Earlier this month, a group of our intrepid pen testers from our Readiness & Resilience team at CISO Global ventured into the heart of the hacking world at DEFCON 32 in Las Vegas. This annual pilgrimage to the mecca of cybersecurity (and more importantly, hacking) is more than just a conference – it’s a hands-on deep dive into the cutting edge of hacking techniques and defensive strategies.

Imagine for a moment that your home has a rodent problem. To address this, you install a fancy system designed to automatically detect and trap animals before they can roam around your house and cause any damage. The system seems to work well; from time to time, you arrive home to find a mouse or a squirrel caught by the device. No big deal, right? Lots of small critters about and the system is working as designed to catch them.

Unfortunately, the cybersecurity industry has been in the crosshairs once again due to the global Microsoft outage caused by CrowdStrike’s disastrous software update on July 19th. Coincidentally, just five days following the CrowdStrike issue, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a case involving another notable cybersecurity company, SolarWinds.

Jerald Dawkins is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for CISO Global and has founded and exited several cybersecurity companies, including True Digital Security and TokenEx, LLC, both based in Oklahoma. (True Digital Security was acquired by CISO Global in January 2022.) He currently holds three (3) patents in the cybersecurity field.

As we near the halfway point of 2024, it is apparent that the epidemic of extortionary cyber attacks will continue unabated into the foreseeable future. Now more than ever, I believe that until organizations adopt cultural approaches to cybersecurity, breaches will continue to wreak havoc on companies and industries. But why is this? There are far too many reasons to enumerate here, but in my experience the biggest factors are.

As we near the halfway point of 2024, it is apparent that the epidemic of extortionary cyber attacks will continue unabated into the foreseeable future. Now more than ever, I believe that until organizations adopt cultural approaches to cybersecurity, breaches will continue to wreak havoc on companies and industries.

In today’s digital age, organizations are often crippled by a cybersecurity environment that is fragmented and complex. The jumble of security data — from intrusion detection systems to vulnerability management platforms and more — scattered and isolated across various tools, hinders a unified approach to security.

Spring cleaning is no longer just about spotless windows and gleaming floors. In the digital age, businesses need to consider the clutter accumulating in their virtual filing cabinets too. A corporate digital spring cleaning can breathe new life into your organization’s online presence and data management practices.