DDoS attacks grow in size and complexity

DDoS attack

Though the overall number fell slightly, DDoS attacks became both bigger and more complicated in 2021 according to a new report from cloud-based managed security services platform F5 Silverline.

By the final quarter of last year the mean attack size recorded was above 21 Gbps, more than four times the level at the beginning of 2020. Last year also saw the record for the largest-ever attack broken on several occasions.

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The challenge of hiring cyber talent in the Great Resignation [Q&A]

Vacant chair

Whether it's been triggered by the pandemic or other factors, the Great Resignation has led to new problems for businesses when it comes to finding and retaining staff.

This has been a particular problem in the tech sector where employees tend to be quite mobile anyway. We spoke to Amar Kanagaraj, founder and CEO of Protecto, to find out how businesses can meet the challenges of hiring tech talent.

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5G tops the list of tech that businesses want to invest in

5g smartphone

Technology is an essential part of any modern business, but what particular tech do companies most want to invest in?

New research from WalkMe surveyed over 1,300 business owners to discover where money is being invested and by whom. 5G tops the list with as 32.9 percent of respondents choosing it as their primary area for investment.

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Hackers spoof fintech apps as tax season approaches

Tax scam

The annual tax season is inevitably the cue for a spate of attacks impersonating official sites or popular accounting software.

In a new twist for this year researchers at email security firm Avanan have uncovered attacks spoofing fintech apps such as Stash and Public to steal credentials and give users a false sense of security that they've compiled the right tax documents.

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Managing identities between clouds is the top challenge for businesses

Cloud to cloud

More than three-quarters (78 percent) of respondents to a new survey say managing user identities between multiple clouds is their number one challenge.

The study carried out by Forrester for Strata Identity finds 70 percent want to migrate to the cloud increase security and protect data. But at the same time 28 percent of companies are using four or more public/private clouds today and that's expected to more than double in two years to 65 percent.

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Ransomware can encrypt 100,000 files in under 45 minutes

Dissolving clock

New research from Splunk's SURGe team looks at how quickly ten major ransomware strains, including Lockbit, Revil and Blackmatter, can encrypt 100,000 files.

The research shows that the median ransomware variant can encrypt nearly 100,000 files totaling 53.93GB in 42 minutes and 52 seconds. Encryption speeds vary between ransomware variants though with individual ransomware samples ranging from four minutes to three and a half hours to encrypt the same data.

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Poor security practices still a challenge for hybrid work

home working security

Almost a third (29 percent) of workers still use the same passwords for both personal and work accounts, potentially compromising their organisation if a personal account gets hacked.

A new study of 2,000 UK adults carried out by OnePoll for professional services company Gemserv also shows 39 percent of respondents access corporate accounts and content from their personal devices often or always, with another 24 percent doing so sometimes.

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81 percent of organizations have outages caused by expired certificates

Magnified certificare

A new report shows that 81 percent of organizations have experienced at least two or more disruptive outages caused by expired certificates in the past two years, up from 77 percent last year.

The report from machine identity platform Keyfactor, based on research by the Ponemon Institute, finds the cut in SSL/TLS certificate lifespans to one year in September 2020 has made it much more difficult to keep the pace with certificate issuance and management.

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Most enterprise network assets are cloud-based but policies aren't keeping pace

Businessman working with a Cloud Computing diagram

Nearly 90 percent of device assets in the modern organization are cloud-based, meaning physical devices such as laptops, tablets, smartphones, routers, and IoT hardware represent less than 10 percent of total devices.

However, the latest State of Cyber Assets report from JupiterOne analyzed nearly 10 million security policies and finds that cloud-specific ones represent less than 30 percent of the total.

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Pen testing tools increasingly used by threat actors

Attack route

Legitimate penetration testing tools like Cobalt Strike, Impacket and RMM, are being used by threat actors because it's more efficient to use existing tools that are proven to be successful than to create new software.

The latest Threat Detection Report from managed detection and response firm Red Canary shows Cobalt Strike in particular has never been more popular, impacting eight percent of its customers in 2021.

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F-Secure creates new corporate security brand

WithSecure logo

Cybersecurity company F-Secure is rebranding its corporate security business under the new name WithSecure and with a snazzy new logo, above.

Previously known as F-Secure Business, WithSecure will focus on corporate security products and solutions, while consumer security products and services remain available under the existing F-Secure name.

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Three-quarters of businesses plan to redesign the office as employees return

Excited,Young,Man,Feels,Satisfied,Celebrating,Success,At,Office

The switch to hybrid working driven by the pandemic has had a major impact on the relationship between employers and employees.

As people begin to drift back to the office, a new study by audio visual equipment specialist Poly shows that only 19 percent of enterprises are expecting staff to come back to the office full time, while 77 percent plan to redesign the office to include more open-plan areas, collaboration spaces, areas to socialize and quiet zones.

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How PSD2 is changing open banking [Q&A]

online banking

Compliance with the EU Payments Services Directive (PSD2) is the next key milestone in the continued evolution of open banking. This evolution involves a new set of rules that will change how we confirm our identity when making purchases online.

The implementation of strong customer authentication (SCA), on top of existing open banking capabilities, will require merchants and payment service providers (PSPs) to work together with technology suppliers, card schemes and many others to deliver SCA in a way which works well for customers.

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How enterprises responded to Log4Shell

server vulnerability unlock

When the Log4Shell vulnerability appeared in December last year the effects rippled across the cybersecurity world with potentially millions of devices affected.

A new study from Qualys takes a look at how enterprises responded to the vulnerability and how successful their remediation efforts were.

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Leadership and technology tips for running a remote company successfully [Q&A]

Remote working

When the world shut down in March 2020, many of us envisioned a two-week work-from-home stint, followed by a prompt return to office life. Little did we know that the business world, as we knew it, would change forever.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the overnight shift to a remote workforce was done out of necessity. But, over the past two years, companies have realized that this new operations model can have many business benefits, including cost savings associated with physical office space and a better work/life balance for employees.

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