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Can You Future-Proof Your Life in the Age of AI? (Book Review)

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  • Published date: 2025-11-16 00:00:00

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<p><main id="readArticle" class="Page-main" data-module="" data-padding="none" morss_own_score="5.492957746478873" morss_score="14.301912970359469"></main></p><p><a href="https://www.govtech.com/blogs/lohrmann-on-cybersecurity">Lohrmann on Cybersecurity</a></p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><h1>Can You Future-Proof Your Life in the Age of AI? (Book Review)</h1><h2>In his book <i>Comfort Override: Future-Proof Your Life as AI Flips Your World, </i>Ranan Lachman explores how we can prepare and adapt for unprecedented change and offers practical, hands-on help.</h2><div>November 16, 2025 • </div><p><a href="https://www.govtech.com/authors/dan-lohrmann.html"><span>Dan Lohrmann</span></a></p><figure> <p><img decoding="async" src="https://erepublic.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/9c4583e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1902x992+9+0/resize/840x438!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Ferepublic-brightspot.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2F4e%2Fd4%2Fc96e921e20826017d0c084d589b5%2Fartificial-intelligence-4550606-1920.jpg"></p> </figure><div class="Page-articleBody RichTextBody" morss_own_score="5.838341968911917" morss_score="125.33834196891192"> <p> When <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rananlachman/">Ranan Lachman</a> reached out to tell me about his new book on future-proofing your world as AI accelerates change all around us, I was excited and agreed to do a book review. However, I had no true idea about the approach the author was taking, and I was surprised (and challenged) by the action-oriented chapters — and transformations offered.</p></div><div>There were a few items that I disagreed with. Nevertheless, I am glad I read this book and urge you to do the same.</div><div>Here’s how Amazon summarizes the book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Comfort-Override-Future-Proof-Flips-World-ebook/dp/B0FRWV2BX2"><i>Comfort Override: Future-Proof Your Life as AI Flips Your World</i></a>: </div><div>“The tsunami of change is already here. Artificial Intelligence isn’t coming for your job—it’s already transforming it. By 2030, 375 million workers globally will need to switch entire occupational categories due to AI. The career you’re building today may not exist in five years. Climate change isn’t a distant threat—it’s reshaping economies, forcing mass migrations, and making entire regions economically unviable. The stable world order you’ve built your life around is dissolving into competing power blocks, parallel economies, and accelerating uncertainty. <figure> <p><img decoding="async" src="https://erepublic.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2907c7a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/183x275+0+0/resize/840x1262!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Ferepublic-brightspot.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2F50%2Fee%2F0d6e8a2c4da0be6929adc8cc5616%2Fcomfort-override.jpg"></p> </figure> <p>“While the world transforms at exponential speed, you’re still operating with the same routines, the same thinking patterns, the same strategies that worked in a world that no longer exists.</p> </div><div>“In COMFORT OVERRIDE, transformation expert Ranan Lachman reveals why your comfortable routines have become death traps in disguise. Those predictable patterns that make you feel safe? They’re making you more vulnerable to disruption. The expertise you’ve spent years building? It could become worthless overnight. The financial strategies your advisor recommends? They’re optimized for an economy that’s already history. <p>“But this isn’t a book about fear — it’s about power. The power to transform yourself faster than the world transforms around you.”</p> <h3>WHAT WAS I EXPECTING?</h3> </div><div>I thought this would be another book all about various types of AI and how everything is changing from a technology perspective. But that’s not really the case. Here’s more from the Amazon description:</div><div>“Drawing from neuroscience, behavioral psychology and real-world case studies — from Netflix’s self-disruption to Kodak’s cautionary collapse — this book exposes how our brains trap us in ‘routine addiction’ and provides a proven framework for breaking free. Through the revolutionary ADAPT system, you’ll discover how to: <ul> <li>Transform rigid routines into flexible strategies that strengthen rather than shatter when life disrupts your plans</li> <li>Build ‘adaptation muscle’ through systematic micro-experiments that rewire your brain for resilience</li> <li>Create anti-fragile career systems that profit from uncertainty instead of being crushed by it</li> <li>Develop AI collaboration capabilities that make you irreplaceable rather than obsolete</li> <li>Design relationships, wellness practices, and financial strategies that evolve with change rather than breaking under pressure”</li> </ul> <h3>CHALLENGING QUESTIONS</h3> </div><div>This book, if taken seriously, will shake up the way you live your life. From exercise to eating to writing to tasks at home and work, the author describes how routines help us and can become deadly.</div><div>There are hundreds of practical examples and small challenges given throughout the book. After describing global trends like the AI acceleration curve, various disruptions and the trust collapse, Lachman dives into topics like “the seduction of routine and how you can break free.”</div><div>Important topics regarding how our brains get wired are described in detail. Chapters have headings like “The Chemical Addiction to Comfort,” “The Three Stages of Routine Dependency,” “The Hidden Costs of Comfort” and “Breaking Free: Assessment and Action.”</div><div>Then comes the unique part: Readers are challenged to answer questions to obtain our personal “routine rigidity assessment scorecard.” The assessment covers daily behavioral, cognitive, emotional, social and professional patterns.</div><div>After we have our score, and the interpretation, we learn about the microvariation method to enable us to break free and develop strategies for creating flexibility.</div><div>For example, in the microvariation method we could:</div><div>“Week 1</div><div>– Take a different route to work (even just the last few blocks).</div><div>– Sit in a different chair for morning coffee.</div><div>– Brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand.</div><div>“Week 2-4</div><div>– Change the order of your morning routine.</div><div>– Work from a different location one day.</div><div>– Try a new podcast or playlist.</div><div>“These seem trivial, and that’s the point. You’re not trying to transform your life, you’re building new neural pathways for flexibility.” <h3>WHERE’S AI?</h3> </div><div>The first half of the book describes how we are wired and how we can change and adapt, but then in Chapter 11, Lachlan dives into “Career and AI Collaboration,” covering topics like “the death of career predictability” and “the augmented professional paradigm.” He helps readers develop strategic skills stacking for AI collaboration.</div><div>The author then goes on to tackle topics ranging from investing to leadership in this new AI era.</div><div>In Part 4, after covering so many building blocks, he gets to “future-proofing your life.” He takes readers on a 90-Day Sprint to transform your life and career. The author calls this “your simple, durable plan to turn insights into capability.” <h3>FINAL THOUGHT</h3> </div><div>This book packs in so much information that it is a very difficult book to review in under 1,000 words. Still, I really am impressed and highly recommend you read it, especially if you are feeling overwhelmed by your career changes with AI over the next decade.</div><div>I will close with this great quote from the author’s conclusion:</div><div>“My own comfort override journey brought me here [to his new country home], from traditional management consulting through investment banking to leading a remote-first company across 12 countries. During this time, every override, a moment I chose growth over comfort led to possibilities I could not have envisioned from within my previous comfort zones.”</div><p><a href="https://www.govtech.com/tag/artificial-intelligence">Artificial Intelligence </a></p><p><a href="https://www.govtech.com/authors/dan-lohrmann.html"></a></p><p><img decoding="async" src="https://erepublic.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7be6234/2147483647/strip/true/crop/343x343+77+0/resize/100x100!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Ferepublic-brightspot.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Faa%2Fbe%2F66bbbc539526800857dd96f3c9d5%2Flohrman.jpg"></p><p></p><p><a href="https://www.govtech.com/authors/dan-lohrmann.html">Dan Lohrmann</a></p><div> Daniel J. Lohrmann is an internationally recognized cybersecurity leader, technologist, keynote speaker and author. </div><p><a href="https://www.govtech.com/authors/dan-lohrmann.html">See More Stories by Dan Lohrmann</a></p><p></p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/can-you-future-proof-your-life-in-the-age-of-ai-book-review/" data-a2a-title="Can You Future-Proof Your Life in the Age of AI? (Book Review)"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fcan-you-future-proof-your-life-in-the-age-of-ai-book-review%2F&amp;linkname=Can%20You%20Future-Proof%20Your%20Life%20in%20the%20Age%20of%20AI%3F%20%28Book%20Review%29" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fcan-you-future-proof-your-life-in-the-age-of-ai-book-review%2F&amp;linkname=Can%20You%20Future-Proof%20Your%20Life%20in%20the%20Age%20of%20AI%3F%20%28Book%20Review%29" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fcan-you-future-proof-your-life-in-the-age-of-ai-book-review%2F&amp;linkname=Can%20You%20Future-Proof%20Your%20Life%20in%20the%20Age%20of%20AI%3F%20%28Book%20Review%29" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fcan-you-future-proof-your-life-in-the-age-of-ai-book-review%2F&amp;linkname=Can%20You%20Future-Proof%20Your%20Life%20in%20the%20Age%20of%20AI%3F%20%28Book%20Review%29" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fcan-you-future-proof-your-life-in-the-age-of-ai-book-review%2F&amp;linkname=Can%20You%20Future-Proof%20Your%20Life%20in%20the%20Age%20of%20AI%3F%20%28Book%20Review%29" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div><p class="syndicated-attribution">*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from <a href="">Lohrmann on Cybersecurity</a> authored by <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/author/0/" title="Read other posts by Lohrmann on Cybersecurity">Lohrmann on Cybersecurity</a>. Read the original post at: <a href="https://www.govtech.com/blogs/lohrmann-on-cybersecurity/can-you-future-proof-your-life-in-the-age-of-ai-book-review">https://www.govtech.com/blogs/lohrmann-on-cybersecurity/can-you-future-proof-your-life-in-the-age-of-ai-book-review</a> </p>

SaskTel Black Friday Deals 2025: Phone Discounts, Bonus Data and More

  • IIC Deals
  • Published date: 2025-11-15 18:06:30

Saskatchewan’s crown corporation SaskTel has kicked off its Black Friday sale for 2025 with lowered phone prices, accessory bundles, and an internet deal for anyone willing to sign a two-year term. Here’s what’s on the table this year. Wireless Deals SaskTel’…

Saskatchewan’s crown corporation SaskTel has kicked off its Black Friday sale for 2025 with lowered phone prices, accessory bundles, and an internet deal for anyone willing to sign a two-year term. H… [+942 chars]

Holiday travel safety: Here’s what could go wrong — and how you can avoid it

  • Christopher Elliott
  • Published date: 2025-11-15 13:30:00

This holiday season brings higher costs, new risks, and digital threats. Here’s how to travel safely and avoid disruptions in late 2025.

In this commentary: Holiday travel safety <ul><li>Travelers are facing a holiday season filled with anxiety over high costs, political uncertainty, and natural disasters, but are traveling anyway.</… [+14699 chars]

MY TAKE: AI’s fortune-teller effect — why it’s all too easy to mistake pattern mastery for wisdom

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  • Published date: 2025-11-15 00:00:00

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<div class="single-post post-37603 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-my-take category-top-stories" id="post-featured" morss_own_score="5.7565511411665256" morss_score="11.133157824971153"> <h1>MY TAKE: AI’s fortune-teller effect — why it’s all too easy to mistake pattern mastery for wisdom</h1> <div class="entry" morss_own_score="5.753213367609255" morss_score="132.471307456393"> <img decoding="async" src="https://www.lastwatchdog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/Fortune-teller-1850px-960x586.png"> <h5>By Byron V. Acohido</h5> <p>I hadn’t expected the machine’s answer to be that good.</p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div> <p><em><strong>Related:</strong> <a href="https://www.lastwatchdog.com/my-take-from-aol-time-warner-to-openai-amazon-is-the-next-tech-bubble-already-inflating/">The AI bubble is inflating</a></em></p> <p>It was a simple prompt — I needed help crafting a reply to a client. One of those mid-project check-ins where timing gets murky and scope starts to drift. A delicate moment.</p> <p>The suggested text I got back from ChatGPT-4o was crisp, firm, and tonally on point. It advanced the conversation without creating new commitments and set clear boundaries without sounding rude.</p> <p><a href="https://www.lastwatchdog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/GenAi_human_interacting-squr-copy.jpg"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.lastwatchdog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/GenAi_human_interacting-squr-copy-100x100.jpg"></a>That fluency gave me pause. I found myself wondering what, exactly, was operating under the hood. What kind of machinery produces a reply that precise, on the fly, and tuned to the narrow emotional bandwidth of a business note?</p> <p>So I asked directly. Where did that “wisdom,” so to speak, come from? Was this a more sophisticated version of the fortune-teller’s trade — extrapolating from my cues — or was the system drawing on something broader, some distilled consensus of how professionals actually write?</p> <p>The answer was plain: it wasn’t wisdom. It was pattern mastery.</p> <p><strong>Pattern mastery</strong></p> <p>The machine described its process in terms of compression. It had been trained on a vast range of professional language — emails, negotiations, scoping documents, the small routines of conflict management.</p> <p>None of it stored. None of it copied back. Instead, the patterns had been reduced into statistical structures that capture how human communication tends to behave under pressure.</p> <p>It wasn’t recalling anything or imitating anyone. It was navigating a high-dimensional linguistic landscape and choosing the path that best satisfied the constraints in my prompt. No human-like judgment — only structure.</p> <p>That framing cleared the fog. The machine selects a mathematically coherent path that responds to my prompt and stays within the guardrails OpenAI has tuned into the model.</p> <p>There’s no magic in that. No personality, either. It’s pattern optimization at scale. And once you see it, you can’t unsee it.</p> <p>But the exchange left me with a larger question: If a machine can shape tone this cleanly through statistical structure alone, how well do we really understand the arithmetic driving that structure?</p> <p><strong>Understanding AI</strong></p> <p>This question had come up months before at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/ntt-research/">NTT’s Upgrade 2025</a> innovation conference in San Francisco, where Dr. Hidenori Tanaka was laying out a very different lens — one not focused on output, but on the system’s structure itself.</p> <p>Tanaka is a theoretical physicist by training, now leading a new initiative called the <a href="https://ntt-research.com/pai-group/"><em>Physics of Artificial Intelligence Group</em> </a>at NTT Research. Their remit is ambitious: to develop a science — not a vibe, not a metaphor — that explains how GenAI systems actually behave. And more importantly, how we might guide them.</p> <p><a href="https://www.lastwatchdog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/250409_Hidenori-Tanaka3_1850.jpg"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.lastwatchdog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/250409_Hidenori-Tanaka3_1850-520x337.jpg"></a>Tanaka’s work sits at a strange intersection: physics, neuroscience, machine learning, and moral psychology. But his thesis is simple: we are training these systems with brute force and statistical approximation, without really knowing what they’re learning — or how they’re likely to change.</p> <p>“AI is at the stage where we know the apple drops,” NTT Research CEO <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kazugomi/">Kazu Gomi</a> told the room. “But we don’t fully understand the forces at work — or how to steer them.”</p> <p morss_own_score="7.0" morss_score="9.0">It was a clear nod to Newton. The point was that LLMs like ChatGPT aren’t mysterious because they’re smart. They’re mysterious because they’re <em>opaque</em>. We don’t know what internal properties generate their external fluency. That’s the gap Tanaka wants to close: can we build a Newtonian-style model of AI behavior — one that lets us predict outcomes, not just react to them?</p> <p><strong>True trust</strong></p> <p>What struck me in Tanaka’s talk — and our follow-up exchange — was how closely his inquiry mirrors the one I stumbled into.</p> <p>I had seen, firsthand, that these systems don’t reason the way we do. They don’t start with beliefs or goals. They start with constraints, and then solve for fit. Give them a context, a tone, a desired outcome — and they’ll generate the most likely expression of that convergence.</p> <p>Tanaka is coming at the same behavior from a different angle. He wants to formalize how it arises — not just trace output back to training data, but build mathematical models that show how language, cognition, and decision patterns emerge from the architecture itself.</p> <p morss_own_score="7.0" morss_score="9.0">In short: where I saw fluency as an emergent effect of pattern compression, he sees it as the start of a new kind of cognitive system — one we urgently need to <em>understand structurally</em> before we can shape it responsibly.</p> <p>Tanaka’s team has outlined three goals:</p> <p>°Deepen scientific understanding of how AI models learn and predict</p> <p>°Create <em>controllable</em> environments using physical modeling tools</p> <p>°Embed trust into architecture — not as a policy layer, but as a foundational property</p> <p>This is a far cry from Big Tech’s typical approach. Most commercial labs treat these systems as tools: refine the output, slap on a content filter, monetize the attention. Tanaka is saying: this is not a tool. This is a system. And we’re tuning it without knowing what it’s becoming.</p> <p><strong>Interpretive control</strong></p> <p>He’s not alone in that worry.</p> <p>On the way to the conference, YouTube’s algorithm suggested a dramatized version of Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s congressional clash with Elon Musk. Curious, I clicked. It was well-produced — soundtracked, voice-acted, emotionally framed.</p> <p>But as it unfolded, I realized: this wasn’t a transcript. It was AI-enhanced narrative theater. Crockett’s lines were rewritten for tone. Musk’s posture was subtly idealized. The whole thing played like political fan fiction, aimed at clicks, not clarity.</p> <p>This wasn’t disinformation in the traditional sense. It was something more subtle: interpretive control. A pattern learned from past engagement signals, applied to future political memory.</p> <p>And it landed just as Tanaka made his most provocative claim: that systems like ChatGPT and Grok are already acting as new citizens. Not sentient, not autonomous — but present. Influencing how we explain, how we decide, how we remember.</p> <p>“If AI chatbots are new citizens in the world,” he asked, “what kind of person do we want?”</p> <p>Tanaka’s warning is that, in optimizing that compression for comfort, virality, and coherence, we may also be training something more than we intend: a machine-shaped pattern of personhood.</p> <p>When we talk about models like GPT sounding “wise,” we’re not imagining it. We’re hearing the compressed residue of how people solve problems under social and emotional strain. What’s being compressed is us — our boundaries, our self-soothing, our best and worst habits.</p> <p>And without scientific frameworks to interpret that pattern — and guide it — we’re flying blind.</p> <p>What happens next? I’ll keep watch and keep reporting.</p> <p><img decoding="async" src="https://www.lastwatchdog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/Byron-Acohido-BW-column-mug-100x123.png"></p> <p>Acohido</p> <p><em><a href="https://www.lastwatchdog.com/pulitzer-centennial-highlights-role-journalism/">Pulitzer Prize-winning </a>business journalist Byron V. Acohido is dedicated to fostering public awareness about how to make the Internet as private and secure as it ought to be.</em></p> <hr> <p morss_own_score="7.0" morss_score="10.5"><em morss_own_score="7.0" morss_score="9.0">(<strong>Editor’s note:</strong> I used ChatGPT-4o to accelerate and refine research, assist in distilling complex observations, and serve as a tightly controlled drafting instrument, applied iteratively under my direction. The analysis, conclusions, and the final wordsmithing of the published text are entirely my own.)</em></p> <p> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://www.lastwatchdog.com/my-take-ais-fortune-teller-effect-why-its-all-too-easy-to-mistake-pattern-mastery-for-wisdom/"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.lastwatchdog.com/wp/wp-content/plugins/simple-share-buttons-adder/buttons/somacro/facebook.png" title="Facebook"></a><a href="https://plus.google.com/share?url=https://www.lastwatchdog.com/my-take-ais-fortune-teller-effect-why-its-all-too-easy-to-mistake-pattern-mastery-for-wisdom/"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.lastwatchdog.com/wp/wp-content/plugins/simple-share-buttons-adder/buttons/somacro/google.png" title="Google+"></a><a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#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"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.lastwatchdog.com/wp/wp-content/plugins/simple-share-buttons-adder/buttons/somacro/email.png" title="Email"></a></p> <p>November 15th, 2025 <span> | <a href="https://www.lastwatchdog.com/category/my-take/">My Take</a> | <a href="https://www.lastwatchdog.com/category/top-stories/">Top Stories</a></span></p> <p> </p></div> </div><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/my-take-ais-fortune-teller-effect-why-its-all-too-easy-to-mistake-pattern-mastery-for-wisdom/" data-a2a-title="MY TAKE: AI’s fortune-teller effect — why it’s all too easy to mistake pattern mastery for wisdom"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fmy-take-ais-fortune-teller-effect-why-its-all-too-easy-to-mistake-pattern-mastery-for-wisdom%2F&amp;linkname=MY%20TAKE%3A%20AI%E2%80%99s%20fortune-teller%20effect%20%E2%80%94%20why%20it%E2%80%99s%20all%20too%20easy%20to%20mistake%20pattern%20mastery%20for%20wisdom" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fmy-take-ais-fortune-teller-effect-why-its-all-too-easy-to-mistake-pattern-mastery-for-wisdom%2F&amp;linkname=MY%20TAKE%3A%20AI%E2%80%99s%20fortune-teller%20effect%20%E2%80%94%20why%20it%E2%80%99s%20all%20too%20easy%20to%20mistake%20pattern%20mastery%20for%20wisdom" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fmy-take-ais-fortune-teller-effect-why-its-all-too-easy-to-mistake-pattern-mastery-for-wisdom%2F&amp;linkname=MY%20TAKE%3A%20AI%E2%80%99s%20fortune-teller%20effect%20%E2%80%94%20why%20it%E2%80%99s%20all%20too%20easy%20to%20mistake%20pattern%20mastery%20for%20wisdom" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fmy-take-ais-fortune-teller-effect-why-its-all-too-easy-to-mistake-pattern-mastery-for-wisdom%2F&amp;linkname=MY%20TAKE%3A%20AI%E2%80%99s%20fortune-teller%20effect%20%E2%80%94%20why%20it%E2%80%99s%20all%20too%20easy%20to%20mistake%20pattern%20mastery%20for%20wisdom" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fmy-take-ais-fortune-teller-effect-why-its-all-too-easy-to-mistake-pattern-mastery-for-wisdom%2F&amp;linkname=MY%20TAKE%3A%20AI%E2%80%99s%20fortune-teller%20effect%20%E2%80%94%20why%20it%E2%80%99s%20all%20too%20easy%20to%20mistake%20pattern%20mastery%20for%20wisdom" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div><p class="syndicated-attribution">*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from <a href="https://www.lastwatchdog.com">The Last Watchdog</a> authored by <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/author/0/" title="Read other posts by bacohido">bacohido</a>. Read the original post at: <a href="https://www.lastwatchdog.com/my-take-ais-fortune-teller-effect-why-its-all-too-easy-to-mistake-pattern-mastery-for-wisdom/">https://www.lastwatchdog.com/my-take-ais-fortune-teller-effect-why-its-all-too-easy-to-mistake-pattern-mastery-for-wisdom/</a> </p>

