Keeper Security has announced instant account switching and passkey enhancements across its mobile applications and browser extension. This update is said to be available across all major web browsers including iOS, Android and the Keeper Browser Extension. 

The instant account switching enables users to securely toggle between multiple Keeper accounts on the same device or web browser without logging out, white still upholding strict enterprise security controls. Users managing workflows from personal, family and business accounts can do so seamlessly across platforms without risking security.

Craig Lurey, CTO and Co-founder of Keeper Security, said: “Security and usability must work together, especially as users operate across devices and environments. With seamless account switching now available across mobile apps and browser extensions, Keeper is simplifying day-to-day access while maintaining the policy enforcement and protections organisations rely on.”

Keeper’s new updates facilitate the switching of accounts directly from the login screen or account menu. Switching occurs immediately without forcing a re-authentication when a session is still active on the backend. If it is disabled or if organisational policies require verification, a prompt to authenticate will appear before accessing another account. All enterprise controls remain enforced, including role-based access controls, device verification, multi-factor authentication and audit logging. 

In this update, Keeper also announced performance and usability improvements, embedded autofill cloud sync and improved search surfaces. In addition, passwordless adoption is said to be continuously advanced with conditional passkey creation that enables supported logins to be upgraded to passkeys automatically in the background. Once completed, users will be notified. 

These new updates follow Keeper’s recent JetBrains Extension launch that offers JetBrains Integrated Development Environment (IDE) users a smooth and reliable way to manage secrets within their development workflows.

The post Keeper Introduces Instant Account Switching and Passkey Improvements appeared first on IT Security Guru.

Once again, it’s predictions season. We spoke to experts from across the cybersecurity industry about what the future of cyber may look like as we head into 2026. From AI ethics and API governance to the UK’s Cyber Security and Resilience Bill and exponentially increasing threats, there’s set to be a big shake up to the industry next year (again). What it means to be cyber resilient, against a tide of increased threats, is, once again, changing.

So, let’s hear what the experts thing:

Rising Ransomware

Rebecca Moody, Head of Data Research at Comparitech:

“Even with a couple of weeks to go, ransomware attacks have increased significantly from 2024 to 2025. According to our statistics, 2024 saw 5,621 attacks, while 2025 has already seen 7,042 – a 25 percent year-on-year increase.

I expect the level of ransomware attacks to remain high throughout 2026 as hackers continue to exploit vulnerabilities, target key infrastructure, public services, and manufacturers, and seek to steal large quantities of data in the process. 

If 2025 has taught us anything, it’s that hackers see third-party service providers as the perfect target because they not only give them potential access to hundreds of companies through one source but also enable large-scale data breaches. Key examples include the recent attack on Marquis Software Solutions which has seen one of the largest data breaches of 2025 (1.35 million and counting) and has affected hundreds of banks and credit unions, and Clop’s Oracle zero-day vulnerability exploit which has seen over 100 companies affected to date. 

While companies are going to want to make sure they’re on top of all the key basics (carrying out regular backups, patching vulnerabilities as soon as they’re flagged, providing employees with regular training, and making sure systems are up to date), 2026 will hopefully bring increased awareness of the vulnerability companies face through the third party services they use. Although utilising third parties for various services is essential for a lot of organisations, it’s crucial these organisations are vetting and testing the software they’re using (where possible). Even with the most robust systems in place, this is irrelevant if the third parties they’re using aren’t adhering to the same standards.”

Compliance, Industry Guidance and Regulations

Jamie Akhtar, CEO and Co-Founder of CyberSmart: 

“The cyber market and its regulatory landscape are shifting quickly and organisations are starting to feel the pressure of a more demanding regime. This will continue throughout 2026. As the Cyber Resilience Bill comes into force, it brings with it mandatory adoption of the Cyber Assessment Framework across critical sectors. The scope of regulation expands as the definition of Relevant Managed Service Providers is broadened, placing managed service providers (MSPs) directly in the regulatory spotlight. This change introduces new duties around incident reporting, baseline security controls and formal assurance, meaning that both service providers and their customers must operate with far greater transparency and discipline. The CyberSmart 2025 MSP survey saw that this was already starting to happen. 77% of MSPs reported that their businesses’ security capabilities were already coming under greater scrutiny by prospects and customers. This suggests that MSP customers are more aware than ever of the importance of good cyber credentials in a potential partner – and this will only continue.”

Bill Dunnion, CISO at Mitel, said: 

“The future of cybersecurity lies in thinking like the adversary. Traditional defensive postures, firewalls, monitoring, and compliance checklists, are no longer sufficient against threats that move faster and learn continuously. Offensive security practices such as red teaming, threat hunting, and penetration testing will evolve from optional exercises to essential functions of risk management.

The guiding principle is simple: what you don’t know can hurt you. Proactively testing systems exposes blind spots before attackers do. The next generation of programs will combine structured frameworks, such as NIST and ISO, with continuous offensive assessments to create dynamic, adaptive defence ecosystems.

Mature organisations will recognise that compliance does not equal security. Instead, they will integrate continuous testing into their operations, utilising real-world attack simulations to enhance defences and quantify risk in business terms. The result is smarter, faster decision-making that results in better protection.”

Quantum Computing

Daniel dos Santos, Senior, Director, Head of Research at Forescout:

“[I predict that there will be] escalating attacks on unmanaged devices. Edge devices such as routers and firewalls, as well as IoT in the internal network such as IP cameras and NAS are all becoming prime targets for initial access and lateral movement, with a growing number of zero-days and custom malware. These devices are usually unmanaged and unagentable, so organisations need to invest in other forms of visibility, threat detection and incident response based mainly on network signals. This will ensure they can proactively mitigate the growing risk from these devices, detect when attacks leverage them and respond to those quickly to prevent them from becoming major incidents.

Growing number of hacktivist attacks. Most organisations have a threat model based on defending against cybercriminals and state-sponsored actors. Hacktivists until recently were treated as a “nuisance” because of their focus on DDoS and simple defacements. Now these groups have been growing in number and sophistication – targeting critical infrastructure at alarming rates. This will extend into 2026 and organisations need to ensure their threat models include these groups too.

Starting the migration to post-quantum cryptography (PQC). 2025 was the year when commonly used technologies, from web browsers to SSH servers, started implementing post-quantum cryptography. 2026 will be the year when organisations will need to inventory their network assets and understand what is already supporting the technology, what isn’t and what are the timelines to migrate. Especially in government, financial services and critical infrastructure, the migration to PQC will soon move from “something we should think about” to “we need to act now”. Organisations will need tools that can automatically and continuously inventory their network assets, since it’s not realistic to expect hundreds of thousands of devices to be manually checked.”

Simon Pamplin, CTO – Certes:

“If we’re talking about cyber challenges for 2026, I think the thing businesses really need to get their heads around is the widening gap between the pace of quantum-age cryptography and the speed at which most organisations update their production systems. Attackers don’t need a working, large-scale quantum computer right now to cause trouble. Many of them are already quietly collecting encrypted data, sticking it in storage, and waiting for the day they can crack it. That turns anything with a long shelf life, financial records, personal data, IP, into a liability on a timer. 

The problem is that too many organisations still behave as though the encryption they use today will protect them forever. It won’t. Shifting to post-quantum cryptography is  potentially challenging and slow to deploy, and most businesses massively underestimate how many of their legacy systems, third-party integrations and data flows rely on algorithms that simply won’t stand up to what’s coming. 

So, preparation has to begin before the threat is fully realised. Quantum computing isn’t some distant sci-fi concept anymore; it’s getting close enough that organisations can’t ignore it. Start by working out where your sensitive data actually goes, sort out the long-life data first, and separate out your truly critical data streams so one weak spot doesn’t bring the whole lot down. PQC isn’t something you bolt on, it’s a phased transition, and the ones who start early won’t be the ones panicking later.”

Darren Guccione, CEO and Co-Founder of Keeper Security:

“The quantum era will usher in extraordinary innovation and unprecedented risk. In 2026, business leaders will be faced with the reality that preparing for the post-quantum future can no longer wait.

“Harvest now, decrypt later” attacks are already underway as cybercriminals intercept and archive encrypted traffic for future decryption. Large-scale quantum computers running Shor’s algorithm will shatter existing encryption standards, unlocking a time capsule of sensitive data. From financial transactions and government operations to information stored in cloud platforms and healthcare systems, any data with long-term value is at risk.

While the timeline for practical use of quantum computers capable of breaking public-key cryptography remains uncertain, business leaders must take action now. Regulators worldwide are urging enterprises and public-sector organisations to inventory cryptographic systems, prepare for migration and adopt crypto-agile, quantum-resistant strategies.

In 2026, expect the conversation around quantum risk to shift from theoretical to tactical. Organisations will begin treating encryption not as a background control, but as a measurable component of operational resilience. Discussions once limited to cryptographers will move into boardrooms and procurement teams, as leaders demand visibility into how long their data can remain secure under existing models. The focus will broaden from purely technical readiness to governance, understanding where every key, certificate and encryption method is deployed across the enterprise and how quickly each can be replaced.

Forward-looking organisations will also start piloting hybrid cryptography that blends classical and post-quantum algorithms, testing performance, integration and cost. These early implementations will surface new challenges around key management, compatibility and standardisation, driving broader collaboration between governments, technology providers and enterprises.”

