The Hacker News | Expert Insights

Businesses are firmly in attackers' crosshairs. Financially motivated cybercriminals conduct ransomware attacks with record-breaking ransoms being paid by companies seeking to avoid business interruption. Others, including nation-state hackers, infiltrate companies to steal intellectual property and trade secrets to gain commercial advantage over competitors. Further, we regularly see critical infrastructure being targeted by nation-state cyberattacks designed to act as sleeper cells that can be activated in times of heightened tension. Companies are on the back foot. Leaders must be confident in their cyber posture: Are defenses up to the job of keeping attacks at bay? Does the leadership team have a complete understanding of the threats and risks the company faces? How can CEOs seize the initiative to get ahead of threats? Adoption of zero trust architectures to improve cyber defense Businesses that don't embrace true zero trust will find themselves increasingly vulnerable to br...

Multi-factor authentication has long been touted to protect accounts. Organizations implement it, feel protected and move on. But today's attackers have evolved and so should defenses. Preventing access is ideal. But in the event a bad actor gets access, containment becomes a priority. Threat actors aren't always spending their time actively forcing their way into accounts. Instead, they're taking the easy route, logging in with stolen credentials and using MFA bypass techniques.  Account takeovers (ATO) lets attackers slip into organizational environments unnoticed , where they can move laterally, escalate privileges, and quietly steal valuable information and data. And now, they're increasingly logging in even with MFA in place. From social engineering to session hijacking, the tactics have become more sophisticated and more dangerous. The Reality: MFA Can Be Bypassed Authentication is still crucial for defense, but standard MFA is quickly being outmaneuvered by bad actors....

AI-Powered Development is Creating a Non-Human Identity Crisis: Here's What CISOs Need to Know in 2025 While coding assistants like GitHub Copilot have revolutionized developer productivity, they've simultaneously created an explosion of machine identities that are overwhelming traditional security approaches. Between 2023 and 2024 alone, the number of repositories using Copilot increased by 27%, confirming that developers are increasingly relying on AI tools to enhance their productivity. This acceleration shows no signs of slowing in 2025, as GitHub now offers Copilot as part of its free offering, further lowering barriers to adoption. However, this AI revolution comes with significant security implications. According to GitGuardian's State of Secrets Sprawl 2025 , repositories where Copilot is active exhibit a 40% higher incidence of secret leaks compared to the average public repository. This alarming statistic reveals that as AI accelerates development, it's s...

Security and compliance professionals are no strangers to complexity. From staying ahead of ever-evolving threat landscapes to navigating an expanding web of regulatory requirements, the day-to-day demands often feel like a game of whack-a-mole. Enter AI copilots—powerful tools that, when used thoughtfully, can dramatically streamline operations and supercharge your security and compliance programs. While much of the hype around AI focuses on futuristic capabilities, the real magic today lies in using these tools to augment existing workflows. Think of copilots not as replacements for security teams, but as force multipliers—always-on assistants that help reduce toil, improve consistency, and enable teams to focus on higher-value initiatives. AI Copilots in Action: Security & Compliance Use Cases AI copilots are no longer just experimental toys. Here are a few ways forward-thinking security teams are using generative AI tools—like OpenAI's custom GPTs and Google's Gemini Gems...

It's been reported that a new, generative AI worm dubbed "Morris II" has emerged. And for many, this new, generative AI worm is an understandable reason to panic.  Pushing back against hysteria, however, we discover that Morris II only targets AI apps and AI-enabled email assistants. No attack is a good one, but at least this one's very specific. More importantly, the recognition that just as AI is helping to accelerate and automate attacks, it will also drastically improve security efficacy.  While AI threatens to overwhelm reactive security teams with the pace and sophistication of its onslaught, it can likewise enable proactive prevention through predictive processes and controls. This is critical to giving security teams the chance to withstand the barrage that awaits them. Scaling alongside AI-enabled attacks There are two proactive efforts that scale well when accelerated attacks become the norm. Neither of these efforts need to be AI-powered to be effective against...