How do you scale Non-Human Identity management safely

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  • Published date: 2025-11-15 00:00:00

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<h2>Are Non-Human Identities the Hidden Vulnerability in Your Cybersecurity Strategy?</h2><p>Non-Human Identities (NHIs) have emerged as a crucial component of cybersecurity. But how well are they being managed? This question confronts organizations across industries such as financial services, healthcare, and travel, where the management of NHIs can be the linchpin of an effective security strategy. With cybersecurity professionals work to protect complex infrastructures, the necessity for a secure and scalable NHI management system becomes evident.</p><h3>The Changing Landscape of Cybersecurity: Emphasizing NHIs</h3><p>The concept of a “Non-Human Identity” might seem abstract, yet its implications are very real. These machine identities are central to the digital interactions between devices and servers, fundamentally acting as facilitators of data exchange. Much like how a passport identifies a person, NHIs use encrypted passwords, tokens, or keys to authenticate machines. The permissions accompanying these credentials are akin to a visa, allowing access to various parts of the network.</p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><p>The reliance on machine identities has surged with the increasing adoption of cloud environments. Automating processes and scaling infrastructure are now impossible without them. However, this reliance introduces unique vulnerabilities, necessitating a comprehensive approach to NHI management to mitigate potential risks effectively.</p><h3>Holistic Security: Beyond the Traditional Measures</h3><p>Traditional cybersecurity measures, while essential, often fall short of covering the expansive needs of NHI management. Organizations striving for robust security must transcend point solutions like secret scanners. These offer only partial insights, without contextual understanding. Conversely, an integrated NHI management platform provides valuable awareness into ownership, permissions, usage patterns, and potential vulnerabilities. For a detailed exploration of the importance of secure machine identity management, consider checking out this <a href="https://entro.security/blog/secure-machine-identity-management/">resource</a>.</p><h3>Benefits of Effective NHI Management</h3><p>A comprehensive NHI management strategy offers several benefits:</p><ul> <li><strong>Reduced Risk:</strong> By proactively identifying and addressing vulnerabilities, risks of security breaches and data leaks are significantly minimized.</li> <li><strong>Improved Compliance:</strong> Effective management ensures adherence to various regulatory requirements, aided by automated policy enforcement and audit trails.</li> <li><strong>Increased Efficiency:</strong> Automation allows security teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than routine credential management.</li> <li><strong>Enhanced Visibility and Control:</strong> With a centralized management system, organizations gain a clear view of access permissions and governance.</li> <li><strong>Cost Savings:</strong> Automating secrets rotation and decommissioning of NHIs reduces operational costs.</li> </ul><h3>Real-World Applications: NHI Management in Action</h3><p>Consider industries like financial services and healthcare, where sensitive data is a high-stakes asset. Effective NHI management plays a pivotal role in protecting this data. Similarly, in DevOps environments, where speed and efficiency are key, the ability to manage NHIs effectively ensures that innovation does not come at the cost of security. Security Operations Centers (SOCs) also benefit from streamlined processes that allow for rapid threat detection and remediation.</p><p>For professionals eager to explore how these concepts might evolve, the predictions for cybersecurity in 2025 offer intriguing insights. I recommend checking out this <a href="https://entro.security/blog/cybersecurity-predictions-2025/">article</a> for future-focused considerations.</p><h3>A Strategic Approach to Scaling NHI Management</h3><p>Implementing a scalable NHI management approach demands strategic alignment between security and R&amp;D teams. This harmonization not only ensures seamless operation but also bridges existing security gaps. A tailored NHI management system can adapt to the dynamic needs of an organization, facilitating secure cloud environments. For those interested in the broader implications of NHI management and its associated risks, further exploration can be found in this <a href="https://entro.security/blog/takeaways-nhi-secrets-risk-report/">report</a>.</p><p>Organizations should embrace the use of data-driven insights, leveraging these to make informed decisions about NHI management strategies. A proactive approach allows businesses to not only safeguard their assets but also create a framework that supports long-term scalability and security. For those interested in broader cybersecurity strategies, this <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/hcltech_sailpointnavigate-cybersecurity-zerotrust-activity-7379923852857954304-OQUV" rel="noopener">article</a> offers broader industry insights.</p><p>Where digital interactions increasingly rely on machine identities, neglecting NHI management is not an option. The imperative is clear: organizations must integrate comprehensive NHI management systems to ensure secure, scalable, and efficient cloud operations.</p><h3>Exploring the Dynamics of NHI Management</h3><p>How do organizations address the complex dynamics of Non-Human Identity (NHI) management within their cybersecurity frameworks? With machine-driven interactions become the backbone of business operations in sectors like finance and healthcare, the significance of NHIs intensifies. NHIs are fundamentally instrumental in the seamless execution of automated processes, acting as virtual “gates” through which data flow unimpeded. However, these ‘virtual gates’ also pose significant security challenges if not managed vigilantly.</p><p>The ubiquity of these entities necessitates a proactive and responsive security strategy. By enabling authentication and managing access seamlessly, NHIs have become indispensable in handling high-volume data transactions. Yet, the inherent complexities they introduce—such as the management of dynamic credentials and encryption keys—necessitate a multilayered approach to security that goes beyond conventional tactics. For more insights into addressing such complexities, explore this <a href="https://entro.security/blog/prioritization-of-nhi-remediation-in-cloud-environments-2/">detailed article</a>.</p><h3>The Architecture of an Integrated NHI Management Framework</h3><p>To effectively manage the lifecycle of NHIs, organizations should prioritize integrating capabilities across diverse cybersecurity tools. This integration allows for a more cohesive, context-aware security posture. An integrated framework considers:</p><ul> <li><strong>Discovery and Classification:</strong> Identifying NHIs in real-time and classifying them based on their roles and access levels offers a pivotal starting point.</li> <li><strong>Credential Lifecycle Management:</strong> From creation to decommissioning, managing the lifecycle of encryption keys and passwords is crucial to reduce potential vulnerabilities.</li> <li><strong>Automation and Orchestration:</strong> Automated mechanisms for rotation of secrets and renewal of credentials ensure that the infrastructure remains agile and less cumbersome for security teams.</li> <li><strong>Behavioral Analytics:</strong> Monitoring NHIs for unusual activities or access requests allows teams to detect and respond to threats swiftly.</li> </ul><p>Organizations that thrive in these endeavors often leverage advanced threat intelligence combined with machine learning algorithms, enabling enhanced detection and response capabilities. This architecture not only bolsters security but also aligns with compliance standards, a necessity for industries heavily regulated by bodies governing financial integrity or patient confidentiality.</p><h3>Common Challenges in NHI Management</h3><p>Why do organizations grapple with NHI management, despite its apparent benefits? Challenges often arise from the volume and diversity of NHIs that necessitate unique handling. Common issues include:</p><ul> <li><strong>Complexity of Implementation:</strong> The technical demands of managing diverse NHIs require expertise and often a cultural shift towards cybersecurity.</li> <li><strong>Visibility Gaps:</strong> With NHIs operate largely in the background, many organizations face challenges achieving comprehensive visibility across their infrastructures.</li> <li><strong>Scalability Concerns:</strong> Where businesses expand, the scaling of NHI management systems without sacrificing effectiveness or security becomes a formidable challenge.</li> </ul><p>These hurdles highlight the importance of adopting sophisticated security measures, ensuring not only the integrity of digital interactions but also the agility needed to adapt to evolving threats.</p><h3>Real-World Implementation and Lessons Learned</h3><p>Organizations that have successfully implemented NHI management strategies often report a marked reduction in security incidents. By centralizing the monitoring and management of NHIs, these companies enhance threat detection and incident response times, proving that real-world application of NHI management can indeed translate into tangible organizational benefits.</p><p>It’s important to acknowledge that what works for one organization might not fit another due to differences in industry requirements or IT architecture. Successful implementation hinges on customization according to operational needs and existing technical. This adaptability allows organizations to maintain a robust security posture tailor-fitted to their unique set of challenges and opportunities.</p><h3>Future-Proofing NHIs: What’s Next?</h3><p>With cybersecurity evolve, the role of NHIs stands to grow exponentially. Technologies like AI and blockchain may offer innovative solutions to NHI management, providing further security enhancements and operational efficiencies. Exploring these possibilities, practitioners can begin to configure their security frameworks with future-proof scalability in mind.</p><p>Refinement of current tools and processes remains critical. DevOps teams, informed by actionable insights, will be at the forefront of advancing NHI management, mitigating risks before they materialize. To delve deeper into the strategic elements of NHI management, consider examining <a href="https://entro.security/blog/nhi-management-a-key-element-of-soc-2-compliance/">this source</a> that outlines key compliance elements, reinforcing both security and regulatory alignment.</p><p>Leaving no stone unturned, organizations must remain vigilant, ensuring their NHI management practices meet both today’s needs and tomorrow’s potential security challenges. With the dependency on digital systems deepens, optimizing NHI management will likely become ever more critical in securing organizational futures.</p><p>The post <a href="https://entro.security/how-do-you-scale-non-human-identity-management-safely/">How do you scale Non-Human Identity management safely</a> appeared first on <a href="https://entro.security/">Entro</a>.</p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/how-do-you-scale-non-human-identity-management-safely/" data-a2a-title="How do you scale Non-Human Identity management safely"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fhow-do-you-scale-non-human-identity-management-safely%2F&amp;linkname=How%20do%20you%20scale%20Non-Human%20Identity%20management%20safely" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fhow-do-you-scale-non-human-identity-management-safely%2F&amp;linkname=How%20do%20you%20scale%20Non-Human%20Identity%20management%20safely" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fhow-do-you-scale-non-human-identity-management-safely%2F&amp;linkname=How%20do%20you%20scale%20Non-Human%20Identity%20management%20safely" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fhow-do-you-scale-non-human-identity-management-safely%2F&amp;linkname=How%20do%20you%20scale%20Non-Human%20Identity%20management%20safely" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fhow-do-you-scale-non-human-identity-management-safely%2F&amp;linkname=How%20do%20you%20scale%20Non-Human%20Identity%20management%20safely" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div><p class="syndicated-attribution">*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from <a href="https://entro.security/">Entro</a> authored by <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/author/0/" title="Read other posts by Angela Shreiber">Angela Shreiber</a>. Read the original post at: <a href="https://entro.security/how-do-you-scale-non-human-identity-management-safely/">https://entro.security/how-do-you-scale-non-human-identity-management-safely/</a> </p>

How does Secrets Management contribute to compliance

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  • Published date: 2025-11-15 00:00:00

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<h2>Are You Managing Non-Human Identities with the Care They Deserve?</h2><p>Digital interconnected has seen a growing emphasis on cybersecurity measures that ensure both data integrity and user privacy. While more organizations migrate their operations to cloud environments, the focus on protecting machine identities, often referred to as Non-Human Identities (NHIs), becomes paramount. This shift is not just a fleeting trend but a crucial component of maintaining secure compliance and implementing robust secrets management.</p><h3>Understanding Non-Human Identities: The New Frontier of Cybersecurity</h3><p>NHIs represent an intriguing facet of cybersecurity, embodying machine identities that are essential for various operational tasks. They function akin to digital tourists, requiring a “passport”, such as an encrypted password or token, and “visa” permissions from destination servers to perform activities. This analogy is apt as it succinctly explains the intricate role NHIs play in securing digital infrastructure. They are pivotal in maintaining the integrity of transactions, data exchanges, and communications that occur within cloud services.</p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><p>The management of NHIs is vital across industries, including financial services, healthcare, and even travel, when these sectors increasingly rely on advanced technology solutions. Organizations, especially those operating in cloud environments, must focus on managing these identities to fill security gaps that arise due to misaligned security and R&amp;D practices. <a href="https://entro.security/blog/non-human-identities-security-in-healthcare/">Explore more about Non-Human Identities security in healthcare</a>.</p><h3>Addressing Security Gaps Through NHI Management</h3><p>Organizations face several challenges when it comes to managing NHIs. These challenges include discovering and classifying machine identities, monitoring their usage, and detecting potential threats. A comprehensive NHI management platform addresses these concerns, offering a detailed understanding of ownership, permissions, and usage patterns. This holistic approach stands in contrast to point solutions, such as secret scanners, which might only provide limited protection.</p><p>The significance of effectively managing NHIs extends beyond mere security. It also encompasses regulatory compliance and governance. Utilizing robust secrets management solutions ensures that access controls are in place, audit trails are maintained, and policy enforcement is robust. This infrastructure not only supports compliance efforts but also offers organizations a strategic advantage by reducing risk and increasing operational efficiency. For instance, StackGuardian’s Orchestrator is an example of platform functionalities that aid in orchestrating and monitoring these NHIs, ensuring seamless operation flow.</p><h3>The Benefits of Effective NHI and Secrets Management</h3><p>A strategic focus on NHI and secrets management translates into multiple advantages for organizations:</p><ul> <li><strong>Reduced Risk:</strong> Proactively identifying and addressing security risks minimizes the likelihood of breaches and data leaks.</li> <li><strong>Improved Compliance:</strong> Effective compliance is achieved through stringent policy enforcement and maintaining audit trails.</li> <li><strong>Increased Efficiency:</strong> Automating the management of NHIs and secrets allows security teams to focus on more strategic initiatives rather than routine tasks.</li> <li><strong>Enhanced Visibility and Control:</strong> Providing a centralized view for managing access and governance helps in better oversight of security measures.</li> <li><strong>Cost Savings:</strong> Automating the rotation of secrets and the decommissioning of NHIs reduces operational costs significantly.</li> </ul><p>The growing adoption of cloud technologies across different industries necessitates solutions that ensure secure compliance and reliable secrets management. Organizations can leverage these benefits to streamline their operations without compromising on security.</p><h3>Creating a Secure Cloud Environment with NHI Management</h3><p>Implementing a robust framework for NHI and secrets management is not just an operational necessity; it is a strategic imperative. By securing machine identities and associated secrets throughout their lifecycle, organizations can create a more secure cloud environment. This process begins with the discovery and classification of NHIs, progresses through monitoring and threat detection, and culminates in effective remediation strategies.</p><p>Moreover, the integration of NHI management solutions aids in bridging the gap between security teams and R&amp;D departments. This synergy is essential for fostering a collaborative approach to cybersecurity, ensuring that all facets of an organization are aligned in their objectives.</p><p>The benefits of NHI management extend compliance and operational efficiency. By automating routine tasks and centralizing control, businesses can achieve secure compliance while maintaining a competitive edge in their respective industries. Gain insights from <a href="https://entro.security/blog/keeping-security-in-stride-why-we-built-entros-third-pillar-for-agentic-ai/">Entro’s third pillar for Agentic AI</a> to understand how security is maintained in dynamic operations.</p><p>Ultimately, the strategic integration of NHI and secrets management within an organization’s cybersecurity strategy is an indispensable component of ensuring long-term success and security.</p><p>By focusing on the strategic management of Non-Human Identities and secrets, organizations can not only meet their compliance requirements but also fortify their cybersecurity posture. Where digital continues to expand and evolve, the importance of NHIs in maintaining a secure cloud environment cannot be overstated.</p><h3>The Importance of Continuous Monitoring in NHI Management</h3><p>How does continuous monitoring play a pivotal role in the effective management of Non-Human Identities? Where organizations delve deeper, continuous monitoring emerges as a cornerstone of robust NHI management. Unlike traditional cybersecurity methods, which often rely on periodic checks and updates, continuous monitoring involves real-time oversight of machine identities and their associated behaviors.</p><p>Real-time monitoring allows cybersecurity professionals to promptly detect and neutralize potential threats, reducing the window of vulnerability. By continuously analyzing the behavior of NHIs, organizations can identify anomalies and potential risks before they lead to significant security breaches. This proactive stance on cybersecurity not only safeguards critical data but also supports compliance with industry regulations.</p><p>The concept of continuous monitoring also facilitates adaptive security measures. With threats evolve and new vulnerabilities emerge, having adaptive security controls in place ensures that organizations remain one step ahead of malicious actors. This flexibility is particularly vital, where new threats are constantly evolving.</p><h3>Collaboration Between Security and R&amp;D Teams</h3><p>Have you ever wondered how the synergy between security and R&amp;D teams can enhance NHI management? Bridging the gap between these departments is crucial for developing a robust cybersecurity framework. Both teams possess unique insights and expertise that can complement each other to create a more secure environment.</p><p>The integration of security measures during the development phase of new technologies allows R&amp;D teams to embed security considerations from the outset. This approach helps in identifying potential vulnerabilities early in the product lifecycle, allowing for timely remediation. Context-aware security practices ensure that development efforts align with the organization’s overall cybersecurity strategy, minimizing the risk of introducing vulnerabilities during R&amp;D processes.</p><p>Security professionals can also gain insights into the latest technological advancements, ensuring that their strategies remain relevant and effective. This collaborative approach fosters an environment of shared responsibility and accountability for cybersecurity, ensuring that security threats are addressed comprehensively.</p><h3>Best Practices for Managing NHIs in a Cloud Environment</h3><p>To effectively manage NHIs, organizations should adhere to several best practices:</p><ul> <li><strong>Lifecycle Management:</strong> Implement comprehensive lifecycle management practices that encompass the discovery, classification, and decommissioning of NHIs.</li> <li><strong>Policy Enforcement:</strong> Ensure stringent policy enforcement to maintain compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements.</li> <li><strong>Access Control:</strong> Regularly review and update access controls to ensure that machine identities have only the necessary permissions.</li> <li><strong>Education and Training:</strong> Provide education and training to stakeholders to highlight the importance of secure NHI management and best practices.</li> <li><strong>Incident Response Planning:</strong> Develop and regularly test an incident response plan to swiftly mitigate the impact of any NHI-related breaches. Explore more about building an effective <a href="https://entro.security/blog/best-practices-for-building-an-incident-response-plan/">incident response plan</a>.</li> </ul><p>These practices provide a holistic approach to managing NHIs, ensuring that organizations remain resilient in the face of emerging threats.</p><p>The management of Non-Human Identities and their secrets is a multifaceted challenge that requires a proactive and strategic approach. With the increasing reliance on cloud technologies, organizations across diverse sectors must prioritize the secure management of NHIs to protect their digital assets and ensure compliance. By integrating continuous monitoring and fostering collaboration between security and R&amp;D teams, organizations can enhance their cybersecurity frameworks.</p><p>By investing in innovative solutions that address the complexities of NHI management, businesses can fortify their defenses, reduce operational risks, and maintain a competitive edge. Emphasizing a strategic approach to NHI management will not only protect current operations but also lay the foundation for future growth and innovation. Discover more insights on bridging the security gap with <a href="https://entro.security/blog/entro-joins-the-silverfort-isa/">Entro’s collaboration with Silverfort ISA</a>.</p><p>When organizations continue to navigate the complexities of managing NHIs, they must remain vigilant, continually assessing and refining their strategies. In doing so, they can ensure that their digital infrastructure remains resilient, secure, and aligned with organizational objectives. The focus on effective NHI management is not a fleeting trend but a long-term commitment to safeguarding both organizational and customer data.</p><p>The post <a href="https://entro.security/how-does-secrets-management-contribute-to-compliance/">How does Secrets Management contribute to compliance</a> appeared first on <a href="https://entro.security/">Entro</a>.</p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/how-does-secrets-management-contribute-to-compliance/" data-a2a-title="How does Secrets Management contribute to compliance"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fhow-does-secrets-management-contribute-to-compliance%2F&amp;linkname=How%20does%20Secrets%20Management%20contribute%20to%20compliance" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fhow-does-secrets-management-contribute-to-compliance%2F&amp;linkname=How%20does%20Secrets%20Management%20contribute%20to%20compliance" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fhow-does-secrets-management-contribute-to-compliance%2F&amp;linkname=How%20does%20Secrets%20Management%20contribute%20to%20compliance" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fhow-does-secrets-management-contribute-to-compliance%2F&amp;linkname=How%20does%20Secrets%20Management%20contribute%20to%20compliance" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fhow-does-secrets-management-contribute-to-compliance%2F&amp;linkname=How%20does%20Secrets%20Management%20contribute%20to%20compliance" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div><p class="syndicated-attribution">*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from <a href="https://entro.security/">Entro</a> authored by <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/author/0/" title="Read other posts by Alison Mack">Alison Mack</a>. Read the original post at: <a href="https://entro.security/how-does-secrets-management-contribute-to-compliance/">https://entro.security/how-does-secrets-management-contribute-to-compliance/</a> </p>

A Single Bug in Mobile Apps Can Cost You Millions! Protect with Secure Code Review!

