COVID-19 provided the public and private sectors with a crash course in remote work. Regardless of their approach to remote or distributed work before the pandemic, organizations, including governments and schools, had to stand up a fully remote workforce in a matter of days. Those tasked with making the switch found themselves forced to face and tackle new and unfamiliar obstacles. They also learned what it takes to shift work processes to a hybrid or fully remote environment.

For many cybersecurity professionals, October’s annual "cybersecurity awareness month" is met with scorn and ire, or mocked on social media for likes and hearts. Meanwhile they forget that, outside the small percentage of humanity that exist in our cybersecurity bubble, there are an enormous number of people that can and do benefit from the additional outreach, engagement, and focus that Cybersecurity Awareness Month brings.

September confirmed some things we already knew about the current state of cybercrime: While undersecured corporate targets remain tempting targets for hackers, the situation is increasingly worse for data-rich organizations such as governments, schools, and healthcare facilities. All of those sectors had cause for concern as the month drew to a close.

The healthcare industry is a veritable honeypot for cybercrime, replete with vast amounts of sensitive digital information that expands in number and scope daily, including personal medical data and payment card details. This data is increasingly attractive to hackers, particularly those using ransomware to lock out organizations and hold onto sensitive information until the organization pays up.

Arctic Wolf’s acquisition of Habitu8 is a bold step forward in advancing security awareness training programs as attacks like phishing and credential theft continue to thrive. With 85% of attacks against organizations starting with human error, it’s perhaps not surprising that we continue to see low-quality, antiquated, and severely dated content recycled through organizations.

Most organizations understand the critical role that cybersecurity solutions play in protecting their environment. However, the abundance of available tools that claim to serve that need are leaving them unsure they're actually protected against today's sophisticated threats.

After a year of high-profile cyberattacks and uncertainty caused by the extended pandemic, Arctic Wolf wanted to understand the impact this period has had on cybersecurity strategy and business overall. In August of this year, we commissioned a survey of over 1,400 senior I.T. decision-makers and business executives in the U.S., U.K., and Canada, and today we are publishing the results.

On Tuesday, September 14, Apple announced its latest generation of products along with the major release of iOS 15. Unfortunately, this coincided with an earlier announcement of an emergency software update due to a critical software vulnerability discovered within a series of Apple products. This vulnerability was identified by researchers at Citizen Lab, who found a flaw capable of allowing attackers to install invasive spyware on affected devices without the interaction of the owner.

When smaller firms are hit by a cyberattack, the cost can be devastating. One out of four businesses with 50 or fewer employers report paying at least $10,000 to resolve an attack. And for organizations with fewer than 500 employees, insider incidents alone cost an average of $7.68 million, according to the Ponemon Institute's 2020 Cost of Insider Threats report.

For healthcare organizations, cybersecurity isn’t just about staying safe and protected from evolving cyber threats—it’s also about staying compliant. The most well-known healthcare regulation of them all is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which recently celebrated 25 years on the books.