Tag Archive for: human

Human Error is Biggest Cybersecurity Threat, CTOs Say

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Almost two-thirds (59%) of CTOs believe that human error is the biggest cybersecurity threat facing their organisation today, according to research from IT consulting company STX Next.

Human error, which can range from downloading a malware-infected attachment to failing to use a strong password, was found to be the more threatening than the potential of both ransomware (48%) and phishing (40%) attacks. With the workforce representing organisations’ biggest attack surface, human error has previously been reported to account for as many as 95% of all cybersecurity breaches.

In response to these threats, CTOs are deploying a range of tactics in order to protect their teams and wider organisation, and are taking advantage of the many solutions on the market. Multi-factor authentication, which has taken off in recent years, has been adopted by 94% of companies, 91% are using identity access management technology (IAM), 58% are using security information and event management (SIEM) technology and 86% are using single sign-on (SSO) solutions.

Security is among main challenges for CTOs

The findings were taken from STX Next’s 2023 Global CTO Survey, which surveyed 500 global CTOs about the biggest challenges facing their organisation. 

Other key findings from the research included:

  • A quarter (24%) of CTOs said that security was their biggest challenge across the organisation, the fourth most popular response.
  • Despite the growing threat of attack, just less than half (49%) of companies surveyed said that they currently have a cyber insurance policy in place, while 59% of businesses have implemented a ransomware protection solution.
  • In-house security teams are still in the minority: just 36% of companies have a dedicated team or department providing security services, whereas 53% of companies are using the services of external specialised companies for security.

“The data from this year’s survey indicates that employees are still the weakest point of company security,” comments Krzysztof Olejniczak, CISO at STX Next. “Despite deployment of comprehensive technology, poor implementation, substandard support processes or lack of governance can render these efforts useless. In…

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The human capacity for kindness

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What’s the most inspiring book you’ve ever read? Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman is up there for me.

I’ve always been a natural optimist. It’s a trait I suppose I inherited from my dad, whosecatchphrase in life was: “Isn’t life wonderful?” Humankind struck a big chord with me, after my son Sam recommended it to me, because it is a book full of hope. Bregman explores key events of human history and their previous scholarly interpretations, and then reaches far more optimistic conclusions that we rarely get to hear. The unknown heroes and the rebels with a cause. The book reminds us to see the best in people and in situations, instead of assuming the worst. It also highlights that if we constantly expect the worst in others and in ourselves, we bring out the worst sides of humankind.

Richard Branson and his son Sam Branson embracing and looking happy

Image from Virgin Galactic

Challenging the idea that we are inherently selfish, innately malicious or immoral, Bregman seeks to show that all humans, on balance, are good people with capacity for kindness. In some cases, he argues, people are corrupted by power, or, as Hannah Arendt expressed it, tempted by “evil masquerading as good” – with catastrophic results. But in the same way that fear and propaganda can be contagious, Bregman writes, so are hope and kindness.

The book also shows that resisting questionable authority is a trainable skill, and one we should all practice. The brave women and girls in Iran, who are risking their lives to resist a repressive regime are one shining example. The people of Ukraine who are resisting Putin’s violent invasion is another example of powerful resistance. We must continue to support their defiance.

Richard Branson in Ukraine, visiting the Superhumans Center

Superhumans

I was particularly moved by one analogy in the book, which showed just how much progress we’ve made in the past few centuries. As Bregman wrote: “If you take the history of civilisation and clock it over 24 hours, the first 23 hours and 45 minutes would be sheer misery. Only the final 15 minutes would civil society start to look like a good idea. In those final five minutes we’ve stamped out most infectious diseases. Vaccines now save more lives each year than would have been spared if we’d had world peace for the…

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India: Government’s pursuit of new surveillance technology heightens human rights concerns 

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Responding to a report by the Financial Times that India is searching for alternative spyware technology to replace NSO Group’s Pegasus surveillance software, Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, Head of the Security Lab at Amnesty International, said:  

“It is chilling that instead of respecting human rights and ensuring accountability for those targeted by Pegasus, that the Indian government is instead looking for alternative spyware to further its surveillance capabilities. 

The spyware industry continues to spiral out of control globally with dozens of companies offering similar products to Pegasus.

Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, Head of the Security Lab at Amnesty International

“It is shameful that although spyware technology has been used to commit grave human rights violations, crush dissent, and stifle freedom of assembly and expression, governments across the world continue to recklessly advance these methods to unlawfully target dissidents and critics.”  

New research from Amnesty International’s Security Lab this week has uncovered evidence of a spyware hacking campaign targeting Google’s Android operating system and impacting billions of users worldwide.  

“The spyware industry continues to spiral out of control globally with dozens of companies offering similar products to Pegasus. We urgently need a global moratorium on the sale, transfer, and use of spyware until robust human rights regulatory safeguards are in place.”  

Background:  

On March 30, 11 governments issued a joint statement committing to joint action to counter the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware. 

On March 27, United States President Joe Biden signed an executive order restricting the government’s use of commercial spyware technology that has been used to intimidate civil society around the globe. 

In 2021, following revelations by Amnesty International in the Pegasus Project about the spyware produced by the Israeli company NSO, the Supreme Court of India set up a technical committee to investigate abuses involving the software. In 2022, the committee concluded their investigation, but the court has not made the findings of the report public….

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How to Distinguish Bot vs. Human Traffic

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Not so long ago, bots were considered a modern-day convenience. Understandably so, bots have the potential to make enterprises more efficient with customer service or help to improve an enterprise’s standing on popular search engines. However, with their growing sophistication and scale in recent times, bots and  botnets have become a source of concern for enterprises around the globe. In fact, bots now comprise nearly half of all internet traffic. This shows that enterprises need to recognize bots are the “new normal” on the internet and prepare accordingly. 

These malicious software applications are designed to mimic human behavior on websites or apps. Usually deployed by cybercriminals to carry out malicious activities such as spreading misinformation, conducting DDoS attacks or inventory scraping, automated bad bots have now become one of the biggest threats to enterprises.  

Identifying bot traffic within your website traffic is vital because it allows you to take action and minimize the impact of the bot attack. 

In this blog post, we will tell you about the challenges of detecting bot traffic and tips that can help you spot bot traffic. You’ll also find tools that can help monitor bot vs. human traffic.

Ready to defeat advanced, automated bots? Read our ebook, Beat Advanced Bots with Intelligent Challenge-Response, and get started today!

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eBook: Beat Advanced Bots with Intelligent Challenge-Response

What is Bot Traffic?

Put simply, bot traffic is non-human traffic generated by robots to web pages and apps. Bot traffic can be beneficial or harmful, depending on the purpose of the bots. Usually, bots perform repetitive tasks automatically without human involvement, like web crawlers. This automation enables a bot’s human overlord to conduct a variety of tasks.  

Good bots can be used for marketing and customer service functions, data mining, and fraud prevention. However, malicious bots can also be used for credential stuffing, web content scraping or data scraping, and launching denial of service (DDoS) or account takeover (ATO) attacks. Specific “spam bots” can also be used to control a narrative on social media or…

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