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  • Published date: 2025-11-15 00:00:00

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<p>A leading banking app was forced into a three-day shutdown after attackers exploited a small coding oversight that granted access to customer accounts. The flaw had quietly existed in the codebase for months, completely slipping past the development team. What made the incident even more frustrating was that a simple peer review could have identified the issue long before release. Scenarios like this are more common than most developers realize. <a href="https://kratikal.com/web-application-security-testing"><mark class="has-inline-color has-luminous-vivid-orange-color">Mobile apps</mark></a> frequently ship with hidden vulnerabilities, not due to negligence, but because no one can catch every flaw alone. When you stare at the same code for too long, your mind tends to overlook mistakes that fresh reviewers would immediately catch. This is why <strong>secure code review</strong> has emerged as one of the most essential security practices for modern development teams. </p><p>It ensures that your mobile app is built on a secure foundation, free from exploitable flaws and hidden vulnerabilities that attackers often rely on. In this blog, we’ll explore how a small bug can turn into a multimillion-dollar disaster and how regular secure code review prevents these risks from becoming reality.</p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><h2 class="wp-block-heading">How a Single Bug Can Cost Millions?</h2><p>It might sound like an exaggeration that one tiny coding oversight can trigger massive financial and operational fallout, but cyber incidents across banking, fintech, healthcare, and e-commerce prove this repeatedly. A misconfigured condition, a weak API implementation, inadequate input validation, or outdated encryption can silently create a direct path for attackers to exploit your mobile application.</p><p>Below are the ways a seemingly harmless bug can escalate into a multi-million-dollar crisis:</p><h3 class="wp-block-heading">Unauthorized Transactions</h3><p>In financial and banking apps, even a minor logic flaw can be catastrophic. Attackers exploit insecure transaction workflows, poorly implemented authentication checks, or predictable session variables to perform fraudulent actions.</p><p><strong>Common scenarios include:</strong></p><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Bypassing multi-factor authentication</li> <li>Manipulating API responses to alter transfer amounts</li> <li>Replaying or intercepting financial requests</li> <li>Exploiting race conditions to duplicate transactions</li> </ul><p>These are not theoretical risks; breaches have resulted in millions lost within minutes before systems could detect anomalies.</p><h3 class="wp-block-heading">Account Takeovers</h3><p>Weak session handling, improper token storage, insecure password resets, and insufficient encryption often allow attackers to hijack user accounts. Once inside, they can:</p><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Access personal and financial information</li> <li>Modify linked email or phone numbers</li> <li>Lock out legitimate users</li> <li>Initiate unauthorized purchases or data exports</li> </ul><p>Account takeover attacks also severely erode customer confidence. Users blame the brand, not the attacker, for failing to protect their identity.</p><h3 class="wp-block-heading">App Store Delisting </h3><p>Google Play and the Apple App Store enforce strict security policies. If your app is found to contain critical vulnerabilities, these platforms may:</p><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Temporarily block your updates</li> <li>Display security warnings to users</li> <li>Remove your application entirely</li> </ul><p>Such disruptions can halt revenue streams, interrupt customer experience, and push users toward competitors. Restoring compliance after delisting is costly, time-consuming, and often reputationally damaging.</p><p><br> <br> </p><br><meta charset="UTF-8"><br><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"><br><title>Cyber Security Squad – Newsletter Signup</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="https://kratikal.com/blog/a-single-bug-in-mobile-apps-can-cost-you-millions-protect-with-secure-code-review/styles.css"><link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/"><link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com/" crossorigin><link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Roboto:wght@400;500;700&amp;display=swap" rel="stylesheet"><style type="text/css"> /* Reset and base styles */</p> <p>.newsletterwrap .containerWrap { width: 100%; max-width: 800px; margin: 25px auto; }</p> <p>/* Card styles */ .newsletterwrap .signup-card { background-color: white; border-radius: 10px; overflow: hidden; box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border: 8px solid #e85d0f; 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This diversity increases complexity and creates numerous opportunities for bugs to slip through unnoticed. Because mobile apps interact directly with personal, financial, and behavioral data, even one overlooked vulnerability can become a gateway for attackers.</p><div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="936" height="440" src="https://kratikal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/SCR_info.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-14215" srcset="https://kratikal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/SCR_info.jpg 936w, https://kratikal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/SCR_info-300x141.jpg 300w, https://kratikal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/SCR_info-150x71.jpg 150w, https://kratikal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/SCR_info-768x361.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px"></figure> </div><h4 class="wp-block-heading">Mobile Apps Handle Highly Sensitive Data </h4><p>Modern apps collect and process vast amounts of sensitive user information, from exact GPS coordinates and biometric identifiers to saved payment methods, authentication tokens, in-app chats, and corporate data. This makes mobile apps an attractive target for hackers.</p><p>If the code contains insecure data storage, improper encryption, weak session handling, or exposed keys, attackers can easily extract sensitive information using malware, reverse engineering, or MITM attacks.<br>A secure code review ensures:</p><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Sensitive data is encrypted properly</li> <li>Critical values (tokens, keys, secrets) are not hardcoded</li> <li>Secure storage mechanisms like Keychain/Keystore are used</li> <li>APIs transferring data use secure protocols</li> </ul><p>The more personal the data, the higher the responsibility, and the greater the impact of a single flaw.</p><h4 class="wp-block-heading">APIs are Often Targeted by Hackers </h4><p>Mobile apps depend heavily on backend APIs for authentication, payments, data syncing, and core business logic. This makes APIs one of the most exploited attack surfaces.</p><p>If the code exposes API endpoints, lacks input validation, or sends insecure requests, attackers can manipulate the app to:</p><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Retrieve unauthorized data</li> <li>Bypass authentication</li> <li>Modify server responses</li> <li>Abuse business logic</li> </ul><p><strong>A thorough secure code review helps identify:</strong></p><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Unprotected endpoints</li> <li>Improper authorization checks</li> <li>Input validation gaps</li> <li>API key exposure in the code</li> </ul><p>Since APIs form the backbone of mobile applications, securing them is non-negotiable.</p><h4 class="wp-block-heading">Increase in Malware in Mobile Applications</h4><p>Attackers frequently use automated tools to reverse-engineer mobile apps and extract internal logic. With just an APK file, a hacker can uncover:</p><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>API keys</li> <li>Encryption algorithms</li> <li>Hardcoded credentials</li> <li>Business logic and internal workflows</li> </ul><p>This information is then used to create clones, inject malware, or exploit weaknesses.<br>Secure code review helps counter these risks by ensuring:</p><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Sensitive logic is not exposed</li> <li>Security layers such as certificate pinning are implemented</li> <li>Secrets are stored securely</li> </ul><p>As mobile malware continues to evolve, proactive code reviews remain one of the most effective defenses.</p><h4 class="wp-block-heading">Faster Development Cycles Increase the Risk of Bugs</h4><p>With Agile and DevOps methodologies, development teams push frequent updates and releases. While this accelerates innovation, it also increases the chance of introducing new vulnerabilities, especially when deadlines compress testing time.</p><p><strong>Common issues include:</strong></p><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Unvalidated inputs</li> <li>Missed authentication checks</li> <li>Debug code left behind</li> <li>Outdated third-party libraries</li> </ul><p>Regular secure code reviews ensure security keeps pace with development speed. They act as a safety net, catching issues before they are shipped to thousands or millions of users.</p><div class="containers"> <!-- Left Section --> <div class="left-section"> <h1>Book Your Free Cybersecurity Consultation Today!</h1> <p> <img decoding="async" src="https://awareness.threatcop.ai/marketing/new_asset_blog_form.svg" alt="People working on cybersecurity" class="consultation-image"> </p></div> <p> <!-- Right Section --></p> <div class="right-section"> <div class="form-containers"> <form action="https://kratikal.com/thanks/thankyou-blog" method="get" onsubmit="return validateForm(this)"> <div class="form-group"> <label for="fullName">Full Name</label><br> <input type="text" required name="FullName" placeholder="Enter full name"> </div> <div class="form-group"> <label for="email">Email ID</label><br> <input type="email" required name="email" placeholder="your name @ example.com"> </div> <div class="form-group"> <label for="company">Company Name</label><br> <input type="text" required name="CompanyName" placeholder="Enter company name"> </div> <div class="form-group"> <label for="phone">Phone Number</label><br> <input type="number" required name="Phone" placeholder="Enter phone number"> </div> <p> <input type="hidden" name="BlogForm" value="BlogForm"><br> <button type="submit" class="submit-btnns" name="submit" value="I am interested!">I am interested!</button><br> </p></form> </div> </div> </div><p><!-- CSS Styles --></p><style> .containers{ display: flex; width: 100%; max-width: 800px; height: 500px; box-shadow: 0 0 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-radius: 4px; overflow: hidden; margin: 25px auto; } .left-section { width: 50%; background-color: #000; color: white; padding: 30px; display: flex; flex-direction: column; position: relative; overflow: hidden; } .left-section h1 { font-size: 26px; line-height: 40px; margin-bottom: 30px; z-index: 2; position: relative; color: white; } .consultation-image { position: absolute; bottom: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 70%; object-fit: cover; object-position: center; } .right-section { width: 50%; background-color: white; padding: 30px; display: flex; flex-direction: column; justify-content: center; } .form-containers { width: 100%; } .form-group { margin-bottom: 20px; } label { display: block; color: #666; margin-bottom: 5px; font-size: 14px; } .right-section input { width: 88%; padding: 12px 15px; border: 1px solid #e0e0e0; border-radius: 8px; font-size: 16px; } .submit-btnns { width: 100%; padding: 15px; background: linear-gradient(to right, #e67e22, #d35400); border: none; border-radius: 8px; color: white; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; cursor: pointer; margin-top: 10px; } /* Responsive */ @media (max-width: 768px) { .containers { flex-direction: column; height: auto; } .left-section, .right-section { width: 100%; } .left-section { height: 400px; } .consultation-image { height: 60%; } } @media (max-width: 480px) { .left-section { padding: 20px; height: 350px; } .left-section h1 { font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; } .right-section { padding: 20px; } .right-section input, .submit-btnns { padding: 10px; } } </style><p><!-- JS Validation --><br> <script> function validateForm(form) { const inputs = form.querySelectorAll("input[type=text], input[type=email], input[type=number]"); for (let i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++) { if (/[<>]/.test(inputs[i].value)) { alert("Tags and attributes are not allowed in form fields!"); return false; // prevent submission } } return true; // allow submission } </script></p><h3 class="wp-block-heading">How Kratikal Can Help You in Secure Code Review As a Service?</h3><p>At Kratikal, we provide <a href="https://kratikal.com/secure-code-review"><strong><mark class="has-inline-color has-luminous-vivid-orange-color">Secure Code Review as a Service</mark></strong> </a>to help organizations identify hidden vulnerabilities early in the development lifecycle and strengthen their overall application security posture. Our approach combines deep manual analysis with intelligent automated scanning to ensure no flaw goes unnoticed. We begin by understanding your application architecture, defining clear review objectives, and pinpointing high-risk components. Our security experts then meticulously review your source code to detect issues such as insecure data handling, flawed authentication logic, injection points, and misconfigurations. After identifying vulnerabilities, we deliver detailed remediation guidance and validate fixes to ensure they are properly implemented. With Kratikal as your security partner, you gain a thorough, reliable, and scalable code review process that aligns with compliance standards and keeps your applications secure from evolving threats.</p><h3 class="wp-block-heading">FAQs</h3><div class="schema-how-to wp-block-yoast-how-to-block"> <p class="schema-how-to-description"> </p><ol class="schema-how-to-steps"> <li class="schema-how-to-step" id="how-to-step-1763133893926"><strong class="schema-how-to-step-name"><strong> What types of vulnerabilities can secure code review detect?</strong></strong> <p class="schema-how-to-step-text">Secure code review can identify a range of issues, including insecure data handling, missing input validation, improper authentication, weak session management, hardcoded secrets, API misconfigurations, cryptographic flaws, and insecure third-party library usage.</p> </li> <li class="schema-how-to-step" id="how-to-step-1763133913393"><strong class="schema-how-to-step-name"><strong>How does secure code review prevent financial losses?</strong><br></strong> <p class="schema-how-to-step-text">Secure code review identifies issues such as insecure API calls, weak encryption, faulty authentication logic, or unsafe data storage early in the development cycle. This proactive approach helps organizations avoid fraud, regulatory penalties, operational downtime, and reputational damage, often amounting to millions in losses.</p> </li> </ol> </div><p>The post <a href="https://kratikal.com/blog/a-single-bug-in-mobile-apps-can-cost-you-millions-protect-with-secure-code-review/">A Single Bug in Mobile Apps Can Cost You Millions! Protect with Secure Code Review!</a> appeared first on <a href="https://kratikal.com/blog">Kratikal Blogs</a>.</p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/a-single-bug-in-mobile-apps-can-cost-you-millions-protect-with-secure-code-review/" data-a2a-title="A Single Bug in Mobile Apps Can Cost You Millions! Protect with Secure Code Review!"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fa-single-bug-in-mobile-apps-can-cost-you-millions-protect-with-secure-code-review%2F&amp;linkname=A%20Single%20Bug%20in%20Mobile%20Apps%20Can%20Cost%20You%20Millions%21%20Protect%20with%20Secure%20Code%20Review%21" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fa-single-bug-in-mobile-apps-can-cost-you-millions-protect-with-secure-code-review%2F&amp;linkname=A%20Single%20Bug%20in%20Mobile%20Apps%20Can%20Cost%20You%20Millions%21%20Protect%20with%20Secure%20Code%20Review%21" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fa-single-bug-in-mobile-apps-can-cost-you-millions-protect-with-secure-code-review%2F&amp;linkname=A%20Single%20Bug%20in%20Mobile%20Apps%20Can%20Cost%20You%20Millions%21%20Protect%20with%20Secure%20Code%20Review%21" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fa-single-bug-in-mobile-apps-can-cost-you-millions-protect-with-secure-code-review%2F&amp;linkname=A%20Single%20Bug%20in%20Mobile%20Apps%20Can%20Cost%20You%20Millions%21%20Protect%20with%20Secure%20Code%20Review%21" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fa-single-bug-in-mobile-apps-can-cost-you-millions-protect-with-secure-code-review%2F&amp;linkname=A%20Single%20Bug%20in%20Mobile%20Apps%20Can%20Cost%20You%20Millions%21%20Protect%20with%20Secure%20Code%20Review%21" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div><p class="syndicated-attribution">*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from <a href="https://kratikal.com/blog/">Kratikal Blogs</a> authored by <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/author/0/" title="Read other posts by Shikha Dhingra">Shikha Dhingra</a>. Read the original post at: <a href="https://kratikal.com/blog/a-single-bug-in-mobile-apps-can-cost-you-millions-protect-with-secure-code-review/">https://kratikal.com/blog/a-single-bug-in-mobile-apps-can-cost-you-millions-protect-with-secure-code-review/</a> </p>

Cyber Sovereignty at Risk: How Geopolitics Are Shaping Canada’s Digital Security

  • observer.com
  • Published date: 2025-11-14 21:12:13

This Q&A is part of Observer’s Expert Insights series, where industry leaders, innovators and strategists distill years of experience into direct, practical takeaways and deliver clarity on the issues shaping their industries. At a moment when cyber threats a…

This Q&amp;A is part of Observers Expert Insights series, where industry leaders, innovators and strategists distill years of experience into direct, practical takeaways and deliver clarity on the is… [+144 chars]

The Irish Times view on EU digital security: democracy must be defended

  • None
  • Published date: 2025-11-14 20:30:00

The conflict initiated by Russia no longer takes places solely on the battlefields of Ukraine

The European Commission is advancing new proposals aimed at strengthening the armour of Europes democracies against state-sponsored disruption. National intelligence agencies across the EU are to be … [+2614 chars]

