Summary Bullets:

• The combination of omni-channel capability, effective data management, and AI will drive better customer experience.
• As Twilio’s business evolves from CPaaS to customer experience, the company focuses its product development on themes around trust, simple, and smart.

The ability to provide superior customer experience (CX) helps a business gain customer loyalty and a strong competitive advantage. Many enterprises are looking to AI including generative AI (GenAI) and agentic AI to further boost CX by enabling faster resolution and personalized experiences.

Communications platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) vendors offer a platform that focuses on meeting omni-channel channel communications requirements. These players have now integrated a broader set of capabilities to solve CX challenges, involving different touch points including sales, marketing, and customer service. Twilio is one of the major CPaaS vendors that has moved beyond just communications applications programming interfaces (APIs), including contact center (Twilio Flex), customer data management (Segment), and conversational AI. Twilio’s product development has been focusing on three key themes: Trusted, Simple, and Smart. The company has demonstrated these themes through product announcements throughout 2025 and showcased at its SIGNAL events around the world.

Firstly, Twilio is winning customer trust through its scalable and reliable platform (e.g., 99.99% API reliability), working with all major telecom operators in each market (e.g., Optus, Telstra, and Vodafone in Australia). More importantly, it is helping clients win the trust of their customers. With the rising fraud impacting consumers, Twilio has introduced various capabilities including Silent Network Authentication and FIDO-certified passkey as part of its Verify, a user verification product. The company is also promoting the use of branded communications, which has shown to achieve consumer trust and greater willingness to engage with brands. Twilio has introduced branded calling, RCS for branded messaging, Whatsapp Business Calling, and WebRTC for browser.

The second theme is about simplifying developer experience when using the Twilio platform to achieve better CX outcomes. Twilio has long been in the business of giving businesses the ability to reach their customers through a range of communications channels. With Segment (customer data platform), Twilio enables businesses to leverage their data more effectively for gaining customer insights and taking actions. An example is the recent introduction of Event Triggered Journey (general availability in July 2025), which allows the creation of automated marketing workflows to support personalized customer journeys. This can be used to enable a responsive approach for real-time use cases, such as cart abandonment, onboarding flows, and trial-to-paid account journeys. By taking actions to promptly address issues a customer is facing can improve the chance of having a successful transaction, and a happy customer.

The third theme on ‘smart’ is about leveraging AI to make better decisions, enable differentiated experiences, and build stronger customer relationships. Twilio announced two conversational AI updates in May 2025. The first is ‘Conversational Intelligence’ (generally available for voice and private beta for messaging), which analyzes voice calls and text-based conversations and converting them into structured data and insights. This is useful for understanding sentiments, spotting compliance risks, and identifying churn risks. The other AI capability is ‘ConversationRelay’, which enables developers to create voice AI agents using their preferred LLM and integrate with customer data. Twilio is leveraging speech recognition technology and interrupt handling to enable human-like voice agents. Cedar, a financial experience platform for healthcare providers is leveraging ConversationRelay to automate inbound patient billing calls. Healthcare providers receive large volume of calls from patients seeking clarity on their financial obligations. And the use of ConversationRelay enables AI-powered voice agents to provide quick answers and reduce wait times. This provides a better patient experience and quantifiable outcome compared to traditional chatbots. It is also said to reduce costs. The real test is whether such capabilities impact customer experience metrics, such as net promoter score (NPS).

Today, many businesses use Twilio to enhance customer engagement. At the Twilio SIGNAL Sydney event for example, Twilio customers spoke about their success with Twilio solutions. Crypto.com reduced onboarding times from hours to minutes, Lendi Group (a mortgage FinTech company) highlighted the use of AI agents to engage customers after hours, and Philippines Airlines was exploring Twilio Segment and Twilio Flex to enable personalized customer experiences. There was a general excitement with the use of AI to further enhance CX. However, while businesses are aware of the benefits of using AI to improve customer experience, the challenge has been the ability to do it effectively.

