data security

Data breaches are becoming alarmingly common. The recent "Mother of All Breaches" highlights the critical need for robust data breach protection. Over 26 billion records from platforms like X, LinkedIn, and Dropbox were compromised, exposing the vulnerabilities in our digital security frameworks. This breach serves as a wake-up call for both individuals and organizations. Understanding the Breach This massive data leak affected millions worldwide. It underscores the urgent need for effective cybersecurity measures. Personal information, sensitive data, and confidential communications were exposed, putting countless users at risk of identity theft, fraud, and severe privacy violations. As a result, the importance of data breach protection has never been clearer. Immediate Steps to Take If you suspect your data was compromised, take immediate steps to protect yourself: Change your passwords now. Ensure they are strong and unique. Enable two-factor authentication on all accounts. Monitor your accounts closely for any unusual activity. These ...

What you do on autopilot can hurt you – especially online. Here are the habits you should track from month to month until cybersecurity becomes automatic. Is your computer locked?  Bad Habit 1: Leaving your computer unlocked and unattended. With the slip of a USB stick, bad actors can corrupt files or steal information. This applies at coffee shops and even the office. Anytime you leave it, lock it! Avoid unknown USB charging ports, too. They’re easy for hackers to compromise and can physically damage your device. Are you actually creating strong passwords? Bad Habit 2: Using weak passwords Short, common, old, default, and guessable passwords can have serious consequences. Consider utilizing a password manager to help you create, change out, and remember your unique logins. And don’t forget to turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) options! Are your systems up-to-date? Bad Habit 3: Letting security updates slide Every device, app, ...

The threat landscape is becoming more incessant, dangerous, and high stakes for businesses. The sheer quantity of attacks has been increasing at an alarming rate. The complexity and ingenuity of these attacks are frightening.   Almost all these attacks are identity-based; they start as phishing emails or password spray attacks. Once they gain access to a user account in your environment, you have officially been owned. If you are lucky, they will use the compromised account(s) to send out more phishing emails to your global address list and contacts from the owned account. This will result in a lot of embarrassment, organizational risk, potential blacklisting of your domain, and untold negative business impacts. If you are unlucky, they will encrypt your sensitive data with ransomware, exploit you for money with a socially engineered scheme, or exfiltrate sensitive data such as employee tax forms or proprietary intellectual property. This can potentially result in your company or organization ceasing to exist.  To mitigate attacks of this nature, there are several critical items you need to address:  Globally enforce multi-factor authentication  Globally block legacy authentication  Leverage device and application trust to limit your attack surface ...