Most large-scale entities need to prove compliance with multiple regulatory standards. In their efforts to meet their compliance mandates, organizations could suffer a major drain on their time and resources. This possibility holds true regardless of whether they’re finance companies, retailers, manufacturers or hospitality firms. Organizations face an additional obstacle when they have an internally created compliance standard that demands enforcement.

Data privacy has been a hot topic in the tech world for years now. With every new technology come new regulations that require companies to completely re-examine the way they handle private data. Most companies already have a basic data privacy policy they constructed alongside lawyers and tech experts to avoid facing serious fines and penalties. However, compliance isn’t just about focusing on current regulations and meeting the bare minimum requirement to avoid legal consequences.

There’s a common misconception that cloud providers handle security, a relic leftover from hosting providers of previous decades. The truth is, cloud providers use a shared responsibility model, leaving a lot of security up to the customer. Stories of AWS compromise are widespread, with attackers often costing organizations many thousands of dollars in damages.

If I were to ask you why you scanned for compliance at your company, I’d bet you’d tell me it was to help you pass requirements easier, to ensure that your audits are good on the first pass and so that you could troubleshoot technical issues with another process. You didn’t know about that last one? Wait, are you telling me you don’t know about the hidden benefits of compliance that you’re getting? Let’s talk.

Getting teams to improve security can be hard work, but it’s an important job that organisations must take seriously to protect an increasingly risky world. For this post, I wanted to explore some ways that an organisation or individual might start building a new security “habit” so that, in time, acting securely becomes automatic.

Now that the ongoing worldwide trend toward “going digital” has been accelerated by COVID-19, taking extra precautions to protect your organization’s data, communications and information assets is more important than ever. Of course, there are many traditional and emerging ways to protect and secure your business.

In December 2020, the world discovered that the SolarWinds’ Orion Platform had been compromised by cybercriminals, potentially affecting thousands of businesses the world over. Security groups such as the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) provided advice and guidance to security teams and IT companies on what actions they should take to minimize the impact on them and their customers.

REvil is an ambitious criminal ransomware-as-a-service (RAAS) enterprise that first came to prominence in April 2019, following the demise of another ransomware gang GandCrab. The REvil group is also known sometimes by other names such as Sodin and Sodinokibi. REvil has gained a reputation for attempting to extort far larger payments from its corporate victims than that typically seen in other attacks.

Imagine an arc. Not just any arc. A rainbow. When we think of a rainbow, it conjures impressions of color, inspiration and even supernatural characteristics. Does your cybersecurity program long for a magical pot of gold at the end of a rainbow? With all the moving parts of cybersecurity, sometimes it seems like we are merely chasing rainbows. However, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Whilst employment has taken a downward curve over the last year or so, there are a variety of approaches I use when applying for a role to help my CV stand out. One key point is knowing what the job entails before submitting my cover letter and CV. This allows me to tailor my message effectively. Additionally, it enables me to find positions that I might not have originally considered. One position I think more people should be aware of is a CISO.