Small businesses often left hanging by ransomware scourge
Ransomware is hitting small businesses hard. But most of the legislation, regulations, and headlines focus on large businesses. The math is simple -- large businesses impact many end-users, and they have lots of money to pay lobbyists, so they wind up stealing the show when it comes to ransomware. But what about the local print shop, deli, or accounting office? Even though small businesses are suffering from ransomware 70 percent more often than large businesses (according to the Cyber Edge 2022 Cyberthreat Report), government regulations haven’t changed to accommodate them.
The U.S. Justice Department recently released a strategic plan that will investigate 65 percent of all reported ransomware attacks by 2023, but there are a few problems with this. First, the Justice Department -- or anyone else for that matter -- has no accurate accounting of how many attacks are actually occurring. Because so many attacks go unreported, there isn’t a way to certify how many ransomware attacks happen each year. Second, even if we assign credibility to 65 percent of ransomware cases, how can we or the government use this information effectively to reduce attacks? Finally, what about unreported ransomware attacks (which account for most of the attacks) on 44 percent of the U.S.’s economy: small businesses?
Four ways IT leaders can disrupt public safety with new tech
Most industries, from education to manufacturing, are inundated with technical solutions. But there's one space you'd be surprised is still firmly in the 20th century: public safety. That's right, your cops and EMTs are running software that was cutting edge in the early 2000s. This means a few things for the IT industry.
First, it means these groups are facing a massive and necessary upgrade cycle. That translates into a significant opportunity for those interested in the first responder market.
The cyber threats and trends that will dominate going into 2023
It might still be a bit early to begin thinking about next year, but new research from Intel 471 analyzes recent and commonly used tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) that have been adopted by prominent threat actors.
It also looks at how these threats have affected enterprises, along with predictive intelligence assessments on threats that organizations should be prepared to thwart over the next year.
84 percent of companies have only basic cloud security capability
A large majority of companies are only at an entry level in terms of their cloud security capabilities according to a new study.
The research, carried out for cloud infrastructure security company Ermetic by Osterman Research, surveyed 326 organizations in North America with 500 or more employees and who spend a minimum of $1 million or more each year on cloud infrastructure.
Enterprise integration is key to business but few have a strategy
Most business leaders (57 percent) believe an enterprise integration strategy is critical to their organization, while 61 percent of CIOs and more than half of system architects and developers said a standardized, enterprise integration strategy is a top priority.
However, only seven percent of respondents have succeeded in implementing an enterprise integration strategy, according to a new study from Digibee, while 93 percent of decision-makers admit they have no formal integration strategy in place.
Enterprises struggle with application modernization
According to a new study 93 percent of enterprise IT leaders say the application modernization process is challenging due to staffing, tools, training and other issues.
The survey from Asperitas finds 30 percent of IT leaders say identifying the right tools and technologies is the most difficult part of the process, while 20 percent say it's finding staff with the right experience.
Microsoft 'fixes' language bar problems caused by KB5014666 update
It has not gone unnoticed that Microsoft's quality control for updates for Windows has been found somewhat wanting of late, particularly when it comes to Windows 11. We have reported numerous times about problems caused by updates, and then the subsequent fixes -- and, sometimes, additional issues they cause -- that Microsoft releases.
Windows 10 users are also affected by problematic updates, and the recently released KB5014666 update caused issues with printing. But this was not the only problem caused by this devilish update; it was also found to lead to problems with the Input Indicator and Language Bar. Now Microsoft has issued a fix -- of sorts.
Microsoft releases Windows 11 Build 25174 with new Game Pass widget
Last week, Microsoft’s new Windows 11 flight, Build 25169 for Windows Insiders on the Dev Channel, came with a lockdown feature for IT administrators and a new Windows Spotlight theme.
Today’s release, has one main new feature -- a Game Pass widget -- and a good number of fixes and improvements.
OWC Envoy Pro FX external SSD now available in 4TB capacity
Last year, in the beginning of 2021, we told you about the Envoy Pro FX -- an external solid state drive from OWC. What made this particular SSD special was its use of two chipsets to maximize compatibility with both Thunderbolt and regular USB-C. The drive even comes with a dongle to make it compatible with USB-A.
And now, in 2022, OWC is giving the Envoy Pro FX a capacity boost. While the SSD remains the same in all other ways, as of today, it can now be had with a 4TB capacity option. Previously, the drive was limited to 240GB, 480GB, 1TB, and 2TB sizes. As you can see, 4TB is a pretty significant increase.
Get 'JavaScript from Beginner to Professional' ($28.99 value) FREE for a limited time
This book demonstrates the capabilities of JavaScript for web application development by combining theoretical learning with code exercises and fun projects that you can challenge yourself with.
The guiding principle of the book is to show how straightforward JavaScript techniques can be used to make web apps ranging from dynamic websites to simple browser-based games.
94 percent of companies have had security incidents with production APIs
According to a new report 94 percent of companies have experienced security problems in production APIs in the past year, with 20 percent saying the organization suffered a data breach as a result.
The latest State of API Security Report from Salt Security also finds that found that API attack traffic has more than doubled in the past 12 months with a 117 percent increase. In the same period overall API traffic grew 168 percent, highlighting the continued explosion of enterprise API usage.
Industrial systems under threat from wipers and IoT botnets
The latest OT/IoT security report from Nozomi Networks shows that wiper malware and IoT botnets dominate threats to industrial control systems.
Researchers have observed the robust usage of wiper malware, and seen the emergence of an Industroyer variant, dubbed Industroyer2, developed to misuse the IEC-104 protocol, which is commonly used in industrial environments.
Ransomware contained in typosquat Python scripts
Researchers at Sonatype have identified multiple malicious Python packages that contain ransomware scripts.
The packages are named after a legitimate, widely known library called 'Requests', with names like 'requesys', 'requesrs' and 'requesr', in order to trick developers into installing the wrong version.
Microsoft beefs up Defender security with new Threat Intelligence and External Attack Surface Management tools
Microsoft has launched two new security products, bolstering the capabilities of Microsoft Defender. The company says that the aim of the two tools is to help organizations lock down their infrastructure and reduce their overall attack surface.
The tools, Microsoft says, also provide "deeper context into threat actor activity" making it easier to predict malicious activity and secure resources. Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence works by mapping the internet every day, so that security teams have the data needed to understand current attack techniques, while with Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management lets security teams see their system as attackers do.
Plugable USBC-VAMETER3 is an upgraded USB-C voltage and amperage meter
Last year, we told you about Plugable's second generation USBC-VAMETER -- a dongle with an OLED screen that can monitor USB-C voltage and amperage. The second gen variant was similar to the original, but it added a rotatable screen orientation -- a very welcome addition.
Today, Plugable launches the third generation of its useful dongle. Called "USBC-VAMETER3," it has the same rotatable screen technology found on gen 2, but it gets some power upgrades. The third gen model now supports 48V (4.5V-50V) compared to 20V (4V-20V) on the gen 2 model. The third generation variant also supports 240W compared to just 100W on its predecessor.
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