Experts at KnowBe4 said:

“Q-Day, the day when quantum computers become sufficiently capable of cracking most of today’s traditional asymmetric encryption, will likely happen in 2026. The security of these systems has never been more important. Organisations must strengthen human authentication through passkeys and device-bound credentials while applying the same governance rigor to non-human identities like service accounts, API keys and AI agent credentials.”

Agentic AI and Deepfakes

Ruth Azar-Knupffer, Founder at VerifyLabs.AI:

“By 2026, deepfakes will continue to be an accepted part of everyday life, like it is today. Not all of them will be harmful. Satire, memes and creative uses of AI will continue to entertain and even inform, but the real risk lies in how easily the same technology can be misused. We will see a sharp rise in deeply personal scams, impersonation and online abuse that feels more convincing than anything we have experienced before, because it looks and sounds real.

The impact will go far beyond financial loss. Deepfakes will increasingly damage relationships, reputations and mental well-being, eroding trust between people and in the information we consume. In an age where seeing is no longer believing, society will be forced to rethink what trust looks like online.

This shift will redefine digital literacy. It will no longer be enough to know how to use technology; people will need the confidence to question it. Verification, context and authenticity will become everyday considerations, not specialist concerns. Those who adapt will navigate AI with resilience, while those who don’t risk becoming overwhelmed by doubt and deception. Trust won’t disappear, but it will have to be rebuilt on new foundations, built on ones that recognise both the power and the limits of artificial intelligence.”

Eric Schwake, Director of Cybersecurity Strategy at Salt Security:

“Agentic AI will create a fundamental shift in how internal systems behave. As autonomous agents begin acting on behalf of users and applications, they will trigger a surge in internal API calls that far exceeds traditional human-driven traffic patterns. The impact will not be felt at the perimeter first. It will surface deep inside the stack, where shadow interfaces, legacy services, MCP servers and automation endpoints sit without the instrumentation needed to distinguish noise from legitimate business activity. Security teams will discover that their monitoring models, built for predictable and comparatively low-volume interactions, cannot interpret agent-generated activity. This will accelerate the move toward context-aware runtime protection and real-time behavioural baselining rather than static rules or credential checks.

As this shift unfolds, discovery will become the single most important capability in the API security budget. AI agents do not wait for formal onboarding processes before invoking new endpoints. They identify and call whatever interfaces appear relevant, whether sanctioned or not. In response, CISOs will transition from periodic inventory exercises to continuous, automated discovery across the entire API fabric. Visibility will need to extend into MCP infrastructures, internal endpoints and interfaces generated dynamically by agentic workflows. The guiding principle is straightforward: security cannot exist where visibility does not.”

James Moore, Founder & CEO of CultureAI:

As we move into 2026, the biggest risk isn’t AI itself, rather it’s the blind spots organisations still have around how their people and their tools are actually using it. Almost everybody is now using AI platforms, often without knowing what data those tools retain or how it’s used. With an abundance of AI comes an abundance of data loss. I predict three major threat shifts that will define 2026:

1. The rise of invisible AI usage, especially in everyday SaaS.

What people think of as ‘AI tools’ is too narrow. An AI app is any SaaS application that takes data and passes it into a model. Most organisations haven’t even scratched the surface of understanding that. I believe that embedded AI features within SaaS apps, beyond common AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot, could contribute to enterprise data-loss incidents next year.

2. Legacy controls will continue to fail, not because they’re bad, but because they weren’t built for this problem.

 To solve AI data-loss, you have to understand the contents of every request going to an AI app. DLPs and CASBs simply weren’t built for that. You can’t just turn those apps off and block them all and hope for the best.

3. Agentic AI will create a new class of blind spots.

I expect that we will see the emergence of AI agents that act, browse, and make API calls independently. When AI starts taking actions on your behalf, you move from securing human behaviour to securing autonomous behaviour. Most organisations aren’t remotely ready for that.

However, I also believe that 2026 will be the year that enterprises unlock AI at scale. This can only be done if they treat usage as a governance and enablement problem, not a blocking problem. Our job isn’t to scare people away from AI. It’s to give them the visibility and control to use it safely, at speed. The organisations that win in 2026 will be the ones that move to the top-right quadrant: high adoption and high security, not one or the other.”

Simon Gooch, Field CIO & SVP Expert Services at Saviynt:

“AI is forcing organisations to rethink what identities are critical to manage and if they have the right tools and approaches to ensure they are able to support their organisation’s AI and technology transformation priorities. Identity has always been central to protecting systems and data, but AI is altering how we think about this construct. There is a growing realisation that identity is the single most critical currency of all technology transactions and having an integrated technology, security and identity strategy that is designed to this reality is key. In the new reality of our evolving tech ecosystem we’re no longer solely dealing with employees, partners, providers, privileged users and non-human constructs; we’re entering a world where automated processes, bots and AI agents hold access, make decisions and interact across networks, systems, supply chains and organisations. The adoption of AI-powered capabilities is happeing at a pace that the reality and implications of which is still not well understood. Often, organisations are still in a phase of discovering and testing what they can deliver, yet each deployment introduces a new point of possible risk. The result is an expanding and increasingly complex set of identity security challenges.

This shift has pushed identity out of the back office and into the heart of business operations, risk management and long-term planning. The difficulty, of course, is that most organisations are still managing legacy systems, hybrid environments and thousands of human identities while preparing for an AI-driven future, not to mention the non-human identities they already rely on. Identity security must now not only protect AI agents, but also harness AI itself if it’s to keep pace.

Amid all this change, we’re watching identity security evolve from a compliance exercise to a core security discipline, and now into an essential enabler for business transformation and AI adoption. Security and business leaders alike are working at pace to manage and govern human, non-human and AI agent identities in a way that is both resilient and scalable.”

Dipto Chakravarty, Chief Technology Officer at Black Duck:

“The traditional approach to vulnerability management and security testing will certainly be disrupted, primarily driven by the increasing adoption of AI in cybersecurity. The old software world is gone, giving way to a new set of truths defined by AI. AI will significantly alter how organisations identify and mitigate vulnerabilities, becoming both a tool for attackers and defenders. Threat actors will leverage AI to automate and scale attacks, while defenders will use AI to enhance detection and response capabilities. Organisations will need to invest in AI-driven vulnerability scanning and predictive analytics to stay ahead of emerging threats. AI-powered security tools will enable security teams to analyse vast amounts of data, identify patterns, and predict potential threats before they materialise. The role of AI in AppSec will be transformative, and organisations that fail to adapt risk being left behind. As AI continues to evolve, it’s essential for security leaders to prioritise AI-driven security measures and invest in the necessary skills and technologies to stay ahead of the threats.”

Next Generation Hackers

Anthony Young, CEO at Bridewell, said:

“Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that 2025’s headline breaches are not the peak, they’re the warning signs. As we move into 2026, the legacy of these cuts will continue to degrade organisations’ defensive posture. We’ll likely see fewer, but far more impactful, attacks focused on shared platforms, third-party suppliers and critical infrastructure.

Cybersecurity is now facing the same kind of social and economic pressures that drive crime in the physical world. When times get tough and oversight weakens, the barrier to entry for malicious activity falls. If we continue underinvesting in resilience and accountability, we risk normalising cyber aggression as a form of expression or protest.

Many organisations have been forced to delay modernisation, freeze hiring and reduce investment in defensive capabilities. The result is fewer defenders, slower detection, and weakened resilience, just as adversaries become more aggressive and technologically advanced.

This new wave of attackers doesn’t always fit the traditional profile. We’re seeing a generation that grew up online, with access to open-source data, leaked credentials and automated tools that make disruption easy. What’s changed is the lack of deterrence. In online communities, the reputational rewards of causing chaos often outweigh the perceived risk by these individuals of getting caught.”

The post We Asked the Experts: 2026 Predictions appeared first on IT Security Guru.

UK-based AI safety and governance company CultureAI has been named as one of the participants in Microsoft’s newly launched Agentic Launchpad, a technology accelerator aimed at supporting startups working on advanced AI systems. The inclusion marks a milestone for CultureAI’s growth and signals broader industry interest in integrating AI safety and usage control into emerging autonomous AI ecosystems.

The Agentic Launchpad is a collaborative programme from Microsoft, NVIDIA, and WeTransact designed to support software companies in the United Kingdom and Ireland that are developing agentic AI solutions. With more than 500 companies applying, the selected cohort of 13 pioneering organisations represents some of the most forward-thinking solutions shaping the future of AI. The initiative is part of Microsoft’s wider investment in UK AI research and infrastructure, which includes nearly $30 billion committed to developing cloud, AI, and innovation capabilities in the region.

Selected companies in the program receive access to technical resources from Microsoft and NVIDIA, including engineering mentorship, cloud credits via Microsoft Azure, and participation in co-innovation sessions. Participants also gain commercial support, such as marketing assistance, networking opportunities and opportunities to showcase products to enterprise customers and investors.

CultureAI’s inclusion underscores an increasing industry emphasis on safe and compliant AI deployment. The company’s platform focuses on detecting unsafe AI usages, enforcing organisational policies during AI interactions, and providing real-time coaching to guide secure behaviour. This type of AI usage control has drawn interest from sectors with strict data governance and security requirements, including finance, healthcare, and regulated industries.

