Cloud Security | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

With thousands of endpoints, cloud instances, remote users, and third-party integrations, securing the enterprise has become a massive target. Each change in the IT environment - whether driven by digital transformation, M&A activity, or routine system updates - creates new opportunities for adversaries to leverage. Yet, the network is the backbone of business operations. It must always be available to support production, collaboration, and growth.  In this article, we'll explore the specific challenges large enterprises face when validating their security posture and how leading security teams are evolving their testing strategies to match the scale, speed, and sophistication of large, multi-faceted IT networks.  The Challenges of Validating Enterprise Network Security Enormous attack surface - In large enterprises, the attack surface spans countless assets across on-prem, cloud, and hybrid environments, making comprehensive security validation incredibly complex. Ac...

Identity Is the New Perimeter—And It's Fractured In 2025, identity isn't just a security issue—it's the battleground. And too many organizations are getting caught flat-footed. Organizations today must reckon with complex hybrid environments that contain interconnected endpoints, servers, cloud services, DevOps systems, identity infrastructure, and much more. And with enterprise systems no longer fitting neatly into a single network perimeter, the identities used to interact with these systems have become the new perimeter.  A strong cybersecurity foundation starts with clear visibility that puts risk in content. Identity security is no different. However, in practice, identity management systems are anything but centralized. Building IDs and access to physical offices are handled by one system. Logins to Windows machines are generally managed with Windows domains and Active Directory—but what about Macs and Linux machines? Companies use Okta, Ping Identity, or the equivalent ...

Gone are the days of mass phishing campaigns. Today's attackers are leveraging generative AI (GenAI) to deliver hyper-targeted scams, transforming every email, text, or call into a calculated act of manipulation. With flawless lures and tactics designed to outsmart AI defenses, cybercriminals are zeroing in on HR, payroll, and finance teams—exploiting human vulnerabilities with precision. The Zscaler ThreatLabz 2025 Phishing Report dives deep into the rapidly evolving phishing landscape and uncovers the latest trends, including top phishing targets, real-world examples of AI-driven phishing attacks, and actionable best practices to defend against the next wave of AI-powered phishing threats. Key findings on phishing attacks The ThreatLabz research team analyzed over 2 billion blocked phishing transactions captured across the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange™ cloud security platform from January 2024 to December 2024 and uncovered several key findings: Phishing is down but is more tar...

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...

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...

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...

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...