In his book Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World, cybersecurity expert Bruce Schneier wrote, “People often represent the weakest link in the security chain and are chronically responsible for the failure of security systems.” That remains as true today as when the book was first published 22 years ago. It’s easy to understand why users often represent the weakest cybersecurity link within an organization.
As we navigate through 2023, ransomware attacks continue to grow in scale and sophistication. This year has already witnessed an alarming number of high-profile incidents (at the time of writing), meaning ransomware attacks remain one of the most significant cybersecurity threats organizations face.
It’s always frustrating when your laptop starts to slow down. The more you click, the more it seems to stutter and have a good think about everything you ask it to do. Joining video calls and even opening documents becomes a chore. Normally, this is a sign to free up some storage space or request a new device/component from the IT department. However, an unusually slow laptop can also be the sign of something more sinister – cryptojacking.
2021 has been another challenging year for businesses, not least because of the ongoing wave of cyberattacks. Everyone is hoping for some good news in 2022, but realistically, cybercrime slowing down won’t be on the agenda. Cybersecurity and avoiding the threat of data breaches is going to be front of mind for many going into next year. We’ve spoken to two members of our leadership team who’ve shared their thoughts on four trends we’re likely to encounter in 2022.
2021 has been another challenging year for businesses, not least because of the ongoing wave of cyberattacks. Everyone is hoping for some good news in 2022, but realistically, cybercrime slowing down won’t be on the agenda. Cybersecurity and avoiding the threat of data breaches is going to be front of mind for many going into next year. We’ve spoken to two members of our leadership team who’ve shared their thoughts on four trends we’re likely to encounter in 2022.
The way in which we respond to email security risks needs to change. It’s no longer a case of reinforcing the network perimeter. The risks are now far more complex and nuanced, driven by human behaviour. From every conversation we have, Security and IT leaders tell us that people: These are a combination of both inbound and outbound threats but what they have in common is that they are human-activated risks – there’s a person behind each of them.
For many of us, the Thanksgiving and Christmas period is a chance for some well-deserved downtime. For cybercriminals, not so much. The holiday season is one of the most productive time of the year for the Phishing-as-a-Service (PhaaS) industry. Online retail sales spike around holidays, creating more opportunities to catch people out with phishing emails and spoofed websites.
On Saturday November 13th, hundreds of thousands of recipients received an email from the FBI with the subject line of “Urgent: Threat actor in systems.” Thankfully for the recipients, it turned out the threat described in these emails wasn’t real as, unfortunately, the FBI had suffered an external email breach resulting in fake warning messages being sent out.
Ransomware has quite rightly been one of biggest ongoing stories of 2021 – and not just in the world of cybersecurity. The biggest ransomware cases where major companies have been forced to a halt until they pay a ransom have made global, headline news. The impact to victim organizations is usually financial loss and reputational damage. However, in cases such as the Colonial Pipelines attack, ransomware has caused real-world impacts on the general public too.
For those in the security space or at C-level, you’ve likely seen a recommendation about how to manage encryption and corresponding keys. Or at least something about encryption needing further consideration. Chances are, if you’re reading this you have at least an interest in the topic and are researching relevant products.
