A new report highlights the direct connection between how strong your organization’s security stance is and how easy it is to obtain cyber insurance. Like any insurance policy, the insurer has figured out the indicators of risk and includes a form of assessment when considering issuing you a policy. When you want to obtain car insurance, they ask about your driving record, where you live, and even what your credit score is – all to determine how much of a risk you are.

The Associated Press warned this week that AI experts have raised concerns about the potential impact of deepfake technology on the upcoming 2024 election. Deepfakes are highly convincing digital disinformation, easily taken for the real thing and forwarded to friends and family as misinformation. Researchers fear that these advanced AI-generated videos could be used to spread false information, sway public opinion, and disrupt democratic processes.

Midsize and enterprise organizations take notice: the average and median amount of a ransom payment and the median size of the victim organization are on the rise. If you’re at all concerned about ransomware (and you should be), the latest details from ransomware response vendor Coveware’s latest Quarterly Ransomware Report should have your attention.

New data sheds light on how likely your organization will succumb to a ransomware attack, whether you can recover your data, and what’s inhibiting a proper security posture. You have a solid grasp on what your organization’s cybersecurity stance does and does not include. But is it enough to stop today’s ransomware attacks?

New data from the U.K.’s Office of National Statistics shows that this often overlooked scam has grown significantly in interest – likely because it pays off. If you’re not familiar with this kind of scam, it’s pretty simple: the scammer presents the victim with an opportunity for a grant, a prize – something of value – but requires a small payment up front (often called a processing fee, etc.).

As cyber attacks continue to grow in sophistication, frequency, cyber insurers are expecting their market to double in the next two years. I’ve spent a lot of time here on this blog educating you on attack specifics, industry trends, and the impacts felt by attacks. I’ve also talked quite a bit about cyber insurance and the trends therein. But seldom have we been able to combine the two and present the state of cyber attacks from an insurer’s perspective.

A phishing (by email) and smishing (by SMS text) operation in Madrid, Seville and Guadalajara has been taken down by the National Police of Spain.

We are proud to announce that TrustRadius has recognized KnowBe4 with a 2023 Top Rated Award. With a trScore of 9.0 out of 10 and over 800 verified reviews and ratings, KnowBe4 is recognized by the TrustRadius community as a valuable player in the Security Awareness Training category. Reviewers on TrustRadius gave high marks for KnowBe4’s overall ease of use, the variety of training and phishing content available, and great customer support.

A newly identified criminal organization has been observed running a large number of business email compromise (BEC) scams. Since February 2021, Abnormal Security reports the gang has been responsible for some 350 BEC campaigns against a range of companies. No particular sector is favored, but the scammers favor larger organizations, with more than 100 of the targets being multinational corporations with offices in several countries.

New data shows a resurgence in successful ransomware attacks with organizations in specific industries, countries and revenue bands being the target. While every organization should always operate under the premise that they may be a ransomware target on any given day, it’s always good to see industry trends to paint a picture of where cybercriminals are currently focusing their efforts.