Twilio is simplifying the process with Segment and conversational AI solutions. The company is tackling another major challenge around AI security, through the acquisition of Stytch (completed on November 14, 2025), an identity platform for AI agents. AI agent authentication becomes crucial as more agents are deployed and given access to data and systems. AI agents will also collaborate autonomously through protocols such as Model Context Protocol, which can create security risks without an effective identity framework.

It has come a long way from legacy chatbots to GenAI-powered voice agents, and Twilio is not alone in pursuing AI-powered CX solutions. The market is a long way off from providing quantifiable feedback from customers. Technology vendors enabling customer engagement (e.g., Genesys, Salesforce, and Zendesk) have developed AI capabilities including voice AI agents. The collective efforts and competition within the industry will help to drive awareness and adoption. But it is crucial to get the basics right around data management, security, and cost of deploying AI.

Summary Bullets:

• Don’t use AI browsers or AI browser extensions – the loss of privacy isn’t worth the functionality.

• AI companies mean well, but the privacy implications of these products are unsuitable for enterprise or personal use.

“If you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold.” – Andrew Lewis (blue_beetle), MetaFilter comment (2010)

It’s not news that AI is being talked about everywhere. It’s also not news that the websites and applications you use regularly are doing their level best to spy on you or obtain data that can be used internally or be sold to advertisers. Nor is it news that the state of privacy laws across the world is pretty poor, despite the EU giving its best attempt and the US pretending that three lines of legalese in a 15-page disclaimer somehow magically sets the ‘informed’ flag on users.

But the latest trend involves AI companies either creating browser extensions or, in at least one case, creating their own browser. OpenAI is touting its AI-enabled browser called Atlas, designed to both remember all activity, search that activity, chat, and do any number of AI-enhanced things. OpenAI rival Perplexity has a browser product called Comet. There are even sidebar browser extensions for Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini. Some browsers, such as Firefox and Brave, come with an AI sidebar but uses your choice of LLM.

The first problem is an AI watching everything – your passwords, all text you type, your URLs… everything. Then that data isn’t stored locally; it’s stored with the AI. The problems here are no different than the problems with Microsoft Recall, an AI-driven search and backup feature that Microsoft released earlier in 2025, much to the consternation of pretty much everyone. All these AI companies have multiple safeguards to protect data, have stated policies on how such data can be used and where, and are being pretty upfront about how and when they use your data. They allow end users to pick and choose when the AI is available or even forget that data after a session. Companies adding these AI features to the browser are legitimately trying to make the lives of users easier with AI and protect user privacy.

They are adding other safeguards as well. OpenAI says that its Atlas AI browser cannot access other applications, download files, and cannot install extensions. Technological limits to prevent AI browsers and extensions from becoming security risks are being taken.

But giving any corporation a detailed record of all activities conducted on the internet, including every click, search, text, or picture and the metadata around it could have disastrous consequences in the long term. Hackers could gain access to the data. Governments could seize the data and use it against a populace or an individual. Companies get bought, end user agreements change, or investors could simply demand that all that personal data is monetized. If companies go out of business, what happens to the data? A fair amount of the world doesn’t have any legal mechanism to force businesses to delete data either.

Then there are the other issues, regarding security on your desktop. Social engineering or AI chat window spoofing is a real issue. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Every individual and every enterprise have the choice to decide whether the risks are worth the utility of having AI integrated into your browser. Everyone wants tools that work better; some of the features in AI browsers are impressive, and likely even more features will be coming. But that shouldn’t be at the expense of risking all your personal data or risking the company’s internal data, no matter how nice the tools look or how much you trusts a given AI vendor. This is about ensuring personal privacy and the data security of enterprises. Take a pass on AI browsers and AI browser extensions. Nobody would stand for being under video and audio surveillance every second and everywhere. Don’t allow the same to happen to your digital life.

Jaguar Land Rover, the iconic British car manufacturer has had virtually no production in its plants since the end of August 2025. A devastating cyberattack shut the company down – details on how the attack happened, who initiated the attack, and why it so thoroughly shut down Jaguar Land Rover have not been released to date. The postmortem will be an interesting read, more so to find out how much of the effect of this cyberattack was Jaguar Land Rover’s fault. No, this isn’t indulgent victim-blaming, and right now there is no proof the Jaguar Land Rover was anything but diligent. But the length of the shutdown and the secrecy does arise suspicions. Under principles of good business continuity and disaster recovery, Jaguar Land Rover should have been at least somewhat back in production by now. But analysis will really have to wait until details emerge.

