What is HellCat?HellCat is the name of a relatively new ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) group that first came to prominence in the second half of 2024. Like many other ransomware operations, HellCat breaks into organisations, steals sensitive files, and encrypts computer systems - demanding a ransom payment for a decryption key and to prevent the leaking of stolen files.So it's your typical "double...

Over the past few years, many countries have made considerable efforts to bolster cybersecurity preparedness. These efforts are understandable when put into a geopolitical context: global relationships in the past five years have been among the most tumultuous in decades, cybersecurity threats are more sophisticated than ever, and the world is increasingly reliant on digital technologies.However,...

Federal Desktop Core Configuration (FDCC) was mandated by the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in 2007 and provides a set of security standards that must be adhered to by all federal workstations and laptops running Windows XP or Vista.FDCC evolved into the United States Government Configuration Baseline (USGCB) starting in 2010, although some agencies and contracts may still be under...

What is the VanHelsing ransomware?First reported earlier in March 2025, VanHelsing is a new ransomware-as-a-service operation.Oh, so it's a relatively new player on the malware scene, then. Why the concern?At least three victims of VanHelsing have already been identitified, and a number of variants of the malware have been analysed by security researchers. The fact that VanHelsing runs as a RaaS...

The terms “patch management” and “vulnerability management“ are not the same. And that difference is a big difference.They may be confused because applying patches is one of the many ways to mitigate cyber risks. However, it is one piece of the entire vulnerability management puzzle and organizations that do not realize this are burdened with a false sense of security. A patch management program...

Protecting individual privacy is paramount, given the proliferation of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and other sensitive data collected by enterprises across all industries. One way to protect sensitive data is through PII masking e.g., consistently changing names or including only the last four digits of a credit card or Social Security Number.What is data masking?Data masking...

It is a significant benefit that the world is connected the way it is, with the potential for even greater interconnectivity. However, this has come at huge costs, too, considering the rise in the direct involvement of state actors engaged in cyber warfare. Against this background, nations have a more acute awareness of digital vulnerabilities, which has radiated into regulatory frameworks...

Protecting sensitive patient information is more critical than ever. With technologies evolving at a breakneck pace and the number of cyber threats targeting healthcare entities in the United States skyrocketing, healthcare organizations must have robust policies and guardrails in place to ensure patients' confidential information doesn't fall into the wrong hands.One of the essential frameworks...

IntroductionIn a report published by Statista, cybercrime cost the world over $9 trillion in 2024 and is predicted to rise to nearly $14 trillion by 2028. These figures are a deep source of worry for governments and private businesses about what’s next in the cyber threat landscape.The problem is that cyber threats are rising in both volume and scale. More so, the major threats are directed at...

If your website is targeting multiple states or countries, by default, you face a double-pronged challenge: adapting to regional regulatory demands while defending against sophisticated cyber threats. Tackling this requires localization. But what does the term actually entail?Localization isn’t just about tailoring products, services, and infrastructure to meet local market requirements; it has...

Critical infrastructure organizations bear an enormous responsibility. The assets, systems, and networks they manage are crucial to the functioning of a healthy society. They provide water, energy, transportation, healthcare, telecommunications, and more—should they fail, they would bring entire countries to their knees.The vast importance of Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) makes it a prime...

A critical aspect of manufacturing, energy, and transportation is Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and Operational Technologies (OT). The rapid pace of digital growth makes these systems susceptible to cyberattacks.OT and ICS system security is important, making penetration testing an essential activity. This tactic makes it possible to mitigate weaknesses so they are no longer vulnerabilities. It...

Tripwire's February 2025 Patch Priority Index (PPI) brings together important vulnerabilities for Microsoft.Up first on the list are patches for Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) that resolve 4 remote code execution and 2 spoofing vulnerabilities.Next on the list are patches for Microsoft Office and Excel. These patches resolve 8 issues such as remote code execution and information disclosure...

Abu Dhabi is boosting its healthcare system with the introduction of the Abu Dhabi Healthcare Information and Cyber Security Standard (ADHICS). This initiative, driven by the Department of Health—Abu Dhabi (DoH)—has been put in place to protect sensitive healthcare data, improve cybersecurity resilience, and keep healthcare services running smoothly.At a time when cyber threats are skyrocketing in...

The evolution of the cyber threat landscape highlights the need for organizations to strengthen their ability to identify, analyze, and evaluate cyber risks before they evolve into security incidents. Criminals often exploit known unpatched vulnerabilities to penetrate Industrial Control Systems (ICS) environments and disrupt critical operations. Although patch management seems like the obvious...

Many organizations have a vulnerability management (VM) problem without knowing it. Vulnerability management is a crucial component of any organization’s cybersecurity program and is required by most major compliance standards because of its sink-or-swim impact on network security. One of the biggest issues in VM is that organizations aren’t testing the entirety of their networks. Could yours be...

The latest version of the CIS Controls was released in June 2024. The new version, 8.1, introduces some minor updates via design principles.ContextNew asset classes are updated to better match the specific parts of an enterprise’s infrastructure that each Safeguard applies to. New classes require new definitions, so CIS has also enhanced the descriptions of several Safeguards for greater detail,...

The original NIS Directive came into force in 2016 as the EU’s first comprehensive law governing cybersecurity in member states. As part of its key policy objective to make Europe “fit for the digital age,” the European Commission proposed in December 2020 that NIS be revised, and NIS2 entered into force in January of 2023. Member states were required to transpose it into law by October 17, 2024...