If a massive data breach has been in the news recently – such as the Equifax data breach that impacted more than 143 million Americans – there’s a good chance that other hackers will capitalize on this public data breach to cause greater harm to victims, and open up those already victimized to even more risk.
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.
DoppelPaymer ransomware successfully breached the network of Digital Management Inc. and gained access to the NASA contractor's records, including HR documents and project plans.
Government agencies, from the municipal to the federal level, have the largest and most varied number of use cases that require a Zero Trust Architecture , because of the range of systems they operate and the weaknesses of OT security.
Researchers found that although 80% of financial institutions suffered data breaches per year from vulnerabilities in their authentication methods, 64% refused to upgrade.
In yet another blow to Facebook, the latest Instagram breach exposed sensitive data of at least 49 million users when an AWS database was found online without a password for at least 72 hours.
OpenAI frames the present period as the "AI policy window," or "defenders window." This is a finite period in which meaningful defenses and safeguards can be established before advanced AI offensive capability becomes too broadly available. The developer calls for "acting with urgency, humility, and a willingness to adapt" and AI safety rules that raise the defensive bar materially.
Since the signing of Executive Order 14028, the Biden-Harris administration has announced several cybersecurity initiatives. Organizations should prepare for heightened scrutiny from multiple government agencies over their organizational cybersecurity standards and incident responses.
Cybercrime outfits are increasingly shifting to highly structured and advanced fraud operations, with "scams-as-a-service" models that reflect the similar offerings for other attack types such as ransomware.
U.S. Department of Defense requires all defense contractors to complete a cybersecurity certification before submitting proposals by 2026, starting with higher-level contractors this June.
Companies are looking for new solutions to prevent, detect, and eliminate fraud. And machine learning seems to be the best answer to financial fraud. How does it work, what are the benefits, and who uses it?










