As much as we can say that cyber security measures are advancing, we can say the same about cyber criminals and their strategies. In 2022, ransomware attacks occurred every 11 seconds on average, at a global annual cost to businesses and governments of $20 billion US. Costs are rising in part due to the growing ransoms demanded from victims. While estimates of the average ransomware payout in...

In the age of robots and artificial intelligence comes another player in the AI market: ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer). Since its release, cyber security professionals have unlocked various opportunities with its features. Namely, it can answer prompts, write codes on demand, detect phishing emails, and crack passwords. In a nutshell, ChatGPT can be an invaluable tool for security...

Biometric authentication, such as face IDs, retina scans, and fingerprints, were introduced to our devices to increase security. At first, it felt like it was doing what it was meant to do. Plus, the convenience it brought with it was top-notch. I mean, accessing your smartphone with your thumb? Logging into your bank account using your face ID? Amazing. However, over the past few years,...

KrebsOnSecurity blog recently reported on a popular, low-cost Common Access Card (CAC) reader available on Amazon that came with drivers infected by malware. A compromised smart ID card reader can bring severe consequences to both government and private organizations. It gives hackers an easy backdoor means of infiltrating networks and systems, which can leave sensitive information vulnerable...

Not only are they burning through cash as they pivot toward the metaverse, but their struggles with data privacy are an ongoing issue. In many ways, Facebook/Meta’s data privacy troubles began in 2018, with revelations that a data-marketing firm had illegally collected the personal details of more than 80 million Facebook users. However, despite promises of improvements and changes in corporate...

This financial sector’s reliance on computer systems and network has made it an attractive target for cyber attacks, now the biggest risk to the UK financial system. In its latest Financial Stability Report, the Bank of England (BoE) agrees that cyber threats may be prevalent in 2023. The BoE said that it is working to strengthen defenses against cyber attacks. The report identified three...

The way we think about data protection is changing. Cyber culture is emerging as the new norm, and organizations must adapt their strategies to stay ahead of the curve. Data protection has traditionally focused on preventing breaches and protecting sensitive information. However, cyber culture goes beyond this by encompassing all aspects of online life. It includes everything from how we interact...

If you’re a company that uses email scanning technology as the first line of cyber defense, you should know about a recent slate of malicious Word document-based attacks. These attacks are designed to deliver malware and ransomware to targeted systems. Security researchers at Cisco Talos recently identified an attack where Word document files attached to emails were used to deliver Cobalt Strike...

There is a sharp rise in cyber attacks targeting businesses and organizations across Australia. The nature of these attacks ranges from ransomware and phishing scams to distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, with some estimates suggesting that the number of cyber incidents could be as high as one million per year. The financial cost of these cyber attacks is immense, with businesses and...

Did you know that gift card scams are among the most popular cyber threats? The same things that make gift cards popular with consumers—convenience and ease of use—also make them attractive to scammers as a vehicle for fraud. Gift cards, also known as gift certificates or vouchers, have topped the list of reported fraud payment methods every year since 2018, according to the Federal Trade...

On November 1st, 2022, Dropbox became the victim of a cyber attack where source code repositories, as well as names and emails of their employees, were unauthorizedly accessed. It is not yet clear how the unauthorized access took place, but Dropbox has said that they are investigating the matter. The company is urging all users to change their passwords as a precautionary measure. This breach...

During the annual eCommerce bonanza known as Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, shopping websites will be swarming with people who are mostly unaware of cyber threats that can leave personal data vulnerable. In 2021, Europe, Canada, and the United States saw a 50% spike in transactions during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday window from the previous week. With the imminent spike in online...

With an ever-increasing threat complexity across the cyber threat landscape, Cyber Security Awareness Month (CSAM) provides an opportunity to reflect on how enterprises can enhance their defenses and educate employees on cyber security best practices. Few areas are as important to focus on as security awareness. As part of the 2021 Gone Phishing Tournament, launched during CSAM, Terranova...

On September 15, the Hive ransomware group claimed to have launched an attack against Bell Technology Solutions on August 20, 2022. The compromised information contained approximately 1.9 million active email addresses, 1,700 names, and active phone numbers. Bell Technology Solutions is a subsidiary of Bell Canada, a leading communications company and communications provider for over 140 years....

The secret of any good security awareness training program is teaching your employees how to mitigate the threats they’re most likely to encounter in the workplace. To do this, you need to choose your security awareness training topics carefully. No two organizations have the same infrastructure, vulnerabilities, or user access policies to sensitive data, so there’s no one-size-fits-all training...

Whether deployed as a cloud service or on-premises, email security—and especially email security gateways—is of growing importance to organizations of all sizes, particularly given the upheavals to the working world over the last several years. It is estimated that in the post-pandemic world, one quarter of the workforce will choose to permanently work remote. In some sectors, such as technology...

None of the innovations seen in workplaces over the years posed challenges as significant as remote work. Even before hybrid workforces were the norm, many companies worldwide found themselves consolidated in large multinationals with employees all over the globe. The leading problem companies face, no matter the industry, is giving all their employees the same working experience, regardless of...

When it comes to cyber crime, hackers like to locate the most high-value targets, whether it’s a piece of infrastructure or an individual with access to privileged information, all while expending the least effort possible. In most examples of spear phishing attacks, a criminal will send out targeted attacks via email to multiple users. In these emails, the attacker will use high-pressure...

Spoofing refers to an attack where hackers use various ways to disguise their identity so that their victims think they are talking to their coworker, boss, or business. The methods used to achieve this are the typical phishing tropes such as fake websites, links, and social engineering. When spoofing is involved, it’s often more helpful to focus on detecting the facade rather than looking at the...