Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

Smart devices entered the market with bold promises of unmatched convenience, control, and functionality. With the popularity of smart homes on the rise, there's no denying that this tech is here to stay. And why wouldn't it be? These devices are undoubtedly convenient to use and offer legitimately practical features like voice activation, remote control, and monitoring.

Security operations centers (SOCs) have been drowning in a sea of alerts, raw logs, and siloed data for quite sometime now. A study by Morning Consult and IBM showed that 63% of alerts handled by SOCs daily are false positives or low priority, and analysts spend one-third of their day investigating these alerts. Yet, the information needed to detect, investigate, and respond to threats is often already present, just fragmented and buried. This is where AI steps in to rewrite the rules of engagement.

Top tips is a weekly column where we highlight what’s trending in the tech world today and list ways to explore these trends. This week, we’re exploring how passwordless authentication is becoming the new standard for secure, seamless access. For decades, passwords have been the cornerstone of digital authentication. But in today's cyberthreat landscape, this is no longer enough.

DNS is often referred to as the internet’s phonebook, translating human-readable domain names into IP addresses. But this essential service also makes DNS a prime target for cyberattackers. With the increasing volume and sophistication of DNS-based threats, including DNS spoofing, cache poisoning, and DDoS attacks, it’s crucial to understand the risks involved.

Imagine handing over your house keys to someone who looked trustworthy - only to discover later they were an impostor. Everything that entered or left your home was compromised, and you never saw it coming. That’s what happens in your network when ARP spoofing strikes. The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) helps devices find each other on a local network by matching IP addresses to MAC addresses.

Every new term comes with its own flavor of IT madness, whether you're managing 500 students or 50,000. From last-minute enrollment surges and forgotten passwords to stale accounts that should've been deprovisioned months ago, IT teams in schools, colleges, and universities know the drill. And yet, many educational institutions are still relying on manual provisioning, PowerShell scripts, and spreadsheets to get through it. If you’re nodding along, this is your cue to start automating.

In today’s hybrid networks, an IP address is more than a connection point—it’s a digital identity. But for most admins, that identity is still surface-deep. Traditionally, IPAM tools show you which IP addresses are in use, who’s using them, and what vendor the device belongs to. But they don’t tell you whether that device is secure. That changes now. What if every IP handed out by your DHCP server revealed not just what the device is—but how vulnerable it might be?

As a network admin, balancing optimized configurations with compliance requirements often feels like managing competing priorities. With networks growing more complex every day, achieving and sustaining compliance with the Center for Internet Security (CIS) Benchmarks can feel like a constant uphill battle. However, it doesn't have to be an overwhelming burden. The CIS Benchmarks offer practical, best practice guidelines for securing devices, systems, and applications against evolving threats.

"The US healthcare system is broken" is not an uncommon phrase. With no universal healthcare coverage, administrative inefficiencies, and an under-resourced primary care system, it's so bad that falling ill could very well bankrupt a citizen.

Top tips is a weekly column where we highlight what’s trending in the tech world and list ways to explore these trends. This week, we focus on how businesses can turn dark web alerts into their first line of defense against emerging cyberthreats. After hearing about a burglary in your neighborhood, you might install a security camera. You double-check your house locks when you hear about thefts nearby.