FedRAMP Deviation Requests: When and How to Submit

  • None
  • Published date: 2025-11-14 00:00:00

None

<p>FedRAMP is a government-wide program meant to ensure a standardized baseline for information security throughout the cloud service providers working with the federal government.</p><p>It’s a tall order. Setting forth standards that are robust enough to cover all the bases, while being open and flexible enough to cover every CSP, is not easy. NIST has spent a very long time with a lot of experts developing the standards FedRAMP is based on, and the FedRAMP process is iterated and developed over time to get better and better at it.</p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><p>Even so, there are always going to be businesses and cloud services that don’t quite fit the mold.</p><p>So, what happens when that’s the case? It would have to be one of three things.</p><ol> <li aria-level="1">The CSP is ineligible for FedRAMP authorization due to this deviation from the framework; the incompatibility makes it impossible to comply.</li> <li aria-level="1">The CSP is granted authorization regardless, potentially opening up a security hole through the inconsistent implementation of the standard.</li> <li aria-level="1">The CSP addresses the gap in a specific way, documents it, and applies for a deviation exemption.</li> </ol><p>Option two is obviously bad and removes the entire point of the framework. Option one is also bad, as many businesses could be perfectly secure, but by not meeting an inapplicable guideline, they can’t provide services to the government.</p><p>Fortunately, FedRAMP has a process built in for handling these cases: the deviation request process. It’s option three, and while it’s quite narrow in scope, it’s critical for the CSPs that it applies to.</p><p>What is a deviation request, when does it apply, and how do you submit such a request? Let’s run through everything you need to know.</p><h2>What is a FedRAMP Deviation?</h2><p>A deviation is what happens when a CSP’s architecture or operations don’t quite fit the standards and rules laid out in NIST SP 800-53 and FedRAMP itself, but can still be addressed and mitigated in an acceptable way.</p><p>They are <em>not </em>an excuse to use alternative methods of securing a system. Instead, they are the option available if using the normally mandatory means of securing a system would unduly hinder or break the operations of that system.</p><p><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-25818" src="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-is-a-FedRAMP-Deviation.jpg" alt="What is a FedRAMP Deviation" width="1000" height="560" srcset="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-is-a-FedRAMP-Deviation.jpg 1000w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-is-a-FedRAMP-Deviation-300x168.jpg 300w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-is-a-FedRAMP-Deviation-768x430.jpg 768w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-is-a-FedRAMP-Deviation-600x336.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px"></p><p>For example, if data that needs to be secured lives on an unsecured system, this will trip a flag showing a vulnerability that needs to be remediated. However, if that unsecured system is completely airgapped and inaccessible from any source, it doesn’t really matter if it’s insecure, because it can’t be reached through any means other than access-controlled visiting in person.</p><p>Normally, you would have to secure that system anyway. However, since it’s both irrelevant and could potentially hinder accessibility, you could instead submit a deviation request for the system to get it approved as-is.</p><h2>When are FedRAMP Deviations Requested?</h2><p>A deviation request is submitted when the deviation is discovered, analyzed, and determined to warrant a deviation.</p><p>This can be during the initial auditing process to obtain approval. More often, though, it occurs as <a href="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/blog/fedramp/conmon-fedramp-continuous-monitoring/">part of continuous monitoring</a>. Systems change and architectures evolve over time, and they all need to remain secure. If a fault is detected and needs to be explained rather than fixed, a deviation request can be submitted.</p><p>A deviation request is <em>not </em>used when a security control is not applicable. The N/A designation is for controls that apply to systems the CSP doesn’t have or use, not for systems that exist and are vulnerable.</p><p><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-25819" src="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/When-are-FedRAMP-Deviations-Requested.jpg" alt="When are FedRAMP Deviations Requested" width="1000" height="560" srcset="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/When-are-FedRAMP-Deviations-Requested.jpg 1000w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/When-are-FedRAMP-Deviations-Requested-300x168.jpg 300w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/When-are-FedRAMP-Deviations-Requested-768x430.jpg 768w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/When-are-FedRAMP-Deviations-Requested-600x336.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px"></p><p>Similarly, a deviation request is <em>not </em>a significant change request, though the two are similar requests with similar processes. A significant change request is for cases where a large-scale change is made to the CSP’s systems and needs to be reviewed.</p><h2>What Are the Three Types of Deviation Requests?</h2><p>Deviations from the norm in FedRAMP fall into one of three categories, and knowing which category it is becomes a critical part of requesting the deviation in the first place. The category of the fault indicates what measures need to be proven to request and be granted a deviation.</p><p>The first category is the <b>false positive. </b>These occur when an automated scanner finds a vulnerability, but that vulnerability is either not actually present or is not actually exploitable within your systems.</p><p>For example, if your systems are built using a specific software ecosystem and a library is flagged as vulnerable, when that library just shares a name with a vulnerable library from another ecosystem, it can be a false positive. Automated scanners don’t necessarily have context to understand when they’re wrong and can flag non-issues as vulnerabilities.</p><p>The second category is the <b>risk adjustment.</b> A risk adjustment is when a vulnerability is identified and does exist within your systems; however, the scanner identifies it as a higher risk than it actually is. This happens most commonly when you are aware of the risk and have taken steps to mitigate it, but can’t fix it entirely according to FedRAMP standards. You can file a deviation request in order to have the risk’s severity reduced so it doesn’t hurt your authorization.</p><p>The third category is an <b>operational requirement. </b>These are risks that are known and flagged in scans, but can’t be fixed without harming the CSP’s operations.</p><p>For example, if the CSP requires a specific port to be opened for access to function, but that port is commonly a vector of attack, the fact that the port is open will be flagged as a vulnerability. By proving that your CSP needs the port open, you can get a deviation granted to remain authorized despite the vulnerability.</p><p><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-25814" src="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Are-the-Three-Types-of-Deviation-Requests.jpg" alt="What Are the Three Types of Deviation Requests" width="1000" height="560" srcset="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Are-the-Three-Types-of-Deviation-Requests.jpg 1000w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Are-the-Three-Types-of-Deviation-Requests-300x168.jpg 300w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Are-the-Three-Types-of-Deviation-Requests-768x430.jpg 768w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Are-the-Three-Types-of-Deviation-Requests-600x336.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px"></p><p>Notably, FedRAMP will not grant a deviation request for a high-impact operational requirement. However, if you have taken steps to remediate it, you can file a simultaneous risk adjustment and operational requirement deviation request to validate that you’ve mitigated the risk as much as possible.</p><h2>What Goes into a Deviation Request?</h2><p>A deviation request is a multi-part process.</p><p>It starts with identifying the fault, analyzing it, and determining the need for a deviation. Many faults need remediation and can’t be waived with a deviation, so this initial analysis is extremely important.</p><p>If a fault is analyzed and it’s determined that it can’t be addressed without significant obstruction to operations, or that it’s otherwise secure and lower-risk (or even inapplicable) than a scanner shows, a deviation request can be filed.</p><p>A deviation request requires two things. First, it requires the CSP to fill out <a href="https://www.fedramp.gov/resources/documents/rev4/REV_4_FedRAMP-Vulnerability-Deviation-Request-Form.xlsx" rel="nofollow noopener">the deviation request form</a> (XLSX link). Second, it needs to be documented in <a href="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/blog/compliance/how-can-poams-help-improve-your-security-budgeting-process/">the CSP’s POA&amp;Ms</a>.</p><p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-25815" src="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Goes-into-a-Deviation-Request.jpg" alt="What Goes into a Deviation Request" width="1000" height="560" srcset="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Goes-into-a-Deviation-Request.jpg 1000w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Goes-into-a-Deviation-Request-300x168.jpg 300w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Goes-into-a-Deviation-Request-768x430.jpg 768w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Goes-into-a-Deviation-Request-600x336.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px"></p><p>The deviation request form requires a lot of specific information.</p><ul> <li aria-level="1">The name of the CSP.</li> <li aria-level="1">The name of the specific system.</li> <li aria-level="1">The impact level of the CSP’s authorization.</li> <li aria-level="1">The submission date of the deviation request.</li> <li aria-level="1">The name and title of the CSP’s point of contact.</li> <li aria-level="1">The phone number and email of the point of contact.</li> <li aria-level="1">The DR number and POA&amp;M ID.</li> <li aria-level="1">The scan ID.</li> <li aria-level="1">The related CVE.</li> <li aria-level="1">The assets impacted by the CVE.</li> <li aria-level="1">The vulnerability name and source.</li> <li aria-level="1">The initial risk rating.</li> <li aria-level="1">The CVSS score.</li> <li aria-level="1">The original detection date for the vulnerability.</li> <li aria-level="1">Information from the scanning tool of the vulnerability and suggested remediation.</li> <li aria-level="1">Added information about the vulnerability from the CSP.</li> <li aria-level="1">The type of DR from the three above.</li> <li aria-level="1">The requested adjusted severity rating and CVSS score.</li> <li aria-level="1">The date of DR submission.</li> <li aria-level="1">The rationale for submitting the DR.</li> <li aria-level="1">A submission of evidence and attachments to prove the need for the DR.</li> <li aria-level="1">An operational impact statement of normal remediation and justification.</li> <li aria-level="1">Deep information on a potential attack, including the vector, complexity, privileges required, user interaction required, and impact metrics.</li> <li aria-level="1">Status tracking information for the DR.</li> <li aria-level="1">Additional comments from government entities, including the GSA, the DoD, the DHS, and others, as necessary.</li> </ul><p>You can see all of this in the DR request form under the DR Sheet tab.</p><h2>Will a Deviation Request be Granted?</h2><p>There’s a generally high rate of acceptance of deviation requests, but that alone is misleading. That’s because the bar to even file a deviation request is quite high. By the time you’ve reached a point of identifying that a deviation request is a possibility, you’ve likely exhausted the other options.</p><p>A deviation request needs to be submitted to your point of contact within your sponsoring agency. That individual is the one who will make the determination. After all, as a member of the government, it’s their data at risk if your vulnerability is exploited.</p><p>If the justification for a deviation request is weak, if the point of contact can identify other options for mitigation to explore that you haven’t, or if security is genuinely compromised by the fault regardless of mitigations, they can deny the deviation request.</p><p>This is not a unilateral decision, generally speaking. The entire deviation request process will require significant dialogue with stakeholders, agency contacts, and other relevant people. Everyone here is on the same side, trying to ensure the best security possible in situations where it may not be ideal to follow the letter of the law.</p><p>Generally speaking, if a deviation request is going to be denied, it’s for one of a handful of reasons.</p><ul> <li aria-level="1">The justification isn’t good enough. You have to have a very valid, evidence-backed reason for wanting a deviation rather than just doing the work to fix an issue. Deviations are most commonly for false positives for this reason.</li> <li aria-level="1">The evidence is insufficient. Even having a valid reason can leave you hanging if you don’t have enough valid documentation to prove your claims.</li> <li aria-level="1">You’re trying to use a deviation request for something that isn’t a deviation, like a significant change request or a not-applicable control.</li> </ul><p>As long as you are well-documented and maintain good communication with your 3PAO and your POC within your sponsoring agency, you should be able to navigate the process effectively.</p><p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-25820" src="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Will-a-Deviation-Request-be-Granted.jpg" alt="Will a Deviation Request be Granted" width="1000" height="560" srcset="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Will-a-Deviation-Request-be-Granted.jpg 1000w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Will-a-Deviation-Request-be-Granted-300x168.jpg 300w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Will-a-Deviation-Request-be-Granted-768x430.jpg 768w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Will-a-Deviation-Request-be-Granted-600x336.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px"></p><p>If you need assistance with documentation and evidence collection, consider exploring the Ignyte Assurance Platform. Our platform is made to <a href="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/integrated-risk-management-platform/">track and maintain evidence and documentation across multiple frameworks</a> smoothly and effectively. With it, you can aggregate everything from your core evidence to your POA&amp;M status. Give us a call to see how it can work for you, with deviation requests and more.</p><h2>What Happens Upon a Deviation Approval?</h2><p>If the deviation request is approved, business continues as usual. The deviation is noted in the POA&amp;Ms for the CSP and becomes part of continuous monitoring.</p><p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-25817" src="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Happens-Upon-a-Deviation-Approval.jpg" alt="What Happens Upon a Deviation Approval" width="1000" height="560" srcset="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Happens-Upon-a-Deviation-Approval.jpg 1000w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Happens-Upon-a-Deviation-Approval-300x168.jpg 300w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Happens-Upon-a-Deviation-Approval-768x430.jpg 768w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Happens-Upon-a-Deviation-Approval-600x336.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px"></p><p>If, in the future, something changes in a way that the flaw is mitigated or removed, or the deviation is no longer necessary, it can then be resolved. Otherwise, it just needs to be monitored and maintained just like any other identified threat.</p><h2>What Happens if a Deviation is Denied?</h2><p>If you submit a deviation request and have it denied, what happens?</p><p>You have a few possibilities.</p><p>First, you can try again. As part of open dialogue with your agency POC, they’ll tell you why they rejected the request, and you can try to fix the problem if it’s relevant. For example, if you don’t have sufficient evidence to back up your position, you can gather more evidence and testing to prove it and try again.</p><p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-25816" src="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Happens-if-a-Deviation-is-Denied.jpg" alt="What Happens if a Deviation is Denied" width="1000" height="560" srcset="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Happens-if-a-Deviation-is-Denied.jpg 1000w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Happens-if-a-Deviation-is-Denied-300x168.jpg 300w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Happens-if-a-Deviation-is-Denied-768x430.jpg 768w, https://www.ignyteplatform.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/What-Happens-if-a-Deviation-is-Denied-600x336.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px"></p><p>Second, you can accept the judgment and take actions to fix the problem according to FedRAMP rules. This isn’t really applicable to false positives that often, but for risk adjustments and for operational requirements, it might take some work, but it can be done. If your agency POC believes that you can do so without undue burden, and you can’t prove otherwise, you’ll just need to put in that work.</p><p>Third, if this causes irreconcilable friction between you and your agency, there may be no option but to end the contract. If you believe and have proven that your CSP can’t operate without the fault, and that you’ve taken steps to mitigate it, but your agency believes that’s still not good enough, there’s no middle ground to be found.</p><p>Most of the time, though, you’ll be able to figure something out. Maybe there’s an approach you didn’t think of that can remediate the issue. Maybe you can find better evidence to prove the need and keep the contract.</p><p>The goal, after all, is secure operations. Your sponsoring agency doesn’t want to lose your functionality any more than you want to lose their contract. Keep working at it, and you’ll find a way to navigate the situation appropriately.</p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/fedramp-deviation-requests-when-and-how-to-submit/" data-a2a-title="FedRAMP Deviation Requests: When and How to Submit"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Ffedramp-deviation-requests-when-and-how-to-submit%2F&amp;linkname=FedRAMP%20Deviation%20Requests%3A%20When%20and%20How%20to%20Submit" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Ffedramp-deviation-requests-when-and-how-to-submit%2F&amp;linkname=FedRAMP%20Deviation%20Requests%3A%20When%20and%20How%20to%20Submit" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Ffedramp-deviation-requests-when-and-how-to-submit%2F&amp;linkname=FedRAMP%20Deviation%20Requests%3A%20When%20and%20How%20to%20Submit" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Ffedramp-deviation-requests-when-and-how-to-submit%2F&amp;linkname=FedRAMP%20Deviation%20Requests%3A%20When%20and%20How%20to%20Submit" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Ffedramp-deviation-requests-when-and-how-to-submit%2F&amp;linkname=FedRAMP%20Deviation%20Requests%3A%20When%20and%20How%20to%20Submit" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div><p class="syndicated-attribution">*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from <a href="https://www.ignyteplatform.com">Ignyte</a> authored by <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/author/0/" title="Read other posts by Max Aulakh">Max Aulakh</a>. Read the original post at: <a href="https://www.ignyteplatform.com/blog/fedramp/fedramp-deviation-requests-submit/">https://www.ignyteplatform.com/blog/fedramp/fedramp-deviation-requests-submit/</a> </p>

Anthropic Claude AI Used by Chinese-Back Hackers in Spy Campaign

  • Jeffrey Burt
  • Published date: 2025-11-14 00:00:00

None

<p>A Chinese nation-state threat group abused Anthropic’s Claude AI model in a series of cyberespionage attacks that the AI company said can serve as a blueprint for how AI and AI agents will be used by bad actors in the future.</p><p>The unnamed group used Claude Code – an agentic AI coding tool that runs such tasks as analyzing code bases, modifies code, and runs commands – to target more than two dozen organizations in a campaign in which the technology was used to automate 80% to 90% of the work, with human intervention needed at only four to six critical decision points for each hack.</p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><p>The attacks leveraged the agentic capabilities of Claude the rest of the time, company researchers <a href="https://www.anthropic.com/news/disrupting-AI-espionage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote in a blog post</a> this week.</p><p>“The sheer amount of work performed by the AI would have taken vast amounts of time for a human team,” they wrote. “At the peak of its attack, the AI made thousands of requests, often multiple per second – an attack speed that would have been, for human hackers, simply impossible to match.”</p><p>The cybersecurity community can expect these sorts of AI-driven attacks – using not only Claude but AI models from other vendors – to expand as attackers become more adept at using the agentic capabilities that are being developed.</p><p>“The barriers to performing sophisticated cyberattacks have dropped substantially – and we predict that they’ll continue to do so,” the researchers wrote. “With the correct setup, threat actors can now use agentic AI systems for extended periods to do the work of entire teams of experienced hackers: analyzing target systems, producing exploit code, and scanning vast datasets of stolen information more efficiently than any human operator.”</p><p>In addition, “less experienced and resourced groups can now potentially perform large-scale attacks of this nature.”</p><h3>‘Inflection Point’ with AI in Cybersecurity</h3><p>The <a href="https://assets.anthropic.com/m/ec212e6566a0d47/original/Disrupting-the-first-reported-AI-orchestrated-cyber-espionage-campaign.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> of the espionage campaign comes a month after Anthropic executives wrote of an “<a href="https://www.anthropic.com/research/building-ai-cyber-defenders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inflection point</a>” in which AI models had become genuinely useful in cybersecurity operations as well as for bad actors. This was a trend that Anthropic researchers said they expected to continue, though they noted that it was startling how quickly the capabilities had evolved at scale.</p><p>It also comes two months after Anthropic wrote that bad actors during the summer <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/09/anthropic-report-shows-bad-actors-abusing-claude-in-attacks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">weaponized Claude</a> to automate in almost every part of a large-scale extortion campaign.</p><p>In this case, the vendor first detected suspicious activity in mid-September and, through an investigation, found that the attackers used Claude’s agentic capabilities “to an unprecedented degree – using AI not just as an advisor, but to execute the cyberattacks themselves.”</p><p>In all, the hackers used Claude Code to try to infiltrate about 30 global targets, and succeeded in some of the attempts. Among the targets were large tech companies, financial institutions, government agencies, and chemical manufacturing organizations.</p><p>“We believe this is the first documented case of a large-scale cyberattack executed without substantial human intervention,” the researchers wrote, adding that they mapped the extent of the campaign, banned accounts identified with the operation, notified those organizations targeted, and worked with law enforcement.</p><h3>Leveraging Agentic Capabilities</h3><p>The attackers relied on key capabilities in agentic AI systems, including the ability to intelligently follow complex instructions and complete sophisticated tasks, take autonomous actions and make decisions with little human input, and access an array of software tools, in large part through the <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/10/mcptotal-unfurls-hosting-service-to-secure-mcp-servers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Model Context Protocol</a> (MCP), a standard developed by Anthropic last year to allow AI systems to easily access external data and applications.</p><p>The attacks came in three phases, each of which took advantage of these capabilities. In the first phase, humans picked the targets, then created a framework that allowed the agents to compromise the targets with little human involvement, using Claude Code as the automated tool to carry out the attacks.</p><p>This included using jailbreaking methods to trick Claude into bypassing its guardrails and launching the attacks. The bad actors tricked the AI model by breaking down the attacks into small and seemingly innocent tasks that wouldn’t clue Claude into the malicious intent, and also told it they were employees of a legitimate cybersecurity firm using it for defensive testing.</p><h3>Faster than Humans</h3><p>During the next phase, Claude was used to inspect the target’s systems and infrastructure, detect high-value databases much more quickly than humans could, report its findings to the hackers, and identify and test security vulnerabilities.</p><p>“Having done so, the framework was able to use Claude to harvest credentials (usernames and passwords) that allowed it further access and then extract a large amount of private data, which it categorized according to its intelligence value,” the researchers wrote. “The highest-privilege accounts were identified, backdoors were created, and data were exfiltrated with minimal human supervision.”</p><p>The last phase involved Claude creating comprehensive documentation of the attack as well as files of the stolen credentials and the systems analyzed that could be used in by the cybercriminals’ operations.</p><h3>AI for Cyberattacks, Cybersecurity</h3><p>The Anthropic researchers understood the argument against developing AI models if they can be used in this way by threat actors, but countered that the same capabilities can be used in cyber defenses. They also noted that “a fundamental change has occurred in cybersecurity.”</p><p>“We advise security teams to experiment with applying AI for defense in areas like Security Operations Center automation, threat detection, vulnerability assessment, and incident response,” they wrote. “We also advise developers to continue to invest in safeguards across their AI platforms, to prevent adversarial misuse.”</p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/anthropic-claude-ai-used-by-chinese-back-hackers-in-spy-campaign/" data-a2a-title="Anthropic Claude AI Used by Chinese-Back Hackers in Spy Campaign"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fanthropic-claude-ai-used-by-chinese-back-hackers-in-spy-campaign%2F&amp;linkname=Anthropic%20Claude%20AI%20Used%20by%20Chinese-Back%20Hackers%20in%20Spy%20Campaign" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fanthropic-claude-ai-used-by-chinese-back-hackers-in-spy-campaign%2F&amp;linkname=Anthropic%20Claude%20AI%20Used%20by%20Chinese-Back%20Hackers%20in%20Spy%20Campaign" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fanthropic-claude-ai-used-by-chinese-back-hackers-in-spy-campaign%2F&amp;linkname=Anthropic%20Claude%20AI%20Used%20by%20Chinese-Back%20Hackers%20in%20Spy%20Campaign" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fanthropic-claude-ai-used-by-chinese-back-hackers-in-spy-campaign%2F&amp;linkname=Anthropic%20Claude%20AI%20Used%20by%20Chinese-Back%20Hackers%20in%20Spy%20Campaign" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fanthropic-claude-ai-used-by-chinese-back-hackers-in-spy-campaign%2F&amp;linkname=Anthropic%20Claude%20AI%20Used%20by%20Chinese-Back%20Hackers%20in%20Spy%20Campaign" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div>

