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Today’s “AI everywhere” reality is woven into everyday workflows across the enterprise, embedded in SaaS platforms, browsers, copilots, extensions, and a rapidly expanding universe of shadow tools that appear faster than security teams can track. Yet most organizations still rely on legacy controls that operate far away from where AI interactions actually occur. The result is a widening governance gap where AI usage grows exponentially, but visibility and control do not.  With AI becoming central to productivity, enterprises face a new challenge: enabling the business to innovate while maintaining governance, compliance, and security.  A new Buyer’s Guide for AI Usage Control argues that enterprises have fundamentally misunderstood where AI risk lives. Discovering AI Usage and Eliminating ‘Shadow’ AI will also be discussed in an upcoming virtual lunch and learn .  The surprising truth is that AI security isn’t a data problem or an app problem. It’s an interaction pro...

An innovative approach to discovering, analyzing, and governing identity usage beyond traditional IAM controls. The Challenge: Identity Lives Outside the Identity Stack Identity and access management tools were built to govern users and directories. Modern enterprises run on applications. Over time, identity logic has moved into application code, APIs, service accounts, and custom authentication layers. Credentials are embedded. Authorization is enforced locally. Usage patterns change without review. These identity paths often operate outside the visibility of IAM, PAM, and IGA. For security and identity teams, this creates a blind spot - what we call Identity Dark Matter. This dark matter is responsible for the identity risk that cannot be directly observed. Why Traditional Approaches Fall Short Most identity tools rely on configuration data and policy models. That works for managed users.

For mid-market organizations, cybersecurity is a constant balancing act. Proactive, preventative security measures are essential to protect an expanding attack surface. Combined with effective protection that blocks threats, they play a critical role in stopping cyberattacks before damage is done. The challenge is that many security tools add complexity and cost that most mid-market businesses can’t absorb. With limited budgets and lean IT and security teams, organizations often focus on detection and response. While necessary, this places a significant operational burden on teams already stretched thin. A more sustainable approach is security across the complete threat lifecycle—combining prevention, protection, detection, and response in a way that reduces risk without increasing cost or complexity. Why Mid-Market Security Often Feels Stuck Most mid-market organizations rely on a small set of foundational tools, such as endpoint protection, email security, and network firewalls....

Cybersecurity teams increasingly want to move beyond looking at threats and vulnerabilities in isolation. It’s not only about what could go wrong (vulnerabilities) or who might attack (threats), but where they intersect in your actual environment to create real, exploitable exposure. Which exposures truly matter? Can attackers exploit them? Are our defenses effective? Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) can provide a useful approach to the cybersecurity teams in their journey towards unified threat/vulnerability or exposure management. What CTEM Really Means CTEM, as defined by Gartner, emphasizes a ‘continuous’ cycle of identifying, prioritizing, and remediating exploitable exposures across your attack surface, which improves your overall security posture as an outcome. It’s not a one-off scan and a result delivered via a tool; it’s an operational model built on five steps: Scoping – assess your threats and vulnerabilities and identify what’s most important: assets, ...

Research analyzing 4,700 leading websites reveals that 64% of third-party applications now access sensitive data without business justification, up from 51% in 2024.  Government sector malicious activity spiked from 2% to 12.9%, while 1 in 7 Education sites show active compromise. Specific offenders: Google Tag Manager (8% of violations), Shopify (5%), Facebook Pixel (4%). Download the complete 43-page analysis → TL;DR A critical disconnect emerges in the 2026 research: While 81% of security leaders call web attacks a top priority, only 39% have deployed solutions to stop the bleeding. Last year's research found 51% unjustified access. This year it's 64% — and accelerating into public infrastructure. What is Web Exposure? Gartner coined ‘Web Exposure Management’ to describe security risks from third-party applications: analytics, marketing pixels, CDNs, and payment tools. Each connection expands your attack surface; a single vendor compromise can trigger a massive ...

