As with many of these recent attempts at a comprehensive federal privacy law, the bill has bipartisan support. But its fate is just as uncertain as any of its predecessors during a Congressional period in which data privacy has been kept in the backseat.
Cyber Security
Cyber criminals, state-sponsored hackers and even the occasional disgruntled employee are constantly looking to gain unauthorized access for a variety of purposes: theft of money, cyber espionage, personal information for sale or for use in scams, and damage to critical infrastructure for just a few of the most common.
So how does an organization mitigate an entire world full of continual cyber attacks? Just as buildings have a number of necessary elements of physical security: access control, cameras, alarms and so on; there are similar key elements of cyber security that are absolutely vital for just about any modern business.
It starts with identifying and closing the most common doors that attackers use. For example, phishing attacks on employees are far and away the most common initial point of entry. The breach of even a low-level employee account can quickly turn into an escalation in access privileges and the ability to reach sensitive information. This is also true of smart devices, which are generally more poorly secured than computers and phones.
Simply confirming that phone numbers are linked to WhatsApp accounts can be a security risk. Confirming that a number is registered and active makes it more valuable and more of a priority to spammers, scammers and hackers. The security flaw can also expose someone using the app in a country where it is banned.
Microsoft claims that its new passwordless methods reduce password use by over 20% and result in users signing in faster. The company added passkeys as an option for personal accounts along with a password manager for Windows Hello early last year.
Despite the potential for visual hacking to take place in public, only 30% of business travelers say that their organizations have educated them on how to protect sensitive information.
A very rough year of cyber attacks prompted quick and dramatic legislative action in Australia, and the latest development is the announcement of a new national cybersecurity plan to be funded with A$587 million.
F5 Credential Stuffing Report found that credential spills doubled between 2016 and 2020 while credential stuffing became the preferred attack method.
U.K. government is starting cyber security reviews on Huawei amid U.S. trade sanctions to measure its potential for espionage using 5G infrastructure as a backdoor.
A new study from Tanium indicates that businesses overwhelmingly believe that cyber resilience and business resilience is fundamental, but have a great deal of trouble achieving it.
It is unclear if the website defacement with ransom notes signals a broader trend, but ransomware gangs have been known to change and evolve their tactics over time.
Israel-Hamas conflict draws in an international coalition of hackers conducting cyber attacks in support of both sides. Report finds that there are about 100 hacker groups that have involved themselves thus far, and that the number skews heavily to Palestine supporters (at 77).










