All news with #security awareness tag

🔐 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.

🔒 A global ISC2 study of nearly 1,000 enterprise security leaders finds training budgets have risen but staff lack time to complete upskilling. AI is the top emerging skill organizations are addressing, yet practical barriers—competing workloads, outdated content, and trainer shortages—limit participation. Leaders urge protected, scheduled learning time and managerial support to make training effective.

🛡️ This article outlines how enterprises can detect and block unauthorized AI tools—ranging from public chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude to meeting recorders and local model runners. It recommends monitoring NGFW/web-filter logs, EDR/EPP and MDM tools, browser policies, DNS reroutes, and application allowlists. The guidance covers detection indicators (domains, executables, SNI, calendar invites) and concrete lockdown steps (category blocks, policy toggles, OAuth restrictions). Emphasis is placed on offering approved alternatives and using layered controls rather than outright bans.

🔍 A new Checkmarx report found that 95% of CISOs have been pressured to deprioritize or delay reporting security issues, and 75% acknowledged their organizations knowingly deployed vulnerable code to production. Respondents cited compensating controls, deadlines, late detection, and difficulty of fixes as reasons. The survey of 2,350 security professionals also flagged limited remediation rates and rising risks from AI-generated code.

🔍 Normalcy bias leads organisations to assume “no news is good news” about security, delaying detection and response. This complacency lets cybercriminals effectively perform their own audits, exposing gaps between perceived and actual security. The article urges proactive testing, continuous monitoring, and investment in MDR/MXDR and awareness to prevent costly breaches.

🛡️ This article provides practical, step-by-step tactics for detecting and disabling built-in AI features in popular enterprise platforms including Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, Chrome, and Apple Intelligence. It covers detection via logs and admin consoles, recommended policy settings in Microsoft 365, Group Policy, Chrome Enterprise, Google Workspace, and MDM profiles for Apple, plus network-level blocks and caveats about potential feature breakage. The guidance emphasizes granular controls, SKU management, and layered protections such as NGFW/web-filter rules and application control.

🛡️ A forum tutorial by an actor named "Hercules" outlines a simple, practical workflow for scanning, validating, exploiting, and monetizing vulnerabilities, blending «legal» disclosure steps with clear illegal options. Flare researchers tracked the post and responses across multiple forums, noting demand for mentorship and the tutorial’s repeat reposting. The write-up highlights use of public tools like Nuclei, emphasizes accessibility for beginners, and explains monetization paths including direct extortion, underground sales, and asset resale. The analysis warns defenders that readable, motivational guides scale criminal capability and underscores the importance of effective vulnerability disclosure programs.

🛡️ Senior cybersecurity leaders at Infosecurity Europe 2026 urged organisations to prepare concise, practical crisis playbooks that focus on defining the type of incident, roles and decision authority, and responsibilities. They emphasised that playbooks must be adaptable to unfolding realities, and that human factors — fatigue management, clear communication and staff welfare — are as vital as technical response steps.

🧭 At Infosecurity Europe 2026, Bayer CISO Kevin Jones outlined a shift from checklist-based guidance to psychology-first security awareness to counter AI-enabled social engineering. The firm mandates behavior-focused training, ties AI access to role-based modules, and gates agent development behind completion. Bayer is moving SOCs toward supervised automation and updating supplier contracts and governance to enforce AI transparency and controls.

📰 Chilling effects—the self-censorship and restraint people adopt under threat—are spreading across U.S. campuses and institutions in response to the Trump administration’s punitive tactics. Students, professors, journalists, researchers and cultural organizations report altering speech, research and programming to avoid legal, immigration, and institutional reprisals. The authors argue these effects are intentional, part of a broader strategy that leverages surveillance, uncertainty, and abuse of power to produce conformity and weaken democratic checks.

🛡️ The Cybersecurity Communities of Support (CyCOS) pilot, launched by academics from UK universities, is expanding from two to seven small peer-led communities to help SMEs improve cyber resilience. The program combines webinars, AMAs, an online support platform and shared resources, and will transition operational leadership to the Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec). New communities are being founded by volunteer SME facilitators and supported by a Community Toolkit to ensure replicability.

