This Week's Gurus

Most of us know what ransomware is: that thing that encrypts files, holds them for ransom, and (hopefully) decrypts them once the ransom is paid. If ransoms aren’t paid, however, files may be lost. It’s scary when the life of your organisation is in the hands of someone else, especially when you don’t have a recovery plan. But, that’s part of the problem. By discussing ransomware (and malware) attacks before they happen, organisations will be...

A10 Networks have just released a brand new study which reveals some astonishing statistics about Brits’ relationship with our mobile devices. Our Application Intelligence Report (AIR) found that as a nation, we are so obsessed with our phones and tablets that more than half (55 percent) of us believe we couldn’t live without our mobile apps, with a quarter proclaiming that apps are just as important as eating, breathing and drinking.   Additionally, mobile phones...

The rise of the digital assistant The world around us is becoming more automated than ever before, with many of us increasingly leaning on digital assistants such as Cortana, Echo and Siri to run our lives. Before too long it is highly likely that our cars will be driverless, fridges will restock and our homes will heat themselves. If we are not careful, we could be one step away from being the morbidly obese citizens...

This month, researchers uncovered a malware strain believed to have infected more than 250 million computers globally. It is further believed that this malware is present on 20 percent of corporate networks. Dubbed “Fireball,” the massive malware infection originated in China and has caused disastrous outbreaks in Brazil, India and Mexico. There’s the potential for Fireball to become more calamitous. Security firm Check Point, which found Fireball, called it “possibly the largest infection operation in...

The cyber-security landscape is plagued by the fact that cyber-criminals seem to be permanently one step ahead and rather than addressing the problem, it seems that regulation is, in some cases, compounding the problem. Understandably, many organisations are opting to define security policies based on regulatory requirements, however the result is that their security postures become very quickly out of date. Not only are regulations 24 months old by the time they are implemented but...

This month, researchers uncovered a malware strain believed to have infected more than 250 million computers globally. It is further believed that this malware is present on 20 percent of corporate networks. Dubbed “Fireball,” the massive malware infection originated in China and has caused disastrous outbreaks in Brazil, India and Mexico. There’s the potential for Fireball to become more calamitous. Security firm Check Point, which found Fireball, called it “possibly the largest infection operation in...

The number of threats that organisations are being subjected to is increasing exponentially. As a result, security incident response (IR) teams are being faced with an unprecedented dilemma. Once acting as a reactive, first line of defence against threats flagged by operational units within the organisation, IR teams and their skillsets are evolving to become proactive and preventative, with an emphasis on threat discovery. Centralised event log collection, network traffic archiving, the creation of “data...

An organisation’s cybersecurity is only as strong as the weakest link. This is why it is vital there is buy in from staff of all levels and that best practice is adopted across the organisation. We know attackers are looking for the easiest route into organisations so building barriers that deter them is a vital first step in ensuring effective defence. As employees are often a weak link in this defence it is vital that...

The complexity and breadth of the threat landscape is evolving at a tremendous rate, such that the security industry cannot keep up with the skills demands this is creating, leaving organisations vulnerable to a widening skills shortage. It’s time to start thinking about the solution. Automation and intent-based security are becoming more timely discussions when considering the future and how to get there. The term ‘Intent-based security’ refers to the process of applying analytics to...

“There’s an app for that.” It’s an utterance that today is probably met with a resounding “Duh!” Why? Because there’s an app for everything. Odds are if you can think it up, there is, indeed, an app for it. For many, apps have become a basic human necessity. Apps are an essential component of our digital lives. They’re powerful business tools. They’re fun personal time-wasters. We can accomplish the most mundane to the most complex...