By working within the Agentic Launchpad cohort, CultureAI gains a strategic opportunity to integrate its usage risk and compliance controls with agentic AI development frameworks — an area where autonomous systems may introduce new vectors for inadvertent data exposure or misuse if not carefully governed.

Agentic AI represents a next stage of artificial intelligence that extends beyond generative tasks like text or image creation toward systems that can plan, act and autonomously execute sequences of decisions. This shift brings potential benefits in efficiency and automation, but also raises new challenges for risk management and governance in production environments.

Experts have noted that while initiatives like the Agentic Launchpad aim to accelerate innovation, they also emphasise robust tooling and ecosystem support to address security, operational governance and compliance in emerging AI applications. In this context, companies specialising in usage control and risk detection, such as CultureAI, might play a growing role as enterprises adopt more autonomous AI technologies.

The inclusion of AI safety-oriented companies like CultureAI in accelerator programmes reflects a broader trend in the industry toward embedding governance and risk mitigation into the core of AI development cycles. As agentic AI systems begin to move from laboratories into real-world use cases, particularly in sensitive or regulated domains, ensuring safe interaction with data and policy compliance may become a key differentiator for enterprise adoption.

“This recognition reflects the urgency organisations face today,” said James Moore, Founder & CEO of CultureAI. “AI is now embedded across everyday workflows, and companies need a safe, scalable way to adopt it. Our mission is to give them that confidence — through visibility, real-time coaching and adaptive guardrails that protect data without slowing innovation.”

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In today’s world, it can be hard for awareness training to keep up with the modern threats that are constantly emerging. Today, KnowBe4 has announced a new custom deepfake training experience to counteract the risk of ‘deepfake’ attacks as they continue to rise. The experience, which is now available, aims to help employees defend against the advanced cybersecurity threats from deepfakes such as fraudulent video conferences and AI-generated phishing attacks. 

Deepfakes can be weaponised and utilised for fraud, disinformation campaigns and cause reputational damage across sectors. These types of deepfake attacks are now linked to one in five biometric fraud attempts, with injection attacks increasing 40% year-over-year, according to Entrust’s 2026 Identity Fraud Report. Security incidents related to deepfakes have increased, with 32% of cybersecurity leaders reporting a spike, according to the KnowBe4 The State of Human Risk 2025 report.

Perry Carpenter, chief human risk management strategist at KnowBe4, said: “Deepfakes represent a seismic shift in the threat landscape, weaponising AI to impersonate authority, exploit trust, and short-circuit the human decision-making process”

Carpenter continues: “Our new deepfake training strengthens the workforce’s instincts by providing a safe, tightly controlled environment for learning. All simulations are created and approved by administrators, ensuring ethical use while helping employees recognise narrative red flags, subtle performance inconsistencies, and other cues that manipulated media can reveal. Awareness and preparedness remain our strongest defences, and we are committed to equipping organisations with practical, measurable skills to stay ahead of these emerging threats.”

Deepfake video content is becoming more realistic and harder to discern from reality. Cybersecurity leaders must prepare their organisations for new and emerging threats, taking a proactive approach to their overall protection efforts. Through this new experience, cybersecurity and IT professionals now have the ability to generate a custom deepfake training experience featuring a leader from their organisation to demonstrate how convincing AI-powered social engineering has become and to deliver clear, actionable guidance on how to detect these attacks.

The post Next Gen Awareness Training: KnowBe4 Unveils Custom Deepfake Training appeared first on IT Security Guru.

As AI-generated threats continue to rise, more organisations are turning to red teaming to turn the tide. Nothing provides a better understanding of your security posture like letting a red team loose on your environment to simulate a real-world attack. 

Here is a list of some of the top red teaming tools you’ll find in 2026—along with what you’ll need to know to make your choice.  

Cobalt Strike (Fortra)  

Cobalt Strike is one of the most widely used red teaming tools in cybersecurity today. As one engineer noted, “It was the product that changed the industry” as its insights spurred the development of Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR). Now, nearly a decade and a half later, it continues to be the professional’s choice and is estimated to be in use by 60% of red teamers out there.  

Strengths 

• Vetted Exploits: One of Cobalt Strike’s key advantages is its interoperability. By integrating closely with Core Impact, it offers users full access to Core Impact’s library of core certified exploits, which is widely trusted by security experts over potentially risky open-source options.  

• Malleable C2: Traffic can be made to resemble legitimate apps (by altering URLs, headers, payload formatting, etc.), a mature and well-documented technique. 

• Integrated Workflow: Bundles payload generation, post-exploitation features, a team server for collaboration, and a single operator workflow—instead of making teams cobble together separate OSS components. 

• Superior Support: Commercial licensing comes with professional support; vendor maintenance, documentation, and live help. For teams that want compatibility with corporate tooling and predictable updates, this is key.  

• Mature Solution with Repeatable Results: Polished GUIs, established C2 features, team collaboration workflows, and vetted exploits mean repeatable, credible results.  

Limitations 

• Commercial Licensing: Commercial pricing can be high for smaller teams. 

• Legal Considerations: Cobalt Strike can only be used in authorised engagements. 

Watch Now: See Cobalt Strike explained in two minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BUxptcYZCk 

Mythic 

Mythic is an open-source, modular command-and-control (C2) framework perfect for creating customised “agents” across Windows, macOS, and Linux targets.  

Strengths 

• Highly Extensible: New features easily added or modified without an extensive overhaul. Every feature runs as a containerized microservice. 

• Fully Customisable: Used for openness, flexibility, and the ability to research and craft new payloads. 

• Development and Research: Many use Mythic for research, educational, and development purposes as it provides full control and zero licensing costs.  

Limitations 

• Requires Orchestration: Container orchestration, agent configuration, and more administrative effort than commercial tools are required. 

• Steep Learning Curve: Without a “turnkey” setup or a single-vendor installer, operators must be experienced to get Mythic up and running. 

AdaptixC2  

AdaptixC2 is a fairly new open-source red teaming tool that entered the market in January 2025. It offers flexibility, a modular architecture, and works across multiple operating systems. With no licensing costs, it is good for labs and bespoke engagements. 

Strengths 

• Cross-Platform Support: It offers support for Windows, Linux, and macOS agents. 

• “Extenders” and Plug-Ins: Add in additional capabilities like lateral movement, credential harvesting, and custom payloads. 

• Modifiable and Open-Source: Great for emulating bespoke adversaries as it is deeply customisable and easily expanded.  

Limitations 

• Less Mature: Being newer on the market means fewer “out of the box” modules and less battle-tested experience.  

• Less Standardised and Established: Integrating with other red-team ecosystems (toolchains, training, reporting workflows) may require more customisation. 

Sliver 

Developed by Bishop Fox, Sliver is an open-source adversary emulation platform that implants “slivers” (malicious binaries) across many architectures and supports multiple transport options. 

Strengths 

• Staged and Stageless Payloads: Sliver delivers both staged and stageless payloads to launch both larger, immediate-impact attacks and smaller, size-constricted ones. 

• Flexible Transport Options: Offers native support for DNS, HTTP(S), mTLS, WireGuard and custom transports for varied emulation of egress patterns.  

• Dynamic Code Generation: Reduces static detections (when configured properly) with per-binary keys and compile-time options to change fingerprints.  

Limitations 

• No Commercial SLA: Teams need to invest in their own internal support, testing, hardening, and expertise.  

• Payload Size: Some users report the need to reduce forensic artefacts.  

Havoc  

Havoc has rapidly gained traction in the red teaming community as one of the few open-source C2 tools to be designed with operator UX in mind.  

Strengths 

• Fully Customisable: Teams can extend, modify, and audit the framework (again, good for research, education, and custom engagements).  

• Fast Set Up: Documentation, tutorials, and YouTube walk-throughs shorten the learning curve, along with active community engagement. 

• Approachable UX: A GUI-driven framework smooths set up and provides a more polished, modern user experience comparable to commercial-grade tools. 

Limitations 

• Younger Ecosystem: Less battle-tested than older, more established red teaming tools; capabilities may evolve unevenly. 

• Operational Hardening Required: To achieve enterprise-grade OPSEC, internal investment is required: cleaning proxies, testing against EDR/XDR stacks, hardening listeners.   

Outflank Security Tooling (OST)  

Outflank Security Tooling, or OST, is a collection of advanced red teaming tools made “by red teamers, for red teamers.” This broad, evasive toolset emulates real-world attacks by simulating APT techniques, bypassing defences, and providing high-end offensive security. 

Strengths 

• Expert Maintained: OST is continuously updated by the hackers and experts that use it themselves, making it well-suited for mature and sensitive target environments. 

• Full Kill Chain Coverage: Get advanced tools to break the attack chain at any stage. Small teams can punch above their weight with shortcuts for hard stages like EDR evasion, initial access, and OPSEC-safe lateral movement. 

• Unique Industry Advantage: OST features techniques not yet weaponized or even published by other teams, giving organisations a unique advantage over other tools and attackers.  

Limitations 

• Vetted Audience: Because of its powerful capabilities, Outflank Security Tooling is not a tool for the masses. Instead, it is available only to a vetted community of responsible buyers and red team professionals because of its real-world attack potential. 

• OS-Specific Evasion: Evasion techniques are carefully crafted to work with certain operating systems and configurations, just like an attackers’ techniques. This means that an exploit designed for a Windows 11 endpoint may not work on Windows 10. 

