The cyber threat is very real; a breach in cyber security resulting in the theft, loss or corruption of data, occurs every second in businesses and homes around the globe.

In this day and age, most of us spend our time online. Whether it’s on social media, online shopping or informative pages – you’ll find it hard to disagree with us that crucial information related to ourselves dwells in the online world.

Ransomware gangs have signalled to publish the data stolen from victims who refuse to pay the ransom. Cybercriminals behind the Maze ransomware have erected a website on the public internet that identifies recent victim companies that opted not to pay a ransom. Ransomware gangs have now upped the ante of their attacks to cause massive losses for victim organisations. They have signalled to publish the data stolen from victims who refuse to pay the ransom.

In 2019, 32 percent of breaches and 78 percent of cyber-espionage incidents were carried out through phishing attacks. Automation gained grounds in security operations across many organisations this year. To make growth in the right direction, it’s important to learn from history and carve the future strategies accordingly. The year 2019 saw cybersecurity technology advancing and evolving new tools and techniques to meet the challenges posed by the latest cyber threats. In fact, many also predicted last year about how the attack tactics of adversaries would grow, what technologies would play a critical role in shaping the future of cybersecurity, and more.

Researchers analysed data leaked in various data breaches to bring this study forward. Passwords ‘12345,’ ‘123456,’ and ‘123456789’ were the most common passwords, followed by ‘test1’ and, of course the password ‘password’. A bunch of independent anonymous researchers composed a list of 200 most popular passwords that were leaked in data breaches during 2019 and shared it with security firm NordPass.

One day, Ali Baba, a poor woodcutter is out hard at work chopping wood in the forest, when he is suddenly distracted. Paying closer attention, he overhears a band of thieves gaining access to a magical cave containing vast treasures. Equipped with the secret password he waits until they depart and makes for the entrance of the magic cave. Once upon it, he merely repeats the words “Open Sesame” and with that enters and makes off with the treasure.

As the hustle and bustle of Christmas kicks in, make sure you don’t fall prey to festive fraud! A recent report by Action Fraud found that last year 15,024 people were conned out of £11 million by fraudsters over the Christmas period!

Despite the ever-increasing amount of communication applications, email remains and is likely to remain the primary method of communicating important information between employees and customers. We use it to verify our identity, send our thanks or apologies, invoices, offers, and information amongst many other vital things. It is something we demand and depend upon if we are to interact smoothly with our partners and clients. Yet many of us don’t require or at least practice security standards that befit such an essential and often sensitive act. Startling is that the writing is on the wall when it comes to email security!

Trust is placed in friends and family and earned by those we don’t know. Our communities depend on it and will not arise spontaneously without it. Trust is an integral part of our lives. Problematic is that in today's hectic business environment, we are often forced to interact at a moment's notice with people we just don’t know. We may be required to admit them access to critical infrastructure that underpins the very foundation of our business. Even when we know them, do we really know it's them we are interacting with the entire time?

‘00000000’ – Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile launch code Alarmingly at one time, the U.S. had no secret launch codes on its nuclear missiles at all. Then in 1962, the White House had them installed in an attempt to bring some sense of security. Despite the strong objections of the U.S. Strategic Air Command who bemoaned that the extra protection may affect deployability speeds, the codes became a reality. However, to effectively circumvent the White House directive, the “secret unlock codes” were set to eight zeros.