Cybersecurity Expert

Written by Katie Barnett, Director of Cyber Security at Toro Solutions Insider risk is still often framed around intent, with the focus placed on malicious employees, disgruntled contractors, or deliberate misuse of access for personal gain. Those cases exist and they matter, but they are rarely where risk first begins, and they do not reflect how most insider-related incidents actually develop. In reality, many cases take shape slowly and quietly. They are shaped by pressure, fatigue, disengagement, coercion, manipulation or personal strain rather than hostility. The behaviour that later causes harm is often preceded by long periods of stress, isolation, being influenced or unresolved workplace issues. By the time someone is formally labelled an insider threat,the opportunity for early, proportionate support has usually passed, and the organisation is left with far fewer options. This is why treating insider risk purely as a disciplinary or compliance issue consistently falls short. ...

Article by  Beau Peters When the pandemic struck, online bad actors took it as an opportunity to double-down on their attacks through ransomware, malware, and social engineering. Newly remote workers and remotely connected workplaces had to adapt rapidly to a greater digital threat as well as a public health crisis. Now, cybersecurity may just be the most important aspect of financial technology (fintech) in the modern world. With 2020 being the worst year on record in terms of files exposed in data breaches , a thorough security approach is necessary to combat modern dangers. Fintech relies on cybersafety more than any other digital platform. Luckily, new tech trends could help keep our financial data safe even with an increase in risk. Here’s what you should know.  The Rising Risks The widespread shift to a work-from-home (WFH) economy left countless networks vulnerable to cyber attacks. Hastily implemented cloud data processes and security needs failing to keep pace with te...

Article by Dennis Okpara, Chief Security Architect & DPO at IDEE GmbH Yes, there is hope for 2021, but the challenges of the “New Normal” are here to stay. CISOs have to prepare and start acting now, because cybersecurity and the IT-infrastructure will have to face threats that have only just started. The year 2020 was the year working from home lost its oddity status and became normality. Big names like Google and Twitter are planning long-term and hold out the prospect of working from home on a permanent basis. More than 60 percent of companies are trying the same and have implemented home office policies in 2020. But with great flexibility comes great responsibility: Everyone responsible for Cybersecurity and a secure IT infrastructure is now dealing with new challenges closing the last gaps and weak points when it comes to allowing access to company resources. Dennis Okpara, Chief Security Architect & DPO at IDEE GmbH, the specialist for secure identity access managemen...

In recent years political motivated cyber-attacks during elections has become an expected norm, so it was no real surprise when the  Labour Party reported it was hit with two DDoS cyber-attacks in the run up to the UK general election, which was well publicised by the media. However, what wasn't well publicised was both the Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats Party were also hit with cyber attacks. These weren't nation-state orchestrated cyberattacks either, black hat hacking group Lizard Squad, well known for their high profile DDoS attacks, are believed to be the culprits. The launch of Disney Plus didn’t go exactly to plan, without hours of the streaming service going live, compromised Disney Plus user accounts credentials were being sold on the black market for as little as £2.30 a pop . Disney suggested hackers had obtained customer credentials from previously leaked identical credentials, as used by their customers on other compromised or insecure websites, and ...

Article by Andrea Babbs, UK General Manager, VIPRE SafeSend Cybercrime has rapidly become the world’s fastest growing form of criminal activity, and is showing no sign of slowing down with the number of attacks on businesses rising by more than 50% in the last year alone. While most corporates have made significant efforts to invest in cybersecurity defences to protect their organisations from the outside threat of cybercrime, few have addressed the risk of breaches that stem from the inside in the same way. Insider threats can come from accidental error, such as an employee mistakenly sending a sensitive document to the wrong contact, or from negligence such as an employee downloading unauthorised software that results in a virus spreading through the company’s systems. We’re all guilty of accidentally hitting send on an email to the wrong person, or attaching the wrong document; but current levels of complacency around email security culture are becoming an ever greater threat. F...

Guest article by Dan Baker  of  SecureTeam Majority of security systems are installed to try and forestall any external threats to a business’ network, but what about the security threats that are inside your organisation and your network? Data breaches have the potential to expose a large amount of sensitive, private or confidential information that might be on your network. Insider threats are a significant threat to your business and are increasingly being seen as an issue that needs dealing with. SecureTeam are experts in cybersecurity and provide a variety of cybersecurity consultation solutions to a range of businesses. They have used their extensive knowledge of internal network security to write this handy guide to help businesses protect themselves from insider data breaches. Who is considered an Insider Threat? Insider threats can come from a variety of different sources and can pose a risk to your business that you might not have considered. Malicious Insi...

A new report  released by Deep Secure revealed 45% of office workers surveyed would sell their company's corporate information. Just £1,000 would be enough to tempt 25% of employees to give away company information, while 5% would give it away for free. 59% of staff admitted at some point to have taken company information from a corporate network or devices, which matches up to known industry trends.  What is the Price of Loyalty?   Common Staff Data Exfiltration Tactics Digital; email, uploading to cloud services and copying to external storage (11%) Using steganography or encryption tools to hide exfiltration (8%) Printing information (11%) Handwriting copying information (9%) Photographing information (8%) Type of Information Taken Personal Work (19%) Customer Information i.e. contact details, confidential market information, sales pipeline  (11%) Company Assets i.e. passwords to subscription services, company benefits (7%) The Mot...