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In today's perilous cyber risk landscape, CISOs and CIOs must defend their organizations against relentless cyber threats, including ransomware, phishing, attacks on infrastructure, supply chain breaches, malicious insiders, and much more. Yet at the same time, security leaders are also under tremendous pressure to reduce costs and invest wisely.  One of the most effective ways for CISOs and CIOs to make the best use of their limited resources to protect their organizations is by conducting a cyber risk assessment. A comprehensive cyber risk assessment can help: Identify vulnerabilities and threats Prioritize security investments Assess cybersecurity maturity Communicate cyber risk to executives Provide the basis for cyber risk quantification A new guide by cybersecurity optimization provider CYE ( download here ) explains how this can be accomplished. The guide outlines several approaches to cyber risk assessments and describes the necessary steps that can yield solid in

Employee well-being has become a primary focus for many businesses. Even before the pandemic, the C-suite was acutely aware of how employee mental health impacts business outcomes.  But for cybersecurity professionals, stress has always been a part of the job. A  new survey  revealed that one of the most concerning aspects of employee mental health is how it impacts cybersecurity programs and, more broadly, a business' ability to protect itself from cyberattacks. CISOs and their teams appear to be taking the brunt of unmitigated work-related stress levels and it's affecting the entire organization.  CISOs at small to midsize businesses with teams of five employees or fewer were surveyed to better understand how work-related stress is impacting CISOs – from their ability to do their job and lead their team to how it's affecting their own professional outlook and personal life. Here's what the survey results revealed.  The Impact of CISO Work-Stress Levels on Small

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One thing is clear. The " business value"  of data continues to grow, making it an organization's primary piece of intellectual property. From a cyber risk perspective, attacks on data are the most prominent threat to organizations.  Regulators, cyber insurance firms, and auditors are paying much closer attention to the integrity, resilience, and recoverability of organization data – as well as the IT infrastructure & systems that store the data. What Impact Does This Have On The Security Of Storage & Backup Systems? Just a few years ago, almost no CISO thought that storage & backups were important. That's no longer the case today.  Ransomware has pushed backup and recovery back onto the IT and corporate agenda. Cybercriminals, such as Conti, Hive and REvil, are  targeting storage and backup  systems, to prevent recovery. Some ransomwares – Locky and Crypto, for example – now bypass production systems altogether, and directly target backups. This

Do you know where your secrets are? If not, I can tell you: you are not alone. Hundreds of CISOs, CSOs, and security leaders, whether from small or large companies, don't know either. No matter the organization's size, the certifications, tools, people, and processes: secrets are not visible in 99% of cases. It might sound ridiculous at first: keeping secrets is an obvious first thought when thinking about security in the development lifecycle. Whether in the cloud or on-premise, you know that your secrets are safely stored behind hard gates that few people can access. It is not just a matter of common sense since it's also an essential compliance requirement for security audits and certifications. Developers working in your organization are well-aware that secrets should be handled with special care. They have put in place specific tools and procedures to correctly create, communicate, and rotate human or machine credentials. Still, do you know where your secrets are?

According to a  recent survey , 90% of CISOs running teams in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) use a managed detection and response (MDR) service. That's a 53% increase from last year. Why the dramatic shift to MDR? CISOs at organizations of any size, but especially SMEs, are realizing that the threat landscape and the way we do cybersecurity are among the many things that will never look the same in a post-2020 world.  The increase in the number of sophisticated attacks, the heavy reliance on the cloud, limited resources and budgets (exacerbated by economic uncertainty), and a growing skills gap are all major contributors to why having an MDR service to support security operations is becoming a necessity.  Beyond that, there are a number of reasons for why incorporating an MDR service into your security strategy can provide exceptional value that even the people who are tightening your budget at your organization can't deny.  Here are just seven reasons why you (yes, you

Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) services (also known as 'Fractional CISO' or 'CISO-as-a-Service') are growing in popularity, especially as growing cyber threats, tightening regulatory demands and strict cyber insurance requirements are driving small to medium-sized enterprises demand for strategic cybersecurity and compliance guidance and management. But vCISO services are labor intensive, require highly skilled experts, and are difficult to scale. So, how exactly do successful vCISO providers overcome these obstacles? When you want advice on how to overcome challenges, scale and expand, who better to go to than the people who have been there, seen it, and done it with success? In a new eBook, titled ' Top virtual CISOs share: 7 tips on how vCISO service providers can maximize services, increase revenues, and improve margins " ( Download here ), vCISO platform provider Cynomi interviewed some of America's top vCISO service providers (MS

The only threat more persistent to organizations than cyber criminals? The cyber security skills crisis.  Nearly  60% of enterprises  can't find the staff to protect their data (and reputations!) from new and emerging breeds of cyber-attacks, reports the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) in its 5th annual global industry study.  The result?  Heavier workloads, unfilled positions, and burnout.  And technology  isn't  easing the burden in many organizations, especially smaller ones. In fact, it's making the problem worse, suggests  Cynet's recent CISO survey . Big Tech Pushes Small Teams to the Limits Tech stacks normally supercharge cyber security teams, but in the case of crews of five or fewer — it just leads to overwhelm. For example, it took them an average of 18 months to fully implement and feel proficient in endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools — making the technology yet another barrier to cyber security for the  85% of teams adopting it in 2022 .  Su

Growing cyber threats, tightening regulatory demands and strict cyber insurance requirements are driving small to medium-sized enterprises demand for strategic cybersecurity and compliance guidance and management. Since most companies this size don't have in-house CISO expertise – the demand for virtual CISO (vCISO) services is also growing. Yet current vCISO services models still rely on manual, humanCISO expertise. This makes these services costly and tough to scale – leaving MSPs, MSSPs and consulting firms unable to add vCISO service to their portfolio or scale their existing vCISO services to meet the growing demand. This is the challenge  Cynomi's Automated vCISO platform  is trying to solve. The company's AI-powered vCISO platform automatically generates everything vCISO service providers need to provide their clients, fully customized for each and every client: risk and compliance assessments, gap analysis, tailored security policies, strategic remediation plans w

New survey reveals lack of staff, skills, and resources driving smaller teams to outsource security. As business begins its return to normalcy (however "normal" may look), CISOs at small and medium-size enterprises (500 – 10,000 employees) were asked to share their  cybersecurity challenges and priorities , and their responses were compared the results with those of a similar survey from 2021. Here are the 5 key things we learned from 200 responses: 1  —  Remote Work Has Accelerated the Use of EDR Technologies In 2021, 52% of CISOs surveyed were relying on endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools. This year that number has leapt to 85%. In contrast, last year 45% were using network detection and response (NDR) tools, while this year just 6% employ NDR. Compared to 2021, double the number of CISOs and their organizations are seeing the value of extended detection and response (XDR) tools, which combine EDR with integrated network signals. This is likely due to the increase in re

Communication is a vital skill for any leader at an organization, regardless of seniority. For security leaders, this goes double. Communicating clearly works on multiple levels. On the one hand, security leaders and CISOs must be able to communicate strategies clearly – instructions, incident response plans, and security policies. On the other, they must be able to communicate the importance of security and the value of having robust defenses to the C-level.  For CISOs and other security leaders, this latter skill is crucial but often overlooked or not prioritized. A new webinar: " How to ace your Infosec board deck ," looks to shed light on both the importance of being able to communicate clearly with management, and key strategies to do so effectively. The webinar will feature a conversation with vCISO and Cybersecurity Consultant Dr. Eric Cole, as well as Norwest Venture Partners General Partner Dave Zilberman.  More so than just talking about the dollar value of a sec

Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) are an essential pillar of an organization's defense, and they must account for a lot. Especially for new CISOs, this can be a daunting task. The first 90 days for a new CISO are crucial in setting up their security team, so there is little time to waste, and much to accomplish.  Fortunately. A new guide by XDR provider Cynet ( download here ) looks to give new and veteran CISOs a durable foundation to build a successful security organization. The challenges faced by new CISOs aren't just logistical. They include securing their environment from both known and unknown threats, dealing with stakeholders with unique needs and demands, and interfacing with management to show the value of strong security.  Therefore, having clearly defined steps planned out can help CISOs seize the opportunity for change and implement security capabilities that allow organizations to grow and prosper. Security leaders can also leverage the willingness of orga

