Hello, and welcome back to this next TomCast from GuardSight, an Iron Bow Technologies company; we are a tactical cybersecurity-as-a-service organization dedicated to helping businesses protect their data, their assets, and their endpoints. 

Today we’re going to discuss industry cyber awareness. We’ve discussed general cyber awareness in the past, have provided tips and tricks for both individuals and organizations to become more cyber aware, and we’ve provided guided assistance to many of you out there that have had questions or concerns about what it means to be more cyber aware. This discussion is more about what you can do as an individual within an organization to help your leadership understand more about threats and the dangers of said threats that lurk out there in cyber space.

Understanding cybersecurity isn’t for everyone. That is totally understandable, and I wouldn’t expect everyone to become cyber experts. I mean, it would make many things easier for the existing cyber professionals out there, but that isn’t the point here. Many specialized industries employ professionals that are dedicated to whatever that industry may specialize in. Whether it be research and development, manufacturing, aeronautics, education, retail, wholesale, and everything in between, cybersecurity doesn’t necessarily jump out as a main priority or necessity in some of those.

Unfortunately, since all industries have some sort of online presence, it is, in fact, a necessity for there to be some sort of cybersecurity presence or awareness involved to protect data, assets, and endpoints of the industry. Which brings me to the point of all of this. Either you, the listener, need to jot a few things down, or steer your security focal within your industry or organization to this TomCast to get these things jotted down.

We have all heard about vulnerability management, asset management, risk management, and more. How do you or how does your organization learn of new vulnerabilities or new risks to the industry or organization? Do you wait for someone to tell you, do you wait for another organization in your industry to guide you, or do you just wait to react when a vulnerability has been exploited? (I really hope it isn’t the latter).

Many organizations scan their environments routinely to determine what assets are vulnerable and the severity of those vulnerabilities. Some businesses rely upon their technologies to keep updated with the latest threat and vulnerability information, which isn’t a bad thing unless the updates are not functioning properly (which happens more often than one likes to believe). So, how can someone learn of new risks, new vulnerabilities, and emerging threats?

Well, how about looking at this from a slightly different lens? What do you do when you want to learn more about a particular subject? Many of us turn on our computers, open up a browser, engage with our preferred search engine, and type in what we are looking to know more about. Here’s a thought, why not do the same with cybersecurity topics?

There are several sites dedicated to sharing emerging threat information, risk information, and vulnerability information out there. As of the writing of this TomCast The Hacker News, Infosecurity Magazine, Cyware, and Dark Reading are all excellent sites that share this information. You can also read about what is going on across cyberspace with regards to organizations that have experienced breaches, where threat actors have been successful and why, and ways to help protect yourself and your organization. 

Some recent news headlines (again, at the composition of this TomCast) on some of these sites are:

Ten New Android Banking Trojans Targeted 985 Bank Apps in 2023, Data of Over a Million Users of the Crypto Exchange GokuMarket Exposed, BianLian, White Rabbit, and Mario Ransomware Gangs Spotted in a Joint Extortion Campaign, Crypto Hardware Wallet Ledger’s Supply Chain Breach Results in $600,000 Theft, etc.

Like newspapers of old, this is a way for you to dig a bit deeper into the cybersecurity news of today and find relevant information pertaining to you and your organization. This can help arm you with the knowledge needed to better protect yourself and your organization from a slew of different threats and exploits out there.

If you still are uncertain about general cyber awareness, cybersecurity practices, or how to better protect yourself and your organization, reach out to the folks here at GuardSight and Iron Bow. We will gladly take the time to better educate you on any of the cybersecurity topics you may be interested in. Don’t hesitate any longer, the threats and vulnerabilities out there are on the rise!

We here at GuardSight and Iron Bow thank you for taking the time to listen to this TomCast. For more information on various cybersecurity tips head on over to our website and check out more TomCasts. Those are located over on www.guardsight.com/tomcast. Or, if you would like more information on what GuardSight or Iron Bow can do for you, head on over to www.guardsight.com or www.ironbow.com and contact us. There are several free cybersecurity tools out there that can help you improve your overall security posture. We’d love to hear from you! Thanks!