Articles about 2020

The last quarter of 2020 saw a 10,000 percent increase in ransomware activity according to a new report from managed security services provider Nuspire.

The company's latest Year in Review Threat Landscape Report -- sourced from its 90 billion traffic logs -- outlines new cybercriminal activity and tactics, techniques and procedures.

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The number of publicly reported breach events decreased by 48 percent in 2020. However, more than 37 billion records were compromised, an increase of 141 percent.

A report released today by Risk Based Security reveals that this is by far the most records exposed in a single year since the company began reporting in 2005.

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To say 2020 was a year of change is probably an understatement, and that’s no different for IT leaders. Pressure to optimize costs while simultaneously maintaining key operations to ensure survival (or even growth) has led to a lot of re-evaluation and, hopefully, reflection for the industry.

Technology now sits at the heart of almost every organization, but managing technology costs has become incredibly complex due to things like the flexibility of cloud, proliferation of the use of SaaS applications and increased investment in IT by business units outside of IT.

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From January through October 2020 there have 730 publicly disclosed events resulting in over 22 billion records exposed worldwide according to a new report from Tenable's Security Response Team (SRT).

Of breaches analyzed 35 percent were linked to ransomware attacks, resulting in major financial cost, while 14 percent of breaches were the result of email compromises.

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Nothing could have prepared us for 2020 -- a year that demanded a swift and dramatic restructure of corporate operations in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Remote workforces were created overnight, even within industries who never had the experience of managing effective, remote working teams. With limited time and resources to prepare and support home working employees, a makeshift remote setup was thrust upon us. This, consequently, created an opportunity for massive cyber security breaches and a stream of cyber attacks, which can have a devastating impact on businesses when the cost of a data breach averaged between $184k and $715k for a medium-sized business in 2019. 2020 was an opportunistic year for cyber criminals, who took advantage of a time of uncertainty. In the UK, businesses experienced a 31 percent increase in cyber crime during the height of the pandemic, with phishing emails up by nearly 700 percent, preying on what should be a company’s greatest cyber defense asset; their employees. 

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Using unique passwords is essential for keeping documents, data and accounts safe. However, it can be hard to remember them all.

Using password managers is the ideal solution for keeping everything organized. Now that the new year is nearly upon us, it’s time to take a look at the best password managers for 2021.

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COVID-19 has wreaked havoc across the world and infections are showing no signs of slowing. Just yesterday, the USA reported 218,576 new cases and 2,918 new deaths. Thankfully there are a number of promising vaccines, with Pfizer/BioNTech’s the first to be made widely available. The UK is due to start rolling it out next week.

For those desperate for the vaccine an agonizing wait lies ahead -- if they want to go down the official route at least. However, drug dealers on the dark web are already selling 'Pfizer COVID Vaccines'.

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This year more than ever we've all been spending large amounts of time online and that often means relying on passwords to access systems and sites.

According to password management app company Dashlane the average internet user has over 200 digital accounts that require passwords, and that figure is projected to double in the next five years.

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2020 has been an awful year for most people. The coronavirus has torn through our lives, we’ve experienced lockdowns and job losses, the United States is more divided than ever, and let’s not even mention the ongoing shitshow that is the presidential election.

Although it’s not likely to be much better to begin with, 2021 really can’t come soon enough. A redesigned Windows 10 isn’t going to be at the top of most people’s wishlists for the upcoming year, but Windows 21 has got our attention.

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With 11,121 vulnerabilities disclosed during the first half of 2020, as the year progresses the total is expected to exceed that of 2019.

Although the number of vulnerabilities disclosed in the first half of 2020 decreased by 8.2 percent compared to the same period in 2019 due to the impact of COVID-19, but the Q2 vulnerability report from Risk Based Security does suggest some signs of a return to 'normal' levels.

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Microsoft wrapped its annual Microsoft Inspire 2020 partner conference in July. This is one of the first events of the "big tech" conference season and a good precursor to what trends we can expect to see in 2021. For the first time ever, the global event was 100 percent virtual and available to all attendees at no cost. While Microsoft offered less "net-new" vision at this year’s conference, it strongly reinforced the company’s existing reputation as the dominant technology platform for enabling business results for technology intensive companies globally.

Microsoft spends millions on market research and R&D and based on past events we have found that there is a lot to learn at these events that can add value to technology strategies and plans. Here are four key takeaways from Microsoft Inspire 2020 that capture what Microsoft is up to, the direction the company is taking and often a good indicator of the market over the next 12 months.

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With the current focus being very much on the shift to remote working and the challenges and opportunities it offers, it’s easy to overlook the fact that there's a whole world of other security issues out there, and it isn't standing still.

Ireland-based telecommunications company Paradyn has created an infographic looking at what it sees as the important cybersecurity trends of this year.

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There was a time when the main tech-based worry for any business were viruses. Large companies spent thousands of dollars on antivirus software, while those that didn’t paid the price when one of their client machines became infected, crippling their infrastructure and effectively grinding the whole operation to a screeching halt. In the modern era, pretty much every computer terminal you can buy comes with some sort of virus protection, which tends to do a pretty decent job so long as the security patches are installed promptly on all machines across the business.

In addition, companies are also taking advantage of the internet. Many now have various components of their infrastructure such as workstations, servers, and web applications that are connected online. Hackers try to breach company networks by exploiting these components. Fortunately, their attempts are now easily thwarted by the use of web application firewalls (WAF) which can block malicious traffic and unauthorized requests sent to these devices.

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Apple today announces an updated 13-inch MacBook Pro with double the storage across all standard configurations, better performance, and the company’s Magic Keyboard.

The keyboard, which has been designed to deliver a superior typing experience, is currently available on the 16-inch Pro and MacBook Air, so it was only a matter of time before it arrived on the smaller model too.

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It’s been rumored for a while, but today Apple takes the wraps off its second-generation iPhone SE.

Reinvented from the inside out and packaged in a compact design, Apple’s most affordable iPhone comes with a 4.7-inch Retina HD display, paired with Touch ID security in the familiar Home button.

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