The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) just finalized new draft guidelines, completely reversing previous password security recommendations and upending many of the standards and best practices security professionals use when forming policies for their companies.
Back to School Means More Cyber Concerns
Cyberattacks continue to rise, threatening the educational sector As the 2022-2023 school year looms, so do ongoing cyber threats directly targeting schools, universities and school district administrations. In 2021, there were an average of over 1500 attacks on education and research organization per week and these numbers are expected to continue to rise through 2022. The educational sector is massive …
How Stolen Credentials and Ransomware are a Simultaneous Threat
Defending from Both Directions Over the past decade, the cyber landscape has evolved rapidly. But as Mike Wilson points out for Forbes, with every positive change or technological advancement comes several layers of cyber threat, as criminals continue to seek out weaknesses wherever they can. Each year the Verizon DBIR provides an overall update on current threat trends and provides insight into who …
Password Tips for Your Employees
Six Quick Actions You Can Bring To Your Next Meeting While IT managers and team leaders work on password policies and security defenses behind the scenes, it’s also important to be able to provide employees with user-friendly practices to enhance cyber security. Keeping password safety a common conversational topic that can help folks make good choices with their daily habits, …
Bolstering AD Password Policies
Presets Aren’t Enough Let’s keep things real: passwords aren’t going anywhere. And with continued—and increasing—ransomware attacks and data breaches popping up everywhere, an organization’s password policies are crucial to its digital security stance. According to the 2022 Verizon DBIR, a majority of attacks originate from a single entry point: compromised credentials. Since so many organizations use Active Directory (AD) as …
How Weak Passwords Lead to Ransomware Attacks
Ransomware is a specific type of malicious software (aka malware) that locks up your devices or an organization’s data in order to ransom that access back to you – sometimes to the tune of millions of dollars. Computers lock up, data disappears, or files become encrypted with no way to recover them. The hacker will then contact their victim to …
Three Tips to Combat Cyber-threats in the Financial Industry
No firm in the financial industry has been unaffected by digital transformation. Even over the last three years of tech advancements and a global pandemic, there have been seismic shifts in the landscape. There have been huge advancements in improving efficiency and the quality of customer service, as well as beneficial internal changes like the adoption of cloud technologies. But, …
Remote Work and IoT Devices Create At-Home Vulnerabilities
An Unsafe Connection While forced remote work was caused in great part by pandemic-driven lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, working from home has become a much-preferred style for many. Reduced commutes and more comfortable work environments are just two of the reasons working from home (WFH) is a desirable situation. In fact, according to recent Pew Research, 76% of employees …
Back to Basics: IDSA Trends in 2022 are all about Preventable Cyber Incidents
IDSA report reveals that 96% of respondents think they could have prevented a breach by focusing on identity security The Identity Defined Security Alliance (IDSA), a nonprofit that helps organizations reduce risk by providing education and best practices, just released a report on current trends in the state of identity management. The research provides insight on how over 500 contemporary …
Active Directory is an Active Vulnerability
Many organizations that use Active Directory (AD) are failing to bolster their security postures Microsoft AD has been around for almost a quarter century, and while many organizations across industries use it, few have adapted to the demand for greater security postures. Despite the fact that approximately 90% of the Global Fortune 1000 companies use AD, only about a quarter consider security …
The Biggest Takeaway from the 2022 Verizon DBIR
The annual Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) contains several useful security insights. Reflecting on another year where cybersecurity attacks have frequently starred in news headlines, the 2022 DBIR confirms a lot of what professionals already know: cyber attacks continue to increase in frequency, and organizations of all sizes need to bolster their defensive postures in order to stay safe. …