The Invisible Half of the Identity Universe Identity used to live in one place - an LDAP directory, an HR system, a single IAM portal. Not anymore. Today, identity is fragmented across SaaS, on-prem, IaaS, PaaS, home-grown, and shadow applications. Each of these environments carries its own accounts, permissions, and authentication flows. Traditional IAM and IGA tools govern only the nearly managed half of this universe - the users and apps that have been fully onboarded, integrated, and mapped. Everything else remains invisible: the unverified, non-human, unprotected mass of identities we call identity dark matter. Every new or modernized app demands onboarding - connectors, schema mapping, entitlement catalogs, and role modeling - work that consumes time, money, and expertise. Many applications never make it that far. The result is fragmentation: unmanaged identities and permissions operating outside corporate governance. And beyond the human layer lies an even larger challenge...

Attack Surface Management (ASM) tools promise reduced risk. What they usually deliver is more information.  Security teams deploy ASM, asset inventories grow, alerts start flowing, and dashboards fill up. There is visible activity and measurable output. But when leadership asks a simple question, “ Is this reducing incidents? ” the answer is often unclear.  This gap between effort and outcome is the core ROI problem in attack surface management, especially when ROI is measured primarily through asset counts instead of risk reduction.  The Promise vs. The Proof Most ASM programs are built around a reasonable idea: you can’t protect what you don’t know exists. As a result, teams focus on discovery: domains and subdomains, IPs and cloud resources, third-party infrastructure, and transient or short-lived assets.  Over time, counts increase. Dashboards are trending upward. Coverage improves.  But none of those metrics directly answer whether the organization i...

In December 2024, the popular Ultralytics AI library was compromised, installing malicious code that hijacked system resources for cryptocurrency mining. In August 2025 , malicious Nx packages leaked 2,349 GitHub, cloud, and AI credentials. Throughout 2024, ChatGPT vulnerabilities allowed unauthorized extraction of user data from AI memory. The result: 23.77 million secrets were leaked through AI systems in 2024 alone, a 25% increase from the previous year. Here's what these incidents have in common: The compromised organizations had comprehensive security programs. They passed audits. They met compliance requirements. Their security frameworks simply weren't built for AI threats. Traditional security frameworks have served organizations well for decades. But AI systems operate fundamentally differently from the applications these frameworks were designed to protect. And the attacks against them don't fit into existing control categories. Security teams followed the f...

Most MSPs and MSSPs know how to deliver effective security. The challenge is helping prospects understand why it matters in business terms. Too often, sales conversations stall because prospects are overwhelmed, skeptical, or tired of fear-based messaging. That’s why we created ”Getting to Yes”: An Anti-Sales Guide for MSPs . This guide helps service providers transform resistance into trust and turn sales conversations into long-term partnerships. In the guide, you’ll learn how to shift from persuasion to partnership, uncover what really drives objections, and lead with credibility as a trusted cyber advisor. Why Traditional Cybersecurity Sales Strategies Don’t Work Today’s buyers aren’t saying “no” to your services because they don’t care about security. They’re saying “no” because they don’t understand what they’re hearing. Most SMBs already know cybersecurity is important. In fact, 57% call it a top priority. However, they’re lost in complexity, jargon, and vendor noise. Wh...

Every day, security teams face the same problem—too many risks, too many alerts, and not enough time. You fix one issue, and three more show up. It feels like you’re always one step behind. But what if there was a smarter way to stay ahead—without adding more work or stress? Join The Hacker News and Bitdefender for a free cybersecurity webinar to learn about a new approach called Dynamic Attack Surface Reduction (DASR) —a method that helps security teams close gaps before attackers even find them. Most tools today only tell you what’s wrong. They scan, report, and give you long lists of problems. But they don’t help you fix them fast enough. The truth is, the attack surface keeps changing—new apps, cloud systems, remote devices, misconfigurations. It never stops. Attackers only need one open door. And that’s why traditional defenses often fail—they react too slowly. Meet DASR: A Smarter Way to Stay Safe Dynamic Attack Surface Reduction (DASR) changes how we defend. Instead o...