Despite the widespread adoption of DDoS protection solutions, disruptive DDoS attacks continue to make headlines. Why? Even "basic" attacks are bypassing established defenses, as evidenced by the recent DDoS attack on X.  Our analysis, based on over 100,000 hours of annual attack simulations, reveals that all deployed DDoS protections are highly vulnerable — gaps that often go unnoticed until an attack successfully disrupts services. With no effective way to address these weaknesses preemptively, organizations remain exposed. This article examines why DDoS attacks persist and continue to inflict significant damage. How Even Simple Attacks Bring Down the Best DDoS Protections In 2024, Cloudflare reported more than 25 million DDoS attacks - representing a 53% YoY increase. This growing number of DDoS attacks and their escalating cost from damage begs the question: What are we missing? And how can the risk of these attacks (and the damage they cause) be reduced?  Unlike oth...

SaaS applications are the backbone of modern organizations, powering productivity and collaboration. However, they also introduce critical security risks—identity sprawl, misconfigurations, and an expanding attack surface. Identity providers have become a prime target for threat actors, prompting security teams to focus on protecting identities across multiple SaaS environments. To mitigate these risks, many organizations adopt SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) to harden configurations, enforce least-privilege access, and maintain visibility over human and non-human identities. SSPM is an essential preventive tool that improves cyber hygiene by reducing the attack surface. Yet prevention alone is not enough in today's evolving threat landscape. Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) is crucial to bridge this gap and enable organizations to detect and respond fast to active threats targeting their identity infrastructure. The Growing Threat to SaaS Identities The rise i...

CTM360 has recently observed a sophisticated global scam campaign where victims are lured through fraudulent Google Play Store download pages. CTM360, a leading cybersecurity company for Digital Risk Protection, has identified over 6,000 instances of these fake pages, tricking users into downloading malicious apps. Once installed, the apps disguise themselves as legitimate software to deploy PlayPraetor (a malware named after the authoritative Roman praetor). It seizes control of infected devices to steal banking credentials, log keystrokes, and monitor clipboard activity. The operation's global reach and complexity highlight a highly coordinated effort to compromise users' data for malicious purposes. How the Scam Works Threat actors behind PlayPraetor execute a well-crafted deception strategy: Fake Play Store Pages – Cybercriminals create highly realistic clones of Google Play Store and other trusted sources to distribute Trojanized APKs. Malicious APKs Disguised as L...

What is Threat-Led Vulnerability Management? Threat-Led Vulnerability Management (TLVM) is a security approach that focuses on prioritizing and managing vulnerabilities based on the current threat landscape and the specific risks posed to an organization. Rather than treating all vulnerabilities equally, TLVM emphasizes understanding which vulnerabilities are most likely to be exploited by malicious actors, correlated with the configuration state and security posture of the organization's unique infrastructure and business processes. Why Now? The notion of adopting a Threat-Led Vulnerability Management (TLVM) approach has grown in popularity, particularly in the face of the escalating volume and sophistication of cyber threats, which are increasingly frequent and offer a lower cost attack alternative when supported by AI tools. The dynamic nature of the threat landscape requires organizations to stay agile in their vulnerability management processes, prioritizing efforts based on ...

For many organizations, managing IT assets is like trying to complete a jigsaw puzzle without all the pieces. Despite massive investments in security tools and controls, many companies still have critical gaps in their ecosystems that leave them vulnerable to breaches. Often, these gaps stem not from a lack of tools—if such a thing exists in security—but from incomplete visibility and integration across those tools. By aggregating and analyzing data from multiple systems, security leaders can gain a more robust picture of their IT inventory and subsequently, their security posture. The challenge with disparate security tools It's not unusual for enterprises to deploy a wide array of security tools. The average organization uses roughly 10 security tools, covering everything from endpoint management to identity and access control. These tools, however, often operate in silos, creating fragmented and occasionally contradictory reports. Let's look at a practical example. Conside...

Cybercriminals don't just hack systems—they hack people. They've figured out that humans are wired to trust, empathize, and help, and they're using that against us in ingenious ways. Take this jaw-dropper: In 2024, a company lost over $25 million because an employee fell for a deepfake during a video call. Yep, a fake video of "trusted colleagues" tricked someone into handing over the keys to the kingdom—all kicked off by a phishing email. Ouch. If we want to stay one step ahead, we need to understand the psychology behind these attacks. Let's break it down—the human vulnerabilities, the identity and access management (IAM) fixes, and how to make tech work with (not against) our brains. Why Humans Are the Weakest Link Here's the deal: Humans evolved to trust and empathize. It's why we have friends, families, and functional societies. Mirror neurons in our brains make us feel what others feel, which is awesome for bonding… but terrible when a scammer shows up. Cybercrimi...