The U.S Government released on January 5, 2021, a cybersecurity plan to secure the nation’s maritime sector against cybersecurity threats that could endanger national security.

2020 provided a perfect storm for cybercriminals to extort record amounts from vulnerable businesses. Recent reporting has identified life sciences companies as being particularly attractive to target as they have valuable intellectual property information and have enough funding to pay high ransom demands. The pharmaceutical industry is currently at the top of the most targeted industries for such attacks.

Identified as targeting cryptocurrency users through nefarious cross-platform applications, a remote access trojan (RAT) dubbed 'ElectroRAT' has recently been in the headlines following an investigation into the threat by researchers at Intezer.

Almost exactly a year ago, cybersecurity professionals were locked in a heated debate about insurance. While some were keen to point out that the future of the industry would need to include some form of insurance market, others argued that cyber insurance would never be worth the premiums, especially given the inherently volatile nature of cybersecurity. The pandemic has changed all of that.

With exponential growth of businesses utilising technology in recent years, information security has increased its importance justifiably. We cover top principles of information security, importance of security policies and steps to improve security within an organisation.

NEW RESEARCH – On December 30, Fredrik Nordberg Almroth, security researcher and co-founder of Detectify – the Sweden-born cybersecurity company that offers a web vulnerability service powered by leading ethical hackers – found a vulnerability that left the country code top-level domain of the Democratic Republic of Congo, .cd, open to severe potential abuse.

A selection of this week’s more interesting vulnerability disclosures and cyber security news. For a daily selection see our twitter feed at #ionCube24. A heavy heap of horror for some WordPress users surfaced. Do check them out pronto.

Software is becoming an increasingly pivotal part of modern business and society. In turn, consumers have come to expect instant gratification. This has driven businesses to concentrate on innovation and speed to market. Businesses that can’t keep up with the hyper-competitive market of speed-to-value are falling behind.

According to the American Management Association, nearly half of employers monitor their employees’ digital activity on company-owned devices to some degree. Some of these employers manually read employees’ emails and track their activity. But the vast majority use software for monitoring computers, which is far more efficient. The right software can help you keep track of what your employees are doing during work hours, regardless of whether they are in the office or working remotely.

It’s the time of year when many of us will be taking a well-deserved break, but unfortunately for consumers and organisations, cyber criminals don’t take holidays. A year of unprecedented alarm and uncertainty, coupled with the growing sophistication of cybercriminals, has nurtured the perfect breeding ground for online scams, which according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) have jumped a staggering 42% this year—with nearly AU$7 million lost.1