AI-enabled supply chain attacks jumped 156% last year. Discover why traditional defenses are failing and what CISOs must do now to protect their organizations. Download the full CISO’s expert guide to AI Supply chain attacks here .  TL;DR AI-enabled supply chain attacks are exploding in scale and sophistication - Malicious package uploads to open-source repositories jumped 156% in the past year . AI-generated malware has game-changing characteristics - It's polymorphic by default, context-aware, semantically camouflaged, and temporally evasive. Real attacks are already happening - From the 3CX breach affecting 600,000 companies to NullBulge attacks weaponizing Hugging Face and GitHub repositories. Detection times have dramatically increased - IBM's 2025 report shows breaches take an average of 276 days to identify, with AI-assisted attacks potentially extending this window. Traditional security tools are struggling - Static analysis and signature-based detec...

Introduction Financial institutions are facing a new reality: cyber-resilience has passed from being a best practice, to an operational necessity, to a prescriptive regulatory requirement. Crisis management or Tabletop exercises, for a long time relatively rare in the context of cybersecurity, have become required as a series of regulations has introduced this requirement to FSI organizations in several regions, including DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) in the EU; CPS230 / CORIE (Cyber Operational Resilience Intelligence-led Exercises) in Australia; MAS TRM (Monetary Authority of Singapore Technology Risk Management guidelines); FCA/PRA Operational Resilience in the UK; the FFIEC IT Handbook in the US, and the SAMA Cybersecurity Framework in Saudi Arabia. What makes complying with these regulatory requirements complex is the cross-functional collaboration between technical and non-technical teams. For example, simulation of the technical aspects of the cyber inciden...

MSPs are facing rising client expectations for strong cybersecurity and compliance outcomes, while threats grow more complex and regulatory demands evolve. Meanwhile, clients are increasingly seeking comprehensive protection without taking on the burden of managing security themselves. This shift represents a major growth opportunity. By delivering advanced cybersecurity and compliance services, MSPs can build deeper relationships, generate higher-value recurring revenue streams, and stand out in a competitive market. However, the move from basic IT and security services to strategic cybersecurity offerings requires more than technical expertise. It demands a clear service strategy, the right internal resources, and the ability to communicate security value in business terms. Without this foundation, MSPs risk inconsistent service delivery, missed opportunities, and stalled growth. We created the guide Turn Security Into Growth: Is Your MSP Ready to Expand? to help providers pin...

Security doesn’t fail at the point of breach. It fails at the point of impact.  That line set the tone for this year’s Picus Breach and Simulation (BAS) Summit , where researchers, practitioners, and CISOs all echoed the same theme: cyber defense is no longer about prediction. It's about proof. When a new exploit drops, scanners scour the internet in minutes. Once attackers gain a foothold, lateral movement often follows just as fast. If your controls haven’t been tested against the exact techniques in play, you’re not defending, you're hoping things don't go seriously pear-shaped. That’s why pressure builds long before an incident report is written. The same hour an exploit hits Twitter, a boardroom wants answers. As one speaker put it, “You can’t tell the board, ‘I’ll have an answer next week.’ We have hours, not days.” BAS has outgrown its compliance roots and become the daily voltage test of cybersecurity, the current you run through your stack to see what actuall...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) . It's no longer a future concept—it's here, and it's already reshaping how teams operate. AI's capabilities are profound: it's speeding up audits, flagging critical risks faster, and drastically cutting down on time-consuming manual work. This leads to greater efficiency, higher accuracy, and a more proactive GRC function. However, this powerful shift introduces significant new challenges. AI brings its own set of risks, including potential bias, dangerous blind spots, and regulatory gaps that are only beginning to be addressed by governing bodies. Staying ahead of this curve—not just struggling to keep up—requires clear, practical knowledge. Don't Just Stay Afloat—Master the Change To help you navigate this complex landscape, we invite you to our free, high-impact webinar, " The Future of AI in GRC: Opportunities, Risks, and Practical Insights . " This se...