This does highlight an issue that most organizations struggle with. Cybersecurity, as well as disaster recovery and business continuity, are preventative – they shouldn’t be noticed unless they are needed… or if they didn’t work. It’s hard to get satisfaction creating business continuity/disaster recovery (BC/DR) systems that you may never get to actually use. Security has a much higher profile… but ‘everything is running smoothly’ doesn’t often gain accolades.

Cybersecurity, and especially BC/DR are often pressured to compromise, for finance, for convenience, and because neither function will ever make money for the organization. Often there is a push to compare cybersecurity and BC/DR to an automotive or homeowner’s insurance policy, that they offer peace of mind. There is a better way to think about it. Think of cybersecurity and BC/DR like law enforcement thinks about bomb squad units. Bomb squad units get all the training and practice they want. Bomb squad units are encouraged to get the latest training, learn the latest advances, and to keep their equipment as up to date as possible. Nobody thinks that the bomb squad has it easy when they render an explosive safe, or in the best of times are not called on. Nobody suggests that the bomb squad does more with less. Because the consequences are so extreme, both for the bomb squad and for the law enforcement organization.

Budget holders need to start viewing cybersecurity, BC/DR, and BC/DR testing like the bomb squad. Yes, they provide peace of mind. But what they really provide is protection from extreme consequences. Nobody wants the organization in the news for having been knocked offline for a month in every major news outlet. Nobody wants to have to create the postmortem and present it to the board and likely various government officials, insurance executives, investor representatives and lawyers. Let’s not let this plea to take cybersecurity and BC/DR seriously fall on deaf ears like it has in the past.

Summary Bullets:

• As part of a larger global cross-industry study, LevelBlue surveyed executives in 220 manufacturing companies to gauge the state of their cyber resilience strategies in the era of AI-driven threats and other risks
• Awareness is high but also so are concerns, with 37% saying they are seeing a significantly higher volume of attacks; just 30% said their organization is prepared for deepfake attacks, even as 47% are anticipating them

Threat actors are savvy when choosing their targets. Manufacturing holds a strong appeal to cyber criminals because the profit potential associated with intellectual property is high and, thanks in part to supply chain vulnerabilities, there are plenty of points of exposure. A recent LevelBlue survey of 220 manufacturing executives found that while awareness about the threat environment is high, preparedness, especially for AI-driven attacks, is not.

Only 32% of manufacturing executives are ready for AI-powered threats, even though 44% expect them to occur. On the supply chain front, 54% admitted to having a very low to moderate visibility into their supply chains. Just 26% said working with their software suppliers to vet their credentials will take precedence in the next year.

In spite of the fact that 28% of manufacturing executives say their organization suffered a breach in the past 12 months and more than one-third are expecting that attack volume to increase, 51% said they are highly or very highly competent to protect their enterprise against threat actors. Fifty-five percent gave themselves the same competence when it comes to implementing and using AI to enhance cybersecurity.

The contradiction between this high level of confidence in their own competencies and their preparedness for AI-driven and other types of attacks points to potential overoptimism that adversaries could easily exploit. But there are also signs that some of the traditional internal organizational cybersecurity challenges in manufacturing are being addressed. Sixty-eight percent described their cybersecurity team as being aligned with lines of business. Sixty-five percent those in leadership positions are assessed against cybersecurity KPIs, which is higher than the cross-vertical results (60%).

Seventy percent are engaged in end-user education on social engineering, again higher than the entire sample (62%). Manufacturing companies are also more willing to tap third-party security providers for security training and awareness than in the past. Thirty-eight percent said they will augment their own internal resources with external training support in the next two years versus the 30% that have engaged with a third-party in the last year.

Manufacturing organizations are investing in cybersecurity to prepare for emerging threats. Top priorities are machine learning for pattern matching (71%); cyber resilience processes across the organization (69%); GenAI to combat social engineering attacks (64%); application security (67%) and enhanced supply chain security (63%).

