In 2004, a joint initiative of the US Department of Homeland Security and the National Cybersecurity Alliance declared October National Cybersecurity Awareness Month to help raise awareness of the best practices to remain safe while working online. Vigilance enables us to maintain privacy and productivity for our own sake and for the organizations we may work for.
It’s that time of the year again and peak season 2022 feels different. With supply chains and global economies in flux, businesses have a lot to consider. Shipping woes are subsiding in many areas – consider that a year ago, the queue at the Port of Long Beach, California was approaching a peak of 110 vessels, down to eight freighters in September of this year. East coast ports in the US and others around the globe are seeing rising tides.
Laws vary by state. That’s expected. Fairbanks, Alaska, enacted a law prohibiting the provision of alcoholic beverages to moose, so don’t even think about it. In a part of Washington State, good luck trying to kill Bigfoot. (Not because Bigfoot doesn’t exist, but specifically because it’s illegal per a 1969 law.) But what happens when state-specific regulations are used to address a topic that transcends geographic boundaries like, say, the internet?
Out of 10 key metrics tracked quarterly to establish the state of ransomware activity, only one metric stayed static from Q1 to Q3 2022. The other nine all worsened. That’s an alarming trend, especially given that many business leaders hoped to see ransomware activity taper off after a historic surge during the peak of the pandemic. Ivanti, together with Cyber Security Works and Cyware, collaborated on the just-released report.