In cybersecurity, speed isn’t just a win — it’s a multiplier. The faster you learn about emerging threats, the faster you adapt your defenses, the less damage you suffer, and the more confidently your business keeps scaling. Early threat detection isn’t about preventing a breach someday: it’s about protecting the revenue you’re supposed to earn every day. Companies that treat cybersecurity as a reactive cost center usually find themselves patching holes, paying ransoms, and dealing with downtime. Companies that invest in proactive visibility, threat intelligence, and early detection mechanisms stay in the game longer. With trust, uptime, and innovation intact. Let’s break down why this strategy directly connects to long-term business success: 1. Early detection drastically lowers the cost of incidents A breach caught at initial access might cost just internal response hours. Caught at data exfiltration — multiply the cost by 10, and a breach caught after regulatory violations kick...

Does your organization suffer from a cybersecurity perception gap? Findings from the  Bitdefender 2025 Cybersecurity Assessment suggest the answer is probably “yes” — and many leaders may not even realize it. This disconnect matters. Small differences in perception today can evolve into major blind spots tomorrow. After all, perception influences what organizations prioritize, where they allocate resources, and how they respond in critical moments. Confidence at the Top, Caution on the Ground Bitdefender’s latest assessment surveyed  1,200 cybersecurity and IT professionals , and at first glance, the results suggest optimism. An impressive  93% say they are “somewhat” or “very confident” in their ability to manage cyber risk as the attack surface expands. But dig deeper, and the optimism begins to split. Nearly half ( 45% ) of C-level respondents — including CISOs and CIOs — describe themselves as “very confident” in their organization’s readiness. Yet among mid-l...

AI is everywhere—and your company wants in. Faster products, smarter systems, fewer bottlenecks. But if you're in security, that excitement often comes with a sinking feeling. Because while everyone else is racing ahead, you're left trying to manage a growing web of AI agents you didn’t create, can’t fully see, and weren’t designed to control. Join our upcoming webinar and learn how to make AI security work with you, not against you . The Quiet Crisis No One Talks About Did you know most companies now have 100 AI agents for every one human employee? Even more shocking? 99% of those AI identities are completely unmanaged. No oversight. No lifecycle controls. And every one of them could be a backdoor waiting to happen. It's not your fault. Traditional tools weren’t built for this new AI world. But the risks are real—and growing. Let’s Change That. Together. In our free webinar, “ Turning Controls into Accelerators of AI Adoption ,” we’ll help you flip the script. Th...

Artificial intelligence (AI) holds tremendous promise for improving cyber defense and making the lives of security practitioners easier. It can help teams cut through alert fatigue, spot patterns faster, and bring a level of scale that human analysts alone can’t match. But realizing that potential depends on securing the systems that make it possible. Every organization experimenting with AI in security operations is, knowingly or not, expanding its attack surface. Without clear governance, strong identity controls, and visibility into how AI makes its decisions, even well-intentioned deployments can create risk faster than they reduce it. To truly benefit from AI, defenders need to approach securing it with the same rigor they apply to any other critical system. That means establishing trust in the data it learns from, accountability for the actions it takes, and oversight for the outcomes it produces. When secured correctly, AI can amplify human capability instead of replacing it t...

Penetration testing helps organizations ensure IT systems are secure, but it should never be treated in a one-size-fits-all approach. Traditional approaches can be rigid and cost your organization time and money – while producing inferior results.  The benefits of pen testing are clear. By empowering “white hat” hackers to attempt to breach your system using similar tools and techniques to an adversary, pen testing can provide reassurance that your IT set-up is secure. Perhaps more importantly, it can also flag areas for improvement.  As the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) notes, it’s comparable to a financial audit . “Your finance team tracks expenditure and income day to day. An audit by an external group ensures that your internal team's processes are sufficient.” While the advantages are obvious, it’s vital to understand the true cost of the process: indeed, the classic approach can often demand significant time and effort from your team. You need to get yo...