While investment is important, awareness, pragmatism, and solid policy execution are essential. Without these, there is no way for any enterprise to mount an effective defense against cyber adversaries.

Summary Bullets:

• In its annual Global Managed Security survey of 1,019 managed services providers (MSPs) in the US, Canada, and the UK, security vendor OpenText uncovered a big delta between the desire to exploit SMB demand for AI-driven solutions and the capability of these providers to deliver the essential support.

• Approximately 92% said they are seeing growth driven by client interest in AI but only half have the adequate resources and expertise to help clients deploy these solutions.

Organizations of all sizes are boarding the AI bandwagon. For smaller businesses lacking internal AI expertise, adoption often requires the support of an external provider. Unfortunately, that same resource limitation also plagues many of the MSPs SMBs seek out for AI support. In a recent OpenText survey of 1,019 security practitioners, IT managers, and customer relationship managers, in the coming year 96% expect to see growth in demand driven by interest in AI. However, half said a combination of factors leaves them under-prepared to support SMB AI needs, including a lack of internal expertise, too many disparate tools to manage, and the lack of standardization across different client environments.

Fewer than 50% of the surveyed organizations have developed or implemented AI cybersecurity for their clients. That said, the majority are using AI for a variety of customer-facing applications, with 67% leveraging the technology for customer support and 66% rely on AI for technical support and triage. Over half (58%) apply AI for threat detection and response.

All MSPs are aware of the urgency of upskilling staff on AI, noting it is now the third most important capability behind threat prevention and 24/7 support for its SMB clients. SMBs are seeking out bundled security packages in droves. Seventy-one percent are looking for combined prevention, detection, and response solutions. Forty-one prevent want endpoint, network, and email security offerings.

Most of the surveyed MSPs are on a growth path with 95% expanding their portfolios in the coming year. Integration across discrete tools is of highest importance (38%). Eighteen percent said attach-rate to core services is crucial. Sixteen percent cited the criticality of having solutions that work across vertical industries.

A proven reputation is essential for MSPs to compete and win new clients. Thirty-two percent said customer referrals are the primary way to gain new customers, while 29% of prospects come to MSPs through digital searches or advertisements.

Summary Bullets:

• Fueled both by its lucrative results and AI-driven toolkits that lower the barrier of entry for enterprising yet inexperienced bad actors, ransomware incidents are soaring.

• In 2024, ransomware drove 44% of data breaches around the world and accounted for 54% of those in APAC, according to the 2025 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR).

As is the case with any IT security breach, it is no longer a question of if but when an enterprise might be hit with ransomware. Motivated in large part by profit potential, cybercriminals are drawn to ransomware as a mechanism to extort money. As a result, ransomware incidents are on the rise with the 2025 Verizon DBIR finding the number has increased 37% in 2024 versus the prior year.

In Akamai’s newly-published 2025 State of the Internet/Security research, security and content delivery network (CDN) provider Akamai attributed this surge to a number of factors, including AI. Examining incident data from its secure internet access enterprise clients, Akamai shows a strong correlation between the increased availability of GenAI and large language models (LLMs) tools. This makes it easier for less seasoned bad actors to mount highly effective ransomware operations. Cybercriminals use LLMs to generate code and enhance their social engineering techniques.

While money is a powerful motivator in ransomware campaigns, the Akamai research notes hacktivism is also part of the picture. The increasing prevalence of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) is one indicator of this. RaaS leverages a sprawling underground network that uses developers, the zero-day market, and initial access brokers. These organized crime entities specialize in particular functions like money laundering to fund activities pursuing sociopolitical or ethical goals.

Threat actors are also becoming more aggressive in their extortion efforts, increasingly applying double extortion, in which cybercriminals move beyond breaching an organization to encrypt data and then demanding payment to decrypt it, has become commonplace. In double extortion breaches, cybercriminals promise to release data elsewhere if not paid. Triple extortion, leveraging DDoS attacks to add more incentive for the targeted organization to pay the ransom, is also a more frequently used tactic than in the past.

