One of the best ways to stay up to date on how mobile devices affect your organization's security is by reading the Mobile Security Index (MSI) by Verizon. Lookout is a long-time contributor to the report, including the 2022 edition that was just published. This year’s MSI is especially interesting, as it dives deeper into the interconnectivity that now exists between endpoint devices and cloud applications.
Higher education institutions have long been subjected to ransomware and other cyber attacks, which has had a huge impact on their operations. In 2020 alone, ransomware attacks affected nearly 1,700 U.S. schools, colleges and universities – which is an increase of 100% over the previous year. The average cost of these attacks were $2.73 million in downtime, repairs and lost opportunities.
Cyberattacks targeting university and government healthcare facilities are on the rise. In the first four months of 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center tracked a total of 82 ransomware incidents targeting the healthcare sector, with nearly 60% of them affecting the U.S. market. The impact has been devastating.
On the latest episode of the Security Soapbox podcast, I spoke with Ramy Houssaini, Chief Cyber and Technology Risk Officer at BNP Paribas, about the challenges Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) face in an increasingly complex digital landscape. Change happens quickly in the cloud, and many organizations are faced with the issue of evolving their security strategy at the same pace. This ends up leaving sensitive apps and data vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Here at Lookout we have a long tradition of supporting the cybersecurity requirements of all levels of government in the U.S. This is why I’m thrilled to announce that we have received a Level 2 certification, the highest tier of authorization, from the Texas Risk and Authorization Management Program (TX-RAMP).
Apple recently announced a new feature in its upcoming iOS and iPadOS called Lockdown Mode. The aim is to protect users such as corporate executives, government officials, journalists, activists and other users that are likely targets of sophisticated surveillanceware. The goal of Lockdown Mode is to restrict certain device capabilities that spyware has exploited in the past in order to reduce the attack surface on Apple devices.
Lookout and VMware recently announced the debut of Workspace ONE Mobile Threat Defense (MTD), a new mobile security solution incorporating Lookout mobile protection technologies. Through this partnership with VMware, Lookout Mobile Endpoint Security is built in and can be activated seamlessly within Workspace ONE. This new solution is an extension of past integrations of Lookout with the Workspace ONE Trust Network.
Lookout Threat Lab researchers have uncovered enterprise-grade Android surveillanceware used by the government of Kazakhstan within its borders. While we’ve been following this threat for a while using Lookout Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) these latest samples were detected in April 2022, four months after nation-wide protests against government policies were violently suppressed.
Recently, Atlassian issued a major security notice to all of its users about a critical vulnerability, identified as CVE-2022-26134, in its widely-used Confluence Server solution. The vulnerability would allow an unauthenticated malicious actor to execute arbitrary code on a Confluence Server or Data Center instance that could grant an attacker full command of the vulnerable server.
It’s hard to think about personal digital safety and enterprise cybersecurity without referencing passwords. This is why I’m excited that Lookout has acquired SaferPass, an innovative Password Management company that provides secure online identity solutions for both consumers and businesses of all sizes. With the rise in identity theft and threats that seek to compromise corporate applications and emails, passwords offer a critical line of defense.