There is a person in every organization that is the direct owner of breach protection. His or her task is to oversee and govern the process of design, build, maintain, and continuously enhance the security level of the organization. Title-wise, this person is most often either the CIO, CISO, or Directory of IT. For convenience, we'll refer to this individual as the CISO. This person is the subject-matter expert in understanding the standard set of active cyber risks, benchmarking to what degree the organization's exposure influences potential impact. They then take appropriate steps to ensure the major risks are addressed. On top of being engaged 24/7 in the organization's actual breach protection activity, the CISO has another critical task: to articulate the risks, potential impacts and appropriate steps to take to the company's management – or in other words, they must effectively translate security issues for non-security-savvy executives in a clear and busi

Leaders in the InfoSec field face a strange dilemma. On the one hand, there are hundreds of thousands of resources available to find online to read (or watch) if they have questions – that's a benefit of a digital-first field. On the other hand, most leaders face challenges that – while not entirely unique each time – tend to require a specific touch or solution. For most, it would be great to have a sympathetic ear or a fresh perspective that has faced similar challenges. Where does the tip of the spear turn to for a helping hand? One popular avenue is to turn to a virtual CISO (or vCISO), an external consultant who can offer strategic advice, suggestions and help find insights that can be instrumental in building better security systems. For many organizations, having the benefits of a CISO, even on a temporary basis, can be incredibly helpful and valuable. With that in mind, Chris Roberts, Cynet's chief security strategist, is offering a new program ( you can learn more

InfoSec leaders tend to be a specific type. Their jobs require them to think of possible threats, take actions that may not pay immediate results, plan for unknown security risks, and react quickly when emergencies arise, often before the morning's first coffee. The high-stakes position also means that CISOs need to keep their knowledge and skills sharp – you can never really know what's around the corner. So, what can security leaders do to make sure they're prepared and hone their skills ahead of the next inevitable threat? Now, they can test themselves and their knowledge at a new website, 'The CISO Challenge' ( visit it here ). The website, launched by XDR provider Cynet, aims to let information security leaders test their cybersecurity mettle. The website features a challenge for InfoSec leaders (and those who are looking to become one) to test their knowledge in an exciting, high-stakes, realistic series of scenarios. The challenge consists of 25 scenario

The pressure on small to medium-sized enterprises to protect their organizations against cyberthreats is astronomical. These businesses face the same threats as the largest enterprises, experience the same (relative) damages and consequences when breaches occur as the largest enterprises but are forced to protect their organizations with a fraction of the resources as the largest enterprises.  Cybersecurity company Cynet just released findings from a survey of 200 CISOs in charge of small security teams ( Download here ) to shine "a spotlight into the challenges of small security teams everywhere." In addition to better understanding the challenges these CISOs face, the 2021 Survey of CISOs with Small Security Teams delves into the strategies CISOs will employ to ensure their organizations are protected from the ongoing onslaught of cyber threats - all while saddled with limited budgets and headcount. The survey findings will also be presented in a live webinar,  register

Most companies with small security teams face the same issues. They have inadequate budgets, inadequate staff, and inadequate skills to face today's onslaught of sophisticated cyberthreats. Many of these companies turn to virtual CISOs (vCISOs) to provide security expertise and guidance. vCISOs are typically former CISOs with years of experience building and managing information security programs across large and small organizations. Autonomous XDR company Cynet, a provider of an automated breach protection platform and MDR service for even the smallest security teams, is conducting a webinar with well-known vCISO Brian Haugli to understand the common challenges faced by CISOs with small security teams [ register here ]. In the first part of the webinar, Haugli will share the four foundational risks that are common across most companies he helps. He will then discuss the most common pieces of advice he provides across the companies he serves. Haugli will also share a situation