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Industry News: ESG5

    Know Your Breach: Verizon

    The Target: Verizon is an American telecommunications and mass media company providing cable TV, telecommunications, and internet services to over 150 million subscribers across the U.S.

    The Take: The data that was exposed varies per employee but could include: full name, physical address, social security number (SSN), National ID, gender, union affiliation, date of birth, compensation information.

    The Vector: A data breach notification shared with the Office of the Maine Attorney General revealed that a Verizon employee gained unauthorized access to a file containing sensitive employee information on September 21, 2023.

    This breach is a stark reminder of how authentication controls are in an overall robust cybersecurity posture, and that good password hygiene plays a pivotal role in protection.

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    Ransomware Payments Reached Record $1.1 Billion In 2023

    2024-02-07

    Bleeping Computer: Ransomware payments in 2023 soared above $1.1 billion for the first time, shattering previous records and reversing the decline seen in 2022, marking the year as an exceptionally profitable period for ransomware gangs.

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    Endpoint Security Startup NinjaOne Lands $231.5 Million at $1.9 Billion valuation

    2024-02-07

    Yahoo Finance: Just two years ago, VC funding to cybersecurity startups was on fire. Indeed, $23 billion flooded the sector, per Crunchbase. But in 2023, cybersecurity upstarts only saw a third of that -- the result of the exceptional surge in 2021, bloated valuations and investors wary of market instability.

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    Fortinet Beats Q4 Profit on Cybersecurity Demand, Shares Jump

    2024-02-06

    US News: Fortinet reported fourth-quarter profit above analysts' estimates, as enterprises spent more to safeguard their digitized operations against the rising risk of attacks, sending the cybersecurity company's shares up 10.4% in extended trading.

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    The Impact Of AI On Post-Quantum Cybersecurity

    2024-02-06

    Forbes: These days, major debates are happening around artificial intelligence (AI) and the future of the human race. Whether you believe that advanced AI will better humanity or force us off the planet, I would propose that we have a more pressing problem.

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    ZeroFox Holdings To Be Acquired By Haveli Investments For About $350 Mln

    2024-02-06

    Nasdaq: ZeroFox Holdings, Inc., a provider of external cybersecurity, said it has agreed to be acquired by Haveli Investments, a technology-focused private equity firm, in an all-cash transaction with an enterprise value of about $350 million.

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    Britain, France Lead 35 Nation Agreement on Controlling Spyware, Mercenary Hackers

    2024-02-06

    US News: Countries led by Britain, France and the United States and tech firms including Google, Microsoft and Meta signed a joint statement recognising the need for more action to tackle malicious use of cyber spying tools.

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    Deepfake-Generating Apps Explode, Allowing Multimillion-Dollar Corporate Heists

    2024-02-05

    Dark Reading: Deepfake creation software is proliferating on the Dark Web, enabling scammers to carry out artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted financial fraud with previously unheard of creativity and scope.

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    Know Your Breach: Direct Trading Technologies

    The Target: Direct Trading Technologies (DTT) is an international fintech company offering trading platforms for stocks, forex, precious metals, energies, indices, Contracts for Difference (CFDs), and cryptocurrencies.

    The Take: The leaked data included the trading activity of over 300,000 users spanning the past six years, along with names, email addresses, emails sent by the company, and IP addresses.

    The Vector: In October 2023, a research team discovered a misconfigured web server with backups and development code references allegedly belonging to the fintech company Direct Trading Technologies. The discovered directory included multiple database backups, each holding a significant amount of sensitive information about the company’s users and partners.

    With the fintech industry experiencing rapid growth, this leak stands as a clear reminder of the critical role of robust cybersecurity measures. Fintech companies manage and store exceptionally sensitive customer data. This breach is a stark reminder of how authentication controls are in an overall robust cybersecurity posture, and that good password hygiene plays a pivotal role in protection.

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    US Disrupted Chinese Hacking Operation That Targeted Routers

    2024-01-31

    BNN Bloomberg: A US operation disrupted a Chinese state-sponsored hacking effort in which spies hijacked a large network of devices to target water facilities and the power grid, among other targets, officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice said. 

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