Ransomware groups develop more sophisticated business models
Ransomware groups continue to refine their craft, building and scaling business models that resemble legitimate corporate enterprises according to a new report.
The latest Ransomware Radar Report from Rapid7 finds smaller organizations are becoming a more frequent target too. Companies with annual revenues around $5 million are falling victim to ransomware twice as often as those in the $30-50 million range and five times more frequently than those with a $100 million revenue.
62 percent of phishing emails pass DMARC checks
Phishing remains a significant threat to organizations. A new report from Darktrace shows 17.8 million phishing emails detected across its customer fleet between December 21, 2023, and July 5, 2024. Alarmingly, 62 percent of these emails successfully bypassed DMARC checks.
Cybercriminals are embracing more sophisticated tactics, techniques and procedures designed to evade traditional security parameters.
Enterprises building AI infrastructure on a budget
A new study finds that 70 percent of enterprises are still experimenting with AI and preparing for it is a top priority.
However, the report from Komprise finds that budgets are an even higher priority with only 30 percent saying they will increase their IT budgets to support AI projects.
Proton VPN launches updates to protect free speech
Governments in many countries are imposing internet shutdowns at alarming rates, reaching new milestones each year with 283 shutdowns documented in 39 countries in 2023. Often these are triggered by public protests, active conflict, elections or political instability in order to keep people in the dark.
Proton VPN is announcing three major updates designed to fight censorship and protect free speech around the world.
Almost all enterprises connected to a supply chain breach
The interconnected nature of modern business means that a vulnerability in one part of the supply chain can have far-reaching consequences. New research from SecurityScorecard and The Cyentia Institute identified 99 percent of Global 2000 companies are directly connected to vendors that have had recent breaches.
The study shows that 20 percent of these large enterprises use a thousand or more products. Supply chain incidents cost 17 times more to remediate and manage than first-party breaches.
86 percent of security professionals view unknown risks as top concern
A new study from managed detection and response specialist Critical Start shows concerns about unknown risks have increased 17 percent compared to last year, with 86 percent naming them as a top issue.
The research, conducted in partnership with Censuswide, finds 66 percent of businesses report limited visibility and insight into their cyber risk profiles and 65 percent of executives express concerns over misalignment between cybersecurity investments and the organization's risk reduction priorities.
How GenAI is changing business and society [Q&A]
Generative AI started out as a bit of a novelty, allowing you to create writing or artwork based on simple prompts. But increasingly it's having an impact on many areas of the world, from writing code to composing music and aiding research.
In a new book, Generative AI in Practice: 100+ Amazing Ways Generative Artificial Intelligence is Changing Business and Society, futurist and thought leader Bernard Marr takes a closer look at the impact of GenAI. We talked to him to find out more.
Security teams failing to manage Apple devices effectively
It's often accepted without question that Apple devices are more secure. But analysis by Picus Security of 136 million simulated cyberattacks shows that macOS could only protect against 23 percent of them because of how poorly most security teams manage Apple devices.
The research highlights that macOS endpoints are far more likely to be misconfigured or allowed to operate without Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR). Consequently macOS endpoints only prevented 23 percent of simulated attacks, compared to 62 percent and 65 percent for Windows and Linux respectively.
The essential role of an open data stack in building an open lakehouse [Q&A]
There is a movement underway to bring about a set of intelligent data apps that will require a new type of modern data platform to support them. TheCube Research identifies this as the 'Sixth Data Platform' -- an open, multi-vendor, modular platform.
We spoke to Justin Borgman, co-founder and CEO of Starburst, who believes an Icehouse architecture is the ideal foundation for building an open data lakehouse, underpinned by flexibility and open technologies.
People struggle to manage all of their passwords
A new survey of more than 6,000 respondents globally finds that 62 percent of people are worried about managing too many passwords, accounts and logins.
The report from Keeper Security shows that this leads to some dubious password management with 26 percent relying on memory, 24 percent writing them down and 19 percent storing them in a browser or phone notes app. Two in five also admit to reusing passwords.
Non-human identities pose security risks for enterprises
Non-human identities (NHIs) refer to things like API keys, service accounts, system accounts, OAuth tokens. You may not give them too much thought, but a new report from Silverfort looks at the impact they have on an organization's cybersecurity.
Active Directory service accounts -- used for machine-to-machine communication within Microsoft’s Active Directory's (AD) environments -- are the most common and regularly compromised NHIs.
Companies lack policies to deal with GenAI use
While 27 percent of security experts perceive AI and deepfakes to be the biggest cybersecurity threats to their organisations not all have a responsible use policy in place.
The third part of a survey of over 200 information security professionals carried out at Infosecurity Europe 2024 has been released today by KnowBe4 and it finds 31 percent of security professionals admit to not having a 'responsible use' policy on using generative AI within the company currently in place.
Nation-state actors exploit political tension to launch phishing campaigns
A new report from phishing protection specialist Bolster identifies 24 separate nation-state threat actor groups attempting to exploit rising political tensions across the US to interfere with the 2024 presidential elections.
Attackers are leveraging AI to automate mass spam campaigns, and also to reply in real-time. This targeting and interactivity at scale increases their chances of gaining access to more sensitive data. The influx of election-themed spam is a significant cyber threat, causing widespread confusion among citizens and undermining trust in legitimate election communications.
Enterprise AI adoption soars almost 90 percent
For some time now AI has been the go-to technology to enable informed decision making, accelerate innovation, and enhance experiences for both employees and customers.
A new report from Cloudera shows that 88 percent of enterprises are adopting AI in some capacity, but many are still lacking the necessary data infrastructure and employee skills to truly benefit from it.
Report highlights cyber risks to the aviation industry
It's fair to say that no industry is truly safe from cyber attacks these days, the aviation sector is at particular risk due to the volume of customer data it handles and the potential to cause widespread disruption.
A new report from SecurityScorecard focuses on cybersecurity vulnerabilities across the airline industry and its various supply chains.
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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