🔍 Across organizations, employees run three to five AI tools daily—many unapproved and often connected to corporate data via OAuth, browser extensions, or newly added vendor features—creating a widening "shadow AI" gap that evades traditional network controls. The article outlines five practical steps security teams can apply: build an inventory, write usable policies, create a fast approval lane, implement browser-native monitoring, and deliver just-in-time coaching. Together these measures aim to preserve productivity while restoring visibility, reducing data exposure, and aligning employee workflows with security requirements.

🔒 Subscription services are widespread and often contain personal data, making them attractive targets for attackers. The article outlines common attack vectors — phishing, credential reuse, infostealers, and bulk-resale of hacked family slots — and explains practical defenses: use password managers, enable two-factor authentication or passkeys, and monitor active sessions. It also advises how to spot phishing and track hidden recurring charges through bank statements and app-store settings.

⚠ Geopolitical tensions have created a fertile environment for opportunistic scammers who exploit fear and sympathy to harvest credentials, personal data, or direct payments. Common ploys include fake charities, romance and travel scams, fraudulent charges, investment schemes, sensational fake news and classic advance-fee cons. Scammers increasingly use convincing content produced with generative AI and impersonation tactics to bypass trust; verify independently, avoid unsolicited links or calls, and protect devices with reputable anti-malware.

🔒 Many CISOs are pursuing board and advisory roles to bridge gaps between security teams and directors, improve communication, and shape product roadmaps. Leaders such as ISACA vice chair Jamie Norton, Accenture’s Mitra Minai, and Nathan Morelli describe governance learning, vendor advisory seats, and targeted certifications as common pathways. The article emphasizes governance capability, strategic language, and the significant time commitment these roles demand.

🔒 The 2026 CSO Awards recognize 64 security organizations whose projects deliver measurable business value and stronger enterprise resilience. CSO profiles six standout initiatives that illustrate trends such as zero trust, AI-driven automation, gamified awareness, and shift-left cloud security. Examples include Copart’s adaptive phishing and gamification that lifted reporting rates from ~20% to over 55%, HMSA’s Zero Trust Data Governance that removed confidential member information from nonproduction environments, and Hensel Phelps’ automation program saving more than 1,250 work hours annually.

🔒 Signal has rolled out new in-app confirmations and warning messages to help users detect phishing and social engineering attempts that abuse the Linked Device feature. The updates add visible cues such as “Name not verified” and “No groups in common”, stronger safety tips, and prompts reminding users the app will never ask for registration codes, PINs, or recovery keys. These measures aim to introduce friction so recipients can better evaluate external requests.

🔒 Kaspersky analyzed 231 million unique passwords leaked on dark‑web forums (2023–2026) and found that 60% can be cracked in under an hour, with 48% broken in less than a minute. The testing used a single RTX 5090 GPU against MD5 hashes, illustrating how rapidly cracking speeds are improving. The report identifies common human patterns—digits, years, predictable words and popular special characters—and warns that many users reuse unchanged passwords for years. It recommends practical defenses such as a password manager, passkeys, and strong two‑factor authentication.

⚠️ Cofense warns that low-skilled threat actors are increasingly abusing Vercel's v0.dev GenAI tools to generate convincing phishing pages with minimal effort. Attackers can prototype for free, purchase tokens to build pages, and use Vercel hosting—its pro tier is roughly $20/month—to deploy and tear down sites quickly. Integrations with services like Telegram, AWS, Stripe and xAI further simplify operations. Cofense advises security teams to verify sender domains, watch for urgency cues and report malicious Vercel sites for takedown.

🔐 The most-used password globally remains '123456', according to NordPass, and the author found that some mainstream services still accept trivial credentials in direct tests. Examples include Evite (breached in 2019) and parts of major social platforms that permit easily guessable strings like '1234567!'. The article highlights inconsistent password policies across sites and argues for stronger authentication requirements—preferably mandated MFA—with regulatory backing where necessary.