Windows 7 End of Life Means Security Risks for Users

… horsepower (i.e. CPU/RAM/Disk/etc.) to run Windows 10. This is so they can decide what machines to replace and to determine which software is running on those machines. From there, businesses can confirm whether their devices are compatible with Windows 10.

Tech Companies Could Incur Staggering Losses in Data Breaches

Tech companies could lose an average of $174 million per day – or $37.3 billion per month – from a data breach.

That’s according to new research by cloud solutions company Iomart. It reveals what a breach could cost top companies and social media platforms. 

Large-scale breaches are growing in intensity and frequency this year. The number of compromised records rose by 273% in the first quarter, compared to the same time last year. These included nearly 1,200 individual data leaks — almost 40% of which happened in the United States. 

The typical loss for a large company is between 10 million and 99 million records per incident; that results in the average company losing 7.3% of its value. 

How much a business stands to lose depends on how long it takes it to identify and contain a breach. That correlates to the number of records stolen, as IBM outlines in its study on data breach costs.  

For companies in the tech sector, it took an average of 187 days to identify, and a further 59 days to contain a breach. This equates to an average potential loss of almost $43 billion for the highest-earning tech companies per incident. 

Data breaches hit the IT sector hardest in the first quarter; the number of breaches more than doubed from the same period in 2019. The manufacturing and health care sectors were the next most impacted. 

Among major tech companies, Apple has the most to lose with an estimated company value drop of $95.7 billion following a typical breach. Microsoft could lose $81.6 billion and Amazon could lose $68.7 billion. 

If these tech companies infringed General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) guidelines and incurred the maximum fine, Apple would lose a further $2.56 billion and Microsoft an additional $1.34 billion. The total breach cost would be $98.3 billion and $82.9 billion, respectively. 

With an estimated 70% of all breaches resulting from phishing scams, and email fraud skyrocketing as a result of COVID-19, it’s crucial that companies invest in data protection. This is particularly important for smaller tech organizations and startups that can’t stand to lose up to 10% of their market value.

Bill Strain is Iomart’s product development director. He said there needs to be a fundamental change in attitude.

Iomart’s Bill Strain

“Security has often been seen as an IT issue or a cost that had to be borne because of certification or accreditation requirements,” he said. “This has to change. A breach is now a potentially existential threat to the organization and security has to be viewed from a different perspective. While investing in effective protection measures, the organization needs to start from an assumption that they have been breached and plan how they will limit the damage. Some things to consider are how they will recover from a breach, how they can reorganize to reduce the potential for a breach and how they can limit the scope of a breach when it occurs.”

There’s “tremendous scope” for MSSPs and other cybersecurity providers, Strain said.

“Security is increasingly moving from an IT issue to a board-level issue,” he said. “Many IT organizations do not have the skill sets or staffing levels to set up effective defenses or to react to threats in the time frames required. Security is a 24/7 business. When a threat is identified or a breach occurs, it has to be quickly identified and a remediation plan created and put into action. MSSPs have the skills to set up the security systems and manage them 24/7, but crucially also have the infrastructure skills to act when an incident is detected.”

Netskope, VMware Collaborate for Remote Worker Safety

Netskope and VMware are collaborating on a technology suite that aims to addressing the challenges of securely enabling the remote-first workforce.

Enterprises can get enhanced endpoint management and protection, data and …