Akamai notes that it has found incidents that use quadruple extortion, in which cybercriminals communicate with executives, other employees, partners, and the media to add more pressure to pay. Some criminal organizations also threaten to expose lack of regulatory compliance to authorities to up the ante. It is worth noting that some cybercriminals release the data anyway or come back for more ransom money. There is no honor among thieves.

The effectiveness of cybercriminals in collecting ransom has had a ripple effect on cyber insurance rates and an increased frequency of IT security audits by firms to ensure the appropriate controls are in place.

The challenge of staying one step ahead of the threat actors has never been more daunting. Budget holders need to prioritize the resources to make it possible for security practitioners to do so, or risk the consequences.

Summary Bullets:

• In a survey of 2,286 technology and security-focused executives, Accenture reports that only 34% have a mature cybersecurity strategy.
• Just 20% say they are confident in their ability to protect their generative AI (GenAI) models from a breach.

Artificial intelligence (AI) presents as a double-edged sword for many enterprises. The technology has the potential to revolutionize business processes and drive further innovation but is protecting the model from advancing threats that could compromise the integrity of data output. This is a daunting challenge that few organizations have a handle on today. Add threat actors harnessing AI for their own nefarious purposes to the mix, and the situation becomes much more daunting for the enterprise.

Accenture surveyed 2,286 executives, 80% of whom are chief information security officers (CISOs), and it uncovered a perilous scenario where enterprises are largely unready to protect their assets, including AI applications, from emerging threats. Just 20% of those surveyed say they are ready to defend their generative AI (GenAI) models from cyber threats.

One of the issues enterprises are running into with respect to their security postures in general is the prioritization of AI development and deployment over other IT investments, which often means security falls by the wayside. Between 2023 and 2024, Accenture reports that investments in GenAI projects are 1.6 times higher than security spending. If this trend continues, there is a risk that AI systems built on less than secure ground are vulnerable to cyber threats. Only 28% of the executives surveyed say they are integrating security capabilities into all transformative projects from the earliest development phases. Only 42% say they are mapping security development spending to AI development.

The news is not all bleak. For organizations that prioritize cybersecurity investments and focus on infrastructure resilience as they conduct transformational projects to create elevated security postures that mitigate serious risks. Enterprises that achieve what Accenture terms a ‘Reinvention-Ready Zone’ classification faces a 69% lower risk of the kind of sophisticated cyberattacks that leverage advanced techniques, including AI to cripple operations.

The investment in security brings other dividends. Accenture found organizations that prioritize security spending achieve a 1.7 times lower technical debt due in large part to the overall efficiency and resilience of their infrastructure.

The clear takeaway is that enterprises need to balance their AI infrastructure investments with their security spending to ensure the most protected, consistent, and high-performing environment possible.

Summary Bullets:

• Password managers do tend to make logging in easier – but it’s a change that people must get used to…

• To really embrace cybersecurity, there needs to be a reckoning to correct old thinking and ideas.

Sixteen (16) billion. That’s a number that isn’t comprehendible. It’s a number you hear on the news, usually in a science segment or in a finance segment talking about the ultra-wealthy. But this time, 16 billion is the number of exposed login credentials researchers from Cybernews found in an exposed dataset. This dataset contains stolen login credentials, mostly gained via malware. The credentials come from everywhere – from websites around the world, including popular websites and cloud services.

What is known is that the dataset was visible for a short time before being taken down. We know that some or all of the data in the dataset is not new but comes from earlier breaches and infostealers. We do not know where the data was being held/exposed from. The data wasn’t stolen from any one site breach, but likely a compilation of earlier stolen credentials. Initial reports seem to indicate that much of the discovery is net-new, but that has since been disputed. Still, that many credentials in one spot is a worry.

What was interesting about this information was essentially the lack of reaction from the public. Sure, skepticism of the discovery happened quickly – many security experts feel that this was a bit of a case of crying wolf. But the initial reaction by the public was more of a shrug. After all, how many times can a person’s login credentials get stolen? How many times should an individual go through the cumbersome process of updating passwords? Especially when it seems like there are more breaches every day. Keeping one’s credentials up to date after breaches begins to look like a Sisyphean task.