Kali Linux 

Maintained by Offensive Security, Kali Linux is a Debian-based Linux construction used for red teaming, pen testing, and digital forensics. Rather than a specialised red teaming tool, it is a complete operating system and toolkit.  

Strengths 

• Preinstalled Security Tools: Kali Linux ships with 600+ preinstalled security tools (from John the Ripper to Burp Suite to Wireshark). 

• Free and Open Source: Users can modify, inspect, and rebuild it. No licensing or usage fees.  

• Open to Integration: Kali Linux serves as the foundation for red teaming tools, integrating with frameworks like Sliver and Havoc (C2 operators) to act as host. 

Limitations 

• Not a C2 Framework: While Kali Linux supports C2 frameworks, it is an environment—not a post-exploitation or C2 platform in its own right. 

• Inconsistent Tool Maturity: Tools can overlap, lead to inefficiencies, or (in the case of older tools) be buggy, outdated, or redundant.  

Matrix Table 

Tool	Overview	Use Case
Cobalt Strike	Commercial, professional-grade red teaming and post-exploitation platform used by ~60% of red teams worldwide.	Professional, repeatable red teaming engagements
Mythic	Open-source, modular C2 framework for research and custom agent creation.	Highly modular, customizable, cross-platform agent dev
AdaptixC2	New (2025) open-source C2 platform emphasizing modularity and cross-platform operation.	Highly modular, customizable, cross-platform agent dev
Sliver (BishopFox)	Open-source adversary emulation framework for red teaming with multi-transport implants (“slivers”).	Open-source research and adversary emulation
Havoc	Open-source GUI-based C2 framework designed for usability and community collaboration.	Modern GUI-driven open C2 alternative
Outflank Security Tooling (OST)	High-end offensive security red teaming toolkit created “by red teaming experts for red teaming experts.”	Advanced APT simulations and evasive tactics for mature, sensitive target environments.
Kali Linux	Debian-based Linux distro for penetration testing, digital forensics, and red teaming; acts as a tool platform.	Training and general-purpose pentesting

 

Conclusion: Commercial vs Open-Source 

Ultimately, the choice between commercial red teaming tools and open-source options depends on where you are willing to sacrifice. 

As SANS notes, “Balance the cost against the potential ROI. Open-source tools…may be cost-effective and community-driven, while commercial tools…often come with a additional capabilities and a curated database. This typically includes the latest threat intelligence, attack vectors, new campaigns and overall support.” 

Whether your organisation is looking for a cost-friendly option or a mature, licensed solution, there is a red teaming vendor that can fit your needs in 2026.  

FAQ:

What is a red team? 

A red team is a group of ethical hackers that play the part of adversaries in simulating a real-world cyberattack for the purpose of testing an organization’s cybersecurity defences. They play a key role in offensive security. 

 

What is the difference between a red team and a blue team? 

A red team attacks; a blue team defends. Though they play opposite roles in red team engagements, all are on the same side: improving the cybersecurity posture of the target organisation.  

This is why teams should prioritise blue team success over red team wins.  

Watch this explainer video for more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3ZMAipJvao 

 

How is red teaming different from penetration testing?
Pen testing searches for and catalogues vulnerabilities, specifically.  Red teaming leverages advanced and creative ways to breach an organisation, from social engineering to APTs and beyond. It is broader, less predictable, and tests everything from the tool stack to the response capabilities of the blue team.

 

What is the goal of a red team exercise?

The goal of a red team exercise is to uncover ways in which threat actors could leverage internal weaknesses, misconfigurations, and oversights – along with technical exploits and expertise – to access an organisation’s internal network, services, or applications and disrupt operations, exfiltrate data, and otherwise inflict harm.  

 

How do you get legal/ethical approval to run a red team? 

The red team engagement needs to be authorised and approved by the organisation and key stakeholders. Basic steps include: 

• Scope and Justification: Define what you’re testing and why 
• Sign-Off: Approval from legal, risk/compliance, SOC/security, IT/network operations, HR (if phishing), C-Suite sponsor 
• Rules of Engagement (RoE): Defines technical boundaries, allowed techniques, and things like safe words and kill switches. 

 

What kind of tools do red teams use?  

Red teams typically use command-and-control (C2) platforms to run red team engagements. These frameworks can be commercial-grade or open-sourced, and include tools such as: 

• Beacons/Agents/Slivers 

• Adversary Emulation Platforms 

• Exploit Frameworks 

• Lateral-Movement Tools 

• Post-Exploitation Tools (Outflank Security Tooling (OST)) 

• Payload Builders/Obfuscators/Packers 

• Transport and Tunneling Tools 

• Reconnaissance and Scanning Tools (Shodan, theHarvester) 

• Social Engineering and Phishing Toolkits (Social Engineering Toolkit (SET)) 

• Penetration Testing Tools (Core Impact) 

• Network/Application Testing Tools (Wireshark, Burp Suite) 

• Physical Tools (RFID cloners, lock-pick sets) 

• Command Libraries/Scripts/ Automation 

Cobalt Strike was one of the first public red team C2 frameworks and is a favourite in the red teaming community.  

What’s a purple team exercise and should we do one? 

A purple team exercise brings red teams and blue teams together in a collaborative security assessment. The focus is on bringing both skillsets to the table for the purpose of learning, teaching, and improving—not “winning.”  

A purple team mindset recognizes red and blue as the same team – with the ultimate goal of beating attackers – and fosters engagements that act as an open-communication training opportunity.  

The post The Best Red Teaming Tools of 2026: What You Need to Know appeared first on IT Security Guru.

Sophia McCall is a rising force in cybersecurity and a leading cyber security speaker. She is a cyber security professional who co-founded Security Queens, a platform created to break down barriers in a sector that has struggled with representation. Her work focuses on improving capability, access and visibility for underrepresented groups while helping organisations strengthen their approach to security.

Sophia has built a reputation for combining technical skill with a commitment to inclusion. She challenges outdated perceptions of the industry and shows companies how diverse teams contribute to better decision making and stronger defences. Her advocacy for mentorship has also helped many new entrants navigate a field that can often feel inaccessible. In this exclusive interview with the Cyber Security Speakers Agency, Sophia McCall discusses diversity, mentorship, hidden cyber threats and the cultural changes businesses need to make security truly effective.

Q: In practical terms, how does diversity strengthen a company’s security posture?

Sophia McCall: “So I think diversity brings a perspective of thought to your security teams. I think the more varied thought that you have within your defence teams, you’re less likely to fall into something like group think.

“And the more backgrounds you can bring in, the more different angles and perspectives you can bring in from different people, the better you’re able to kind of try to solve that problem.”

Q: What do you see as the main reasons the cyber security sector still struggles with diversity?

Sophia McCall: “So I think we have quite a big stereotype problem in cyber security, particularly with the news media portraying a hacker as a sweaty teenage boy hiding in a basement in a hoodie.

“We still have this image issue that persists within the industry. I’ve had to previously tell people that I’m not the diversity pick. You know, I’m here because I know what I’m doing. I’m very skilled at what I’m doing.

“But that kind of gatekeeping is quite exhausting, and even though we’re a little bit better, we still have a little bit further to go.

“So that’s why I co-founded Security Queens, a platform where we can welcome diversity and anyone can have that content to be accessible as much as they can.

“And it’s not just about that, but it’s about improving capability, access, and representation within the industry and trying to break down those barriers and toxic norms.”

Q: You speak often about mentorship. Why is it such a crucial part of building a stronger cyber workforce?

Sophia McCall: “So I’m a really big believer in mentorship. I really think it bridges the gap between potential and opportunity. Growing up, it was really nice to have female role models in the cyber security industry.

“Just seeing someone succeed and do well. I think having that form of mentorship is really good for someone that perhaps is a bit nervous or has quite a lot of self-doubt.

“Especially for something like cyber, which everyone thinks, “Oh, it’s really technical, it’s not for me.” There are loads of different career routes that you can go down that don’t mean you have to be a techie as such. And it’s all about passing that knowledge and actually building a community in cyber as well.”

Q: What cyber threats are business owners facing today that often go completely unnoticed?

Sophia McCall: “So I think one of the biggest risks that a lot of companies face is third-party risk. You can make your internal systems as secure as possible, but unfortunately if your suppliers or your supply chain is exposed, that’s definitely a way in for adversaries.

“Another thing that we’ve seen rise in recent years, especially with hybrid working, is things like bring-your-own-device or people working from home. So again, that adds another layer of exposure for companies.

“But also, something that’s particularly forgotten sometimes is insider risk as well. Not necessarily a malicious insider, but perhaps people that are less informed with security practice and clicking on phishing links, falling for scams, that kind of thing, which again leaves organisations exposed.”

Q: From your perspective, what remains the single biggest vulnerability inside most businesses?

Sophia McCall: “So there’s a saying that goes humans are the weakest link, and unfortunately, I think I am a little bit inclined to believe in that. You can invest millions in your firewalls and your defence technologies, but if you do not train your employees and your staff to spot a phishing email or how to spot a scam or a bit of fraud, it’s unfortunately all for nothing.

“So human error is still quite a big cause of major breaches and I’m always a big believer that security training is more of a culture that needs to be embedded in an organisation rather than a chore. So that’s something we can definitely work on, and particularly larger businesses that have those kinds of threats.”

Q: What common employee mistakes continue to put organisations at risk?