The Trojan Prompt: How GenAI is Turning Staff into Unwitting Insider Threats

  • Camellia Chan
  • Published date: 2025-11-14 00:00:00

None

<p>When a wooden horse was wheeled through the gates of Troy, it was welcomed as a gift but hid a dangerous threat. Today, organizations face the modern equivalent: the Trojan prompt.</p><p>It might look like a harmless request: <em>“summarize the attached financial report and point out any potential compliance issues.” </em>Within seconds, a generative AI tool delivers a neatly packaged analysis that saves hours of work. What feels like productivity, however, is actually exposure: by pasting a sensitive document into a public AI model, an employee has unknowingly smuggled confidential data beyond the organization’s walls.</p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><p>This isn’t the work of malicious insiders, but of well-intentioned staff simply trying to work faster and smarter. Yet the scale is staggering – nearly <a href="https://www.netskope.com/resources/cloud-and-threat-reports/cloud-and-threat-report-generative-ai-2025">1 in 20 enterprise users</a> now rely on GenAI, with sensitive data flowing into these platforms 30 times more year-on-year. Worse still, <a href="https://www.netskope.com/resources/cloud-and-threat-reports/cloud-and-threat-report-generative-ai-2025">72%</a> of this shadow AI use happens outside IT’s control, leaving organizations blind to the modern equivalent of opening Troy’s gates.</p><h3><strong>The Hidden Warriors Inside the Trojan Prompt</strong></h3><p>There are even greater dangers than copying and pasting data into GenAI tools. Risks including prompt injection attacks – where hidden commands are embedded in documents or queries that can co-opt systems into ignoring security protocols or sharing confidential information. Other hidden soldiers inside the horse include: context hijacking, data poisoning, and LLM memory persistence, where cached queries or context reuse could expose sensitive information to subsequent users.</p><p>Importantly, there are real-world exploits. Security researchers from <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/ai-imprompter-malware-llm/">University of California, San Diego</a> <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/ai-imprompter-malware-llm/">(UCSD)</a> and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore unveiled a new attack that covertly instructs an LLM to harvest sensitive information. This includes names, ID numbers, payment details, email and postal addresses, which can be sent directly to a hacker. Dubbed “Imprompter”, the attack relies on an algorithm that turns a user’s prompt into hidden malicious commands, achieving close to an 80% success rate in extracting personal data through obfuscated prompts.</p><h3><strong>Keys Left at the Gate</strong></h3><p>These risks grow exponentially when employees accidentally feed sensitive data – including API keys, login details, or confidential documents – into GenAI platforms. Leaving credentials such as these exposed is like a company opening its own gates. If that information is stored or intercepted, attackers can use it to pose as legitimate users and slip into corporate systems unnoticed. Traditional security tools often miss this kind of activity because the access looks genuine, and the data typically moves through encrypted channels.</p><h3>Why the Old Walls Don’t Hold</h3><p>Tools like Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and User and Entity Behaviour Analytics (UEBA) are important layers in a security strategy. They track activity across networks and applications, flagging risks like bulk data transfers or unusual file access. These defenses can also alert staff when they attempt to upload sensitive files to unsanctioned cloud services or external GenAI platforms. Like Troy’s towering walls, perimeter defenses may look strong, but they have blind spots as they cannot see what the horse conceals. Most depend on visibility into corporate networks or approved apps, but as soon as employees feed documents into public GenAI tools, those actions often escape monitoring, especially when traffic is encrypted or routed through personal accounts.</p><p>Consider an employee who, trying to save time, pastes login credentials or confidential files into a public GenAI tool. Those details may be retained in the model or intercepted by attackers exploiting platform flaws. With valid credentials in hand, hackers can slip into corporate systems and quietly siphon off sensitive data. Traditional tools often miss this – once an attacker has valid credentials, they can blend in with legitimate activity, sidestepping network-level protections altogether.</p><p>The missing layer is stronger protection where the data resides: in the memory of the endpoint.</p><h3><strong>Looking Inside the Horse</strong></h3><p>Encryption is essential for safeguarding data in transit or at rest, and good key management helps block unauthorized users. But once access is granted, encryption offers little defense because it’s ultimately designed to stop outsiders, not insiders or compromised accounts. This is where dynamic, hardware level zero trust goes further, by providing:</p><ol> <li>Continuous validation of every access attempt at the chipset or SSD layer</li> <li>Anomaly detection to spot unusual reads/writes, bulk transfers, or mass deletions</li> <li>Autonomous lockdowns that halt suspicious activity before data leaves the device</li> </ol><p>By spotting abnormal access at the physical layer, it blocks malicious transfers automatically, regardless of user credentials or network visibility. Think of it like this: instead of guarding the city gates, this approach inspects the horse itself – revealing the danger before it can be unleashed. Even if attackers gain access, the system stops the data from ever leaving the device.</p><h3><strong>Fortify Walls with a GenAI-Aware Insider Threat Strategy</strong></h3><p>To mitigate threats, organizations need to adopt a multilayered strategy that extends well beyond traditional network security.</p><p>Governance and AI-ready policy is the first line of defense. Companies must clearly define which GenAI tools are approved for use, specify what categories of data can be shared, and require employees to confirm they understand and will follow these rules. Clear governance sets the boundaries that prevent accidental or careless exposure.</p><p>Education and culture are equally important. Many employees are unaware of the risks involved in pasting sensitive information into GenAI systems. Providing them with AI literacy, practical examples, and simple guidelines helps ensure staff view AI as a safe productivity aid rather than a hidden security trap.</p><p>Finally, hardware-level endpoint security delivers the last safeguard. Drives equipped with embedded zero-trust capabilities can autonomously monitor data access at the physical layer, detecting and blocking suspicious transfers before sensitive information leaves the device. This ensures that even if network defenses fail or credentials are compromised, the data itself remains protected.</p><h3><strong>Innovation Without the Trojan Trap</strong></h3><p>The answer is not to ban GenAI, but to make it safe to further power innovation. Addressing risks like LLM persistence, cached context reuse, and the limits of encryption requires a combination of governance, training, monitoring, and hardware-based zero trust. <strong> </strong></p><p>A practical playbook involves approving a trusted set of GenAI services, configuring DLP and behavioral tools to monitor for abnormal data exports, enforcing hardware-secured storage across all endpoints, and training employees on what information should never be shared with AI tools – and why.</p><p>Ultimately, security must follow the data down to the drive itself, because that’s where the line between productivity and exposure is truly drawn. GenAI can be a welcome gift – but only if any hidden saboteurs are stripped from the horse.</p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/the-trojan-prompt-how-genai-is-turning-staff-into-unwitting-insider-threats/" data-a2a-title="The Trojan Prompt: How GenAI is Turning Staff into Unwitting Insider Threats"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fthe-trojan-prompt-how-genai-is-turning-staff-into-unwitting-insider-threats%2F&amp;linkname=The%20Trojan%20Prompt%3A%20How%20GenAI%20is%20Turning%20Staff%20into%20Unwitting%20Insider%20Threats" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fthe-trojan-prompt-how-genai-is-turning-staff-into-unwitting-insider-threats%2F&amp;linkname=The%20Trojan%20Prompt%3A%20How%20GenAI%20is%20Turning%20Staff%20into%20Unwitting%20Insider%20Threats" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fthe-trojan-prompt-how-genai-is-turning-staff-into-unwitting-insider-threats%2F&amp;linkname=The%20Trojan%20Prompt%3A%20How%20GenAI%20is%20Turning%20Staff%20into%20Unwitting%20Insider%20Threats" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fthe-trojan-prompt-how-genai-is-turning-staff-into-unwitting-insider-threats%2F&amp;linkname=The%20Trojan%20Prompt%3A%20How%20GenAI%20is%20Turning%20Staff%20into%20Unwitting%20Insider%20Threats" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fthe-trojan-prompt-how-genai-is-turning-staff-into-unwitting-insider-threats%2F&amp;linkname=The%20Trojan%20Prompt%3A%20How%20GenAI%20is%20Turning%20Staff%20into%20Unwitting%20Insider%20Threats" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div>

API Key Security: 7 Enterprise-Proven Methods to Prevent Costly Data Breaches

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  • Published date: 2025-11-14 00:00:00

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<p><img decoding="async" src="https://blog.gitguardian.com/content/images/2025/11/apikeys.png" alt="API Key Security: 7 Enterprise-Proven Methods to Prevent Costly Data Breaches"></p><p>API keys are a simple authentication method, essentially a unique code used to identify an application. However, as an authentication mechanism, API keys have relative security limitations: like any password, they are susceptible to exposure, lack fine-grained access control, and provide minimal audit capabilities.</p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><p>Given these security limitations, you might wonder, Why are they still widely used? Well, it all comes down to one word: simplicity – the ease of implementation, together with low cost (only true in certain cases, though), makes it an attractive option in many situations, like public APIs with low-sensitivity data, internal APIs, prototyping, and simple scripting.</p><p>Over the years, I've come to realise that in security, there is no one definitive answer that fits all; it's all relative. Although there are authentication methods with a higher level of security for sensitive APIs, the decision of whether to use API keys is based on careful assessments of your specific requirements and needs. At the end of the day, it's a trade-off between convenience and security, and the right answer depends on the context.</p><p>That said, if you have decided API key is the best choice for your application, what are the best practices to mitigate some of the risks?</p><hr><h2 id="1-never-embed-api-keys-in-code">1 Never Embed API Keys in Code</h2><p>To prevent API keys from leaking, the first and foremost rule is, as you guessed, never store them in the code. Embedding API keys directly in client-side code or committing them to version control systems is, no doubt, a recipe for disaster: Anyone who can access the code or the repository can steal the keys.</p><p>To read more about the actionable items on this, read <a href="https://blog.gitguardian.com/secrets-api-management/">Best Practices for Managing and Storing Secrets Including API Keys and Other Credentials</a>.</p><hr><h2 id="2-securely-store-api-keys-with-secret-managers">2 Securely Store API Keys with Secret Managers</h2><p>If we don't store API keys in code or config files, where to store them, and how?</p><p>Implementing an API key storage system? Out of the question (for most companies and teams), because securely storing and managing API keys bring tremendous operational overhead, like storage overhead (handling encryption at rest and in transit), management overhead (backup, recovery, audit logging, etc.), usage overhead (rotation, how to update and fetch), and distribution overhead (think insecure channels like email, file transfer, and plain text in chat).</p><p>The short answer: Don’t reinvent the wheel. Use tools like HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, or Google Cloud Secret Manager.</p><p>Using purpose-built systems for managing secrets and API keys brings many benefits:</p><ul> <li>They handled all the operational overhead: encryption at rest and in transit, backup/recovery, etc.</li> <li>They can handle automated key rotation and expiration. If an API key is compromised, it can be used to access our API indefinitely unless we revoke it. So, regular rotation is not optional; it's a must, and automated rotation reduces not only overhead but also risk of human error.</li> <li>They serve as the single source of truth, not only for API keys, but all secrets in general, and work as a holistic centralized secret management solution.</li> <li>They may even provide more secure access control, following the principle of least privileges and audit logging capabilities.</li> <li>Almost all secret managers provide ways to inject secrets as environment variables in containerized environments, following the 12-factor app methodology: This separates the configuration from the code, making it easier and more secure to manage and update keys without modifying the app.</li> </ul><p>The list goes on, and they are all essential for enterprise-grade security.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-bookmark-card"><a class="kg-bookmark-container" href="https://blog.gitguardian.com/top-secrets-management-tools-for-2024/"> <div class="kg-bookmark-content"> <div class="kg-bookmark-title">Top Secrets Management Tools for 2024</div> <div class="kg-bookmark-description">Let’s walk through nine of the top secrets management solutions for 2024.</div> <div class="kg-bookmark-metadata"><img decoding="async" class="kg-bookmark-icon" src="https://blog.gitguardian.com/content/images/icon/Frame-558-1-64.png" alt="API Key Security: 7 Enterprise-Proven Methods to Prevent Costly Data Breaches"><span class="kg-bookmark-author">GitGuardian Blog – Take Control of Your Secrets Security</span><span class="kg-bookmark-publisher">Greg Bulmash</span></div> </div> <div class="kg-bookmark-thumbnail"><img decoding="async" src="https://blog.gitguardian.com/content/images/thumbnail/Top-10-Tool-Management-Tool-2024.png" alt="API Key Security: 7 Enterprise-Proven Methods to Prevent Costly Data Breaches" onerror="this.style.display = 'none'"></div> <p></p></a></figure><hr><h2 id="3-use-api-gateways-for-centralized-security-control">3 Use API Gateways for Centralized Security Control</h2><p>Now that we covered how to store API keys securely, let's talk about how to use them securely.</p><p>When it comes to using API keys, there are a few challenges, including:</p><ul> <li>If an API key is compromised, it can be used to launch denial-of-service (DoS) attacks or to exhaust our services' resources – That's why we need to implement rate limiting, a mechanism controlling the number of requests a client can make in a specific time period, and throttling, which slows down or delays excess requests instead of outright rejecting them. Both could help manage traffic spikes and prevent server overload.</li> <li>Even if we could implement this by ourselves, in the modern microservice architecture, it means we need to implement it for <em>every</em> service. Managing API security across dozens or even hundreds of services is a big challenge.</li> <li>Even if we have implemented all security policies for all APIs, the lack of centralized monitoring is another big problem.</li> </ul><p>You see where I'm going with this, and you are right: In the modern microservice architecture era, we need a centralized security control plane for all of our APIs, and this is where API gateways come to the rescue.</p><p>API Gateways, like AWS API Gateway, Kong, etc., are designed to solve these problems, simplifying and centralizing the management of <em>all</em> APIs, providing a single entry point for all requests. Features like limiting, throttling, and DDoS protection are baked in; API gateways can also provide centralized logging and monitoring; they even provide more features like input validation, data masking, and response filtering. All of these help enforce consistent security policies across all APIs, reduce operational overhead, enhance visibility and control, and make scalability a reality.</p><hr><h2 id="4-loggingmonitoringalerting-and-anomaly-detection">4 Logging/Monitoring/Alerting and Anomaly Detection</h2><p>Now that we can securely store and use API keys, next, we need to pay attention to compromised API keys, which are a significant threat. A single leaked key can grant malicious actors unauthorized access to our systems, potentially leading to data breaches, service disruptions, and even financial losses. The answer to this is proactive monitoring, robust logging, and intelligent anomaly detection.</p><p>The basis of any effective API security monitoring strategy starts with logging. We need to capture every API request, including the details, which are already handled by API gateways. Then, raw logs are only useful if we can analyze them effectively, and this is where log aggregation and analysis tools come in. Examples:</p><ul> <li>Cloud-Based Logging Services: AWS CloudWatch Logs, Azure Monitor Logs, and Google Cloud Logging offer scalable and managed logging solutions within their respective cloud environments. This is especially helpful if you are using API gateways provided by the cloud providers.</li> <li>The ELK Stack: A popular open-source alternative for log management and analysis. Elasticsearch provides search and storage, Logstash handles log ingestion and processing, and Kibana offers visualization and dashboarding.</li> <li>Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Systems: SIEMs like Splunk, Sumo Logic, or Datadog Security Monitoring are designed to collect, analyze, and correlate logs from various sources. They provide powerful search capabilities, alerting, and reporting features.</li> </ul><p>True security comes from detecting deviations from the norm: We want to track API usages, look for suspicious patterns in real-time, and be notified when something happens. And this is where monitoring/alerting kicks in. In general, we want to monitor unexpected spikes in traffic, requests from unusual locations, access to unauthorized resources (might indicate attempts to escalate privileges), and high error rates/repeated failures (might indicate attempts to exploit a vulnerability).</p><p>The tools mentioned above also provide monitoring/alerting capabilities. For example, cloud monitoring services like AWS CloudWatch allow us to create alerts based on metrics and log data, and SIEM Systems often offer built-in alerting based on log analysis.</p><p>With the rise of AI/ML, we can use tools or even custom ML models to train on our API logs to identify subtle anomalies that are not visible to human eyes. By establishing behavioral baselines and implementing geographic and temporal analysis, we can use AI to detect: request volume spikes and patterns, error rate anomalies, unusual geographic access, off-hours usage patterns, permission escalation attempts, and so on.</p><hr><h2 id="5-securely-handling-api-keys-in-cicd-pipelines">5 Securely Handling API Keys in CI/CD Pipelines</h2><p>All the above practices enhance API security in either the usage/storage or production environment, but there is another area where API keys could be compromised: the continuous integration/continuous deployment systems and pipelines. By nature, CI/CD involves running automation scripts and executing commands in a non-interactive way, which sometimes requires API keys, and this means the keys need to be stored somewhere and passed to the pipelines at runtime.</p><p>One risky area is the pipeline definition files (e.g., <code>.gitlab-ci.yml</code>, <code>Jenkinsfile</code>, GitHub Actions workflows). The rule of thumb is that, since these files are also stored in the code repo, do not hard-code API keys in CI/CD definitions.</p><p>A better solution is to use API keys in pipelines in the form of environment variables, whose values are set in the CI/CD system's UI. This approach, however, is better, but not good enough. The variables might still be visible to users with access to the CI/CD system, with a risk of being accidentally logged or exposed. Another reason is that CI/CD systems aren't designed to store secrets in the first place: not a centralized place to manage all (not just for CI/CD) secrets, not a suitable single source of truth, copy-paste across projects, weak or no fine-grained access control (a violation of the least-privilege principle), no automated rotation mechanisms (more operational overhead), no audit capabilities, and last but not least, probably not the most secure solution, as shown by the 2022 CircleCI breach that exposed all their customers' secrets.</p><p>The solution is, of course, to use secret managers to store API keys for CI/CD pipelines and securely synchronize them into the pipelines. To know more about using a secret manager, for example, the AWS Secrets Manager, see <a href="https://blog.gitguardian.com/handling-secrets-with-aws-secrets-manager/">this blog post</a>, which also includes an example of accessing secrets stored in the secret manager from the CI pipeline. There is also an equivalent piece on <a href="https://blog.gitguardian.com/how-to-handle-secrets-with-google-cloud-secret-manager/">Google Cloud Secret Manager</a>. The security of the CI – Cloud Secret Manager integration could be further enhanced by OpenID Connect (OIDC), which completely eliminates short-lived keys/tokens. <a href="https://blog.gitguardian.com/securing-your-ci-cd-an-oidc-tutorial/">This blog post</a> details how to achieve this. And, for a more comprehensive guide on handling secrets in CI/CD pipelines, see <a href="https://blog.gitguardian.com/handle-secrets-in-ci-cd-pipelines/">this tutorial</a>.</p><hr><h2 id="6-develop-an-incident-response-playbook">6 Develop an Incident Response Playbook</h2><p>With all the practices above, we've made our API keys secure in code repos, in production, in CI/CD systems, with monitoring, which seems to be good enough. In security, however, "good enough" isn't enough: There still could be a leakage not caught by our comprehensive security framework, and we need a structured process to quickly respond to security breaches and to limit the damage, and this is the incident response, which is part of the DevSecOps discipline.</p><p>If done properly, incident response can greatly improve the overall mean time to acknowledge (MTTA) and mean time to remediate (MTTR). However, in the event of a security breach, we humans tend to panic, and when we panic, we don't think clearly or do things logically. This is why we need a playbook: to define a standard process so that we can handle incidents reliably.</p><p>In general, the lifecycle of an incident starts with an alert from our centralized monitoring system, then we need to analyze it, limit the damage, remove the root cause, and recover. During the course, we need to identify the severity level of the incident, and may escalate or ask for help from other colleagues and teams. Afterwards, post-incident activities like review and postmortem are mandatory.</p><p>A well-defined incident response playbook should cover all these aspects. While it sounds like a lot, there are some incident management platforms, like OpsGenie, PagerDuty, etc., which can be integrated with monitoring tools, define on-call schedules, escalation policies, and incident tracking.</p><hr><h2 id="7-conclusion">7 Conclusion</h2><p>Last but not least, for sensitive APIs that require a higher level of security, it's crucial to consider more robust authentication methods that offer enhanced security, flexibility, and control.</p><ul> <li>JWTs: Fine-Grained Access Control. JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) are a compact, URL-safe means of representing claims to be transferred between two parties. In the context of API security, JWTs are used for authentication and authorization. They are suitable for microservices architectures, mobile applications, and scenarios where you need fine-grained access control.</li> <li>OAuth 2.0 / OIDC: Delegated Authorization. OAuth 2.0 (Authorization Framework) and OpenID Connect (OIDC) are industry-standard protocols for delegated authorization. Instead of sharing their credentials, users can grant limited access to their resources to third-party applications. This is ideal for scenarios where third-party applications need to access user data or resources.</li> <li>Mutual TLS (mTLS): The Gold Standard for High-Security APIs. mTLS is a two-way authentication process where both the client and the server authenticate each other using digital certificates. This goes beyond traditional TLS, where only the server's identity is verified. It's ideal for financial services, healthcare, government, and any other industry where security is paramount.</li> </ul><hr><h2 id="summary">Summary</h2><p>In this blog, we covered a few enterprise-proven best practices and methods to enhance API key security:</p><ul> <li>Never Embed API Keys in Code</li> <li>Securely Store API Keys with Secret Managers</li> <li>Use API Gateways for Centralized Security Control</li> <li>Logging/Monitoring/Alerting and Anomaly Detection</li> <li>Securely Handling API Keys in CI/CD Pipelines</li> <li>Develop an Incident Response Playbook</li> </ul><p>Then, we briefly covered a few alternatives to API keys: JWT, OAuth 2.0/OIDC, and mTLS.</p><p>Of these three options, mTLS offers a significant step up in security compared to API keys, because it not only eliminates the risk of API key leakage (since the client's identity is tied to a cryptographic certificate), but also provides a robust defense against various attacks like man-in-the-middle attacks, replay attacks, and credential stuffing.</p><p>In my next blog posts, I'll be diving deep into the details of mTLS, covering topics such as:</p><ul> <li>How mTLS works in detail</li> <li>Generating and managing certificates for mTLS</li> <li>Configuring your server and client for mTLS</li> <li>Use cases and best practices for mTLS</li> <li>Tools and libraries for implementing mTLS</li> </ul><p>So, stay tuned for a comprehensive guide to securing your APIs with mutual TLS!</p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/api-key-security-7-enterprise-proven-methods-to-prevent-costly-data-breaches/" data-a2a-title="API Key Security: 7 Enterprise-Proven Methods to Prevent Costly Data Breaches"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fapi-key-security-7-enterprise-proven-methods-to-prevent-costly-data-breaches%2F&amp;linkname=API%20Key%20Security%3A%207%20Enterprise-Proven%20Methods%20to%20Prevent%20Costly%20Data%20Breaches" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fapi-key-security-7-enterprise-proven-methods-to-prevent-costly-data-breaches%2F&amp;linkname=API%20Key%20Security%3A%207%20Enterprise-Proven%20Methods%20to%20Prevent%20Costly%20Data%20Breaches" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fapi-key-security-7-enterprise-proven-methods-to-prevent-costly-data-breaches%2F&amp;linkname=API%20Key%20Security%3A%207%20Enterprise-Proven%20Methods%20to%20Prevent%20Costly%20Data%20Breaches" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fapi-key-security-7-enterprise-proven-methods-to-prevent-costly-data-breaches%2F&amp;linkname=API%20Key%20Security%3A%207%20Enterprise-Proven%20Methods%20to%20Prevent%20Costly%20Data%20Breaches" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fapi-key-security-7-enterprise-proven-methods-to-prevent-costly-data-breaches%2F&amp;linkname=API%20Key%20Security%3A%207%20Enterprise-Proven%20Methods%20to%20Prevent%20Costly%20Data%20Breaches" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div><p class="syndicated-attribution">*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from <a href="https://blog.gitguardian.com/">GitGuardian Blog - Take Control of Your Secrets Security</a> authored by <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/author/0/" title="Read other posts by Tiexin Guo">Tiexin Guo</a>. Read the original post at: <a href="https://blog.gitguardian.com/api-key-security-7/">https://blog.gitguardian.com/api-key-security-7/</a> </p>

