Bad bots try to be more human
Bad bots are designed perform various malicious activities. These range from basic scrapers that try to get some data off an application -- and are easily blocked -- to more advanced persistent bots that try to evade detection.
Barracuda researchers have been tracking bots for several years and have identified some interesting recent trends not least that, like King Louie in The Jungle Book, they 'wanna be like you'.
Why governments need an effective access management strategy [Q&A]
Governments and data make for a complex relationship. In some cases, agencies are obligated to make information publicly accessible. In others, sensitive data is highly regulated and therefore needs to be protected to keep it out of the public domain.
With key information changing hands internally via various departments and externally via third parties, it's vital that government agencies can access systems and share data securely -- particularly given increases in cyberattacks.
Phishing attacks reach record highs
In the third quarter of this year, phishing attacks soared by 173 percent compared with the previous three months, and malware was up 110 percent over the same period.
Email security company Vade has released its quarterly Phishing and Malware Report which shows Q3 2023's malware volumes almost set a record for the highest total of any quarter, trailing only Q4 2016's mark of 126.8 million.
Organized ID fraud increases 44 percent
Identity management company AU10TIX has released its latest Global Identity Fraud Report, based on insights from millions of transactions processed in 249 countries from April to June 2023.
It finds there has been a 44 percent increase in organized ID fraud in North America compared to preceding quarters. This upsurge is believed to be driven by the ongoing economic recovery and inflationary pressures, particularly in the US market, which are emboldening professional ID fraud syndicates.
Cyberattacks -- where they come from and the tactics they use
A new report from Netskope looks at the activities of cybercriminals based on the techniques and motivators that were most commonly detected among its customers in the first three quarters of 2023.
In news that will come as a surprise to precisely nobody it shows that the highest percentage of cybercriminal activity comes from Russia, while China accounts for most politically-motivated attacks.
Most enterprises expect systems to be attacked but there's confusion around responsibilities
A new survey of over 500 security and IT operations leaders worldwide shows that 61 percent believe that data loss within the next 12 months due to increasingly sophisticated attacks is ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’.
The study from Commvault, with research carried out by IDC, reveals that in many cases, senior executives/line-of-business leaders are minimally engaged in their company's cyber preparedness initiatives -- just 33 percent of CEOs or managing directors and 21 percent of other senior leaders are heavily involved.
Nine out of 10 British businesses want to invest in new technologies
A new study shows nine in 10 British businesses plan to invest in new technology including adaptive AI, sustainable tech, neurotech, applied observability and digital immune systems, in the next 12 months.
The report from software and services company Advanced shows that 70 percent of businesses are either already using or researching ways to bring adaptive AI into their working practices, even though almost 50 percent of business owners are concerned about the risks of doing so.
How IT can cut its power bills and help save the planet [Q&A]
It's estimated that enterprise IT accounts for around 1.5 percent of the world's energy usage, making it a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
But a simple switch to using more efficient solutions rather than simply throwing everything into the cloud could make a significant difference. We spoke to Dr. Jim Webber, chief scientist at native graph database leader Neo4j and visiting professor at Newcastle University, to find out more.
Does the new OWASP Top 10 accurately reflect the threats now facing APIs? [Q&A]
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which act as the glue connecting systems and applications together, are now the number one attack target for cyber criminals. Attack methods have changed over recent years, however, prompting the OWASP API Security Project to revise its API Security Top 10 of attack types for 2023.
But do the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) it covers still serve as a blueprint for defense? We spoke to Jason Kent, hacker in residence at Cequence Security, to find out if the top 10 is liable to see defenders take too narrow an approach.
Almost half of SMBs have experienced a cybersecurity incident in the last year
A new report from business software company Sage shows that 48 percent of SMBs have experienced a cyber security incident in the past year.
In addition the study of over 2,000 SMB decision makers around the world finds 51 percent say keeping on top of new threats is their biggest challenge and 44 percent say economic uncertainty and the cost of living has reduced cybersecurity budgets.
Majority of employees want GenAI in their lives
Employees are embracing generative AI and its capabilities, with 86 percent of respondents to a new survey saying they want to use GenAI at work, and 52 percent seeing GenAI as a great tool to find more relevant information.
The study, of over 2,000 US adults conducted by Arlington Research for Coveo, finds 56 percent of respondents believe GenAI tools would save them at least an hour a day at work. However, more than 50 percent of respondents' companies don't have a GenAI policy in place to enable their employees to leverage these capabilities safely and privately.
Cybersecurity is booming but it comes at a human cost
According to a new survey of 302 security professionals, almost 80 percent say they have 'good' or 'excellent' career prospects, and more than 84 percent say the industry is 'growing' or 'booming'.
However, the report from The Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec) finds the industry is still plagued by issues including stress and overwork. 22 percent of respondents work more than the 48 hours per week mandated by the UK government, and eight percent work more than 55 hours which, according to the World Health Organization, marks the boundary between safe and unsafe working hours.
Over half of supplier management processes still not digitized
New research from Ivalua shows more than half (53 percent) of procurement and supplier management processes have yet to be digitized.
This is creating inefficiencies, with procurement teams estimating they are wasting 22 percent of their time each year dealing with paper-based or manual processes.
QR codes used to phish for Microsoft credentials
The latest biannual Cyber Threat Intelligence Report from Critical Start reveals the top 10 cyber threats, including a rise in phishing attacks using QR codes are on the rise with bad actors masquerading as Microsoft security notifications.
Since May this year a major campaign has seen emails with a QR code embedded inside a PNG image or a PDF attachment. This has been aimed across industries with the energy sector being hardest hit -- one US energy company received 29 percent of all emails in the campaign.
68 percent of IT decision makers are worried about the rise of deepfakes
A new survey of 205 IT security decision makers highlights mounting concerns over the use of AI, and deepfakes in particular, as 68 percent of respondents express concerns about cybercriminals using deepfakes to target their organisations.
The study from Integrity360 finds 59 percent also agree that AI is increasing the number of cyber attacks, which aligns with the change in attacks that have been noticeable over the past year as 'offensive AI' is being used for tasks such as malware creation.
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
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. About Us - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy - Sitemap.