Sophia McCall: “So a lot of people think, “Oh, security is not my problem, that’s the IT department or the security team.” And I think one of the biggest things we need to make sure people know is that security is everyone’s responsibility.

“As I previously mentioned, phishing is a really big cause of breaches in many organisations and that’s something that we definitely need to address, but it’s all about empowering your employees with the right knowledge and making sure they are trained and have that awareness.

“And so, things like simulated phishing campaigns, things like that, help bring up that security barrier for them.”

Q: When you speak publicly, what do you most hope audiences carry forward?

Sophia McCall: “So I’m a really big believer in learning and not gatekeeping knowledge. Whenever I deliver a talk, I really want people to feel empowered and curious and wanting to learn more in a way.

“So cyber security isn’t just for the elite technical folks in the room. It is for everyone. Whether I’m speaking at a bank or a school, my goal is to demystify the subject so it can be accessible for everyone, quite exciting almost and actually quite impactful.

“I hope people don’t see diversity as a buzzword but actually as a strength to their team, and that mentorship and inclusion can help that journey and process as well.”

In 2025, Sophia McCall was named amongst the Top 20 Most Inspiring Women in Cyber.

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A new industry report by KnowBe4 suggests that organisations are facing a sharply escalating human-centred risk landscape as artificial intelligence becomes embedded in everyday work. The State of Human Risk 2025: The New Paradigm of Securing People in the AI Era, based on survey responses from 700 cybersecurity leaders and 3,500 employees who experienced an employee-involved incident in the past year, highlights a 90% surge in incidents linked to the human element.

The findings point to a widening attack surface driven by social engineering, unsafe employee behaviour and simple mistakes. According to the report, 93% of surveyed leaders experienced incidents in which cybercriminals exploited employees directly. Email continues to dominate as the primary battleground, with a 57% rise in email-related incidents and 64% of organisations reporting external attacks delivered through email. Human error remains a major weak point, with 90% of organisations facing incidents caused by employee mistakes, while malicious insiders accounted for issues at 36% of organisations.

Budget pressures are mounting too, as nearly all (97%) of the cybersecurity leaders asked said they need increased investment to strengthen the human-security layer.

AI’s rapid infiltration into workplace tools is introducing a new tier of risk. AI-related security incidents climbed 43% in the past 12 months—the second-largest increase across all channels surveyed. Despite 98% of organisations taking steps to address AI-related threats, security leaders ranked AI-powered attacks as their top concern, with 45% citing the constant evolution of AI-driven threats as their biggest challenge in managing behavioural risk. Deepfake-related incidents are also rising, affecting 32% of organisations.

Tensions around workplace AI use appear to be contributing to emerging “shadow AI” behaviours. While most organisations have implemented AI-risk measures, 56% of employees expressed dissatisfaction with their employer’s approach to AI tools, potentially driving them towards unsanctioned platforms.

The report suggests email will remain the highest-risk channel for several years, but warns that attackers are increasingly shifting to multi-channel campaigns, including messaging apps and voice phishing. The growing use of AI by threat actors to craft convincing, scalable attacks is expected to accelerate this trend.

 Javvad Malik, lead CISO advisor at KnowBe4, said: “The productivity gains from AI are too great to ignore, so the future of work requires seamless collaboration between humans and AI. Employees and AI agents will need to work in harmony, supported by a security programme that proactively manages the risk of both. Human risk management must evolve to cover the AI layer before critical business activity migrates onto unmonitored, high-risk platforms.”

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The group known as Librarian Ghouls has infiltrated networks of technical universities and industrial organisations across Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, all without raising immediate alarms. They achieved this by leveraging legitimate logins to move laterally through internal networks, utilising valid credentials and avoiding alert triggers.

Unlike many other APT groups, Librarian Ghouls does not rely on custom malware. Instead, they exploit legitimate third-party tools such as remote access software, archivers and SMTP utilities to craft near-perfect phishing campaigns, including password-protected files and polymorphic malware that adapts in real time. These tactics allow the attackers to slip past traditional detection controls almost unnoticed.

This incident is part of a broader and growing challenge when cybersecurity tools operate in silos, attackers exploit the gaps between them. Endpoint detection and response (EDR), firewalls, and authentication systems each play an important role, but without integration, they offer only partial visibility.

An EDR solution, for example, may overlook legitimate administrative tools if they do not exhibit overtly malicious behaviour. A firewall will flag anomalous outbound connections but often lacks the context to determine the originating user or endpoint. Authentication logs may capture a series of valid logins without recognising a lateral movement pattern.

The lesson from this is clear – integrated visibility across security layers is critical. Correlating signals from multiple tools is essential to detect complex, multi-stage attacks that no single solution can fully uncover on its own. Without this unified perspective, organisations risk missing the bigger picture until it’s too late.

With multiple security solutions generating alerts, many organisations operate with a false sense of security. Without integration, security is fragmented, leaving gaps for sophisticated attacks to exploit, sometimes for weeks or months.

 

How to protect against threats that evade detection

Organisations need a unified view of their environment and the ability to respond in real time. This is where Managed Detection and Response (MDR) come in. MDR combines advanced threat detection, analytics and human expertise to monitor, investigate, and respond to threats 24/7. Unlike traditional tools working in isolation, MDR correlates signals across endpoints, networks, cloud environments, and identity systems, enabling faster and more accurate detection of suspicious activity.

A strategic MDR approach gives organisations the ability to detect and respond to threats with a level of speed and accuracy that isolated tools cannot match. Firewalls might block unusual connections and EDRs may spot anomalous behaviour but when these signals operate independently, critical patterns can be missed. MDR leverages AI and automation to connect these disparate alerts, allowing real threats to be identified enabling the identification of real threats within minutes. It is effective even when attackers deliberately blend their activity with normal operations.

Once a genuine threat is detected, the speed of response is essential. By providing a unified view across network, endpoint and identity layers, MDR accelerates investigations, reduces operational disruption and helps maintain business continuity while protecting an organisation’s reputation. At the same time, AI-driven correlation filters out noise and false positives, highlighting only the most relevant alerts and providing the context security teams need to act decisively. This focus is particularly valuable in resource-constrained environments, where every second counts and alert fatigue can undermine effectiveness.

The Librarian Ghouls’ breach demonstrated that attackers could circumvent defences when solutions are uncoordinated. It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack. MDR addresses this challenge by correlating disparate signals, filtering false positives and providing a unified view of infrastructure. By doing this, it amplifies the value of each security layer. EDRs gain the context to identify anomalies, firewalls better interpret network connections and identity systems more accurately flag suspicious access.

The post What your firewall sees that your EDR doesn’t appeared first on IT Security Guru.

As global economic pressures increase and budgets across both public and private sectors are cut, Anthony Young, CEO at Bridewell, a company that provides cybersecurity services to CNI organisations, is warning of a critical inflection point for 2026, where organisations are facing more cyber threats with fewer resources to defend against them.

According to Young, the cumulative effect of years of belt-tightening across cybersecurity teams and agencies is beginning to surface in major breaches and systemic failures. “Many organisations have been forced to delay modernisation, freeze hiring and reduce investment in defensive capabilities,” said Young. “The result is fewer defenders, slower detection, and weakened resilience, just as adversaries become more aggressive and technologically advanced.”

This year alone has already painted a stark picture. Major supply chain attacks, including a massive compromise of Oracle Cloud affecting over 140,000 tenants and the Salesloft/Drift breach, have demonstrated how underinvestment in cyber resilience can cascade across entire digital ecosystems. Even industrial sectors have been hit hard; for instance, Jaguar Land Rover’s factory shutdown following a cyberattack disrupted production for weeks and exposed the fragility of global supply chains.

Young warned that these incidents are not isolated events, but symptomatic of a deeper issue. “Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that 2025’s headline breaches are not the peak, they’re the warning signs. As we move into 2026, the legacy of these cuts will continue to degrade organisations’ defensive posture. We’ll likely see fewer, but far more impactful, attacks focused on shared platforms, third-party suppliers and critical infrastructure.”

He also acknowledged the societal aspect of the problem at large. Alongside highly coordinated campaigns by criminal and state-backed groups, Bridewell has observed a sharp rise in so-called ‘casual’ cyber aggression. Increasingly, attacks are being launched by loosely connected individuals, often teenagers, using freely available tools or AI-assisted exploit kits.

“This new wave of attackers doesn’t always fit the traditional profile,” explained Young. “We’re seeing a generation that grew up online, with access to open-source data, leaked credentials and automated tools that make disruption easy. What’s changed is the lack of deterrence. In online communities, the reputational rewards of causing chaos often outweigh the perceived risk by these individuals of getting caught.”

Bridewell believes this blend of economic strain, social disaffection and accessible hacking technology is fuelling a dangerous convergence. With reduced resources for defenders and a surge in opportunistic threat actors, organisations face a double blow between complex, targeted attacks on one hand and erratic, highly visible disruptions on the other.

“Cybersecurity is now facing the same kind of social and economic pressures that drive crime in the physical world,” said Young. “When times get tough and oversight weakens, the barrier to entry for malicious activity falls. If we continue underinvesting in resilience and accountability, we risk normalising cyber aggression as a form of expression or protest.”

Looking ahead to 2026, Bridewell predicts that cyber incidents will become less frequent but far more destructive, with greater operational, reputational and regulatory fallout for unprepared organisations. To mitigate this, Young stressed that technical measures must be matched with broader efforts to rebuild digital accountability, shared defence mechanisms and societal norms around online harm.