Randall Munroe’s XKCD ‘’Emperor Palpatine”

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  • Published date: 2025-11-14 00:00:00

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<figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic "> <p> <a class=" sqs-block-image-link " href="https://xkcd.com/3157/"></a></p> <p> <img data-stretch="false" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5355d604e4b03c3e9896e131/70941a80-0e78-4cf0-b734-136049218d5a/emperor_palpatine.png" data-image-dimensions="538x531" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="" data-load="false" elementtiming="system-image-block" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5355d604e4b03c3e9896e131/70941a80-0e78-4cf0-b734-136049218d5a/emperor_palpatine.png?format=1000w" width="538" height="531" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, (max-width: 767px) 100vw, 100vw" onload='this.classList.add("loaded")' srcset="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5355d604e4b03c3e9896e131/70941a80-0e78-4cf0-b734-136049218d5a/emperor_palpatine.png?format=100w 100w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5355d604e4b03c3e9896e131/70941a80-0e78-4cf0-b734-136049218d5a/emperor_palpatine.png?format=300w 300w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5355d604e4b03c3e9896e131/70941a80-0e78-4cf0-b734-136049218d5a/emperor_palpatine.png?format=500w 500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5355d604e4b03c3e9896e131/70941a80-0e78-4cf0-b734-136049218d5a/emperor_palpatine.png?format=750w 750w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5355d604e4b03c3e9896e131/70941a80-0e78-4cf0-b734-136049218d5a/emperor_palpatine.png?format=1000w 1000w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5355d604e4b03c3e9896e131/70941a80-0e78-4cf0-b734-136049218d5a/emperor_palpatine.png?format=1500w 1500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5355d604e4b03c3e9896e131/70941a80-0e78-4cf0-b734-136049218d5a/emperor_palpatine.png?format=2500w 2500w" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-loader="sqs"></p> <p> <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper"> <p class="">via the comic artistry and dry wit of Randall Munroe, creator of XKCD</p> </figcaption></p></figure><p><a href="https://www.infosecurity.us/blog/2025/11/14/randall-munroes-xkcd-emperor-palpatine">Permalink</a></p><p> </p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/randall-munroes-xkcd-emperor-palpatine/" data-a2a-title="Randall Munroe’s XKCD ‘’Emperor Palpatine”"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Frandall-munroes-xkcd-emperor-palpatine%2F&amp;linkname=Randall%20Munroe%E2%80%99s%20XKCD%20%E2%80%98%E2%80%99Emperor%20Palpatine%E2%80%9D" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Frandall-munroes-xkcd-emperor-palpatine%2F&amp;linkname=Randall%20Munroe%E2%80%99s%20XKCD%20%E2%80%98%E2%80%99Emperor%20Palpatine%E2%80%9D" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Frandall-munroes-xkcd-emperor-palpatine%2F&amp;linkname=Randall%20Munroe%E2%80%99s%20XKCD%20%E2%80%98%E2%80%99Emperor%20Palpatine%E2%80%9D" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Frandall-munroes-xkcd-emperor-palpatine%2F&amp;linkname=Randall%20Munroe%E2%80%99s%20XKCD%20%E2%80%98%E2%80%99Emperor%20Palpatine%E2%80%9D" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Frandall-munroes-xkcd-emperor-palpatine%2F&amp;linkname=Randall%20Munroe%E2%80%99s%20XKCD%20%E2%80%98%E2%80%99Emperor%20Palpatine%E2%80%9D" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div><p class="syndicated-attribution">*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from <a href="https://www.infosecurity.us/">Infosecurity.US</a> authored by <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/author/0/" title="Read other posts by Marc Handelman">Marc Handelman</a>. Read the original post at: <a href="https://xkcd.com/3157/">https://xkcd.com/3157/</a> </p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div>

Security Degradation in AI-Generated Code: A Threat Vector CISOs Can’t Ignore

  • Matias Madou
  • Published date: 2025-11-14 00:00:00

None

<p><span data-contrast="auto">Security leaders and developers alike are already acutely aware that <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/10/the-risks-of-ai-generated-software-development/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AI coding assistants</a> and agentic agents can introduce vulnerabilities into the code they generate. </span><a href="https://arxiv.org/html/2506.11022v1" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span data-contrast="none">A recent study</span></a><span data-contrast="auto"> unveiled another critical concern to keep them up at night — LLMs used for making iterative code improvements may introduce new vulnerabilities over time, even when explicitly asked to make code more secure.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Researchers from the University of San Francisco, the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Toronto and the University of Massachusetts Boston analyzed 400 code samples across 40 rounds of ‘improvements’ using four prompting strategies — one of which explicitly asked the LLM to improve security or fix vulnerabilities — and found a 37.6% increase in critical vulnerabilities after just five iterations.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><p><span data-contrast="auto">This counterintuitive problem, which the authors refer to in the report’s title as a ‘paradox’, underscores once again the absolute need for fully trained, skilled human developers to maintain oversight of the development loop, even when AI tools are doing much of the work.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">The study offers several recommendations to help organizations mitigate the risks of what the authors call ‘feedback loop security degradation’, stressing the importance of human-AI collaboration, with human developers taking a hand regularly (and literally) in the process. However, those recommendations also hinge on developers having a medium-to-high level of security proficiency, which is an area where many developers fall short. It’s up to organizations to ensure that developers possess current, verified security skills to work effectively in tandem with AI assistants and agents.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><h3 aria-level="2"><span data-contrast="none">Vulnerabilities Rise With Each LLM Iteration</span><span data-ccp-props='{"134245418":true,"134245529":true,"335559738":160,"335559739":80}'> </span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">LLMs have been a boon for developers since OpenAI’s ChatGPT was publicly released in November 2022, followed by other AI models. Developers were quick to utilize the tools, which significantly increased productivity for overtaxed development teams. However, that productivity boost came with security concerns, such as AI models trained on flawed code from internal or publicly available repositories. Those models introduced vulnerabilities that sometimes spread throughout the entire software ecosystem.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">One way to address the problem was by using LLMs to make iterative improvements to code-level security during the development process, under the assumption that LLMs, given the job of correcting mistakes, would amend them. The study, however, turns that assumption on its head. Although previous studies (and extensive real-world experience, including </span><a href="https://www.securecodewarrior.com/article/ai-coding-assistants-a-guide-to-security-safe-navigation-for-the-next-generation-of-developers"><span data-contrast="none">our own data</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">) have demonstrated that an LLM can introduce </span><a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/06/13/genai-code-mistakes-copilot-gemini-chatgpt"><span data-contrast="none">vulnerabilities in the code it </span></a><span data-contrast="auto">generates</span><span data-contrast="auto">, this study went a step further, finding that iterative refinement of code can introduce new errors. For example, the study details the ‘inverse phenomenon’ of how a tool designed to fix vulnerable code via iterative feedback can actually degrade code, even when the code is initially secure. As an iteration chain — a sequence of iterations without human intervention — grows, the rate of vulnerability introduction also rises with it. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">The security degradation introduced in the feedback loop raises troubling questions for developers, tool designers and AI safety researchers. The answer to those questions, the authors write, involves human intervention. Developers, for instance, must maintain control of the development process, viewing AI as a collaborative assistant rather than an autonomous tool. Designers are required to incorporate security features into their tools to detect potential vulnerabilities and provide alerts when they are identified. Additionally, safety researchers must develop new mechanisms, including automated tools, that identify problematic code to prevent security degradation. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">The authors of the study offer five steps toward mitigating security degradation when using AI tools:</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><p><i><span data-contrast="auto">Require developer reviews between iterations.</span></i><span data-contrast="auto"> This step would draw on human expertise as the first line of defense, providing a level of quality control that can’t be automated. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><p><i><span data-contrast="auto">Limit consecutive LLM iterations</span></i><span data-contrast="auto">. As vulnerabilities become more common later in an iteration chain, organizations should allow no more than three LLM-only iterations before resetting the chain.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><p><i><span data-contrast="auto">Review each iteration</span></i><span data-contrast="auto">. Leveraging both human expertise and automated tools, organizations should check their security at each step, rather than waiting until the end of a sequence of iterations.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><p><i><span data-contrast="auto">Apply conventional static analysis tools between iterations</span></i><span data-contrast="auto">. Be sure to use these tools as complements to, rather than replacements for, human expertise.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><p><i><span data-contrast="auto">Monitor code complexity</span></i><span data-contrast="auto">. The study found that the likelihood of new vulnerabilities increases with the complexity of the code, so human reviewers need to be alert whenever code complexity rises. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">The common thread in these recommendations is the requirement for human expertise, which is anything but guaranteed. Software engineers typically receive </span><a href="https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news/we-must-consider-software-developers-key-part-cybersecurity-workforce" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span data-contrast="none">very little security upskilling</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">, if any at all, and have traditionally focused on quickly creating applications, upgrades and services while letting security teams chase after any pesky flaws later on. With AI tools accelerating the pace of DevOps environments, organizations must equip developers with the requisite skills to ensure secure code throughout the software development life cycle (SDLC) if they want to maintain security. To achieve this, organizations must implement ongoing educational programs that provide developers with the necessary skills.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><h3 aria-level="2"><span data-contrast="none">Skills Developers Must Have to Keep AI in Check</span><span data-ccp-props='{"134245418":true,"134245529":true,"335559738":160,"335559739":80}'> </span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">Forward-thinking organizations are working with developers in applying a security-first mindset to the SDLC, in line with the goals of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA’s) </span><a href="https://www.cisa.gov/securebydesign" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span data-contrast="none">Secure by Design</span></a><span data-contrast="auto"> initiative. This includes a continuous program of agile, hands-on upskilling in sessions designed to meet developers’ needs. For example, training is tailored to the work they do in the programming languages they use, while being available on a schedule that fits their busy workdays. Better still, the security proficiency of humans and their AI coding assistants should be benchmarked, with security leaders able to access data-driven insights on both developer security proficiency and the security accuracy of any commits made with the assistance of AI tooling and agents. Would it not be beneficial to monitor who used what to better manage code review, or verify when we know a particular LLM is failing at specific tasks or vulnerability classes?</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">An effective upskilling program not only helps ensure that developers can create secure code, but also that they are equipped to review AI-generated code, identifying and correcting flaws as they appear — whether they first occur in generated AI code or later on during iterative security ‘improvements’. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">The recent study emphasizes what was already becoming clear — direct human oversight is essential to secure code, especially as AI tools become more pervasive. It is at the heart of cybersecurity in an increasingly distributed computing ecosystem. The problems resulting from iterative code improvements can’t be solved with a prompt, as proved by LLMs that introduce security vulnerabilities even after being expressly prompted to fix vulnerabilities. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Even in this new era of AI-generated coding, skilled human supervision remains essential. CISOs must prioritize upskilling programs that could equip their critical human workforce with those skills.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/security-degradation-in-ai-generated-code-a-threat-vector-cisos-cant-ignore/" data-a2a-title="Security Degradation in AI-Generated Code: A Threat Vector CISOs Can’t Ignore"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fsecurity-degradation-in-ai-generated-code-a-threat-vector-cisos-cant-ignore%2F&amp;linkname=Security%20Degradation%20in%20AI-Generated%20Code%3A%20A%20Threat%20Vector%20CISOs%20Can%E2%80%99t%20Ignore" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fsecurity-degradation-in-ai-generated-code-a-threat-vector-cisos-cant-ignore%2F&amp;linkname=Security%20Degradation%20in%20AI-Generated%20Code%3A%20A%20Threat%20Vector%20CISOs%20Can%E2%80%99t%20Ignore" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fsecurity-degradation-in-ai-generated-code-a-threat-vector-cisos-cant-ignore%2F&amp;linkname=Security%20Degradation%20in%20AI-Generated%20Code%3A%20A%20Threat%20Vector%20CISOs%20Can%E2%80%99t%20Ignore" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fsecurity-degradation-in-ai-generated-code-a-threat-vector-cisos-cant-ignore%2F&amp;linkname=Security%20Degradation%20in%20AI-Generated%20Code%3A%20A%20Threat%20Vector%20CISOs%20Can%E2%80%99t%20Ignore" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fsecurity-degradation-in-ai-generated-code-a-threat-vector-cisos-cant-ignore%2F&amp;linkname=Security%20Degradation%20in%20AI-Generated%20Code%3A%20A%20Threat%20Vector%20CISOs%20Can%E2%80%99t%20Ignore" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div>

