The race against AI web scrapers: effective strategies to protect your data [Q&A]
A surge in artificial intelligence (AI), generative AI (GenAI), and machine learning (ML) technologies is creating a massive online appetite for data. These tools are hungry for training data, this has boosted AI web scraping, which sits in a legal gray zone. Sometimes it's legal, sometimes it's not, but what's clear is that it's having ripple effects across online businesses.
We talked to Nick Rieniets, field CTO of Kasada, to learn more about the impact of web scraping and what companies can do to protect their content.
Pro-Russian hacktivists target Europe
A new report shows that 96 percent of attacks conducted by a leading pro-Russian hacktivist group targeted Europe this year, with attackers focusing on influencing public perception and trust over direct technical disruptions.
Based on research and data from more than 135,000 security events in 160 countries, the Security Navigator report from Orange Cyberdefense also reveals that hacktivists were responsible for 23 percent of cyberattacks that directly targeted OT and 46 percent of these attacks resulted in a 'manipulation of control.'
Why it's time for a reset of security metrics [Q&A]
Historically, security metrics have focused on measuring how many attacks are successful and how long it takes for a successful attack to be detected. This is perhaps unsurprising since the bulk of the industry has focused on building tools to detect adversaries.
We spoke to Nicko van Someren, chief technology officer at Absolute Security, to learn why companies focusing purely on defense can create more risk for their organizations, and why instead of focusing on 'time to detection,' it's time to reset security metrics to focus on 'time to recovery.'
The top five most-phished industries
New research reveals the top five industries most frequently targeted by specifically tailored phishing attacks using either the recipient's name, email address, phone number, or company name.
The study from Cofense using data drawn from the Cofense Intelligence product between Q3 2023 to Q3 2024 shows, unsurprisingly, that finance tops the list, accounting for 15.5 percent of all credential phishing emails where the product redacted information from the subject in order to safeguard the recipient.
Over 30 percent of organizations need daily specialist support on virtual desktop issues
A new survey of 1,000 front line IT workers from Nexthink finds that 31 percent of organizations have daily virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) problems requiring specialist intervention.
A further 40 percent are having issues on a weekly basis, as level one and two support staff are often unable to manage the complexity of VDI.
Holiday deal hunting mirrored by dark web behavior
Just as shoppers heading online for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals a new report from Bitdefender uncovers interesting parallels with behavior on dark web marketplaces.
Cybercriminals too, it seems, browse for the best deals on an assortment of unconventional goods and services. In a digital underground that mirrors traditional e-commerce in many ways, these markets cater to buyers with specific -- and often illegal needs.
New study highlights the ongoing importance of open source
Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) has become a critical part of the modern economy and it's estimated that up to 96 percent of codebases now include it.
In order to understand the impact of open source The Linux Foundation, in collaboration with the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard, commissioned its latest study into the space and today announces the release of the Census III of Free and Open Source Software -- Application Libraries report.
SMEs put at risk by poor mobile security practices
A new report finds that 35 percent of small business employees or owners report clicking on a phishing link via mobile.
The research, carried out by OnePoll for CyberSmart, among 250 small-medium enterprise business owners or leaders in the UK also finds 30 percent of respondents report losing or having had stolen a mobile phone containing sensitive corporate information, leaving their business more vulnerable to potential cybercriminal activity.
Big spend on enterprise AI doesn't always deliver big returns
New research from Digitate reveals that while 92 percent of European organisations have implemented AI and automation, many lack a strategic approach to maximise the impact.
The study, based on a survey of 900 IT decision-makers in enterprises across Europe, finds that organisations have invested on average, €103.4M ($108M) in AI and automation over the last two years, with over half (59 percent) spending up to €295M ($309M). These investments have yielded significant returns, with 86 percent of organizations reporting a ROI averaging €154.7M ($162.4M).
Identity threat detection and response use grows despite challenges
Organizations are facing increasingly sophisticated threats to their identity infrastructure so it's not surprising that a new survey of over 370 IT professionals shows use of identity threat detection and response (ITDR) technology is growing, though many are running into roadblocks to unlocking its full potential.
The study from Quest Software shows 84 percent of organizations are reaping benefits from their ITDR efforts, even if it hasn’t been fully implemented. Over one in three (36 percent) say their expectations have been fully met or exceeded.
How useful is GenAI in software development? [Q&A]
Generative AI (GenAI) holds a lot of promise for software developers: an ability to help them ship code faster, improve productivity, and reduce time spent on menial and repetitive tasks. But how much of that promise are GenAI coding tools actually delivering -- and how much is hype?
We spoke with Matt Hoffman, product manager and data analyst at Uplevel, an engineering intelligence platform that uses data from across developer tools and collaboration platforms to help engineering leaders drive organizational improvements. Uplevel's data science team, Uplevel Data Labs, recently studied the impact of Copilot usage on developer productivity.
HR and IT are among top-clicked phishing subjects
A new report reveals that HR and IT-related phishing emails claim a significant 48.6 percent share of top-clicked phishing types globally.
The research from KnowBe4 also shows that among large companies -- 1,000+ employees -- the most targeted industries are healthcare and pharmaceuticals with a Phish-Prone Percentage (PPP) of 51.4 percent, insurance on 48.8 percent and energy and utilities on 47.8 percent.
Two-thirds of office workers bypass security protocols
Almost two-thirds of office workers admit they've prioritized productivity over safe cybersecurity practices -- 63 percent also own up to using a corporate device to access social media, messaging or entertainment sites/applications.
Research from identity and access management company CyberArk also shows that 80 percent access work applications from personal devices, with C-suite executives being among the worst offenders.
Open source supply chain faces security issues
The open source software supply chain shows signs of 'AppSec exhaustion,' with organizations showing diminished engagement in security practices and struggling to meet vulnerability management goals, according to a new report.
The study from Snyk, based on a survey of 453 professionals across application development and security, shows that open-source security is more important than ever, as hackers have recognized the efficiency of targeting open-source software as a single entry point to multiple orgs.
New platform lets developers build more accurate AI apps faster
High-quality retrieval is key to delivering the best user experience in AI search and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) applications.
Knowledge platform Pinecone has announced new vector database capabilities combined with proprietary AI models to help developers build more accurate AI applications, faster and more easily.
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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