Cybersecurity fatigue is real, and the public is becoming increasingly numb about cybersecurity incidents. Reminders to update passkeys, use password managers, don’t reuse passwords, and enable multi-factor authentication are a constant drumbeat. With every hysteria-filled announcement of another breach that spills user data and login credentials, more people tune it out entirely – after all, *they* have never been hit.

The ugly truth: Good cybersecurity is difficult, even when just talking about login and passwords. Passwords should be long, 20-30 characters, randomly generated, and contain upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. Each site should have its own password. People resist that – extremely difficult to remember a password like that, and it’s much easier to simply have a single password to use everywhere. A password manager is required to generate and store these passwords, as well as enter them when it comes time to log in. That password manager needs to work across platforms – e.g., Apple (e.g., phones, tablets, macs), PC, Android, and Linux.

But a password manager is yet another thing – one that requires its own password. To make it worse, the very public breach of LastPass, a popular password manager, makes people distrust password managers, especially those with a cloud component. There is also the learning barrier – using a password manager requires effort and changes how you log in. Password managers do tend to make logging in easier – but it’s a change that people must get used to, and people hate change to daily routines like logging in. Changing habits is hard, and not being able to just instantly enter a memorized password feels frustrating at first.

To really embrace cybersecurity, there needs to be a reckoning to correct old thinking and ideas. Let’s take a look:

• Password managers are not hard or scary – they are designed for ease of use, and there are tons of tutorials.

• Your personal password generation is vulnerable, no matter how clever the scheme you created is. Brute force techniques are far better than you imagine. And no, the word ‘password’ backwards isn’t clever.

• Password re-use is a vulnerability, no matter how easy it makes things.

• The fact that a person has never been hacked or doesn’t know anyone who has been isn’t a reason to keep old practices.

• This isn’t about having perfect security. It’s about protecting yourself and limiting damage if a breach occurs. Just like locking your doors and putting your blinds down at night.

Take the plunge yourself, get a password manager, then show a friend that it isn’t that hard and, in the end, never forgetting a password is a time-saver too! Proactive action with a password manager and password hygiene is important, and we cannot let the slew of high-profile breaches numb us from upping the quality of our own cybersecurity regimen.

Summary Bullets:

• Most enterprises say mobile devices are crucial to operations; 95% have connected device deployments.

• AI-driven attacks including deepfakes and SMS phishing are top of mind with 77% saying they expect these types of attacks to be successful.

In this century, the sweeping impact of mobile infrastructure on corporate operations can’t be overstated. Workers have become increasingly dependent on their mobile devices to perform work-related functions. With the COVID-19 lockdown-related movement toward remote and hybrid work becoming permanent in more organizations, the importance of mobile devices has become even more outsized. But this, along with the expansion of connected device deployments, makes securing these sprawling virtual business operations environments complicated.

Verizon’s annual ‘Mobile Security Index’ survey of 600 security professionals finds a proliferation of mobile and IoT devices, with 62% of all authentications to enterprise networks coming from mobile and connected devices. There is a recognition that staff members are doing more essential work via their mobile devices than in the past. Fifty percent (50%) acknowledge that mobile devices have more access to sensitive information than even just a year ago. The extension of remote work has made mobile security a more important agenda item for 86% of respondents.

The proliferation of connected devices is changing the security picture. Almost all survey respondents – i.e., 95% – have at least some connected devices in their environments. Sixty-two percent (62%) describe their IoT environments as “mature, full scale.”

Virtually all organizations operating critical infrastructure such as utilities and water systems – i.e., 96% – have IoT deployments. Critical infrastructure is often cited for as being vulnerable to attacks because of issues such as out-of-date or insufficient security controls. The survey results bear that out, with 53% of those representing these organizations noting they have suffered serious security events resulting in downtime or data loss. Forty-eight percent (48%) of those operating critical infrastructure say that a compromise of an IoT device has caused a major operational issue.

What is clear from the research is that the mass use of mobile and IoT devices has produced more complex and potentially more porous enterprise environments. The first step to protecting these is understanding that effective multi-layer security controls need to be in place and then building out plans to execute on that.

