All news with #insider risk tag

🔍 IBM’s 2026 Cost of a Data Breach report, from March 2025 to February 2026, finds the average breach cost rose to $6 million, with AI-enabled attacks comprising one in four incidents. The study of 600 organizations highlights that AI both increases attack speed and, when used defensively, can reduce costs by nearly $2 million. Key issues include poor access controls for AI models, compromised APIs and cloud misconfigurations, and long detection-to-containment times that inflate costs.

🔒 Senior leaders increasingly use unapproved AI tools despite clear security and privacy concerns, creating major headaches for CISOs and IT teams. TrustedTech’s survey found nearly two-thirds of senior decision-makers use shadow AI, often because sanctioned tools are slower or inadequate. Experts say this is a culture and usability problem rather than simple ignorance, and that governance must be modeled from the top while offering secure, usable alternatives.

🔒 Elite security engineers combine technical depth with business awareness and continuous learning. They must be proficient with AI-powered defense tools while understanding how adversaries use AI for phishing, malware, and model attacks. Top engineers think in systems, bridge cross-domain stacks, manage third-party and machine identity risk, and communicate risk clearly to leaders. Adaptability and continuous learning remain critical.

🔒 The NHS has warned staff they may face criminal prosecution and career-ending sanctions for accessing patient records without a legitimate reason. Head of the NHS Jim Mackey called such behaviour a “disgraceful breach of patient trust,” and the organisation has launched an awareness campaign alongside guidance for monitoring and preventing unauthorized access. The guidance urges technical controls such as least-privilege, MFA and role-based access, and notes real-time flags in modern electronic patient record systems. High-profile incidents and ICO action have prompted the drive to strengthen detection and deterrence.

📣 Flare researchers examined underground forum discussions and tools used to orchestrate Business Email Compromise (BEC) campaigns, finding that attacks extend beyond email to include remote access, cash-out networks, and call centers. Actors target finance and leadership SaaS accounts, increasingly using AI to craft realistic messages and scale operations. Defenders should monitor exposed credentials, enforce MFA, train high-risk staff, and treat multi-channel contacts cautiously.

🔒 Small and mid-sized businesses are rapidly adopting AI, often ahead of large enterprises, and this pace is outstripping their ability to govern associated cyber risks. Shadow AI—employees using public tools without oversight—exposes customer data, financial records, and intellectual property, while attackers increasingly exploit these weaker links in supply chains. The author urges owners and CFOs to map AI use, restrict sensitive data, treat AI access like hires, and engage advisors who can secure AI adoption effectively.

🔍 Security awareness training that taught employees to spot obvious phishing cues is no longer sufficient. AI-generated attacks and legitimate-looking infrastructure have erased the surface signals users were trained to rely on, making sustained human vigilance unrealistic. The article argues for applying Daniel Kahneman’s fast/slow thinking at the organizational level to map and re-tier processes, keeping fast lanes where justified and revoking them where risk has changed.

🔒 Xsolis, a U.S. healthcare technology provider, detected a targeted phishing attack that led to unauthorized access to parts of its network in January 2026. The company says files containing sensitive customer information—such as names, addresses, dates of birth, insurance details, Social Security numbers, and medical treatment data—were accessed, affecting 1,396,519 individuals. Xsolis contained the breach, engaged external cybersecurity experts, reset user passwords, enhanced monitoring, accelerated employee security training, and is notifying impacted individuals with offered identity monitoring services.

🔍 The Semperis-run "Enter the War Room" tabletop at Infosecurity Europe simulated a ransomware and reputational attack on fictional supermarket BlueCart. Red-team operators exploited supplier trust, stolen credentials, weak MFA, and poor network segmentation to access AI supply-chain systems and exfiltrate loyalty data. Attackers combined misinformation, deepfakes, fake orders, and payroll disruption to magnify harm, while defenders focused on out-of-band communications, honeypots, and refusing ransom demands to limit impact.

🔐 A new report from ISSA and Omdia, surveying 380 practitioners, finds 68% of cybersecurity professionals say their jobs have become harder in the past two years. The study highlights that >70% are excluded from key technology decisions, with rising involvement from IT operations and platform engineering (79%) and tech choices made without cyber input (72%). Work-related stress is significant: 69% report work-life balance challenges and 47% have considered leaving due to stress. Respondents point to leadership commitment, compensation, and career support as key factors for job satisfaction.

