As security leaders, you’re tasked with protecting the crown jewels of our organizations, your data, while balancing innovation, compliance, and ever-evolving threats. Yet, too often, data security strategies rely on isolated tools and reactive measures, leaving critical gaps.

With the exponential expansion of AI, bad actors are frothing at the mouth. Advanced technology for automating social engineering techniques that previously required technical know-how is now within arm’s reach of anyone with a keyboard. Attempts to exploit and deceive are more common than ever, and they are emptying business’s pockets. In 2023, 800 businesses worldwide reported fraud losses totaling 6.5% of their revenue, amounting to $359 billion.

As we approach the end of the year, many of us are reflecting on what we accomplished in 2024 — what did we do well this year? What could we have done better? It's also the perfect time to reflect on how to improve your team’s security practices. Have you been staying ahead of threats or have you let a few vulnerabilities slip through the cracks?

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has raised the bar on cybersecurity with its newly introduced Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience Framework (CSCRF), effective August 20, 2024. For regulated entities (REs)—including stockbrokers, depositories, asset managers, and alternative investment funds—the framework not only requires compliance but also lays out a clear path toward resilience. These new guidelines require REs to implement VAPT and risk management, among other mandates.

Launched as an internal project by Spotify in 2016, Backstage was released under the Apache 2.0 open source license in 2020 to help other growing engineering teams deal with similar challenges. Backstage aims to provide a consistent developer experience and centralize tools, documentation, and services within a single platform.

Every day, we hear about security threats and attacks on organisations. These threats can range from ransomware and data breaches to leakage of sensitive data. There is no denying that cyber threats have been on the rise, and many organisations have fallen victim to these attacks, leading to financial and reputational losses. Hence, it is crucial to implement policies and processes that can help respond to these attacks.

Next time you’re outside on a clear night, look up at the stars and start counting. Chances are you’ll lose track, skip over some or completely forget where you started—there are just so many. Now imagine that vast sky is your enterprise, and each sparkling dot represents an identity (or account). Can you find them all—let alone secure them? If you’re like most organizations out there, the answer is no.

Every single day, billions of API calls happen across the internet. Behind your favorite applications, APIs work quietly to move data and connect systems. But with the growing use of APIs, API attacks didn’t just increase – they exploded. Take the Optus breach in September 2022, in which attackers exploited an unprotected API endpoint and accessed the personal data of up to 9.8 million customers, leading to a $10 million fine.

One of the hardest parts of managing an organization’s cybersecurity is patch management. Just as one patch cycle is completed, another set of patches are released. When compounded with the highly regulated energy industry, governed by the NERC CIP Standards, the task becomes even more daunting. Fortunately, Fortra’s Tripwire Enterprise (TE) and Tripwire State Analyzer (TSA) can ease the process.

Gartner predicts that generative AI (GenAI) will become a critical workforce partner for 90% of companies by next year. In application development specifically, we see developers turning to code assistants like Github Copilot and Google Gemini Code Assist to help them build software at an unprecedented speed. But while GenAI can power new levels of productivity and speed, it also introduces new threats and challenges for application security teams.