Insights blog.

The regulatory environment is evolving rapidly as national and international regulatory bodies attempt to keep pace with changing business models, technology infrastructure and continuously escalating cyberthreats. 

The nature of financial services necessitates global connections and vast third-party ecosystems, with connections to millions of users and devices. This makes financial services firms a favorite target for cyber criminals, accounting for a full 10% of global breaches in 2018. 

No one wants to talk about their failures, especially in the cybersecurity realm where the stakes are high. But new insight from Symantec and Goldsmiths, University of London, finds that security professionals who have lived through a cybersecurity attack or breach could be the answer to protecting your organization against future threats.

This post was originally published July 18, 2016 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Management consultants, accountants, public safety offices, marketing firms, and many more business and professional services organizations are high-value targets for cybercriminals due to the range of confidential client information they handle. Companies in this sector should all have solid security postures — and many do. But there’s still an alarming number of enterprises that do not.

2019 has been a year of high-profile attacks, and, as we predicted, it’s only getting worse. That’s certainly the case for Airbus.

Cyber attacks are occurring more frequently and banks, insurance companies, and other financial services firms are prime targets. Due to the nature of these businesses and the sensitivity of their data, financial firms are hit with approximately 300 times more cyber attacks than businesses in other industries.

A new report from the Information Security Forum (ISF) contains some fascinating insights into how hackers probe and exploit people's psychological vulnerabilities to gain access to corporate systems. From phishing to "whaling" (targeting high level executives) to "baiting" (offering something in return for credentials or information), hackers are using several tactics to gain a foothold. They also know the best time to deploy those tactics – at the end of the day, for example, when a person is tired and may not make the best decisions.

Technology companies — along with their partner ecosystems — are some of the most targeted organizations when it comes to cyber-attacks. In 2018, enterprises invested an average of 3.5 million on cloud apps, platforms, and services — making the sensitive information held in those platforms a top target for hackers.

The old adage “it’s hard to find good help these days” has never been more true than when talking about security management. The well-documented cybersecurity shortage is very real, and the long hours and pressure experienced by those who are in charge of security performance management is causing stress and burnout. 

Healthcare is under attack. Hospitals, doctors’ networks, insurance companies, and others are prime targets for hackers due to the valuable protected health information (PHI) they store and the vital role they play in our nation’s critical infrastructure. 

Cyberattacks have increased significantly in recent years, bringing vital conversations about cybersecurity into the Boardroom. As Board oversight of cybersecurity has increased, Board members — even those without technical expertise — have had to become rapidly acquainted with IT risk and security concepts. In the past few years, frameworks and best practices have emerged to help these Boards get a grip on their organization’s cybersecurity posture.

In a new Forrester study commissioned by Bitsight, “Better Security And Business Outcomes With Security Performance Management”, key findings implicate the strong need for businesses worldwide to invest in a robust security performance management program. In fact, results from this study showed that companies using formal security metrics are more likely to have seen a 10% or greater increase in their security budget in the last year. Ultimately, this investment allows organizations to leverage this information to win business.

As the fallout from the Capital One data breach continues, new lessons are being learned. Although technical failings were at the heart of the breach, a recent article in the The Wall Street Journal points to a series of overlooked issues that produced perfect storm conditions for the attack.

This post was originally published October 31, 2016 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness