COVID-19 brought with it a massive influx of data, most of it moving from a centralized location to the cloud (and other environments). Now, these businesses are trying to understand how to re-engineer their environment for the next 10+ years, in the advent of Zero Trust, SASE and more. How has COVID-19 impacted the need for cybersecurity consulting, specifically new trends, and Zero Trust? Here, we speak with Todd Waskelis, AVP of AT&T Cybersecurity, who leads AT&T’s cybersecurity consulting services.
According to a recent report by Garner Insights, the smart building market is expected to grow from $7.4 billion in 2017 to nearly $32 billion in 2022 — that’s more than a quadruple increase in just five years.
Columbus State University in Georgia named Nicol Lewis, its new Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Theodore Laskaris was named Chief Information Officer (CIO). The two positions will work under different offices but work in tandem together on security and risk mitigation.
Now, let’s consider how the pandemic has impacted the world of cybercrime. In the beginning, the move to work from home was swift, with organizations being closed and the workforce being sent home to work with little or no warning. People began stockpiling items and even staples such as toilet paper became a scarce commodity. As schools closed, the students were forced to start doing classes online, something a lot of families were not prepared for. Many found themselves in financial difficulties. For those still working, with daycares closing, childcare became an issue, and many people did not have laptops or computers set up at home to support these changes. Even webcams became nearly impossible to get unless you were willing to pay the scalpers’ prices.
Congress sent some rather clear messages with passage of the American Rescue Plan (ARP), and the importance of education is undoubtedly top of mind. Based on the sheer volume of school safety allocations, protecting our nation’s students is a high priority with the Biden administration and a majority in Congress.
With technology becoming more accessible and complex, prioritizing a defense against insider threats may be the better strategy. After all, the moment an outsider breaches an organization, they become an insider.
Ben Johnson, former NSA and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of SaaS application security firm, Obsidian, has found that businesses around the world are adopting Software as a service (SaaS) apps in droves for collaboration, ease of access to data and business continuity. With this increased adoption, comes the inevitable trend of state-sponsored actors merely logging in to steal data rather than having to break in. Here, Johnson talks to Security magazine about security issues associated with SaaS applications.
We have all been served by a surly retailer whose made us feel that their job and life would be easier, if it weren’t for the customers. Alas, sometimes it feels the same applies in cybersecurity. Life would be so much better, if not for those pesky employees.
The recent ransomware attack of the Colonial Pipeline has reinvigorated calls from legislators to strengthen the defenses of U.S. pipelines and the electric power grid. Over the last several years, a repeatable pattern is becoming apparent with each major cyber-attack. A critical cyberattack occurs that is followed by outrage that result in statements from government leaders with calls for action - all followed by proposed ideas on how to better mitigate the risk of cyberattacks in the future. Yet, it seems that time goes by and with the next major attack the cycle starts all over again. This time, government is taking a more rigorous approach to proposing solutions to end the vicious cycle.
In the tense political and economic climate, state-backed actors have used every possible means to gain leverage over their rivals. And in the midst of the chaos, every individual and organization can become a victim or collateral damage in the context of bigger conflicts. Here’s a glimpse of where we are and how organizations can protect themselves going forward.
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