Summary Bullets:

• Cybersecurity threats are increasing.

• The preferred solution to increase cybersecurity risks is certifications for IT staff as well as security awareness training for all staff.

Cybersecurity is hard. Lack of skills, education, and modern security products + architectures make it worse.

Fortinet’s latest 2024 Cybersecurity Skills Gap report backs that up and brings to light a few other contributing factors. Fortinet got responses from 1,850 decision-makers in technology, manufacturing, and financial services spread out fairly evenly across the globe. Overall, the survey shows that training for IT professionals and end users is the highest priority. Further, it shows that there needs to be more education – the skills gap is huge and makes it difficult for enterprises, governments, and institutions to hire the skilled people they need. This is all accentuated by a worsening threat and consequences environment.

Of particular interest were the responses regarding the question of corporate leaders being held accountable after an attack or breach: 51% respondents indicate that leaders faced consequences including fines, loss of employment, loss of position, or even jail time. The survey shows that an astounding 87% surveyed enterprises have experienced one or more breaches in 2023. Further, the survey indicates that those numbers have been rising since 2021, as have the financial costs of breaches. Organizations that report breaches but with no financial cost have been shrinking as well.

Unsurprisingly, corporate boards are showing increased interest in cybersecurity. Rising risks to the business, more costly breaches, and rising personal penalty occurrences are all factors. The survey concludes that boards consider cybersecurity a business priority nearly unanimously. However, it indicates that only a little bit over half of those same boards are discussing hiring or have hired more IT/security professionals.

People are the Problem
These survey results show that a lack of IT staff training (64%) and business staff training (61%) is considered the most likely causes of a breach, closely followed by a lack of cybersecurity products (59%). The survey also indicates that the preferred solution to increasing cybersecurity risks is certifications for IT staff and security awareness training for all staff. Even experienced IT professionals make mistakes or cut corners in pressure situations. For business staff, cybersecurity isn’t the first thing on their minds when they begin a day’s work: They have their own tasks and priorities, and problems to solve. Training, refreshers, and reminders about good cybersecurity habits are a must.

Further, the survey indicates that it is increasingly difficult to find certified security staff, by 70% of respondents, and believe that difficulty increases cybersecurity risks. Enterprises are willing to change hiring standards and invest in training and certifications to fill the skills gap in new cybersecurity hires.

The Fortinet survey provides good information, and IT professionals should use it to help inform and educate their own chain of command. There is a pervasive reflex in business to ‘right-size’ investments in people, training, and solutions – particularly those who are not paying particular attention to current cybersecurity conditions. In the realm of cybersecurity, that approach needs to be set aside. Cybersecurity threats are increasing. Enterprises need better training, more skills and skilled personnel, and modern cybersecurity solutions with modern architectures.

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“SECURE PHONE”

• Let’s create a phone using ANDROID OS as an example
• With protection against network traffic interception;
• With notification about substitution of the base station (BS);
• By choosing open source firmware or removing built-in backdoors (yes, yes, they’re present in almost every firmware!);
• By encrypting it and making it resistant to forensics;
• Discuss backup and recovery methods, as well as encryption for secure storage;
• Talking about antiviruses for Android: are they useful and which one to choose?
• We will highlight services of automatic caller’s number detection, as well as services of automatic call recording of GSM standard and messengers;
• Figuring out the safest messengers of the 3 dominant types (federated, centralized, and p2p);
• Protecting sim cards, types of root and frameworks to change OS function on the fly;
• Using VPN for smartphone;
• Protecting the phone’s DNS from spoofing;
• Using firewalls for Android;
• By protecting your smartphone from being tapped by third-party applications;
• Safely deleting files, with a clear understanding of why you can’t give your phone to repair or sell it without first scrubbing it.

“HACK PHONE”

• Phone as a pentester tool that is always on hand
• Phone as a bootable flash drive for hacking and administering Windows;
• Phone as a BAD UASB tool to deliver a payload;
• Net Hunter and its installation types, directly on the phone, or as an element of Smartphone firmware;

Testing router security via Smartphone;

Setting up and optimizing Termux to work with root rights and pentester frameworks for “underhand” testing