Week Ending: January 06, 2024
Cybersecurity is a constantly evolving field that requires staying on top of the latest developments, threats, and best practices. In this blog post, we will summarize some of the most important news, trends, and tips on cybersecurity that happened between Dec 31 2023 and Jan 6 2024.
News
- Operation Cookie Monster: A major dark web marketplace, Genesis Market, was shut down in a police operation that involved over a dozen international law enforcement agencies 1. The platform offered over 80 million stolen identities and online access credentials from more than 1.5 million compromised computers worldwide. The crackdown resulted in more than 100 arrests and served as a major blow to global cybercrime efforts.
- Canada’s right to be forgotten: A Canadian court agreed that its citizens have the “right to be forgotten” on Google searches 1. This means that people can request the removal of their personal information from the internet, such as embarrassing or outdated information. However, this right is not recognized everywhere and even where it is, organizations don’t always have to comply with requests. Some critics argue that this could lead to censorship or prevent scrutiny.
- US' National Cybersecurity Strategy: President Joe Biden released a new National Cybersecurity Strategy, outlining how the US government intends to secure cyberspace and create a resilient digital ecosystem 2. The strategy is based on five pillars: strengthening the federal government’s cybersecurity, enhancing critical infrastructure resilience, building a trusted and secure digital economy, advancing American leadership and values in cyberspace, and fostering a diverse and skilled cybersecurity workforce.
Trends
- Securing remote and hybrid workers: The pandemic has accelerated the shift to remote and hybrid work models, which pose new challenges and opportunities for cybersecurity 3. Organizations need to ensure that their employees have secure access to the resources and data they need, while also protecting them from phishing, malware, and other threats. Some of the solutions include using VPNs, multifactor authentication, endpoint security, and cloud-based services.
- Cybersecurity validation: Cybersecurity validation is a technique that merges tools, processes, and data to validate how potential attackers would actually exploit an identified threat exposure, and how protection systems and processes would react2. This helps organizations to measure and improve their cybersecurity posture, identify and prioritize vulnerabilities, and optimize their security investments.
- Cybersecurity platform consolidation: Cybersecurity platform consolidation is a trend that aims to decrease complexity, simplify operations, and make employees more efficient by using fewer vendors and products 2. This can help organizations to reduce costs, improve integration, and increase features. However, it also requires careful evaluation of the trade-offs and risks involved in relying on a single or few providers.
Tips
- Follow the identity fabric immunity approach: Identity fabric immunity is a concept that applies the idea of digital immune systems to identity systems 2. This means that organizations should balance their investments in prevention and in detection and response, to minimize defects and failures in their identity management. Some of the best practices include using strong passwords, biometric authentication, identity verification, and identity governance.
- Stay updated on the latest threats and best practices: Cybersecurity is a dynamic field that requires constant learning and adaptation. Organizations and individuals should stay informed about the latest threats and best practices, and implement them accordingly. Some of the sources that can help with this include cybersecurity blogs, podcasts, newsletters, webinars, and courses 4 5.
- Seek professional help when needed: Cybersecurity is not something that can be done alone or without expertise. Organizations and individuals should seek professional help when they need it, such as hiring cybersecurity consultants, auditors, or trainers, or outsourcing some of their security functions to managed service providers. This can help them to improve their security posture, comply with regulations, and mitigate risks.