Aaron Warner founded ProCircular, Inc. in 2016 when he recognized a missed opportunity to bring the emerging cybersecurity industry to the middle of the country. Tech experts predicted that our world’s tremendous and sudden reliance on virtual information systems would create lucrative opportunities for international hackers. As tech solutions develop, they often start in more heavily-populated regions before making their way into the mainstream. However, cybersecurity threats are not geographically limited, and midwestern companies were at risk of facing cyber threats with little access to well-established, local support.
Company Catch-up: ProCircular’s Journey From Tech Startup to Inc. 5000 Company
Topics: Cybersecurity
The shift to remote work challenged organizations of all sizes to increase their digital footprint and allow everyone to collaborate and work from anywhere in the world to satisfy their customers and clients. For some organizations (usually larger), this is not a problem. However, increasing a digital footprint while keeping security at the forefront can be challenging for medium-sized or smaller companies. The pandemic has fueled an increase in cybercrime, and there are no signs of it slowing down.
When the pandemic first hit, companies had to transform their businesses quickly, and with that came an increase in security vulnerabilities. It is not crazy to say that most small or medium companies think they are “too small” to be a target, but that is not true. The media likes to spotlight attacks on Fortune 500 companies and make it sound like vulnerabilities and malware are complex issues. This rhetoric makes smaller and medium-sized companies shy away from implementing cybersecurity programs and shift their focus to other business areas.
The reality is that cybercriminals are organized and can attack anyone at any given moment. If your company has any value at all, you are a target. Attackers know that going after large companies is risky and increases their chances of getting in trouble with law enforcement. Ultimately, all they want are quick and easy paydays, and smaller companies typically are an easier target to hit.
Topics: Cybersecurity
How to Prioritize Cybersecurity Before a Recession
Cybersecurity is one of the main factors to incorporate into your organization’s recession planning. One notorious online cybercriminal group, the Cobalt Cybercrime Gang, has been operating since 2013, completing over 100 heists totaling over EUR 10 billion in losses to the European financial industry. In a time when attackers are highly motivated and financial and reputational losses can have significant effects, it is crucial to have a clear picture and action plan regarding your cybersecurity posture.
With new threats emerging daily, it is essential to identify and address technical and operational risks proactively. Ensuring reliable and uninterrupted function of your operations during an incident means preparing for, protecting against, responding to, and recovering from a cyberattack.
A recession can occur unexpectedly with little to no warning and leave companies vulnerable to opportunistic and persistent threat actors. The two-fold impact of an economic downturn would be that companies reduce spending, often cybersecurity spending, and highly skilled individuals across the globe become desperate for income, possibly turning to “black hat” or malicious hacking. Successful cyberattacks lead to significant financial and reputational losses. Businesses need a mature cybersecurity program that is resilient to today’s complex and often uncertain threat environment.
Topics: Cybersecurity, vulerability assessment, Penetration Testing, Incident Response, vCISO, Recession
Topics: Penetration Testing
Benefits Of Application Penetration Testing & Ethical Hacking
How does a new application transition from being theoretically secure to real-world secure? Security controls are necessary, but it’s even more important to ensure they are implemented, enforced, and hardened correctly before the application is exposed to the internet. Start with an Application Penetration Test to reveal the most critical areas for improvement and outline a clear path to securing those vulnerabilities. This assessment is performed similarly to an External & Internal Network Penetration Test; an ethical (white hat) hacker scours your site (or network) for low-hanging fruit and hidden weaknesses, so you can put up the right defenses before the hackers in the wild have a chance to attack!
Topics: Penetration Testing
