Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

AI isn’t some far-off sci-fi concept anymore. It’s here, and it’s coming to a bank near you! Listen to the latest from Tigran Safari and Chris Clements on this month’s Banking Podcast from The Kafafian Group.

It is more important than ever to keep your info safe. Malware, ransomware, and cybercriminals who target cloud-based assets are always a danger to businesses because more and more sensitive data is being stored in the cloud. Cybersecurity Ventures recently released a report that says the costs of cybercrime will hit $10.5 trillion per year by 2025. Data breaches and cloud vulnerabilities will be the main causes of this.

Recently, a critical API vulnerability in FortiManager (CVE-2024-47575) was disclosed. Certain threat actors exploited it in the wild to steal sensitive information containing configurations, IP addresses, and credentials used by managed devices. In advanced notification emails, Fortinet warned its users of the vulnerability and mitigation steps. The vulnerability has a critical severity rating of 9.8 out of 10.

Compromised secrets, such as leaked API and SSH keys, credentials, and session tokens, are the leading cause of cloud security incidents. While attackers can directly compromise secrets through methods like phishing, they can also gain control by finding and taking advantage of simple misconfigurations in your environment.

As organizations adopt more modern application strategies, APIs are increasingly important for enabling seamless communication and data exchange. However, this interconnectedness also introduces more significant security risks. APIs are gateways to sensitive information, making them prime targets for attackers. This can result in data breaches, business disruptions, and reputational damage.

Before the introduction of static code analysis tools, securing mobile applications often felt like playing catch-up. Development teams would spend months building features, only to discover critical vulnerabilities late in the release cycle. This last-minute scramble to fix security issues delayed product launches and stretched resources thin—adding more pressure on developers and security teams.

93% of last year’s data breaches began with compromised credentials. Before the cloud, security perimeters were defined by physical walls and network boundaries, but in the cloud, that perimeter has all but dissolved. Consider what happened in November 2023, when a cloud observability vendor found evidence of unauthorized access to its staging environment — an environment that housed customer data and PII.

The growing reliance on generative AI is transforming industries across the globe. From automating tasks to improving decision-making, the potential of these systems is vast. However, with this progress comes significant risks. Generative AI can be unpredictable, creating new vulnerabilities that expose organizations to data privacy breaches, compliance failures, and other security issues. So, how can companies harness the power of AI while ensuring they remain protected?