The Evolving Need for PCI DSS Compliance. The current COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically accelerated a trend that was already on the rise — a move toward many new forms of electronic payment that involve capturing and transmitting credit card data. Businesses have moved online-only transactions during this crisis, and many consumers don’t want to handle… Read More
Cybercriminals have been taking advantage of the coronavirus outbreak to target people with phishing scams and malware in the guise of information relevant to the disease. These attacks typically take the form of malicious apps, phishing emails, and phony websites. In addition, the US government has been offering stimulus payments, presenting another area ripe for… Read More
The need for a business continuity plan is becoming more critical as businesses adjust to disruptions caused by the coronavirus. A virus in and of itself can’t shut your company’s systems, operations, or services down, but it can impact how a business functions. It’s not often that businesses face a pandemic. Still, natural disasters, human-made… Read More
COVID-19 or the Coronavirus is changing life as we know it. From simple handshakes to finding toilet paper, life has changed tremendously over the past several weeks. One area that is significantly impacted is the rise of remote workers. Companies in every industry are mandating that employees work from their home offices. This sudden shift… Read More
Real-world viruses and their online counterparts COVID-19 or the Coronavirus is changing life as we know it. From simple handshakes to finding toilet paper, life has changed tremendously over the past several weeks. Not only is this virus a physical threat, but it is also a threat to cybersecurity. Different scams, phishing emails, fake news,… Read More
Secure Mobile Device Deployments As we all know, mobile devices have become not only an integral part of the workplace, but also in society. Therefore, the safe deployment of these devices is of paramount importance not just for individuals, but businesses and corporations, government agencies, as well as other entities. For example: Mobile devices have… Read More
The sobering statistics of SMB cybersecurity. In 2020, the Cyber attacker is not going to be going after the quantity of hacks, but rather, for the “quality” of attacks. In other words, they simply won’t launch a specific threat vector en masse, but instead, they will pick a very select number of victims. From there,… Read More
Dark data doesn’t just cost organizations money; it also damages their cybersecurity and compliance postures Server rooms filled with digital files may look neater than the paper file rooms of old, but they’re not necessarily more organized, and “dark data” lurks around every corner. Sixty percent of respondents to a survey by big data software… Read More
A new Ponemon report on SMB cyber security reveals the top challenges and threats facing global small and medium-sized businesses If you think your company is too small to be hacked, think again. According to a new report on SMB cyber security by the Ponemon Institute and Keeper Security, 66% of small and medium-sized businesses… Read More
If you think your company is too small to be hacked, think again. According to a new report on SMB cybersecurity by the Ponemon Institute and Keeper Security, 66% of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) around the world experienced a cyberattack in the past year. In the U.S., the situation is particularly dire, with 76%… Read More
The NIST Privacy Framework will complement the popular NIST CSF Data privacy and cyber security have a symbiotic and sometimes conflicting relationship. Without robust cyber security, it is impossible to ensure data privacy, as evidenced by the Equifax hack. However, it’s fully possible for an organization to seriously violate users’ data privacy despite practicing robust… Read More
Server rooms filled with digital files may look neater than the paper file rooms of old, but they’re not necessarily more organized, and “dark data” lurks around every corner. Sixty percent of respondents to a survey by big data software vendor Splunk admitted that more than half of their organizations’ data is dark, and one-third… Read More
A robust cyber incident response plan will minimize both damages and recovery time and ensure business continuity. Proactive measures to defend against data breaches, malware, social engineering, and other cyberattacks are crucial to enterprise cybersecurity, but there’s no such thing as a completely impenetrable system. Despite your best efforts, your company could still be hacked;… Read More
From refrigerators and doorbells to insulin pumps and heart monitors, a growing number of devices are being connected to wireless networks. IoT devices offer a world of convenience and benefits, from a homeowner being able to monitor their property while at work to a doctor being able to monitor a patient’s response to a treatment… Read More
Insurers operating in multiple states must comply with a patchwork of state-level legislation patterned after the NAIC’s Insurance Data Security Model Law In 2017, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) developed the Insurance Data Security Model Law in response to a growing number of cyber incidents within the insurance industry. Similar to the NIST… Read More
The California Consumer Privacy Act represents a significant milestone for consumer data privacy in the U.S. Tired of the federal government dragging its feet on consumer data privacy legislation, states have started to take matters into their own hands. The biggest example is the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which takes effect on January 1,… Read More
The DoD unveiled its proposed Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) to prevent supply chain attacks Cyberattacks on the U.S. government’s vast network of contractors and subcontractors pose a serious threat to national security, and the DoD is taking action. The agency tasked NIST with developing a set of guidelines addressing advanced persistent threats against contractors… Read More
IT Compliance and Cyber Security: Understanding the Differences IT compliance and cyber security are often used interchangeably, even within the cyber security and compliance fields. This is the basis for the completely incorrect and dangerous notion that achieving compliance automatically equals being secure. While there is some overlap, and the two fields complement each other,… Read More
NIST proposes a Secure Software Development Framework to address software supply chain attacks Applying software updates and patches as soon as possible is a cyber security best practice, but what if an update contains malicious code inserted by a hacker? Software supply chain attacks are a serious and growing problem for both private-sector organizations and… Read More
Understanding FedRAMP security impact levels and baselines You would never pay $1,000 upfront and $30/month for a security system to protect a shed containing $100 worth of lawn equipment. However, you wouldn’t hesitate to spend that much or more to protect your home and family. The same concept applies in information security. Different kinds of… Read More
Your guide to the SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria (formerly the Trust Services Principles) Outsourcing IT services to service organizations has become a normal part of doing business, even for small companies. However, there are risks to using service providers, and these continue to evolve and change. In this dynamic environment, the American Institute of… Read More
Advice for writing a successful FedRAMP SSP A FedRAMP SSP (System Security Plan) is the bedrock of a FedRAMP assessment and the primary document of the security package in which a cloud service provider (CSP) details their system architecture, data flows and authorization boundaries, and all security controls and their implementation. Keep in mind that… Read More
Is Docker Hub hack a harbinger of increasing cyber attacks on cloud containers? According to an official email sent to users, hackers gained access to Docker Hub, the official repository for Docker container images, “for a brief period.” However, during that “brief period,” approximately 190,000 user accounts were compromised, containing data such as usernames, hashed… Read More
Formjacking allows hackers to steal payment card data and other information submitted through online forms As individuals become more savvy about avoiding phishing emails, and enterprises get better at filtering them out before they ever reach employees’ inboxes, it’s become more difficult for hackers to infect enterprise systems with ransomware and cryptojacking malware. Companies are… Read More