TDL 009 | Inside DNS Threat Intelligence: Privacy, Security & Innovation

  • None
  • Published date: 2025-11-14 00:00:00

None

<h1><a name="p-3329-summary-1" class="anchor" href="https://support.adamnet.works/#p-3329-summary-1"></a>Summary</h1><p><strong>Inside DNS Threat Intelligence: Privacy, Security &amp; Innovation</strong></p><p>In this episode of the Defenders Log, host David Redekop speaks with Tim Adams, the founder of the protective DNS resolver Scout DNS. Tim shares his origin story, explaining how he transitioned from a wireless network integrator to building his own DNS solution. He saw a need for an affordable, effective content filter for nonprofits and schools after OpenDNS was acquired by Cisco. What started as “Church DNS” in 2017 evolved into Scout DNS, a project Tim notes was far more complex than he initially imagined. He emphasizes that Scout DNS is bootstrapped and “private equity unencumbered,” a key selling point for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) who value stability.</p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><p>The discussion covers several key DNS topics, including the challenge of balancing strong threat intelligence against false positives and the need to move beyond traditional threat feeds. Tim advocates for a zero-trust model that blocks unclassified or newly seen domains to shrink the attack surface. He also explains why Scout DNS adopted DNS over HTTPS (DoH) for its roaming clients, as it reliably uses port 443.</p><p>Looking ahead, Tim predicts a fractured internet with differing regional standards for privacy, weighing government access against corporate tracking. He concludes by highlighting the three reasons MSPs choose Scout DNS: a strong <strong>product</strong> built on word-of-mouth, a flexible month-to-month <strong>billing</strong> model, and high-touch customer <strong>service</strong>.</p><p>Full episode of The Defender’s Log here:</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R97vq2yRFNU">Inside DNS Threat Intelligence: Privacy, Security &amp; Innovation | Tim Adams | The Defender’s Log</a></p><h1><a name="p-3329-tldr-2" class="anchor" href="https://support.adamnet.works/#p-3329-tldr-2"></a>TL;DR</h1><ul> <li><strong>Tim Adams</strong> founded <strong>Scout DNS</strong>, a bootstrapped (non-VC-funded) protective DNS service.</li> <li>He created it to provide an affordable alternative for users like nonprofits and schools after <strong>OpenDNS</strong> was acquired by Cisco.</li> <li>Tim advocates for DNS security to move beyond “known threat” lists and adopt a <strong>zero-trust</strong> approach by blocking unclassified or unknown domains.</li> <li>He discusses technical challenges (like DoH vs. DoT) and the philosophical debate between <strong>privacy and security</strong>.</li> <li>Tim predicts a “fractured” internet in the future, with different regions enforcing their own distinct privacy and data access rules.</li> <li>He highlights that Scout DNS appeals to Managed Service Providers (MSPs) because of its strong product, flexible <strong>no-contract billing</strong>, and direct customer service.</li> </ul><hr><h1><a name="p-3329-links-3" class="anchor" href="https://support.adamnet.works/#p-3329-links-3"></a>Links</h1><p>View it on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R97vq2yRFNU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R97vq2yRFNU</a></p><p><strong>Listen to the episode on your favourite podcast platform:</strong></p><p>Apple<br> <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-dns-threat-intelligence-tim-adams-on-privacy/id1829031081?i=1000736737274">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-dns-threat-intelligence-tim-adams-on-privacy/id1829031081?i=1000736737274</a></p><p>Spotify<br> <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/32Nqh1PDenWzVOnCWhDueN">https://open.spotify.com/episode/32Nqh1PDenWzVOnCWhDueN</a></p><p>Amazon Music<br> <a href="https://music.amazon.ca/podcasts/d7aa9a19-d092-42a6-9fe9-9e8d81f68d30/episodes/20ec32d8-6d6e-4179-8711-660442af690d/the-defender's-log-podcast-inside-dns-threat-intelligence-tim-adams-on-privacy-security-innovation">https://music.amazon.ca/podcasts/d7aa9a19-d092-42a6-9fe9-9e8d81f68d30/episodes/20ec32d8-6d6e-4179-8711-660442af690d/the-defender’s-log-podcast-inside-dns-threat-intelligence-tim-adams-on-privacy-security-innovation</a></p><p>ADAMnetworks<br> <a href="https://adamnet.works/">https://adamnet.works</a></p><hr><p><strong>The Defender’s Log – Episode 009 Transcript</strong></p><hr><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> You don’t really know DNS until you’re in DNS.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> If there’s one thing you could force upon the world as it relates to DNS, would there be anything that comes to mind?</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> Everything that goes in that ten millisecond response has to be done in nanoseconds.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> What’s the terrible dystopia we are sleepwalking into that we need to pay close attention to as internet defenders?</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> Every year we have thousands of more arrests of CSAM abuse cases from the internet.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> If we want privacy for ourselves, we’re going to have privacy for the criminal.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> We try to make sure that in our case, every data center can operate autonomously from the core.</p><p><strong>Narrator:</strong> Deep in the digital shadows, where threats hide behind any random byte, a fearless crew of cybersecurity warriors guards the line between chaos and order. Their epic battles rarely spoken of until today. Welcome to the Defenders Log, where we crack open the secrets of top security chiefs, CISOs, and architects who faced the abyss and won. Here’s your host, David Redekop.</p><hr><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> Welcome back to another episode of the Defenders Log. And I’m always excited for the days that I get to record one of these because I get to connect with and learn about people in the defender space. And today I have someone with us on this show that has real-life experience in the area of DNS threat intelligence, standing up a public resolver, making it available to managed service providers. And I’m glad to have you. Thank you for coming on, Tim Adams. No relation to Adam Networks, but I love it that we have “Adam” and our comment in our name. Welcome.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> Appreciate you having me. And yeah, who knows? There might be something in there. We have to go check and look that up, but no, appreciate you having me, and it’s a privilege to be here. I’ve seen, you know, familiar with the show and seen a couple of the episodes and so, yeah, it’s really cool to be here.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> Well, I always like to recount how we met and how we even connected. And I actually just found you online in search of, “I wonder who else is doing this Anycast protective DNS thing.” And when I saw you and I saw this is, you know, put together by an actual engineer who did a lot of the work, and you had some online presence on LinkedIn. We connected and then what’s funny is one day I’m coming back from Montreal and I stopped by in Kingston to meet up with an old friend, Andy. And Andy knows about you. He’s already talked to you for a number of years off and on. So, anyway, it’s really neat when you connect with someone and then someone else knows the same person, right? And so, the degrees of separation are actually a lot less than we often think. So, I really get to glad to get to know you better.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> Awesome. Same. You know, I’ve seen you. I know you’ve been involved in a lot of the different initiatives around DNS the last couple of years and especially around the zero trust concept or you’re, you know, as you call it, Do Not Talk to Strangers, and your collaboration with Tommy and some other things. And so, yeah. And that’s been, it’s cool to kind of watch some of this from outside and then have conversation with you about it in detail. It’s, it’s pretty neat.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> Tim, I’m wondering always about how someone got to their initial aha moment when it became clear that you were destined to do something cool for the world in the area of DNS. What would you point to your first aha moment that you had?</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> You know, so, for for me, this is going back, you know, you know, 2010. So somewhere between, you know, 2010, 2015, I’d been running a wireless network integrator. We kind of a network engineering, been specializing in high-density wireless. And nowadays, it’s a little bit easier. The software does a lot of the magic, but, you know, ten years ago, it didn’t. And it was a lot more difficult to cram 2,000 people into a small area and provide, you know, really quality wireless. And we were going through a period of time where where it was becoming more popular and we were deploying, you know, wireless, high-density wireless into areas that had not had it before. And so, in many cases, they didn’t have sort of this, you know, enterprise firewall doing filtering. And so, they needed, you know, all of a sudden, go from having ten people on the internet to occasionally having four or 500 or 800 people on the internet or 1,000 people on the internet.</p><p>And it was, how do we provide some level of, you know, content filtering and protection for for this without buying a $20,000 box? This is what what kind of the expense was for that type of a box, you know, you know, ten 15 years ago. And so, we would often recommend for folks to use OpenDNS. It had been a great product. It’s easy to use. You, you know, they were sort of, you know, pioneering a lot of that, you know, cloud-based, you know, filtering resolver that you could configure and sort of manage the policy. And so, we would recommend folks to that all the time. And of course, somewhere in 2015, 2016, Cisco bought OpenDNS, and, you know, Cisco started to do what Cisco does, and things started to change a little bit immediately. And so, for smaller use cases, it immediately became more expensive. And we were dealing with a lot of nonprofits. Sometimes, you know, churches and, you know, nonprofit centers and church schools that that had different, you know, use cases of of the way DNS is used is different. So, licensing didn’t always match. Didn’t make sense for them.</p><p>I’d gone to my team and and said, “Hey, you know, why don’t we just purchase something, we, we’ll white label it and we’ll resell it?” And I thought that was a great idea. You know, we’ll just resell this this resolver and and, you know, gets, you know, use as an extra extra, you know, revenue. And when I went through the exercise of sort of pricing that out, it was much more expensive than I thought it was going to be to license some of these, you know, instead of trying to build it from open source. I thought, you know, “Well, we could just build it.” And then when we started to kind of craft what it would look like to build, it’s like we were going to add this and add this in a UI, and maybe we’ll do Anycast and have policies and multi-tenancy. And, you know, it cost about four X what I thought.</p><p>You know, building it, you know, the concept of a DNS sink is relatively simple, and there are simple tools to do that like in your home network today. And there were many years ago. But when you have multi-policy and different, you know, different rules in your policy engine, when you make it multi-tenant, and when you add, you know, deeper reporting and visibility and more advanced strategies, it becomes complicated very quickly. And so, yeah, so I was a little naive up front, you know, kind of getting started into this, to be honest with you. Both in just everything just cost a lot more and more time, more energy. Adding Tim team members from an engineering standpoint was was more complicated.</p><p>But yeah, so, you know, here we are, you know, we we launched it as as in 2017. Kind of launched the product. We had 100 customers in the first year. We were originally called Church DNS because we had, you know, for whatever reason that time frame, a lot of these churches, you know, large churches were adding wireless to their sanctuaries. And then we’re also doing a lot of church schools and then, you know, other schools and, you know, different things like that. And so, yeah, so long story short, that’s kind of how we got involved. It was just sort of a side project. I sold my wireless integrator about a, you know, about a year later. And it wasn’t large enough for me to sort of like go full-time. So, I went back. I’d taken my first enterprise job in a couple of years. First job I’ve had probably in almost 20 years. And so, that was just it was kind of nice just to do some enterprise sales for a while because it was much easier than the whole entrepreneurship stack of, you know, collection of finance and operations and engineering. Just kind of focus on one thing.</p><p>And as soon as, you know, we had an opportunity to go full-time, and rebranded the product in 2019 as more diverse type of customer came to us. And, yeah, so that’s how Scout DNS was kind of relaunched and reborn in 2019. But that’s kind of how, I guess I sort of stumbled into it, right? And yeah, the goal goal really at the time was to bring there were a lot of cool, you know, cloud-based network stacks, cloud, you know, cloud-based network management stacks. And and I felt like, “Hey, why don’t we sort of make it, you know, object-based control, a nicer UI, easier to configure, easier to manage? Bring that to, you know, DNS control and and manageability.” And so, that was the concept there. So, yeah.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> I really enjoyed getting to know your product and you for last little while. And you certainly have some very unique features and a very easy to understand environment. So, I definitely recommend it from my initial perspective running it as part of my DNS Harmony fleet of resolvers. So, it’s, it’s pretty cool, especially when I put it to the test. And I would also like to add that you are private equity unencumbered, right? So, you can run your business as you see fit. And MSPs that sign up for your services don’t have to worry about, you know, things getting flipped tomorrow.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> That’s correct. Yeah. No, that’s, you know, we we’ve been mostly bootstrapped. It’s not to say that we, you know, we don’t have a couple of angel or we’ve done a couple of incubator rounds, but we’ve not done any like major, you know, institutional round funding. And, you know, for the most part, we’re we’re sort of looking to avoid that. It’s not to say that if we never had the right situation, but we really don’t want a scenario where if you look at sort of, you know, modern seed-type investing or or beyond seed, the series A, any type of series investment, you know, you wind up in perpetual fundraising, series A, B, C, D, and and the economics have changed over the la, you know, since co over the last few years, the economics have changed a lot. So, you know, for us, you know, we we’ve sort of I don’t know if I’d say I’ve enjoyed the bootstrap route because it’s certainly not easy, but, you know, we we reached profitability, you know, sort of late last year. And so, you it’s definitely rewarding to to be in complete control of the product and the destiny and not have to answer to folks who are just worried about an exit. So, yeah.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> Yeah. Bootstrapping most definitely takes a certain kind of person, right? It requires persistence. It requires patience. And I would argue that a lot of the MSPs around the world that should get to know you would put a high level of appreciation on that characteristic where they realize they’re dealing with a business where at the first sound of difficulty there isn’t just an exit or an escape, but rather a persistence to work through it. And that ultimately is how you build resilience. And any business that you know is going to do business with you, even from a protective resolver type service, because there’s a lot of dependencies on there, right? Like, there’s a lot of trust that someone puts into your services, especially if it’s the only one. Then it needs to have a high uptime. And so, your historic uptime also adds a value. So, all of these things go through the decision-making matrix of a would-be buyer of your services. You know, what kind of a person is Tim? How long has he been doing this? You know, what’s the uptime of the service like? What’s the development cycle like of the service offering? Especially in a space that is not only crowded, but DNS is like the underdog and sometimes gets beaten up for stuff that wasn’t really DNS’s fault.</p><p>We had a good discussion about the AWS outage where everybody says it’s always DNS. Well, yes and no. The argument there was that it was actually the data in the DNS because the service itself wasn’t broken. It wasn’t patched to be fixed, right? It was actually data that was incorrect that came through an automation source. And so, by not getting through the nuances of what’s going on, then DNS gets the blame, and then that ends up ultimately affecting the industry. So,</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> even even beyond that, if you look at the AWS instance, most of the services that were impacted were impacted because of their architecture, not just because of that one failure, but their dependencies on services that aren’t redundant and aren’t resilient. And, you know, DNS is extremely resilient. And we’ve had 100% uptime on our Anycast, knocking on everything, you know, since we launched it almost seven years ago. And that’s just the nature of of that is the nature of, you know, BGP. And if you build things correctly, you know, it doesn’t mean that you can’t have, you know, regional or peering issues and different things like that that can happen. But if you’ve designed it well, those are very few and far between and they’re easier to recover from.</p><p>And so, yeah, you know, I there’s there’s a quick commentary when, you know, something like that issue happens with I think it was the US East and all the dependencies that were kind of built around that. But we try to make sure that in our case, every data center can operate autonomously from the core. You know, we have replication everywhere. If everything fails, you things just fall over. So, there’s really no point where something is it doesn’t mean that like the UI can’t break or could potentially have an issue with logging, even though we have redundant logging clusters and failovers and those kinds of things. It doesn’t mean that that can’t happen.</p><p>But, you know, there’s a lot of work and and from a bootstrapping standpoint, the exciting thing about that is that when you don’t have, you know, sort of a lot of times when you have millions of dollars, you just throw that at marketing or you throw that at engineering and you just, you know, you scale up, you know, all these microservices and serverless technologies and so, you’re not worried about cost upfront. So, you’re really not less efficient. So, for us, we’ve had to be we’ve had to build this way and do so in a very efficient manner, very capital, you know. Customers want 100% uptime, but they also don’t want to pay, you know, a fortune either, right? So, you know, bootstrap has had some advantages there as well in being resilient and and being fast and available, but doing it in an efficient way. So,</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I can concur with same kind of an experience where, even though we’ve also taken some seed investment, our focus has been from day one to be as efficient as possible. A good example we often use is, why use the cloud when on-prem will do? There are some things that absolutely must be in the cloud. And there are other things for which it does not make sense when you can stand up, you know, your white box with Proxmox on it and throw 50 VMs on it for a one-time capital expense as opposed to, you know, a monthly virtual machine cost. So,</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> well, even when you say cloud, I mean, the cloud, you know, it’s such a broad term. Does that mean are you talking about, you know, serverless, you know, options where you really have no visibility and control? Again, I’m not trying to use, you know, names specifically, but there are there are certain platforms that make money on the the fact that code is often inefficient and the more inefficient the process, the more money the infrastructure provider makes because they’re essentially charging you for time and resource. You can also use cloud and just rent machines. For us, it makes a lot more sense because our traffic is relatively predictable. I spin up users in a region. I know what that’s going to I know how that’s going to affect that region. So, yeah, and those are a lot more predictable and manageable from a cost standpoint.</p><p>So, yeah, I think and it absolutely, we’ve seen cases where people have written about, you know, leaving, you know, large cloud providers and going back inside and running racks and, you know, bringing in peers and doing it themselves. And, yeah, I mean, a lot of times that can make a lot more sense, but there are also a lot more secondary infrastructure providers that have great products and great solutions that folks should consider when they are looking out there. There and especially as we know that the big tier ones are not 100% flawless, that obviously things happen as we’ve seen over the years. This hasn’t been the first time we’ve seen global impact from, you know, tier one provider issues. So,</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> so, let’s jump to the superpower of a protective resolver, which is, you know, your DNS threat intelligence. What has been your funnest learning lesson in building an integrated DNS threat intelligence platform?</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> That is a a good question. I think it’s really the challenge of how do we maintain a good quality of product while also reducing false positives. You know, you can’t just go out and grab and it’s it’s funny, you know, people talk about these, you know, DNS filtering or DNS protection tests where they go out and they pull these lists and they throw everything at at the list. And a lot of times that’s a really bad way to do it because and I’ve seen there are there are vendors out there who who pull these free lists in just to pass tests when 90% of that list is a false positive now, right? Because, you know, a lot of times these things get cleaned very very quickly, especially when they impact commercial commercial use.</p><p>So, yeah, so really being able to, you know, kind of scale out that without having too many false um false reports because you want to balance protection without interruption. Also, you know, you want to there are certain types of challenges around, you know, CDNs and all the domains around that are involved in, you know, these content servers. And so, and threats that can pop up around those. But, you know, being able to manage that without impacting downstream services and so having strategies. So, yeah, so there there’s a lot that goes involved in. So, you know, we we do some of our own threat intelligence, but we also source a large chunk from different providers and some quality feeds that we feel are historically very No one, you know, we we just wouldn’t have enough volume globally if it was just us, right, to capture everything and see everything. So, you know, we we partner with some folks and then go out and source source some other feeds. Then we also go back and curate, right, to try to improve the quality of those. So, that that can certainly can be a challenge and one that’s just kind of ongoing.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> Yeah, it’s not a small number science problem. So, any statisticians out there who who look at, you know, doing statistics, I mean, the simplest way that I always introduce it to new folks interested in stats any which way is just think about a billion by a billion matrix. And that is what you’re working with, right? Especially as you’re dealing with the interaction and intersection with various domains where one meets another and they end up being part of the same threat actor’s stack or part of the same registrar and resolve to the same place.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> Yeah, there’s certainly a lot of DNS metadata we can look at that, you know, registries, neighborhoods, you know, IP ranges or IP networks, I should say, ASNs, for instance, bulletproof hosts tend to be places where a lot of things are. You know, so we’re we’re trying to do a better job of of understanding, you know, trying to create new policy protection options for end users on things like, you know, can we block all bulletproof host providers? Can we, you know, block have different character types that we can block within? So, yeah, there there’s some some cool things you can do from a policy standpoint, but just even identifying where the threats are likely to come from based on other attributes is a fun exercise to to practice, too. So,</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> right. Reminds me of a a recent client that we onboarded and immediately after getting onboarded, we watched this punycode domain come across our non-punycode interpreted list. And cuz they stand out like a sore thumb, right? And so, so I actually had to paste it into a browser to see what it’s supposed to be. So, it turned out to be a trader that was using <a href="https://tradingview.com/">tradingview.com</a> except that they weren’t using the real <a href="https://tradingview.com/">tradingview.com</a>.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> Right.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> And so, just that’s the first time I had come across a punycode abused in the wild as we were onboarding a client. So, that’s interesting.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> Yeah.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> Um, you were also early on, if I’m not mistaken, Tim, with doing encryption from your customers to your Anycast nodes, doing offering DoT, DoH, DoQ.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> How did that go for you? You know, so, you know, we we kind of, um, really circled around DoH, which is really that’s a whole another topic in and of itself, right? I think in a lot of ways, most of us in security would make an argument that DoH probably should have never really been created. And in in a lot of ways, was not really necessary because the folks, if you if you really look at, you know, the folks who brought us DoH, uh, they weren’t really thinking about really security or privacy. I know a lot of it was done in in the guise of privacy. And I know, you know, Dr. Paul Vixie has written extensively about a lot of this.</p><p>But, yeah, so, I I think that, you know, for us, we we really kind of circled around DoH specifically for roaming clients. And that’s really kind of where originally came for us is we have from a commercial the commercial use case, DNS is very different from that of of a home user. And, and so a lot of different things the commercial end user takes into account the administrator. And so, for us, when we looked at deploying roaming clients a few years ago, we wanted to do it with encryption as a native. We wanted to to just be full-time encrypted all the time from from the Windows or Mac OS up to our Anycast or our network.</p><p>And in doing that, we circled around DoH because the problem with DoT, although it’s great from a standstill network provider’s point of view, for a roaming client that is roaming around the world into different people’s networks where you do not have control over the firewalls and the ports that are available, right, port 443 is more likely to slip through and be unencumbered. And so, we don’t have to design all these failback mechanisms to go from, you know, DoT to just standard port 53 DNS. And then, guess what, if port 53 DNS is also restricted, which it can be in certain networks as well, well then then you’re just sort of, you know, no no no protection at all. And so, that’s kind of what we did. So, for our specific use case, DoH was great. And it’s it’s worked well there. But, yeah, so that that was early on. But and you know it it you know there’s sort of this topic that, you know, DoH adds all this overhead and particularly compared to, obviously, there’s some overhead compared to just standard port 53 DNS. But between DoH and DoT, I don’t not really notice that much of a difference from an overhead standpoint. But from a practical use case, it it’s it’s worked pretty well for us. So,</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> Right. Right. I also noticed that at the IETF, as in the IETF circles, that there’s a very strong movement towards DoQ just to move it over to UDP. So, looks like we’ve come full circle from going UDP back to UDP, except that the average packet size is like, I don’t know, X number at times larger. But we also have the bandwidth and the capacity today to sustain that. And so, I think where we’ll end up is probably there or is there something else that you see happening?