LinkedIn scams are rampant. Know why? Scammers play on trust, which is why they love exploiting professional networks that have earned a trustworthy reputation. In a lot of ways, it’s the last place you’d expect. Unfortunately, given the incredibly high rates of LinkedIn scams, fake accounts, and more, it has become one of the first.One of the reasons these scams work is because there are still...

Many people don’t realize that scams are complicated events orchestrated by scammers, which often include myriad persuasive techniques and take advantage of our individual characteristics and circumstances.While each scam varies in complexity, they typically progress through three broad stages, each influenced by factors that either heighten or diminish our vulnerability to becoming victims. Dove ...

Pig butchering scams came onto the scene a few years ago and have been gaining momentum ever since. A unique take on an old classic, pig butchering is a typical investment scam with a romantic or relationship-based twist. The large sums of "invested" money are typically funneled into fake crypto apps where they are promptly lost. Those who have fallen victim to pig butchering scams have taken out...

"Sextortion" scams represent some of cybercriminals' most brazen attempts to extract money from unwitting victims. These extortion techniques rely on fear and shame to get targets to pay up. Similar to individualized ransomware attacks, if the party refuses to pay the demand, public exposure will follow.As these attacks target individuals rather than companies, it is important for all employees to...

Each day, it seems that we hear of another healthcare organization being compromised by a cyber attack. It is clear that the healthcare industry is the new favorite target amongst cybercriminals. Fortunately, vigorous efforts are available to combat these threats. We recently spoke to Errol Weiss, Chief Security Officer at Health-ISAC. Errol spearheads the information sharing and analysis center,...

Zero Trust maturity might be one of the least understood security buzzwords of our era. The term “Zero Trust” was originally coined over a decade ago and described the principle of not assigning digital trust to any entity, ever, for free. It represented a fundamental paradigm shift from the trust-happy early internet days to the threat-filled cyber landscape we now know.Since then, companies have...

Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux), initially known for its perceived complexity in configuration and maintenance, has evolved into an indispensable security architecture across most Linux distributions. It empowers administrators to finely control the actions permitted to individual users, processes, and system daemons, thereby bolstering defense against potential security breaches. Through the...

In early April this year, the UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) released its Cybersecurity Breaches Survey 2024. It provides a comprehensive overview of the UK's cybersecurity landscape, exploring the different cyberattacks and cybercrimes businesses, charities, and private sector educational instructions face, the...

The Rolling Stones wanted to protect their space; we, as security practitioners, need to protect ours. Data 'castles' in the cloud are out there, and they're constantly under siege. By drawing inspiration from a band that embodied personal freedom, we can draw some – okay, very stretched - parallels to modern cloud security. Nonetheless, they work....

According to the Verizon 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report, Basic Web Application Attacks accounted for nearly one-fourth of the entire breach data set. Although not the most sophisticated threats in the bunch, common web attacks like credential stuffing and SQL injection attacks continue to wreak havoc on the cybersecurity landscape, just like...

What is the greatest cyber risk in the world right now? Ransomware? Business Email Compromise? Maybe AI? Well, the last one is pretty close. According to the World Economic Forum, misinformation and disinformation are the most severe global risks of the next two years. In their Global Risks Report 2024, the WEF posited that the post-pandemic world...

Scammers are increasingly resourceful when coming up with scam techniques. But they often rely on long-standing persuasion techniques for the scam to work. So, you may hear about a new scam that uses a novel narrative, but there is a good chance that the scam relies on proven scam techniques once the narrative is stripped away. But first, what...

The security industry is at a critical juncture. Capturing the state of affairs is a recent report released by the International Information System Security Certification Consortium, or ISC2. “A perfect storm” As they state in their Executive Summary, “Our study shows that a perfect storm of economic uncertainty, rapidly emerging technologies,...

It’s the small vines, not the large branches, that trip us up in the forest. Apparently, it’s no different in Healthcare. In November, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a Mitigation Guide aimed at the Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) sector. In the midst of current hybrid cloud security challenges, hyper...

Boards of directors need to maintain an appropriate level of cyber expertise, incidents must be reported within 72 hours after determination, and all ransom payments made must be reported within a day. Those are just some of the changes made by The New York State Department of Financial Services to its Cybersecurity Requirements for Financial...

It's easy to rest on our laurels. Prevent a few breaches – or go long enough without one – and you start to feel invincible. While our efforts are certainly laudable, we can't get too comfortable. As defenders, we always need to be on the hunt for what we've missed and ways to do better. Here are ten common cybersecurity mistakes that crop up (and...

Fortra’s Core Security recently released its 2023 Pen Testing Report, and there’s plenty to see. In this year’s report, IT decision-makers can learn what their peers are saying about why they pen test, how often they pen test, and whether or not they’re pen testing in-house, among other topics. Each year, Core Security collects and produces some...

Hey, did you get that sketchy email? You know, the one from that malicious hacker always trying to fool us into clicking on some malware? Boy, these criminals are relentless. Wait, what? You clicked on it? Uh-oh... A hypothetical scenario, but one that plays out every day in organizations across the globe. The truth is that it is a very real...

If you’re looking for job security, look no further: The cybersecurity sector can keep you gainfully employed for a very, very long time. There are an ever-growing number of ways in which someone with cybersecurity prowess can contribute, and as digital assets continue to develop and diversify, it’s safe to say they’ll always be kept on their toes. ...

They say character isn’t gained in a crisis; it’s displayed in one. By the time the disaster hits, the time for preparation has passed. But what if you could go through that earth-shattering event beforehand so when the time came, you’d be ready? Well, in security, you can. And it's not called cheating – it's called Red Teaming. It’s done...