Archive for January 17, 2024

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Guest Post: Tips For Keeping Your Data Secure On Data Protection Week From Fortra

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 17, 2024 by itnerd

Donnie MacColl, Senior Director of Technical Support and DPO at Fortra 

Set aside an hour, grab a coffee, sit down, and complete the following:  

  • Change your passwords on all your banking and shopping apps, work systems, and so on – keep them safe in a password manager app 
  • Set up multi-factor authentication on everything that lets you 
  • Sign up to review your credit score (using ClearScore or similar, which is free) 
  • Review your bank account and end any direct debits, standing orders, or recurring payments that are no longer needed 

Remember, the smaller your personal data footprint, the lower the chance of fraud. 

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Guest Post: Qatar and UAE stand at the top of VPN adoption

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 17, 2024 by itnerd

Virtual private networks (VPNs) have become an essential digital tool for many internet users around the world who are concerned about their online privacy and security.

According to the latest update of the Global VPN Adoption Index by Atlas VPN, Virtual Private Network apps were downloaded 328 million times. Qatar stands at the top of the adoption index as nearly 70% of its population has downloaded a VPN app. Second on this list is the United Arab Emirates, followed by Singapore.

Qatar’s large VPN adoption can be attributed to its large population of immigrant workers, primarily from Southeast Asia and Africa, who account for nearly 80% of the country’s total population.

UAE has consistently ranked at the top for global VPN usage, and this year is no exception. Over 50% of Singapore’s population has downloaded a VPN app. Singapore’s internet landscape and technological culture have cultivated an environment ideal for the proliferation of VPN services.

Other Middle Eastern countries like Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Turkey are also among the top countries in VPN adoption.

Cybersecurity writer at Atlas VPN, Vilius Kardelis, shares his thoughts on VPN adoption worldwide:

“VPN adoption continues to increase significantly worldwide, driven by citizens seeking safe alternatives to invasive online surveillance and heavy-handed censorship regimes imposed by governments. Countries with strict internet controls consistently see the highest VPN usage rates as users route connections through encrypted tunnels.”

VPN adoption changes in other countries

Complex factors around privacy attitudes, government oversight, access to restricted content, and technological readiness significantly reshape global VPN usage trends.

Netherlands VPN adoption has grown substantially in the past years. From nearly 10% in 2020 to 29% this year. It is the first time any European country has made our top 5 VPN usage rank.

France and Australia cracked the top 10 list for global VPN use this year, coming in 9th and 10th place, respectively. For the first time, we have added Iceland to our updated VPN Adoption Index. They came out strong right away, as 12.5% of Iceland’s population have downloaded a VPN app and placed 20th on our list.

Kenya, Japan, and South Africa are countries with the lowest VPN usage in the world. All of these countries have less than 2% adoption rate.

​​To see where your country ranks in terms of VPN adoption, please head over to our interactive VPN adoption page here.

To read the full article, head over to: https://atlasvpn.com/blog/qatar-and-uae-stand-at-the-top-of-vpn-adoption

vpn-adoption-index

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137% Increase in Vendor Email Compromise Attacks Against Financial Services Industry Says Abnormal Security

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 17, 2024 by itnerd

Abnormal Security has released a new report revealing a significant spike in email compromise attacks against the financial services sector and how to defend financial services organizations against sophisticated email-based attacks. 

Abnormal Security’s findings reveal that Vendor Email Compromise (VEC) attacks against financial services increased by 137% in 2023. The new research also demonstrates that the financial services industry experienced a 71% increase in Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks. 

According to Abnormal data, the financial services industry receives approximately 200 advanced attacks per 1,000 mailboxes weekly—making it one of the most attacked industries tracked. Peaks in attacks occurred in January, with 258 weekly, in September, with 282, and in mid-December, with 272.

You can read the report here.

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Living Security Announces Unify Power Insights

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 17, 2024 by itnerd

Living Security, Inc. has announced Unify Power Insights, which combines intelligence across multiple identity management and security tools to pinpoint visibility into which members of the workforce are most vulnerable to phishing, account compromise, malware, data loss, and more. 

Living Security Power Insights supercharge the Unify Human Risk Operations Center. It empowers security teams to go beyond tracking individual events across data and devices by correlating events from dozens of security tools to individual members of a workforce. With Power Insights, security teams can track crucial groupings of user behaviors, detect spikes in risky activities in critical business areas, and provide straightforward ways to mitigate associated risks. Examples of power insights include:

  • Phishing Behavior Analysis: Identify individuals repeatedly failing phishing simulations and focus on those being actively targeted by real phishing.
  • Account Compromise: Pinpoint individuals with multiple successive Service or IDP login failures at a rate above an expected or normal threshold
  • Malware and Unsafe Browsing Correlation: Uncover the link between malware incidents and unsafe browsing habits among users with elevated credentials.
  • Data Loss (Sensitive Information Sharing Metrics): Gain insights into the frequency of sensitive information being shared across the organization.

Unify Power Insights empowers every team in the security organization:

  • Security Operations Center and Incident Response: investigate employees with privileged access to sensitive information that power insights flag for high risk across phishing, account compromise, malware, or data loss
  • Governance, Risk, and Compliance: automate policies that increase account security (such as multi-factor authentication) or restrict access to sensitive information amongst employees exhibiting high-risk
  • Security Awareness & Training: target topically relevant training and nudges to employees at high risk and save time by enabling vigilant employees to bypass training
  • Chief Information Security Officer: improve the overall performance of the security organization by increasing the effectiveness of security prevention, detection, and response

Learn more about Living Security Unify Power Insights by signing up for our February 28th webcast, Shrink Internal Attack Surface with Human Risk Management at https://www.livingsecurity.com/2024-02-webinar-power-insights

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