PayPal tops the list of most phished brands
Predictive email defense company Vade Secure has released a new report ranking the top 25 brands most impersonated in phishing attacks.
The report covering the final quarter of 2019 shows PayPal is the top brand impersonated by cybercriminals for the second quarter in a row, with Facebook taking the number two spot and Microsoft coming in third.
Cyber insurance and its place in business security strategy [Q&A]
Data breaches and cyberattacks can be costly for businesses, not just in financial terms but also in damage to reputation.
It's not surprising then that more and more companies are looking to offset these costs by taking out cyber insurance policies, We spoke to Chris Kennedy, CISO and VP of customer success at AttackIQ to find out more about cyber insurance and the potential pitfalls.
Mac threats overtake Windows for the first time
It's generally been accepted that Mac systems are much safer than Windows, but that could be starting to change as a new report shows Mac threats are growing faster than their Windows counterparts for the first time ever.
Malwarebytes latest annual State of Malware report shows an average of 11 threats per Mac endpoint in 2019 -- nearly double the average of 5.8 threats per endpoint on Windows. Overall Mac threats increased by more than 400 percent, year-on-year.
15.1 billion records exposed in 2019 as data breaches hit a new high
The total number of records exposed by data breaches increased by 284 percent last year compared to 2018, with over 15.1 billion records exposed in total.
This is one of the findings of the 2019 Year End Data Breach QuickView Report from Risk Based Security although the total number of 2019 breaches disclosed so far (7,098) is up only one percent.
Volume and complexity of DDoS attacks still increasing
DDoS attacks are a continuing problem for businesses and a new report reveals that they are also growing in complexity.
The 2019 DDoS report from Link11 reveals that the share of multivector attacks -- which target and misuse several protocols -- grew significantly from 46 percent in the first quarter to 65 percent in the fourth quarter.
How quantum computing will change analytics [Q&A]
Google announced in October that after years of theorizing, it had finally achieved the milestone of quantum supremacy -- carrying out a calculation in just three minutes that would take up to 100,000 years for a conventional computer.
Ask any analytics expert what they're excited to see in the future, and you’re likely going to hear quantum computing. That's largely due to the sweeping ways it will transform analytics. We spoke with Prasad Kothari, vice president of analytics and client solutions at The Smart Cube, about what that looks like.
New website creation platform delivers advanced capabilities for web professionals
Since its launch in 2007, cloud-based platform Wix has established itself as a favorite of people who want to build their own websites.
Now though the company is branching out with the launch of Editor X, a new platform aimed at designers, web professionals and agencies. It offers advanced design and layout capabilities. With tools such as a wide, flexible canvas allowing the use of modern CSS technologies with precise drag and drop, so web creators can control the exact position of each element -- regardless of the screen size of the device.
What impact will the Cybersecurity State Coordinator Act have? [Q&A]
The US is currently considering new legislation that would require each state to appoint a cybersecurity leader.
The proposed Cybersecurity State Coordinator Act has cross-party support and would, say its backers, improve intelligence sharing between state and federal governments and speed up incident response times in the event of a cyberattack.
Stress is hurting the health and relationships of CISOs
Landing the role of Chief Information Security Officer might make you think you've made it into a plum job, but 88 percent of CISOs are stressed and it's impacting on their health and relationships according to new research.
The second annual CISO stress report from Nominet shows that 48 percent say work stress has had a detrimental impact on their mental health, almost twice as high as last year (27 percent). 31 percent also report that their stress has impacted their physical health.
Enterprises struggle to implement data sanitization policies
Despite recent legislation placing greater emphasis on privacy and data protection, a new study of data sanitization policies reveals that in many cases there’s a gap between policy and execution.
The study of more than 1,800 senior business leaders by Blancco Technology Group reveals that although 96 percent have a sanitization policy in place, 31 percent have yet to communicate it across the business and 20 percent don't believe their organization's policies are finished being defined.
New solution delivers automated end-to-end security
Many organizations lack the resources to effectively implement 24x7 security operations on their own, and while automation solutions can help, they typically require extensive expertise to implement and manage.
Security automation specialist LogicHub is launching a new automation driven Managed Detection and Response solution called MDR+ to help address this issue.
New strain of ransomware spreads via SYSVOL shares
Researchers at Varonis have uncovered a new ransomware variant that spreads and tracks its progress via SYSVOL share on Active Directory Domain Controllers.
The ransomware encrypts files and appends them with the extension, '.SaveTheQueen' and creates a file called 'hourly' on the SYSVOL share folder.
Popular attack methods decrease as hackers shift tactics for a new year
Researchers at managed security services provider Nuspire have released their latest quarterly threat report which looks at the top botnet, malware and exploit activity throughout 2019, focusing in on the fourth quarter.
Among the findings are that malicious cyber-activity declined towards the end of the year, partly as a result of hectic holiday schedules and vacations with fewer employees around to interact with malicious activity.
How many lightbulbs does it take to put a network at risk?
If it's a Philips Hue bulb the answer to the question in the headline above is just one according to new research from Check Point which has uncovered vulnerabilities that could enable a hacker to deliver ransomware or other malware to business and home networks by taking over the smart lightbulbs and their controller.
Researchers focused on the market-leading Philips Hue smart bulbs and bridge, and found vulnerabilities that enabled them to infiltrate networks using a remote exploit in the ZigBee low-power wireless protocol that is used to control a wide range of IoT devices.
Microsoft products continue to be most targeted by cybercriminals
2019 was the third year in a row that Microsoft technology was most affected by vulnerabilities, with eight of the top 10 vulnerabilities identified targeting its products.
This is a key finding of the Recorded Future annual vulnerability report which also shows that for the first time six of the vulnerabilities, all impacting Microsoft, were repeats from the prior year.
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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