The post Bridewell CEO gives cyber predictions for 2026 appeared first on IT Security Guru.

In 2025 we’re not just fighting today’s headline-grabbing cyber threats, but we’re also preparing for tomorrow’s. Technology is evolving at a pace that is both fuelling progress for defenders and powering new tools for bad actors. The same advances that drive discovery and innovation also give cybercriminals new ways to attack faster, more broadly and with greater impact. One of the clearest examples of this dual advancement is quantum computing: a breakthrough that could change the world for good, but also put the very foundations of online security at risk.

What is Quantum Computing?

Quantum computing is an emerging technology that processes information in ways traditional computers never could. Instead of working through one calculation at a time, quantum machines harness the principles of quantum mechanics to evaluate countless possibilities simultaneously.

That power has tremendous upside – potentially accelerating breakthroughs in medicine, science and engineering – but also creating a profound security challenge. Once fully realised, quantum computers will be able to break the public-key cryptography in use today, including RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC). These aren’t niche tools: they secure almost everything online. From the HTTPS connections that protect your browsing to digital signatures on software, as well as online banking, healthcare systems, government platforms and consumer accounts – encryption is the trust layer of the internet.

And most of it is not quantum-resistant. While the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has begun standardising quantum-safe encryption algorithms, including Kyber, they are not yet widely deployed. That means the logins and records you create today could be tomorrow’s open doors.

Large-scale quantum computers aren’t publicly available yet, but waiting for them to arrive is a mistake. Cybercriminals aren’t waiting – many have already started preparing.

The “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” Threat

Hackers understand that quantum power is coming, and they’re planning ahead. Their strategy is simple: steal encrypted data now, knowing they’ll be able to decrypt it later. This “harvest now, decrypt later” approach means that stolen banking details, medical records or login credentials, which are protected currently with strong encryption, could be cracked years down the road – long after the original breach is forgotten.

Weak security practices make this problem worse. Keeper Security research shows that only 30% of people regularly update their passwords, leaving 70% exposed. Even more concerning, 41% reuse the same passwords across accounts, creating an easy opening for credential-stuffing attacks, where one stolen password is used to break into multiple accounts. These everyday habits give cybercriminals exactly the weaknesses they can exploit – whether now or in the quantum era.

Start Preparing Today for the Quantum Shift

The best way to defend against tomorrow’s quantum-enabled attacks is to act now. Leading organisations are already evaluating, developing and deploying quantum-resistant encryption, including NIST-approved algorithms like Kyber, to build in future-ready protections.

Individuals and businesses alike can prepare by taking proactive steps:

• Stay aligned with standards: Be sure to stay up-to-date on official guidelines and standards. Organisations should follow trusted guidance from NIST and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
• Update and patch regularly: You don’t need to track every technical update, but you should ensure the tools and providers you utilise are up to date with the latest security standards. Ensuring that products are regularly updated is critical, as patches often contain critical security fixes to keep your information secure.
• Vet your providers: Don’t just trust that a product is secure – verify it. Use products that meet and surpass compliance requirements, especially those that are looking to the future. When selecting a product for yourself or your organisation, vet it thoroughly against standards that are relevant to your needs.
• Reinforce best practices: As always, following existing best practices is the best way to protect yourself now and later. Use strong, unique passwords and change them regularly to defend against both current and future attack methods. The easiest way to manage them is with a trusted password manager, which generates strong passwords and stores them securely. Store sensitive information in secure, encrypted environments – not browsers, shared documents or sticky notes.
• Monitor for exposure: Every minute counts when your information is stolen. Organisations and individuals should use monitoring services that can alert them if their data appears on the dark web, so they can take immediate action.

And don’t abandon today’s encryption. Current standards remain highly effective and are essential to protecting your data today. The challenge is preparing for a post-quantum future while continuing to safeguard the world we live in right now.

Moving Into a Post-Quantum World

Quantum computing and its implications may sound daunting, but the path forward is clear. Strong, proactive measures taken today will help ensure a safer tomorrow.

This Cybersecurity Awareness Month, let’s recognise that preparing for the future is as important as defending against present threats. By reinforcing best practices, demanding future-proof tools and supporting the shift to quantum-resistant encryption, we can secure not only today’s digital world, but the post-quantum world we are heading toward.

The post The Quantum Future Is Coming – Hackers Are Already Preparing appeared first on IT Security Guru.

The team at KnowBe4 Threat Labs has uncovered an emerging advanced phishing campaign targeting Microsoft 365 users globally to steal their credentials. This powerful new phishing kit, which KnowBe4 have named ‘Quantum Route Redirect’, was initially discovered in early August. Quantum Route Redirect comes with a pre-configured set up and phishing domains that significantly simplifies a once technically complex campaign flow, further “democratising” phishing for less skilled cybercriminals. It is thought to primarily target Microsoft 365 users.

Removing Barriers of Entry

Quantum Route Redirect bundles several capabilities that remove technical barriers to running a sophisticated phishing campaign: it uses behavioural detection to distinguish automatically between human and automated traffic, and intelligent routing to sort visitors without manual intervention. It also provides a a simplified analytics dashboard that presents comprehensive victim data – including location, device type and browser information – in an intuitive format. The platform also includes real-time monitoring displays campaign performance and success metrics so operators need no specialised technical expertise.

According to KnowBe4, the Phishing-as-a-Service (PhaaS) platform is capable of distinguishing between security tools and genuine users, directing the former to legitimate websites while sending the latter to the phishing version. This technique enables it to bypass URL scanners and certain web application firewalls. The platform also includes user-friendly features designed to support less technically skilled cybercriminals, such as a configuration panel for managing redirect rules, settings and routing logic; monitoring dashboards displaying traffic analytics; intelligent traffic routing to automatically sort visitors; and an analytics dashboard showing details such as victim location, device type and browser information.

To Carry Out An Attack

From the target’s perspective, these campaigns typically begin with a phishing email. Attackers usually cast a wide net using a range of themes and tactics designed to maximise victim engagement. These often include impersonation of services such as DocuSign and other agreement platforms, payroll-related scams, fake payment notifications, fraudulent “missed voicemail” messages, and QR code phishing (also known as quishing).

When the hyperlink is first activated, either by a security tool (bot) scanning it or by a person clicking on it, the request is intercepted by Quantum Route Redirect and sent for processing. The platform’s central routing engine then analyses all incoming traffic, using behavioural analysis to distinguish intelligently between bots and humans. Acting as both a classifier and router, the engine determines the appropriate destination for each request.

If the traffic is identified as originating from a bot, it is redirected to a safe URL, preventing access to the real phishing site. This protects the malicious infrastructure from exposure by security scanners and increases the likelihood that a genuine user will interact with the email, unless it is blocked by other detection mechanisms. Conversely, if the visitor is recognised as human, they are redirected to the actual phishing website, where attackers attempt to harvest Microsoft 365 credentials.

The Quantum Route Redirect system also provides administrative access for the cybercriminals operating these campaigns, featuring two streamlined management interfaces: a configuration panel for managing redirect rules, settings and routing logic, and a visitor statistics dashboard offering analytics such as traffic data to assess campaign performance.

Global Impact

This campaign has successfully compromised victims across 90 countries, demonstrating remarkable international reach. The US has borne the brunt of the attacks so far, accounting for 76% of affected users, while the remaining 24% are distributed worldwide, making the scope of this threat truly global.

What Should Organisations Do?

KnowBe4 advised security teams to implement a multi-layered defence strategy that incorporates a range of protective measures. These include using natural language processing (NLP) and natural language understanding to analyse email content, alongside URL and payload analysis, domain and impersonation detection, and polymorphic detection techniques. Sandboxing can be employed to inspect suspicious emails, while continuous monitoring helps identify potential account compromise. A human risk management (HRM) platform with advanced behavioural analytics, product telemetry and threat intelligence can generate individual risk scores, enabling personalised user training. In addition, email threat intelligence should be used to inform company-wide education initiatives, supported by rapid incident response procedures designed to isolate compromised users, block access and conduct digital forensics.

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A new research report from Nagomi Security has revealed that, over the past six months, nearly three quarters (73%) of US CISOs have reported a significant cyber incident. The 2025 CISO Pressure Index emphasises how continuous widespread breaches and rising internal strain are reshaping the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) role.

Nagomi’s 2025 CISO Pressure Index is based on a quantitative survey of 100 US-based CISOs across major industries.

Interestingly, the most consistent pressure isn’t coming from attackers, it’s coming from inside the organisation. According to the data, 87% of CISOs say pressure in their role has increased over the past year. Two-thirds report feeling burned out weekly or daily, and 40% considered leaving their role altogether.

Board expectations, shrinking resources, and tool fatigue are also factors causing additional strain. Notably, 42% of CISOs say expectations from boards and executives are now their greatest source of stress, more than the threats themselves. Most oversee sprawling tool stacks, with 65% managing 20 or more security tools, yet 58% say incidents occurred even though those tools were in place.

What’s more, CISOs face personal accountability when it comes to breaches. Worryingly, 17% say they always feel personally blamed for security incidents, regardless of root cause, and 39% say they often feel blamed – even when incidents fall outside their direct control. If a breach were to occur, 90% say their role may be at risk to some degree. Such pressured environments create the perfect place for burnout to thrive.

