An estimated 2323 local governments, schools and healthcare providers in the US were compromised by ransomware in 2021 after another bumper year for financially motivated attackers, according to Emsisoft. The security vendor claimed in its latest research that healthcare providers (1203) were the most affected by such attacks during the year, followed by schools (1043) and finally state and municipal governments and agencies (77). However, despite most attacks today resulting in double extortion, where victims…

As we begin a new year, many organizations will enter a “goal-setting and strategic planning” season. During this time, individuals are re-energized and motivated to record new accomplishments for their professional development. Traditional corporate goal setting aligns with fiscal calendars and forces companies and individuals to build goals in chunks of 365 days. But why set your deadline based on the Earth’s orbital period? What if you could achieve relevant and meaningful goals within just…

Earlier this year, I wrote about what’s new in Version 8 of the Center for Internet Security’s Critical Security Controls (CIS Controls). An international consortium of security professionals first created the CIS Controls back in 2008. Since then, the security community has continued to update the CIS Controls to keep pace with the evolution of technology ecosystems and emerging threat vectors—all the way to Version 8 and the 18 Controls contained therein. Those security measures…

Some could argue that moving from being the CIO of one of the largest sporting brands on the planet to the CTO of a cigarettes company is an unusual move, if only on the assumption that their ideals and objectives are surely in stark contrast. But try telling that to Philip Morris International’s forthright CDIO Michael Voegele, who made the jump from Nike in 2019 prior to being promoted to his current position earlier this…

Regardless of industry, if you’re a business or IT leader today, you’re seeing the emergence of the digital transformation divide: a gap between those organizations who’ve sprinted ahead and those being left behind. Despite major investment in digital transformation, 67% of CEOs feel they’re losing ground, according to KPMG, while top performers have doubled their profits in the last 12 months, according to McKinsey. In a word, digitalization has become ‘do or die.’ What’s driving…

Multi-cloud is here to stay. In fact, 73% of enterprises are using two or more public clouds today.1 The reality? Most organizations struggle to transform to this model and face many obstacles before they can fully reap its benefits. Multi-cloud for the win Why the move to multi-cloud? Successful multi-cloud organizations report a 35% revenue increase from faster modern app delivery; 41% fewer hours and costs spent on IT infrastructure; and 35% productivity savings across…