other regions.
CISOs worry about gen AI leading to security breaches
A new survey of more than 400 CISOs in the US and UK reveals that 72 percent are concerned about security breaches related to generative AI.
The study from Metomic finds that CISOs from both the US and UK rank data breaches as their top security concern. Data breaches are continuing to surge across industries, but particularly for healthcare, finance, and manufacturing organizations. According to industry reports, US companies experienced 3,205 data breaches last year (up from 1,802 in 2022), with the average cost of a data breach in the US climbing to $9.48 million in 2023.
Six out of 10 businesses struggle to manage cyber risk
A new study from Barracuda Networks finds just 43 percent of organizations surveyed have confidence in their ability to address cyber risk, vulnerabilities, and attacks.
The findings also show that many organizations find it hard to implement company-wide security policies such as authentication measures and access controls. 49 percent of the smaller to mid-sized companies surveyed listed this as one of their top two governance challenges.
Ransomware rampage -- how to fight back against attacks [Q&A]
Amid a tumultuous 2023 marked by economic anxieties and rising geopolitical tensions, threat actors seized the opportunity to weaponize fear and uncertainty. While ransomware trends had previously ebbed and flowed, experiencing a 23 percent decrease in just the first half of 2022, they took a shocking turn in 2023, skyrocketing by a staggering 95 percent.
We spoke with Andrew Costis, chapter leader of the Adversary Research Team at AttackIQ, to discuss why ransomware has taken headlines by storm and how the industry can empower security teams with the tools to fight back.
Phishing attacks up 60 percent driven by AI
A new report reveals a year-on-year increase of nearly 60 percent in global phishing attacks, fueled in part by the proliferation of generative AI-driven schemes such as voice phishing (vishing) and deepfake phishing.
The report from Zscaler ThreatLabz shows that in 2023 the US (55.9 percent), UK (5.6 percent) and India (3.9 percent) are the top countries targeted by phishing scams. The high level of phishing in the US is attributable to its advanced digital infrastructure, large population of internet-connected users and extensive use of online financial transactions.
Email still the most popular phishing technique even on mobile
Most incidents of phishing or spoofing on smartphones still happen via email, according to MEF's (Mobile Ecosystem Forum) 9th Annual Trust Study.
The report shows 52 percent of users reporting personal experience of data harm via this channel. Surprisingly, 39 percent of those users still took no preventative measures to protect their online data.
Proton Mail launches Dark Web Monitoring to alert users to leaks
One of the most common forms of cyberattack is credential stuffing, using exposed details on different sites to exploit the fact that people frequently reuse passwords.
Proton Mail is introducing a new Dark Web Monitoring feature that will alert customers if their credentials are exposed on the dark web, where stolen emails and credentials get bought and sold.
Cloud security and speed -- how fast do your processes need to be? [Q&A]
Moving to the cloud offers many benefits for businesses, but it doesn't remove the need to keep your systems secure. The tools that make the cloud fast and attractive for business can also be used by attackers.
We spoke to Anna Belak, director, Office of Cybersecurity at Sysdig to discuss the pain points that she sees security teams dealing with today, where those problems come from, and how to address them around process and skills rather than just looking at the tech side.
Millennials are key targets for phishing
A new report reveals that millennials are the top targets for phishing attacks, receiving 37.5 percent of phishing emails.
The latest phishing trends report from Egress also highlights the widespread adoption of AI and QR code phishing (quishing). Quishing has risen from 0.8 percent in 2021 to 10.8 percent in 2024, whereas attachment-based payloads halved from 72.7 percent to 35.7 percent in the same period.
The dynamics of modern Windows device management [Q&A]
Despite Apple and Linux gaining ground in recent years Windows still commands over 50 percent of the endpoint desktop market.
This means that Windows device management is a key priority for enterprises. We spoke to Apu Pavithran, founder and CEO of Hexnode, to learn more about device management and how it can be used effectively.
Cyberwarfare incidents reported by almost half of UK firms
New research shows that 49 percent of UK businesses have reported cyberwarfare incidents to the authorities.
The report from Armis also shows 52 percent of UK IT leaders believe the government can't defend its citizens and enterprises against an act of cyberwarfare.
Ian's Bio
Ian spent almost 20 years working with computers before he discovered that writing about them was easier than fixing them. Since then he's written for a number of computer magazines and is a former editor of PC Utilities. Follow him on Mastodon
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