We know that AI has introduced new security risks and challenges, but the report notes that it’s also becoming a cost-cutting directive: 82% of CISOs say they’re under pressure to reduce staff using AI. The result is a widening gap between responsibility and control.

Emanuel Salmona, co-founder and CEO of Nagomi Security, said: “CISOs are managing nonstop risk with limited support and even less time. They’re expected to be strategic leaders and first responders all at once. The best way to support them is to share accountability across the business, make outcomes clearer, and give them the space to focus on what actually reduces risk.”

Finally, Nagomi is launching a new docuseries entitled Holding the Line, which features in-depth conversations with security leaders about the personal and professional toll of the role. The series dives into how the job is evolving, where pressure is coming from, and what needs to change.

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APIs are now the action layer of AI that make up your API fabric. Every LLM workflow, agent, and MCP tool call rides on an API. This makes API governance the working heart of AI governance, especially with the arrival of landmark frameworks like the EU AI Act and ISO/IEC 42001. These new regulations turn compliance from a productivity limiter to a business accelerator with measurable efficiency and risk-reduction outcomes. In short, how much time is saved if compliance controls are built into your development or release process, if you have instant access to audit trails and data-flow maps? Salt’s core belief sums it up: you can’t secure AI without securing APIs.

Across hundreds of enterprises, Salt Security’s H2 2025 State of API Security Report shows the same pattern: organizations are racing to ship AI features, but governance and runtime security of the API layer haven’t kept pace. Half (50%) slowed a release due to API risk, one-third (33%) suffered an API incident, 80% lack continuous monitoring, and only 19% are “very confident” in their API inventory. These aren’t theoretical gaps. In the context of AI, this “risk exposure” includes specific threats like data poisoning, model theft, and unauthorized system use that can fundamentally alter an AI system’s behavior. These are real business outcomes in lost time, rework, and increased risk exposure.

Compliance Might Be an API Problem

Meeting these new AI regulations is fundamentally an API security challenge. For instance, the EU AI Act mandates “Accuracy, robustness, and cybersecurity” for high-risk systems (Article 15). This is impossible without securing the API, which your whitepaper identifies as the “primary attack surface”. Similarly, ensuring “Data and Data Governance” (Article 10) relies on securing API conduits to prevent data poisoning and ensure integrity. API security provides the very “logging and traceability” (Articles 12 & 20) needed for human oversight and the complete API discovery required to manage the entire AI lifecycle, as mandated by ISO 42001.

A recent Gartner® report stated, “Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Agent2Agent (A2A) do not replace existing APIs. They rely on APIs for data, context, tools and resources for consumption by autonomous agents and AI applications.”

The expanded attack surface

The volume and sophistication of API-related attacks continue to climb. In fact, Salt Labs reports that nearly every organization (99%) experienced API security issues in the past year. The targeting is based in part on the potential to access and expose personally identifiable information. Of notable concern, a recent report from Salt Labs shows that 96% of attacks come from authenticated sources with 98% of those targeting external-facing APIs.  This shift challenges the historical outside-in perimeter mindset.

Salt Labs also found that the majority of API misuse attempts stemmed from either API1 (Broken Object Level Authorization) or API8 (Security Misconfiguration) vulnerabilities.  For those organizations expanding their AI capabilities, this expanded attack surface carries compliance implications.  Each vulnerability becomes a potential failure in governance.  

As Salt’s research highlights, without strong governance and visibility into APIs that handle sensitive data, organizations struggle to enforce security policies consistently. This often leads to misconfigurations, excessive permissions, and weak access controls, conditions that increase breach risk and jeopardize regulatory readiness.

Compliance today

Frameworks like ISO/IEC 42001 and the EU AI Act highlight that accountability and governance need to be considered from the beginning and not treated as an afterthought.  Organizations that adopt compliance by design now will be the ones ready when enforcement begins.  The benefit extends beyond regulatory alignment; it’s about strengthening operational resilience.

The Gartner® report also stated, “Double down on API security by adding specialist security solutions to supplement standard gateway protections. Rate-limiting and access management, in particular, are vital for APIs AI applications will consume when addressing the risk of data and services being abused by agentic use.”

Salt’s platform was built for exactly this challenge: to give organizations AI-aware visibility, policy-driven governance, and real-time protection across the APIs that power AI systems. Because in the age of intelligent agents, one truth remains: you can’t secure AI without securing APIs.

References:

Gartner, How MCP and the A2A Protocols Impact API Management, Shameen Pillai, Mark O’Neill, Aaron Lord, 25 August 2025

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

 

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The concept of having a single suite of interconnected products, which come without the headache of installations and with optimal performance from each facet, is sometimes the best option. The other consideration is to go for a ‘best of breed’ selection of products, which may not work together and leave you with vulnerable spots even whilst using the best technology.

This is an issue that cybersecurity vendors are well aware of, and they add new factors to their offerings. I recently met with Securonix whose recent acquisition of ThreatQuotient added a threat intelligence capability to its existing portfolio of security analytics, threat detection, and incident response through its cloud-native Unified Defence SIEM.

Specific and Actionable

A provider of advanced cybersecurity solutions, Securonix said the acquisition strengthens its ability to provide more specific, actionable, and automated insights by integrating threat intelligence directly into its SIEM and UEBA foundation. This comes at a time when customers are looking for fewer vendors and more consolidation, making the unified platform approach attractive.

Its VP Europe, Tim Bury, said this addition strengthens its unified platform by combining UEBA (User and Entity Behaviour Analytics), SIEM, real-time threat intelligence, and AI agents to create more actionable, efficient, and board-relevant security outcomes while reducing complexity, cost, and noise for customers.

He says that customers are looking to try to consolidate the number of providers they have, “but it’s really about extracting that value, and what we were finding is we were always ingesting different feeds, threat feeds, but there wasn’t that platform to make it effective.”

Great Integrations

Bury later admits that having the wider suite is advantageous because it offers a more holistic view. If you don’t take a holistic view of the different components that the customer has, then you’ll be missing things.

“We’re trying to ensure that everything is included,” he says. “In addition to the external sources and threat intelligence content, our customers were using other sources for that, but they couldn’t necessarily do things intelligently that were fully integrated into a single Unified Defence SIEM. It’s about bringing it together.”

That value lies in the integration, Bury claims, while his colleague Cyrille Badeau, VP of International Sales at Securonix, says that leveraging threat intelligence adds more expertise making the SIEM more effective for customers. “That could change how people operate – and potentially resolve many issues,” Badeau says

Threat Intelligence

The acquisition of ThreatQuotient adds threat intelligence to its offering, as Bury says that the integrations work together to “get a single pane of glass,” which he admits is very difficult to achieve and get value from, but fits within its remit of trying to make its offering super simple.

Bury says its own research determined that customers are using a variety of sources for threat content, so it was advantageous to bring in a platform that can extract the value out of that threat content, which is more specific to customer needs, and increase both automation and integration into the Securonix platform “to make it more meaningful and actionable.”

Badeau says that adding real-time threat intelligence was the realistic next level for the UEBA, as that intelligence can be used as context for any decision. He also says that the intelligence can “build a memory to learn over time,” so if something new is seen, it may not be the same as what was seen the previous time, but actions can be taken.

“What are the good things to hunt for? Those are the priorities you need to worry about,” he says. “Maybe you have an adversary after you, and that adversary is known to have three different techniques you have detected: the first two are used often, and the third is never detected, so either they never tried on you, or maybe we should automate the threat hunting capability based on the third capability?”

Board and Breach Ready

Secuionix’s ethos is based on three elements: being board-ready, breach-ready, and AI-powered. Bury explains that being breach-ready means that an organisation is ready to defend itself. Being board-ready recognises that cybersecurity is a board-level challenge, and there is a need to understand the outcomes that they’re looking for. Finally, everything needs to be AI-powered.

“Another objective that our solution helps you do is identify where you’re at risk, so that you can prevent a breach from happening,” Bury says. “It’s looking at intent and catching things before they happen. If you are attacked, it is about how you identify that and take remediation action in a very short period of time.”

Some ten years after the last flourish of stand-alone threat intelligence providers emerged, and were ultimately acquired, the combination of SIEM, TDIR, UEBA and SOAR offered by Securonix is now augmented by the addition of real-time threat intelligence, and the offering to be ahead of the attack and breach-ready sounds promising.

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When Fortra disclosed CVE-2025-10035 in GoAnywhere MFT last month, many security teams likely experienced a familiar sinking feeling. Another critical vulnerability. Another emergency patch cycle. Another race against ransomware operators. But this latest maximum-severity flaw reveals something more troubling than a single vendor’s coding error. It exposes the fundamental fragility of how organisations handle their most sensitive data transfers.

The numbers tell a sobering story. According to recent industry research, Managed File Transfer (MFT) platforms carry a sky high risk score (4.72), outpacing nearly every other data transfer technology. This is not a coincidence. It is the predictable result of architectural decisions made when “perimeter security” still meant something and when exposed admin consoles were considered acceptable trade-offs for operational convenience. Today, with approximately 450 GoAnywhere instances still exposed to the internet and ransomware groups actively hunting for the next Clop-style payday, these architectural debts are coming due with compound interest.

