The six biggest cybersecurity risks facing the utilities industry

The utilities industry is rapidly modernizing its infrastructure, adding more digitized equipment and connectivity across devices, plants, and systems. This evolution to “smart infrastructure” represents a positive, paradigm shift for the industry. Unfortunately, the security policies of many utilities have not evolved along with it, leaving them incredibly vulnerable. Utilities are investing heavily to modernize…

While data enables innovation, its vulnerability continues to cause anxiety among IT leaders

Today’s technology landscape demands that companies determine how to manage and secure data in a connected ecosystem, as well as embrace it to create competitive advantages. The key concerns for IT decision-makers in this environment are cybersecurity, the ability to upgrade infrastructure and optimizing IT operations, according to the 2019 Insight Intelligent Technology Index, an…

Cybersecurity skills shortage still the root cause of rising security incidents

The cybersecurity skills shortage is worsening for the third year in a row and has impacted nearly three quarters (74 percent) of organizations, as revealed in the third annual global study of cybersecurity professionals by the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) and independent industry analyst firm Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG). Security incidents with serious ramifications…

Three ways GDPR benefits US companies

It’s hard to believe we’ve almost reached the one-year anniversary of the date the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect. Leading up to that May 25, 2018 date, news headlines were dominated by fear, uncertainty and doubt over whether organizations would successfully comply in time. Over the past year, we saw an endless…

Is curiosity killing patient privacy?

The digitization of healthcare is changing the face of fraud. With the growth of electronic health records (EHRs), online patient portals and virtual clinics, a wealth of sensitive medical information is available across multiple digital channels and while hackers and cybercriminals pose a massive risk to this information, it’s not just “outside” fraudsters that are…

Trust is at a tipping point: Consumers will react strongly if they feel their privacy is compromised

There’s a stunning lack of consumer trust in the ability of private and public sector organizations to protect their data, as well as sharply conflicting views between businesses and consumers regarding transparency in data collection and use, a Privitar research reveals. In the 2019 Privitar Privacy Pulse, released at the International Association of Privacy Professionals…

Government embracing digital transformation but struggling to implement data security

The push towards digital transformation in the U.S. government is putting sensitive data at risk, according to a Thales research conducted by analyst firm IDC. The 2019 Thales Data Threat Report – Federal Edition, indicates that as agencies embrace new technologies, such as multi-cloud deployments, they are struggling to implement proper data security. “As digital…

Cybercriminals targeting social media: Facebook and Instagram are becoming phishers’ favorites

Social media phishing, primarily Facebook and Instagram, saw the highest quarter- over-quarter growth of any industry with a 74.7 percent increase, according to the Vade Secure Phishers’ Favorites report for Q1 2019. While Facebook has been in the top 10 since report’s inception, Instagram cracked the top 25 for the first time, taking the #24…