Tag: Verizon

Verizon DBIR: Adversaries Weaponize AI in Stealth Attacks by Targeting Points of Exposure

by Amy Larsen DeCarlo, posted in Secure
A close-up portrait of a woman with light brown hair, wearing a black blazer and a light-colored turtleneck sweater, smiling softly against a light blue background.
Amy Larsen DeCarlo – Principal Analyst, Security and Data Center Services

Summary Bullets:

  • Bad actors are raising their intelligence quotient with AI, tapping it to find vulnerabilities faster and to power mobile-centric phishing campaigns.
  • Supply chains are a weak link with partner network weaknesses linked to nearly half of all breaches.

An already volatile threat landscape is becoming even more dangerous as threat actors tap AI to accelerate and improve the success of their attacks on enterprises. Verizon’s 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) reveals how effective adversaries have become in using AI to capitalize on enterprise weaknesses. Exploiting software vulnerabilities was the initiating factor in 31% of all breaches, notable because this is the first time in almost 20 years that it has overtaken compromised credentials as the most frequent entry point for an attack.

Continue reading “Verizon DBIR: Adversaries Weaponize AI in Stealth Attacks by Targeting Points of Exposure” →

Corporate BYOD Policies Brings Security and Productivity

by Gary Barton, posted in Communicate

Gary Barton
Gary Barton

Summary Bullets:

  • Ignoring the impact of smartphones in the workplace is no longer an option.
  • A well constructed BYOD policy will deliver security and productivity benefits.

BT has this week gone to market with its latest bring your own device (BYOD) proposition, its BT Advise BYOD Quick Start suite, which includes monitoring and security services. BT’s launch has been backed by an accompanying white paper ‘Bring Your Own Device’. The conclusions of this report provide further proof that (as this writer has previously argued) enterprises can no longer afford to be without a BYOD policy. The research suggests that around 50% of employees are now formally allowed to use their mobile devices at work, but that actual usage rates are significantly higher. In other words, most companies now know that preventing mobile device usage is a losing battle. What is more significant for enterprises, however, is that 60% of the surveyed IT managers felt that using smart devices in the workplace increased worker efficiency and 84% of IT managers surveyed believe that a BYOD policy confers a competitive advantage, with 31% suggesting that a BYOD policy gives a ‘significant advantage’. Of employees surveyed, 59% stated that they use personal devices to access files from company servers. With productivity advantages on one side and real security risks on the other, perhaps the biggest surprise in BT and Cisco’s white paper was that the research suggested that the number of enterprises with an official BYOD policy in place has fallen. Continue reading “Corporate BYOD Policies Brings Security and Productivity” →

Social Media Can Play an Important Role in Companies’ Collaborative Working Practices

by Gary Barton, posted in Communicate

Gary Barton
Gary Barton

Summary Bullets:

  • In an increasingly global world and amidst a growing demand/need for flexible working patterns, collaboration tools become more important.
  • Companies deploying unified communications and collaboration (UCC) solutions should consider including social media as part of the ‘collaboration’ element.

Yahoo! chief Marissa Mayer has recently announced that the company is to end the practice of ‘remote’ working (i.e., home working) amongst its employees.  However, the Yahoo! chief was quoted as saying, “To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side.  That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices.”  This brings in a slightly separate element to the efficiency debate.  This is not suggesting that home workers cannot produce as much ‘work’ as office workers, but that the collaborative creative process is harmed by not having employees grouped together in one location.  However, as flexible working becomes not only more in demand from employees, but also a reality for organisations with multiple offices or those seeking to reduce their office space due to economic pressures, collaboration tools become more important.  The nature of certain jobs (e.g., sales or field operatives) also means that some employees will always be remote workers. Continue reading “Social Media Can Play an Important Role in Companies’ Collaborative Working Practices” →