Anatomy of a Maximum-Severity Flaw

CVE-2025-10035 achieves its perfect CVSS 10.0 score through a devastating combination of factors. The vulnerability lurks in GoAnywhere’s License Servlet, where improper deserialisation allows attackers to inject malicious objects through specially crafted license files. No authentication required. No user interaction needed. Just an exposed admin console and basic technical knowledge – a combination that transforms a coding oversight into a potential enterprise-wide catastrophe.

What makes this particularly alarming is the attack’s elegant simplicity. Unlike complex exploit chains that require deep technical expertise, this vulnerability presents a low barrier to entry. Script kiddies and sophisticated APT groups alike can weaponise this flaw, democratising what should be an exclusive capability. The exposed admin console becomes a welcome mat for attackers, offering direct access to the very systems that broker an organisation’s most confidential data exchanges.

The security community watches nervously for signs of active exploitation. While none has been confirmed publicly, the pattern is all too familiar. CVE-2023-0669, GoAnywhere’s previous critical flaw, went from disclosure to mass exploitation by Clop ransomware in mere weeks, ultimately compromising hundreds of organisations and exposing millions of records. The question isn’t whether CVE-2025-10035 will be weaponised, but which threat actor will move first.

Trillion-Dollar Pattern

This is  an industry-wide crisis hiding in plain sight. Legacy MFT systems have suffered similar critical vulnerabilities in recent years. Each follows an eerily similar pattern: authentication bypass or code execution flaws that grant attackers keys to the kingdom. The reason is structural, not coincidental.

MFT systems exist at the intersection of maximum value and maximum exposure. They handle everything from financial transactions to healthcare records, intellectual property to government secrets. Yet they must also connect disparate networks, bridge security domains, and accommodate external partners with varying security postures. This inherent tension creates attack surfaces that grow exponentially with each integration point.

The financial impact data is staggering. Organisations operating in what researchers call the “danger zone” − managing 1,001 to 5,000 third-party connections − face average breach costs between $3-$5 million per incident. But here is the critical insight: these costs balloon based on detection time. Companies taking 31-90 days to discover MFT compromises see litigation costs alone exceed $5 million in 27% of cases. When you are dealing with customer data, partner information, and regulatory compliance, every hour of attacker dwell time multiplies the damage exponentially.

Beyond the Patch Treadmill

The uncomfortable truth for security leaders is that if your strategy relies primarily on patching vulnerabilities quickly, you have already lost. The data proves this definitively. Organisations experiencing seven to nine breaches annually see 84% facing costs over $1 million, despite presumably having patch management programs. The problem isn’t the patches, it is the architecture that turns every vulnerability into an existential threat.

Consider what amplifies a manageable coding flaw into a catastrophic breach. Start with exposed management interfaces, the very attack vector CVE-2025-10035 exploits. Add monolithic architectures where compromising one component grants access to everything. Mix in poor network segmentation that allows lateral movement from DMZ to crown jewels. Season with minimal logging that extends attacker dwell time from days to months. This toxic combination transforms routine vulnerabilities into front-page news.

Modern architectural patterns offer a different path. Think of security as layers of Swiss cheese. Any single layer has holes but stacking them creates defence in depth. Sandboxing isolates risky components, preventing deserialisation flaws from achieving system compromise. Zero-trust networking assumes breach and limits blast radius. Embedded security controls create speed bumps that slow attackers and generate alerts. Most critically, these patterns acknowledge that perfect code is impossible; resilience comes from limiting impact, not preventing flaws.

Governance Multiplier Effect

The most striking finding from recent industry analysis is the power of mature governance to reduce risk. Organisations with comprehensive governance frameworks (currently just 17% of enterprises) demonstrate 21% lower risk scores across all security metrics. This is not bureaucracy; it is the systematic application of architectural thinking to security challenges.

Governance in this context means more than policies and procedures. It is about maintaining visibility into what you’re protecting and how. Nearly half of organisations that cannot quantify their breach frequency also can’t estimate their litigation exposure. This blindness creates a vicious cycle: without metrics, a business cannot improve; without improvement, breaches multiply; multiplied breaches destroy metrics through chaos and turnover.

For MFT systems specifically, governance means treating file transfer as the critical infrastructure it truly is. This includes architectural review boards that evaluate new integrations for security impact, continuous monitoring that alerts on unusual transfer patterns or administrative actions, clear ownership and accountability for each external connection point, and regular tabletop exercises that assume MFT compromise and test response capabilities.

Practitioner’s Guide to MFT Resilience

For organisations looking to break the vulnerability-patch-breach cycle, several concrete steps can dramatically improve security posture without massive technology investments. Start with the basics and eliminate internet-facing admin consoles. This single change would have prevented most historical MFT breaches. Use jump servers, VPNs, or modern zero-trust proxies, but never expose management interfaces directly.

Implement genuine least-privilege access. Most MFT deployments run with excessive permissions because it is easier than properly scoping access. This convenience becomes catastrophic when attackers gain foothold. Every external connection should have minimal necessary permissions, enforced at multiple layers.

Consolidate where possible. Many organisations run multiple MFT solutions for historical reasons, each adding attack surface and complexity. The overhead of managing five different file transfer systems − each with its own vulnerabilities, patch cycles, and integration points − often exceeds the cost of standardizing on a single, well-architected platform.

Most importantly, instrument for detection. The difference between a million-pound incident and a ten-million-pound breach often comes down to detection speed. MFT systems should generate rich audit logs, feed SIEM platforms in real-time, alert on anomalous transfer patterns or volumes, and integrate with broader security orchestration. If a business cannot detect compromise within hours, its architecture has failed regardless of patch velocity.

Clear Path Forward

CVE-2025-10035 represents both a clear and present danger and a learning opportunity. The immediate imperative remains patching vulnerable systems before threat actors weaponise this flaw. But the larger lesson transcends any single vulnerability: organisations must evolve from reactive patching to proactive architectural resilience.

This evolution requires acknowledging uncomfortable truths. A legacy MFT system will have critical vulnerabilities discovered. Threat actors will attempt exploitation. Some attempts may succeed despite best efforts. The question is whether these inevitable events become manageable incidents or existential crises. Look for an MFT solution with the architecture, governance, and detection capabilities.

As we enter an era where AI-powered vulnerability discovery accelerates the pace of disclosure, the old playbook of patch-and-pray becomes increasingly untenable. Security leaders must instead focus on building systems that bend but do not break, that contain breaches rather than amplifying them, and that provide visibility into compromise rather than hiding it. Only through this fundamental shift in thinking can we transform MFT from our greatest vulnerability into a manageable risk.

 

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In 2025, the importance of a top-quality and well-functioning website cannot be overstated. Forgetting this is a costly mistake, but an even greater one is failing to ensure that a website is fully functional for everyone. That’s where website accessibility comes in, which is the practice of designing digital experiences to be usable by people with disabilities. Over the years, it has shifted from a niche, ‘nice-to-have’ feature to a core imperative. The question is no longer if you should prioritise accessibility, but how well you implement it as a key component of your digital strategy.

While many associate accessibility with making a website “easy to navigate,” its scope is far broader and more crucial. True accessibility ensures that all users, regardless of ability, can perceive, understand, and interact with your content effectively.

To help us learn more about the importance of accessibility, we have the expertise of Surrey web design agency, Full Stack Industries.

Beyond Usability: The Real Meaning of Web Accessibility

Effective navigation is an essential part of accessibility, but the discipline itself encompasses inclusive design for a broad spectrum of human experiences. It means creating a digital environment that doesn’t present barriers to anyone. This includes:

• For visually impaired users: Ensuring your site is compatible with screen readers by using proper heading structures and providing alternative text (alt text) for all meaningful images.
• For users with motor disabilities: Enabling full navigation and functionality using only a keyboard, as they may not be able to operate a mouse.
• For deaf or hard-of-hearing users: Providing captions and transcripts for all video and audio content.
• For users with cognitive disabilities: Using clear layouts, simple language, and predictable, consistent navigation to reduce cognitive load.

Full Stack Industries commented, “For many businesses, accessibility is a ‘nice to have’ project they’ll get to during a quiet period. However, it offers a key benefit: not only does it ensure that everyone can use your site, but it also makes it easier for Google to read. This is a big win for SEO. It’s a win-win project that all businesses should take advantage of.”

The Critical Overlap Between Accessibility and Security

For an IT security professional, one of the most compelling arguments for accessibility is its direct and positive impact on an organisation’s cybersecurity. The principles that underpin an accessible website are often the same ones that create a secure and robust one.

• Clean Code is Secure Code: Accessible websites are best built on a foundation of clean, semantic HTML. This logical structure is not only easier for assistive technologies to interpret but also more straightforward for security teams to audit and maintain. Bloated, complex code can obscure vulnerabilities, whereas the streamlined nature of accessible design promotes transparency and resilience.
• Inclusive Authentication Reduces Risky Workarounds: Security measures like CAPTCHA can be near-impossible for screen reader users to pass. When primary security protocols are inaccessible, users are often forced to find less secure workarounds or abandon the task altogether. By implementing accessible multi-factor authentication (MFA) methods and user-friendly verification processes, you ensure that security measures protect everyone without becoming a barrier.

Ultimately, designing for accessibility is creating for everyone. In 2025, it is an integral part of a holistic digital strategy that enhances user experience, expands market reach, strengthens digital presence, and empowers your security defences. It is no longer an optional extra but the foundation of a modern, practical, and secure web presence.

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