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Cyber Security

How the Disposable Nature of Tech is Putting Your Businesses Data at Risk

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Written by Rick Vanover, Senior Director Product Strategy at Veeam

It has become common practice for people to chase the latest technology trends. As tech becomes part of our everyday life, the lifecycle of our devices becomes smaller and smaller. This is posing a huge issue to the sprawl of data.

With the lifecycle of tech shortening, many are abandoning old devices at second-hand stores (thrift shops) and selling them to new owners without thinking about the data and personal information that is left on there. Many people are now working from home and opting to use a personal computer to get work done. This is making the challenge of controlling and managing your organisations data near impossible. With data now sprawling across the company and personal devices, there is no control over it, especially when it is sold on to its next home, left behind at a second-hand store, or thrown away.

To add to this, workplace trends like BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) are gaining popularity and making it harder for organisations to keep track of data. IT teams have less control over employees’ personal devices and so protecting the data on them becomes a challenge. Things like a lack of encryption or outdated operating systems can lead to potential hacks and data loss.

This is something organisations need to consider when implementing a cyber security strategy. This means educating staff in understanding the risks involved with discarding old devices and setting up the right protections within an organisation.

Educating staff
The first step in managing this is for IT teams to educate employees about the risks involved with using personal devices for work purposes and then eventually discarding it. Employees should be trained in the security practices of an organisation and also understand how that translates to personal devices.

Part of this should be educating staff on how to properly wipe the contents of their phones if they eventually discard it to a second-hand store. This is not something that is considered by most organisations.

Employees also need to be briefed to understand how to identify potential malware, phishing, or ransomware attacks on their personal devices. If employees are able to identify these threats, it mitigates risk of data being lost at all.

Protections
If educating staff fails, there are some protections IT teams can manually put in place to mitigate risk even further.

  • Constant software updates – if employees opt to use their devices for work purposes, this has to be under the precedent that the phone is updated regularly. Be sure to provide employees with the support necessary to deliver these updates.
  • Password security – to minimise security risks, roll out a compulsory monthly password change. Also ensure that you are putting up restrictions around the type of passwords employees are using, making it less obvious to potential hackers.
  • Encrypt data for protection – smartphones and tablets have encryption options that will provide protection of storage. Smartphones that are encrypted have a lower risk of being hacked.
  • Clear all phone data – if employees decide to move on to a new device or stop using their current device, ensure you manage the deletion of all data from that phone and a strict policy around discarding devices.

As work from home has become the new normal this year, it is becoming increasingly complicated to manage the sprawl of a company’s data. While these agile work trends had been predicted for the next 5-10 years, organisations were not prepared for them to become so mainstream in 2021. As we look to the future, this is only going to become more and more complicated.

It’s important for IT teams to understand all the risks as their companies take on more flexible working arrangements in the new future. A huge part of this is of course understanding the risks that come with using personal devices, particularly in the process of discarding them or sending them to a new home.

Cyber Security

Beyond Blocklists: How Behavioural Intent Analysis Can Safeguard Middle East Businesses from Rising AI-Driven Bot Threats

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The Middle East is facing an unprecedented surge in AI-driven bot attacks, with malicious automation now outpacing traditional defenses. Mohammad Ismail, Vice President for EMEA at Cequence Security, warns that legacy tools like IP blocklists and rate limiting are no match for today’s sophisticated threats (more…)

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Cyber Security

Sophos Boosts Firewall with New Protection and Incident Response Features

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Sophos has announced a significant update to its Sophos Firewall software, introducing enhanced protection and incident response capabilities. This update notably includes Sophos NDR Essential, a new feature now available free of charge to all customers holding an XStream Protection license for Sophos Firewall.

This integration empowers Sophos Firewall with two dedicated artificial intelligence (AI) engines specifically designed to detect both malware communications and those utilizing algorithmically generated domain names. This advanced functionality, derived from the Sophos Network Detection and Response (NDR) probe, aims to identify sophisticated malware communications even if they are previously unknown or not yet indexed. It serves as a powerful complement to the Active Threat Response capabilities already embedded within Sophos firewalls.

Chris McCormack, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Sophos

Addressing the technical demands of such advanced detection, Chris McCormack, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Sophos, explained the strategic approach, “NDR traffic analysis requires substantial processing power. That’s why we’ve adopted a new approach by deploying an NDR solution in Sophos Cloud to offload the heaviest tasks from the firewall.” This cloud-centric design ensures optimal performance without burdening the firewall’s on-device resources.

Beyond network detection, the update also brings significant improvements to connectivity and user authentication. Sophos Connect now integrates EntraID for Single Sign-On (SSO). This new feature for the VPN client, bundled with Sophos Firewall, is set to enhance both the security and user experience for SSL and IPsec VPN connections. The integration with EntraID (Azure AD) enables users to authenticate and leverage multi-factor authentication for both Sophos Connect and access to the user portal hosted by the firewall, streamlining secure access.

