Mitigating Cyber Threats

A deep dive into the Digital Defense Report cybersecurity mitigations

Understand, plan, and implement critical cybersecurity mitigations.

Microsoft’s annual Digital Defense Report 2023 shines a light on the evolution of the cybersecurity landscape, taking insights from Microsoft’s unique vantage point to highlight the urgent need for improved cyber resilience. Emerging threats, such as cybercrime-as-a-service, increasing ransomware and phishing attacks, mean implementing fundamental security hygiene practices are of utmost importance to safeguard your environment.

A key chapter in the report, covers the findings from Microsoft’s Incident Response engagements, with a significant percentage of customer environments lacking essential security mitigations.

This series is designed to provide you the key information, in the most concise manner – meaning you can jump straight to your key challenge or watch the series from start to end.

80-90%

Of all successful ransomware compromises originate through unmanaged devices.

200%

The number of human-operated ransomware attacks are up more than 200% since September 2022

156,000

The frequency of business email compromise (BEC) attacks has skyrocketed to over 156,000 daily attempts.

10,000

Microsoft alerted users of approximately 10K password entries into malicious sites.

Understanding your data protection

Where it’s stored, how it’s shared, who has access and how is AI interacting with it

On average, a data breach costs an organisation $15.4M when a malicious insider is involved. Data leaks have become one of the most common risks that organisations need to address and since Nov 2022, Microsoft has reported a doubling of potential data exfiltration instances.

You may be asking; how do you discover and protect your sensitive data? And how will AI impact data security?

In this video, Paul and Martina dive into the key considerations, actionable next steps, and solutions to protecting your data.

Security mitigation issues covered:

Missing data classification and sharing restrictions
Missing cloud application management and monitoring

Jump to the key topic or actions summary from the video description (Select: Watch on YouTube, to do so).

Endpoint security and device vulnerability

Perhaps one of the most significant findings in the report, was 80-90% of all successful ransomware compromises originate from unmanaged devices.

In this webinar, Evan and Michael delve into the multifaceted realm of endpoint security, discussing the critical issues of EDR coverage, local account protection and device security controls. Learn about the threat detection options and key considerations for implementing comprehensive EDR coverage.

Security mitigation issues covered:

Lack of EDR coverage
Insufficient protections for local accounts
Insufficient device security controls

Jump to the key topic or actions summary from the video description. (Select: Watch on YouTube, to do so).

Mastering Identity and Access Management

Hackers don’t break-in, they log in. The number of password-based attacks has sky-rocketed, with Microsoft blocking on average, 4,000 attacks per second! Yet a large number of organisations are vulnerable by not having the right mitigations in place. In fact, 37% of customers don’t have advanced password protection, and 21% still have no MFA in place.

In this webinar, Evan and Michael address the current lack of essential and advanced multi-factor authentication, take you through how to enhance user lifecycle management, and delve into solutions for modernising legacy cloud authentication and bridging the gap between cloud and on-premises security barriers.

Security mitigation issues covered:

No advanced MFA protection mechanisms enabled
Poor user lifecycle management
Legacy cloud authentication is still used
No advanced password protection enabled
Missing context-based multifactor protection mechanisms
Missing security barrier between cloud and on-premises

Jump to the key topics or actions summary from the video description. (Select: Watch on YouTube, to do so).

Reducing exposure and vulnerability

Is your organisation in the 63% of customers that don’t adhere to the Least Privilege Principle?

As cybersecurity threats become more advanced, it’s critically important that organisations reduce their exposure, by managing access to minimise potential damage that can occur if a user’s account is compromised.

Evan and Paul discuss the key challenges, such as the lack of education on Privilege Identity Management (PIM), overprovisioned permissions and legacy applications that may not support modern authentication protocols.

In this short webinar, we break down privileged access management to provide you practical actions to get started on understanding and implementing a robust strategy to minimise your exposure to attacks.

Security mitigation issues covered:

No privileged identity management solution
No MFA, or MFA not mandatory for privileged accounts
No privilege separation
No hardened workstations used for administration
No adherence to the Least Privilege Principle

Jump to the key topics or actions summary from the video description. (Select: Watch on YouTube, to do so).

Threat detection and enhancing your incident management

Is your organisation equipped to block the latest methods in cybersecurity attacks?

In a world of evolving threats, AI can be a game-changer for detecting and minimising risk for your organisation. Martina and Dave talk through what we’ve seen in the market, and how you can actively manage and take advantage of the latest in threat detection by enhancing your incident management.

Security mitigation issue covered:

Lack of detection controls

Navigating Network Security and email attacks

The frequency of business email compromise attacks has skyrocketed to over 156k daily attempts. If your organisation is relying on legacy and unsecure protocols or weak protections are in place, you could be vulnerable.

Discover the vulnerabilities and potential threats lurking in these outdated systems. Watch this webinar to learn how to enhance your network security and increase email protections for you and your team.

Security mitigation issues covered:

Legacy and unsecure protocols
Weak email protection against common threats

Jump to the key topics or actions summary from the video description. (Select: Watch on YouTube, to do so).

Fortifying your Posture and Vulnerability Management

It was found that 43% of customers have insecure Active Directory configuration, meaning attackers can potentially access any AD-Managed system if gained access. Customers are often challenged with setting the right Active Directory configuration, but there are several steps you can embark on to reduce your risk.

This webinar delves into strategies for optimising Active Directory, securing resources, managing legacy systems and how to approach vulnerability management and consistent update management.