The Hacker News | Expert Insights

In today's digital landscape, where cyber threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated and pervasive, organizations must take a hard look at their traditional security models. For over three decades, firewalls and VPNs have been the backbone of network security. However, as the threat landscape evolves, it's clear that these legacy systems are no longer sufficient. Enter the Zero Trust model, exemplified by innovative solutions like Zscaler, which could revolutionize the way your organization approaches cybersecurity. Understanding the Risks Public IP Addresses as Attack Surfaces One of the critical vulnerabilities inherent in traditional security models is the reliance on public IP addresses. These addresses serve as direct attack surfaces for malicious actors. Just as having your phone number in a public directory makes you susceptible to unwanted calls, exposing public IPs makes organizations vulnerable to cyberattacks. Attackers can easily discover these IPs, allowing th...

Starting from ground 0 Active Directory is currently installed in over 90% of the Fortune 1000 companies . Because of its prevalence, and the value of the information it maintains, we know it's a primary target for threat actors.  To protect Active Directory and other valuable assets of similar sensitivity, Microsoft introduced the concept of the Red Forest, a security architecture designed to protect Active Directory forests from cyberattack. Red Forest worked to containerize a hardened forest, separate from other forests, using buffer zones and policies to restrict activity. This concept, also known as Enhanced Security Admin Environment ESAE) came about in 2014. The separation of high value, highly sensitive forests in Active Directory from other systems and assets is critically important to protect the content housed within. Using the most modern approach available at any given time will help to thwart threat actors who are continuously searching for a way to infiltrate yo...

Many of the day-to-day digital operations of businesses, governments, and critical infrastructure have one thing in common: Microsoft. From the Microsoft Windows operating systems powering endpoints and servers, to Azure's rapidly growing cloud services, Microsoft's products are everywhere, making the company and its products attractive targets for threat actors seeking to exploit vulnerabilities at scale.  With more than 1.4 billion Windows users around the globe and the adoption of platforms like Microsoft 365, Active Directory, and Azure surging, a single exploitable vulnerability in a Microsoft product can open the door to privilege escalation, lateral movement, or ransomware deployments that impact tens of thousands of interconnected systems. Whether nation state or financially motivated, modern cyber-crime syndicates will consistently take the path of least resistance, and vulnerable assets are a reliable attack vector. For twelve years, the Microsoft Vulnerabilities Repor...

I have been a Star Wars fan since the moment I took my seat in the theatre and saw Princess Leia's rebel ship trying to outrun an Imperial Star Destroyer. It's impossible to see that movie (or its greatest successor, Andor ) and not take the side of the underdog rebels, who are determined to escape the iron fist of imperial control. Of course, in my work as a security professional, "control" is the name of the game. I've spent as much of my career trying to stop my own end-users from going outside the lines as I have trying to guard against malicious outsiders. I personally still think I'm the good guy, since my ultimate goal is to protect sensitive data, but I understand why IT and security teams are often seen as the bad guys. After all, we do operate according to something called the "rule of no." It's not great branding, and increasingly, it just isn't working. Here's the situation in 2025: we have a galaxy's worth of diverse applications, devices, and user identities accessing...

Many moons ago, when the World Wide Web was young and the nerd in me was strong, I remember building a PC and setting it up as a web server. In those exciting, pioneering days, it was quite something to be able to have my very own IP address on the internet and serve my own web pages directly from my Apache server to the world. Great fun. I also remember looking at the server logs in horror as I scrolled through pages upon pages of failed login, and presumably hacking, attempts. I'd buttoned things up pretty nicely from a security standpoint, but even so, it would only have taken a vulnerability in an unpatched piece of software for a breach to occur, and from there, all bets would have been off. Even today, many internet service providers will let you provision your own server, should you feel brave enough. Of course, the stakes were not high for me at home, but knowing what we know now about the growth of ransomware attacks and how AI is facilitating them, no organization would da...

The surge in DDoS attack traffic this year has been driven in part by the rapid expansion of IoT devices - from smart watches and home appliances to cars, hundreds of millions of new devices are joining the global internet. Many of these new devices feature poor security and are easily added to attacker's pool of botnets.  It is true that the DDoS threat grows alongside internet expansion. But the relationship isn't linear. The true catalyst behind this surge lies in the mass availability of botnet-for-hire platforms and low-barrier attack tools. Meanwhile, the number of high-value targets – such as financial institutions, governments, and critical infrastructure – remains relatively fixed. The result is a growing imbalance, in which more attackers are armed with more tools - targeting the same essential services with increasing frequency and complexity. How AI Makes DDoS More Dangerous  AI and machine learning are impacting the evolution of DDoS strategies and tactics. T...

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...