In the first quarter of every year, organizations around the world release reports summing up data breach trends from the previous twelve months. And every year, these reports say broadly the same thing: data breach numbers have gone up again. This year is no different. Or is it?

Neobanks, which operate exclusively online without traditional physical branch networks, are facing an increasingly challenging landscape due to a significant rise in fraud cases. In recent years, financial institutions have reported a marked increase in fraudulent activities, with the average cost of fraud for institutions with assets over $5 billion rising by 65% from $2.3 million in 2022 to $3.8 million in 2023.

I started my career as a Counterintelligence Special Agent in the U.S. Army, quickly learning how to decode the complex signals of security threats. Next, I sharpened my skills in state law enforcement, investigating (and preventing) cybercrime by identifying and mitigating digital threats.

Regardless of the industry, the risks associated with data loss are significant. Financial services, healthcare, government, technology, and many other fields – all rely heavily on sensitive data. The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) reports that the number of data compromises in the United States hit a record high of 1,802 in 2022. This emphasizes the alarming increase in data security incidents.

It’s vital to have a common understanding and shared context for complex technical topics. The previously adopted perimeter model of security has become outdated and inadequate. Zero Trust (ZT) is the current security model being designed and deployed across the US federal government. It’s important to point out that ZT is not a security solution itself. Instead, it’s a security methodology and framework that assumes threats exist both inside and outside of an environment.

The number of endpoints in an organization often exceeds the number of employees. Managing these often disparate entities is more than a full-time job. Moreover, keeping them secure is equally difficult, yet securing all of your endpoints against cyber threats has become paramount for organizations worldwide. A common oversight that undermines these security efforts is the misconception about data volume versus the necessity for comprehensive data collection.

Companies engage with a managed detection and response (MDR) provider to help ensure they detect cyber threats before they do any damage. The "response" part of the MDR moniker is key to that effort, making it vital to determine up front exactly what your chosen provider will do when it detects a threat in your environment.

The telecommunications industry has undergone tremendous changes in recent years. From the days when consumers could only make and receive voice calls on a landline to the broadband internet era in which people use data and stream videos on the go, telecom networks constitute an important backbone of the national economy. Telecom networks have evolved from 3G to 4G and 5G technologies.

This is Part 7 in my ongoing project to cover 30 cybersecurity topics in 30 weekly blog posts. The full series can be found here. Far too many organizations place Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and Data Protection at the bottom of their priority list due to the perceived difficulty in its deployment. When there are in fact some easy approaches to getting started with protecting your data.

Welcome to the Threat Context Monthly blog series where we provide a comprehensive roundup of the most relevant cybersecurity news, and threat information from KrakenLabs, Outpost24’s cyber threat intelligence team.