Further VPN-related enhancements include:

  • Improved user interface and usability: Connection types have been renamed for greater clarity, with “site-to-site” now referred to as “policy-based” and tunnel interfaces as “route-based,” making configurations more intuitive.
  • Dynamic validation of the IP address pool: For VPN connections (SSL VPN, IPsec, L2TP, and PPTP), the system now dynamically validates the allocated IP address pool, helping to better resolve potential IP address conflicts.
  • Strict profile enforcement: IPsec profiles now exclude default values to ensure algorithm synchronization, effectively eliminating potential fragmentation of session negotiation packets that could otherwise prevent site-to-site VPN tunnels from being established.
  • Route-based VPN and SD-RED scalability: The system has been optimized to support up to 3,000 simultaneously established tunnels. Specifically, Sophos Firewall solutions can now manage up to 1,000 SD-RED site-to-site tunnels and connect up to 650 concurrent SD-RED devices.

Additional management improvements enhance administrative flexibility and search capabilities:

  • More flexible DHCP Prefix Delegation (IPv6 DHCP-PD): The system now supports a broader range of prefixes, from /48 to /64, improving compatibility with various internet service providers.
  • Router Advertisement (RA) and DHCPv6 server: These features are now enabled by default, simplifying IPv6 network setup.
  • Resizable table columns: The web admin interface continues its adaptation for ultra-wide screens, with many configuration pages now allowing users to resize columns as needed for improved usability.
  • Enhanced object search functionality: The search field within the SD-WAN routing configuration screen now supports more granular criteria, including route name, ID, objects, and object values like IP addresses and domains. Similarly, local ACL rules now also support object name and value searches, extending to content-based searches for more precise results.
  • Default configuration changes: To streamline initial setups, default firewall rules and rule groups previously created during new firewall deployments have been removed. The initial configuration now only includes the default network rule and MTA rules. Furthermore, the default firewall rule group and the default gateway probe for custom gateways are now set to “None” by default.

Sophos continues its commitment to cybersecurity through a “Secure by Design” approach, enhancing the intrinsic security of its firewalls. This methodology involves the containerization of specific features and rigorous integrity checks on critical operating system files using mathematical checksums. Any detected checksum mismatch triggers a potential compromise alert, enabling monitoring teams to proactively identify possible security incidents affecting the firewall OS integrity. This proactive detection allows incident response and development teams to react swiftly to critical security events.

This update is now available for manual download and deployment by customers with any Sophos Firewall equipped with a valid license.

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Cyber Security

Honeywell Report Reveals 46% Quarterly Spike in Industrial Ransomware

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A new report from Honeywell reveals a significant escalation in cyber threats facing the industrial sector, with ransomware attacks surging by 46% from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025. The company’s 2025 Cybersecurity Threat Report indicates a widespread increase in both malware and ransomware activity, notably including a 3,000% spike in a specific trojan designed to steal credentials from industrial operators.

The allure of industrial targets for cybercriminals is clear, as explained by Paul Smith, director of Honeywell Operational Technology (OT) Cybersecurity Engineering and author of the report, “Industrial operations across critical sectors like energy and manufacturing must avoid unplanned downtime as much as possible – which is precisely why they are such attractive ransomware targets.” He further emphasized the agility of attackers, stating, “These attackers are evolving fast, leveraging ransomware-as-a-service kits to compromise the industrial operations that keep our economy moving.”

The urgency of these threats is underscored by definitions from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in the United States, which classifies incidents as “substantial” if they lead to unauthorized access causing significant operational downtime or impairment. Industry analyses corroborate the severe financial impact, showing that unplanned downtime—whether from cyberattacks or equipment failure—costs Fortune 500 companies approximately $1.5 trillion annually, representing a substantial 11% of their revenue.

To compile these critical findings, Honeywell’s researchers undertook an extensive analysis, reviewing over 250 billion logs, 79 million files, and blocking 4,600 incident events across the company’s global installed base. Their detailed examination yielded several concerning trends:

  • Ransomware’s Relentless Ascent: The first quarter of 2025 alone saw 2,472 potential ransomware attacks, already accounting for 40% of the entire annual total recorded in 2024, signaling a rapid acceleration of this threat.
  • Trojan Exploitation Targeting OT: A particularly dangerous trojan, identified as W32.Worm.Ramnit, was responsible for 37% of files blocked by Honeywell’s Secure Media Exchange (SMX). This figure represents an alarming 3,000% increase in this specific trojan compared to the preceding quarter, indicating a concerted effort to exploit industrial access.
  • Persistent USB-Based Risks: Despite awareness campaigns, external media continues to pose a significant threat. Honeywell’s SMX detected 1,826 unique USB threats in Q1 2025, with 124 of these being entirely new and previously unseen. This follows a 33% increase in USB malware detections in 2023 and an astounding 700% year-over-year surge in 2022, highlighting the enduring vulnerability posed by removable devices.

The scope of the report’s analysis also expanded to include threats introduced via other plug-in hardware, known as Human Interface Devices (HIDs). This encompasses commonly used items such as mice, mobile device charging cords, laptops, and various other peripherals, which are frequently connected to on-premise systems for software updates or patching, creating additional vectors for potential compromise.

In light of these escalating risks and evolving regulatory landscapes—such as new SEC reporting regulations requiring the disclosure of material cybersecurity incidents—industrial operators face increasing pressure to enhance their defenses. As Smith concluded, “Leveraging Zero Trust architecture and AI for security analysis can speed detection and enable smarter decision making and proactive defense in an increasingly complex digital landscape.” His recommendation underscores the need for decisive action and advanced security strategies to mitigate costly operational downtime and safety-related risks in the industrial environment.

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