U.S. federal agencies revealed criminal charges against five computer hackers, all of whom were residents and nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). All were charged of computer intrusions affecting over 100 victim companies in the United States and abroad, including software development companies, computer hardware manufacturers, telecommunications providers, social media companies, video game companies, non-profit organizations, universities, think tanks, and foreign governments, as well as pro-democracy politicians and activists in Hong Kong.

The Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) announced nearly $50 million in school safety funding through its School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP). SVPP provides up to 75% funding for school safety measures in and around primary and secondary schools and school grounds.

Synopsys, Inc. published BSIMM11, the latest version of the Building Security In Maturity Model (BSIMM), created to help organizations plan, execute, measure, and improve their software security initiatives (SSIs). BSIMM11 reflects the software security practices observed across 130 firms from multiple industry verticals including financial services, FinTech, independent software vendors, cloud, health care, Internet of Things, insurance, and retail.

The need for cybersecurity in the financial services industry has never been greater. Financial Institutions (FIs) have been and will continue to be the subject of cyberattacks by adversaries of all varieties. The old adage “why do you rob banks....because that’s where the money is” holds in this domain as well. In 2019, 86 percent of breaches were financially motivated, and the records exposed in all breaches increased by 284 percent. And if that’s not enough for FIs to worry about, consider that the average cost of a breach as disclosed by public firms in 2019 was $116 million. Given the magnitude of this issue, these are the top trends seen in cybersecurity this year.

vpnMentor’s research team recently received a report from an anonymous ethical hacker about a massive data leak exposing users of over 70 adult dating and e-commerce websites from around the world.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Management announced a data breach involving the personal information of approximately 46,000 Veterans. 

The FBI’s Preliminary Uniform Crime Report, January–June, 2020, reveals overall declines in the number of violent crimes and property crimes reported for the first six months of 2020 when compared with figures for the first six months of 2019. The report is based on information from 12,206 law enforcement agencies that submitted three to six months of comparable data for both years to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.

LexisNexis® Risk Solutions  released its biannual Cybercrime Report, which tracks global cybercrime activity from January through June 2020. The report dives deep into how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the global digital economy, regional economies, industries, businesses and consumer behavior.

Cloud communications and other advanced networking solutions have not only changed the way we connect with the world around us today, but they are also driving the change in future connectivity and are set to transform the way businesses create operating models, collaborate, and more. So, what does the future of connectivity look like in 2021? The near future consists of more robust security, more intuitive and streamlined connectivity, and increased mobility for a global workforce.