🔒 Recent ransomware incidents have shown that schools are year-round targets for cybercriminals. Evanston Township High School closed after an attack disrupted critical systems, while Powys County Council in Wales confirmed student and staff data were accessed at multiple schools. Districts are engaging external experts and notifying authorities, highlighting schools' limited budgets and reliance on networked systems.

🛡️ Cybermindz warns that burnout among cyber professionals should be treated as a measurable operational risk rather than only a wellness concern. Their survey of 101 practitioners found frequent burnout and high emotional exhaustion, while their iRest® training study across 275 participants showed improved sleep, reduced exhaustion and lower attrition risk. Founder Peter Coroneos argues a risk-based framing can secure resources and support resilience.

🔍 While many organizations intentionally deploy AI to improve productivity, unsanctioned AI is proliferating faster — employees install tools or vendors embed assistants into existing apps. The article defines four AI categories and maps specific detection techniques to each, covering DNS, web gateways/NGFW, EPP/EDR, application and browser controls, and SSPM/identity governance. It flags OAuth consent as a high-risk channel and summarizes admin steps for Microsoft Entra, Google Admin, Salesforce, and ServiceNow to block or restrict app access.

🔒 A new report from Absolute Security finds that 58% of CISOs would realistically consider paying a ransom to restore systems after a ransomware attack. US respondents were likelier to consider payment (63%) than UK peers (47%), with legal guidance, GDPR and doubts over recovery cited as reasons. Operational downtime was viewed as the most damaging impact. The report warns organizations to invest in resilience, infrastructure and governance to reduce reliance on ransom payments.

🛡️ Hiring fraud has produced thousands of fake IT workers who gain trusted access and create serious insider risks. Companies such as Amazon report coordinated attempts tied to state actors, while researchers like SentinelOne and vendors observe AI-enabled deepfakes, synthetic identities and stolen US credentials used to pass recruitment checks. Organizations must treat remote hiring as an access-control problem: strengthen identity screening, enforce staged trust, and deploy continuous post-hire telemetry and behavioral detection.

🔍Only 34% of cybersecurity professionals plan to remain with their current employer, according to a survey of 500 respondents by IANS and Artico Search. The report finds that flexible work models, visible leadership support, and structured career development influence retention more than absolute pay. Hybrid schedules, mentorship, and modern tooling help reduce burnout and turnover.

🛡️ Marsh's 2026 People Risks report, compiled from interviews with over 4,500 HR and risk professionals across 26 markets, finds cyber-threat literacy is the top global people risk, with technological change, tech skills shortages and AI-related mindset barriers also ranking highly. The report highlights mishandling of data and low employee security awareness as persistent threats that can increase exposure to breaches and reputational damage. Marsh recommends reframing cyber risk to cover OT, HR and third-party systems, recruiting cyber talent, building a cyber-centric culture, reducing fatigue, and ensuring human oversight with robust governance and insurance cover.

🔒 Nitin Raina’s move from IT operations to Thoughtworks’ global CISO and global head of enterprise risk illustrates a fast-growing trend: CISOs increasingly lead enterprise risk programs. Since 2020 Raina has built an ERM function that links strategic, operational, and cybersecurity risks through assessments, gap analyses, and controls. Industry reports show most CISOs now share accountability for operational business risk and are responsible for AI governance, making GRC and risk quantification central to executive and board trust.

🔒 A new 2026 Cybersecurity Talent Report from IANS and Artico Search warns CISOs must be aggressive and innovative to retain staff amid a volatile jobs market. Based on interviews with over 500 US cybersecurity professionals, the study found only 34% plan to stay in their roles while 43% are considering a change, with turnover intent higher among senior staff. The report links job satisfaction to career progression, compensation movement and work-life balance, and highlights hybrid working and visible senior support as key retention drivers.

🔒 New analysis from law firm Nockolds shows employee data breaches reported to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office reached 3,872 incidents in 2025, a 5% year‑on‑year increase and about 29% above the 2019 baseline of 3,010. The report highlights a divergence in incident types: cyber-related breaches fell 6% to 1,568, while non-cyber incidents rose 15% to 2,304. Nockolds principal associate Joanna Sutton attributes the shift to hybrid working and gaps in physical and procedural safeguards, and urges closer collaboration between HR and security teams to improve training, policies and risk controls.