</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> There’s always something else on the edges, right? I think that’s probably where the industry will push in the next, you know, couple of years. How quickly it gets adopted, I don’t know. We’ve we may there there are some use cases still where bandwidth can be an issue. In general, I agree with you that that’s become less of an issue around the world. And so, I think there’s a good argument for it.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> Right. Now, speaking of of adoption and with your background and having lived and breathed this in the DNS world for all this long, if there’s one thing you could force upon the world as it relates to DNS, would there be anything that comes to mind?</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> You know, I just don’t have like authoritarian vibes in me. So, when people ask me questions about what would you force everyone, I, you know, I don’t know. That’s a really good question. You know, from a protection standpoint, one of the things that I I like about what you’re doing with Do Not Talk to Strangers and the whole concept of, you know, zero trust DNS is moving away from the idea that known threat tracking is good enough. And so, I just think, you know, people having the right mentality of yes, we can, you know, take these threat feeds and threat intelligence and we can design sort of like this machine learning, you know, real time. I think people have to think beyond the threat feed and what are the strategies that we can do? And what what can we put in place that shrink the attack surface from the unknown, right? Or against the unknown.</p><p>And and so that’s what I like a lot about the work that you’re doing and things that we’re doing around the concepts of our zero trust TLD control, concepts around, you know, how do we unclassified management and quarantine those kinds of things. Yeah. So, I think just just some mindset shift around recognizing that threat feeds alone are not good enough because we’ve seen a huge increase in the use of, you know, malicious domains that are used for hours, you know, day or even hours in some cases and moved on from. And by the time they’ve made it to, you know, a lot of people for the last several years the idea of newly registered domains has been, you know, it’s a good concept but has a lot of weaknesses because, you know, it takes people don’t realize it takes 20, you know, first of registry organization management. They they they don’t even necessarily in some cases, uh, when you look at country codes, they don’t even have to provide the information. And so, uh, it’s sort of like a voluntary matrix of providers that collect.</p><p>And some people would say, “Well, Tim, don’t you just, you know, use ‘who is’ data to to to find out if something is?” Well, people don’t understand, if you want a 10 millisecond response, everything that goes in that 10 millisecond response has to be done in nanoseconds, right? I have to make all these decisions with data centers. So, that data has to be kind of pulled out. It takes 24 hours plus, sometimes 3 days for some of those newly registered domains to hit list. It doesn’t protect you against, you know, just FQDNs of existing apex domains that aren’t newly registered. So, what do you that completely ignores that concept. So, that’s something we focused really big on on blocking unclassified and how to make that, you know, domains that just haven’t been seen before, really, which is really what they are, whether they’re the subdomain of a known apex or a brand new, you know, newly registered domain.</p><p>So, just the concept of, you know, how do we sort of shrink the attack surface, which is what I like about working in B2B or commercial side. It’s much more difficult on the residential side because it’s kind of you can’t, you know, someone who’s who’s, you know, a consumer working from home, the expectation is that the internet’s available to me. Well, in a corporate world, it’s less. You typically are using the same services, the same domains day after, you know, day in and day out. There’s there’s less of a need in many use cases to sort of have the entire web available at any given moment. So, how do we shrink that? And, yeah, so yeah, just I guess back to your original question, just thinking about security outside of the traditional threat feed scope. So,</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> yeah. And what the other thing that I noticed is that you offer a resource record control type as well. And we have in in the last little while experimented with that with great success where a typical network of user devices that don’t house servers or any backend infrastructure, user devices with computers, with smartphones, don’t need TXT records or null records or, you know, all the private types. They need A and quad A records and that’s it. And so, I noticed that you also offer resource record type control. How did you arrive at that conclusion? Was there already threats that were abusing that? Because I thought that was relatively modern that non-typical records were used abusively.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> Well, a lot of that was when we look at like DNS exfiltration, right? So, traditionally, the tools that do that a lot of times are built around the null record or or the text record. Those were the two easiest because the payloads were more flexible, right, for the exfiltrator when you and of course, now there are a lot there are tools that will do that with the A records today too. So, you can it is it’s a little bit easier to notice in a lot of cases because the amount of queries are much higher. But, yeah, so a lot of that just came in in the the concept of and then back to your to the idea of do we really need this?</p><p>So, so beyond moving beyond exfiltration, there are use cases where you don’t need different record types, right? Everyone like you said needs A and, you know, quad A record types. But outside of that, you know, text records have and we’ve, you know, text records, there are legitimate use cases for text records. There are a lot of applications that sort of use DNS in telemetry in certain ways that not necessarily malicious, but it’s not obvious from from from an end user standpoint either. So, I wouldn’t it’s sort of a gray area. So, yeah, generally speaking, you can restrict the record types for a lot of user classes without negative impact. So,</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> yeah, I I found a really interesting research that I did only a few months ago that across our entire client base, we’re talking about five domains that legitimately use TXT records for things like license validation and so forth. So, it was very difficult to find those even. And so, once I saw how small that number is, we said, “It makes perfect sense to just not enable that unless you are a server backend and you’re doing, you know, your ACME challenge via, you know, DNS TXT records to verify ownership and so forth.” But beyond that, it’s it’s really not that common. And of course, for MX records or for SPF validation, DPM and so forth.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> MX records on your network and you’re using, you know, Office 365, that should be a concern. Like, something,</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> right. So, I think, you know, having visibility into, having visibility which is we we really try to focus on visibility. We’re doing some really cool things the rest of this year around tracking, you know, NX domains and surveillance and bringing that more, you know, making it easier to sort of visually see the impacts of some of those. But, yeah, and and we make it easy to see different, you know, record types across your network as well. It’s one of our insight tabs. And so, yeah, there’s certainly use cases where, you know, record types can be indicators, right? So, people don’t that way, but it really can be. So,</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> yeah, absolutely. Okay, here’s a tough one. Fast forward 5 years. It’s 2030.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> Oh, man.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> What’s what’s a terrible dystopia we are sleepwalking into that we need to pay close attention to as internet defenders, maybe not just in the DNS space, but broadly speaking?</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> Man, you know, that’s a good question. And and I don’t know that there’s a global answer for that because I think I don’t know if it’s a debate, but there’s there’s a lot of, if you, I guess it is in a way, there’s a debate around security versus privacy, right? So, you’re seeing a lot of that. Is that kind of what you’re referring to in terms of like</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> I I I have this concern around the mix or the balance between security and privacy, where that gets offloaded to, where the TLS third-party termination happens, centralization of the internet, all of the things that where the economic interest is in contrast to what we are as people who love freedom for, you know, our generation and generations to follow. That’s where I feel like there’s tension, but I’m not sure how far any of us can see in the fog.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> No, I I, you know, my prediction is that we wind up, and it’s already happening today, uh, that we wind up with sort of, you know, regional standards for what privacy is and what those protections are. If you a lot of people don’t realize this, but in the UK, for example, iCloud backups are not protected by end-to-end encryption as of this year. So, if you’re an iCloud user, if you’re an iOS user in the US and you have end-to-end encryption on your iCloud backup, no one, even Apple themselves, cannot see your data, right? But if you go into the UK, legally that has been put on hold where Apple runs a completely different standard in the United Kingdom. So, yet the data is still encrypted, but Apple has access to the key. What that simply means is that in the UK, you can get a warrant and Apple has to essentially give your data over. In the US, you get a warrant. Apple gives your data over, but no one can see it, right? So, that with come comes without the key because they don’t they don’t have it.</p><p>And and you wind up with with, and it’s very interesting, right? So, if you go to the United, if you go to Europe in general, right, they they kind of have this uh it’s it’s just two completely different approach. They have very low tolerance for commercial tracking and commercial collection of data, but they have much higher tolerance for government access to data. And the US, it’s completely opposite. The US has very high tolerance for commercial tracking of data and very low tolerance for the government, you know, regulation or collection or the ability to of that. So, I think you’ll wind up with regions in the world where technologies that support end-to-end encryption have, you know, different impacts and different standards.</p><p>And so, you know, you may have places where your data is safe safer from Meta, but it’s less safe from your government. And then some regions where, well, well, you know, the corporations have all access to your data, but the government doesn’t. And, so, that’s, you know, something that I think is already happening today. I think you’re going to see a lot more of that. And, you know, every everyone’s going to, and you’re seeing more and more of this, too. Like, even us, for instance, we house European data in Europe. Anything that comes from a European resolver stored in Europe. There are other countries that are pushing the same type of concept where some countries in the Middle East are going to start wanting very soon their data in, you know, it’s got to be in country where they want access to it because it’s I don’t know safer there.</p><p>So, you you’re going to continue to see standards like that, and just just sort of fractured. I don’t think we’ll ever get a global standard because you you can’t get get people in the 50, you know, US states to agree. You can’t get people in Europe to agree on anything. So, you’ll never get a global standard. But you’ll have just these regional standards that, you know, companies sort of have to navigate around. And no, no one’s going to operate outside of the law in a specific country because you just won’t be able to operate there. You have to op we we all have to operate within the legality of the. You either have a choice. You either operate within the law or you don’t operate in that country at. So, if you want to be in country, you have to operate in that country standards. And so, yeah, so I think that’s that’s kind of where we’re headed.</p><p>And in some ways, you know, it’s kind of an interesting experiment. You you can kind of watch and you’ll be able to observe sort of the things that happen. I don’t trust, you know, we talked about this the other day. I think I was, you know, I was sharing some comments back with Andrew on this re-encryption and, you know, there’s certainly everyone wants to protect or or prevent the abuse of of users who are more likely to suffer that, right? But at the same time, we also know that privacy is protection that people can be at risk from data being exposed. And so, you know, I I think that it’s just something that we have to to to be concerned with and it’s an important debate. These are important experiments that that essentially going to be taking place. And, you know, we’ll see how it all turns out,</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> right. Yeah. The the ongoing experiment that has been going on for a number of years now. I’ll never forget the one time that either I read or or heard Moxie Marlinspike, the um founder of the Signal protocol, when he said that for liberty to exist, it must be possible to commit a crime and get away with it. And the difficulty in that statement is that if we want privacy for ourselves, by extension, we’re going to have privacy for the criminal. And so, there’s going to be this non-stop tension between law enforcement that wants less privacy and citizenry that wants more privacy. But I think we’re going to have to continue to navigate that in a way that serves us well. But the most important thing is for us to not ever have us or our children be unaware what’s at stake.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> You you raise a lot of good points there. One of the biggest, obviously, the biggest issues around end-to-end encryption is the use case of it for CSAM. And, you know, obviously, that’s something that we would all, if if we could do anything and wave a magic wand, we would obliterate that from existence and never becoming existence. But we we live in a a world where, you know, evil does exist and there are bad people who do evil things. Um, and you make a point about law enforcement. Obviously, if you look at the law enforcement or government side or intelligence community side, they always want more access to data. But the reality is, and I I looked at this the other day, even as we’ve had an an increase in end-to-end protection, every year we have thousands of more arrests of CSAM abuse cases from the internet because we have met there all law enforcement has a lot of tools, right? There’s all kinds of metadata. Uh, there is there’s, you know, in in person, there’s informants, there’s surveillance, there’s all kinds of things that are still. There’s not one tool that is used to make a case. We’ve seen cases where the intelligence community and law enforcement have run TOR exit nodes and gained access today. They probably still do, guarantee they still do today. We’ve seen very controversial cases where law enforcement has taken over CSAM sites and ran them for a month or two and collected. There’s certainly a lot of controversy around that. It’s great that we can catch the, you know, bad guys, but, you know, what is the controversy around leaving that material available for a while? Certainly that’s not without controversy.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> I did have one question for you that I noted here. Founders are never perfect in my experience. Is there any one regret of a feature that you built or a thing that you did one time and you woke up at 3:00 a.m. like, “Oh, darn.”</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> All the time. Um, yeah, you know, I I I tell people all the time this last year, 2025 was probably the first year I started to actually like my product. And so, you know, there there are things some things just take time. A lot of times we are our biggest critics, right? We um, but there there are a lot. In fact, there’s a a way that we do things today that I would do differently. And we do we do refactor things all the time. Sometimes they’re behind the scene things that didn’t really impact the end user. Sometimes there are ways that we do things in the UI that we figure out, “Hey, this is sounded good on in in my head and when I wrote it out and had a couple couple conversations.” But when we deployed it in mass and people want to use it another way, and so then you got to go back and make changes. And we’ll we’ll make some change. We have some scheduled changes for next year on how we do things with allow-block list and to make them even more object-based and better and easier for for end users. And so, you know, that that’s something that we’re going to be, you know, really really focused on next year. But, yeah, no, all the time. I mean, there’s all things that we do all the time that we wish we might have done differently. So, yeah.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> Well, an innovator entrepreneur, it’s for an innovator entrepreneur, it is impossible not to make mistakes because that is the very act of learning, right? You don’t have fear of trying something out because you see that this could provide value. And rather than analyzing things to the point of paralysis, you’re like, “Let’s do it.” And then you find out very quickly what works, what doesn’t.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> Even just the concept of Scout DNS itself, you know, I had been in running I had done general IT, you know, my my when in my, you know, sort of foray into general IT management, if talking about like servers and end users and just IT, you know, network man or just IT management general. My last major project before getting involved with networks and Scout DNS was migrating NT4 to NT2000. So, it had been a while. And I had kind of dove into networks and spent, you know, 10 15 years just dealing with networks. And and then getting back into specifically, you know, recursive DNS, you can even, you know, spend 15 years in network engineering and think you know DNS. You don’t really know DNS until you’re in DNS. And so, I’ve had I’m always learning uh learning things, you know, um, and so that’s, you know, early on I faced a lot of imposter syndrome just getting into dealing with with Scout DNS. And still and still hit that sometimes today. You know, it’s just I think it’s something that we all face because you the more you know the more you don’t know the more you know you don’t know. And and so we’re always trying to learn. But, yeah, no, it’s it’s it’s it’s a challenge.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> Right. Absolutely. Tim, if there was one domain name that you could block in the whole world, what would that be?</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> One domain name that I could block in the whole world. What would that be? You know, I don’t know if it</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> I’ll I’ll go first if you want me to and I’ll give you the reason why. I want to give some backdrop to this first. There was a gentleman that recently asked for my help to get onto Facebook as to set up an account. And he needed it for marketplace reasons. And he had never been on Facebook before. Okay. But he’d also lived most of his life with a computer with, you know, let’s say without a protective resolver of any kind. And so, when he walked through the sign-up process, he was literally jaw-dropped to the floor to see all the things that Facebook already knew about him when he never had a WhatsApp, never had an Instagram, never had a Facebook account. Okay. Where does that come from? That comes from one FQDN. If I could block out the whole world, <a href="https://connect.facebook.net/">connect.facebook.net</a>.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> Yeah.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> Because any website that says that has the little Facebook icon that just by your browser visiting that website, it actually registers with Facebook who you are, and that profiling gets collected. And so, without you even signing up for the services, they know who you are. So, that that’s that’s my background on why that would be the one.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> I was going to say, you know, probably, you know, something involved with tracking and monitoring only because even even when that’s done commercial, we know that, you know, governments purchase that data, too. So, we they kind of work around. And there’s been cases in the US where intelligence agencies have bought, and we couldn’t, you know, we’re not going to surveil the end user, but we’ll buy from the people who did surveil the end user. And so, you know, that certainly does get into a very gray situation. So, that no, that makes a lot of sense.</p><p>Yeah, I I honestly don’t. I don’t I think I I have a LinkedIn account, obviously. I have a couple of social media accounts just to have them because you have to have a personal account in some cases to have the business account. But I don’t have a social media page. I don’t spend time on social media. I don’t scroll through social media. I don’t post pictures of myself on social media. I don’t follow my family on social media. I talk to them a same person. I just am not a big social media guy. And I think the world would be better off without it. But, you know, it is what it is. So,</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> Tim, there’s not enough people that think that way today. And I think that’s part of the issue. I’m in 100% agreement with you. And I’m finally at the stage where a few of our sons are also late teenagers that are now of the same mind. The fact that they’re teenagers and recognizing it and writing about it and sharing it with their peers, to me is just like, “Wow.” But it’s so sad that it took this long for this much time to be wasted for no return for them. Like, it was not an investment of time that gave them a reward of any kind. It was literally monetization of short-term dopamine creation. That’s what the system is about. So, this is not a social media anti-social media show, but I’m telling you, I’m so excited, Tim, when I find out that other people recognize the danger of what has been created and that we need to push back.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> Yeah. And you’re not going to eliminate these things. And I and I’m not even a fan of necessarily like, you know, regulation to ban these things. But I I am a big fan. And this goes back even to talking about cybersecurity in general and things we can do, privacy versus security, and what are the things and tools that we can equip parents and companies and CEOs and IT managers on just best practices on how to be safe on whatever it is that you’re doing, whether you are, you know, browsing the web, you’re, you know, you’re, you know, whether you’re using social media. How can we educate, you know, stakeholders and then when you have kids, parents obviously are key stakeholders. How can we educate them on the the things that happen when you do use it? So, if you’re going to use it, understand how it affects you and what can you do to lessen those effects, right? So, those are very very important things.</p><p>And that goes again back to the security versus privacy. If we’re going to have these things, how do we lessen their effect? How do we educate people? It goes goes into scamming epidemic of elderly folks who have been impacted and scammed and even outside of that small businesses, nonprofits. We we, you know, we do a lot of work with nonprofits. I can give you all kinds of stories of nonprofits falling for abuse and, you know, just just being scammed and losing tens of thousands of of donor dollars. And, yeah, so, you know, awareness. At the end of the day, all of the tech is great. We always, I think anybody responsible points back and says, “People are the strength and the weakness of anything in the chain.” And so, we we must constantly be finding ways to improve that portion of it.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> Yes, 100% agreed. 100% agreed. Tim, one last question. I meet someone tomorrow that’s a managed service provider, and you’re you have a 30-second opportunity to tell them why they should consider replacing or adding Scout DNS as a protective resolver. What do you say?</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> Yeah, that when we when we talk to MSPs, there are usually kind of three things that we that we hear from our customers. Obviously, the first is a product. You know, we’ve built a really good product. We have great reviews if you look us up on Reddit, on G2, on Channel Program. People say generally say nothing but nice things about about Scout DNS because we are a product first company. We have very small marketing presence. We we built our business on word of mouth recommendations. And so, the only way you do that is by building a great product. I’m not going to go and raise a Series A for $10 million to go to $200,000 trade shows, but I can build a great product and get people to talk about it after they use it. And so, we really do focus on product.</p><p>The second big thing really is is our billing model. One of the things that MSPs hate the most is contracts. Being locked into a contract. And we hate contracts. We know MSPs hate contracts. We are a month-to-month service. We earn our our, you know, the business of our MSPs. We earn them by that’s a trust thing, right? We earn that by saying we believe in the product. We believe in our service. We believe we will retain you just by merit alone, right? We’re not going to hold on to somebody via contract. In fact, we do have some commercial contracts for commercial users. But I’ve had people who, “Well, we we didn’t mean to renew. It’s a month later.” That’s okay. We we refund you. We let you. We’re we’re not a business that’s trying to, you know, trap people into contracts.</p><p>Especially for MSPs, it is month-to-month. There is no contract. And so, that has been it’s usage-based billing. You pay only for what you use. You know, if you look at MSPs, billing reconciliation can be a nightmare for some products. With us, we tell you, we show you, tell you, show you exactly what you use. You pay for only what you use on a given month. Clients haven’t checked in. You don’t pay for those, right? So, if you’re if if you get a reduction in an end user, you don’t even have to tell us. We recognize that you get a reduction because of your use. So, that’s a big thing.</p><p>And then finally, last but not least, the thing that we can control the most is service. Being being, you know, prompt on customer service, being prompt whether you want a QBR or you want a a biannual. Some people like to do it twice a year. So, if you want to do it, you know, four times a year, we’re we’re very big on our our quarterly reviews. We really do want to hear from our MSPs. Since I still run product, I make virtually all those calls. I mean, I probably sat in on a thousand customer plus calls, you know, 1,500 customer calls last year. A large percentage of those with MSPs about what can we do with our product to make it better. And I want to hear directly from those MSPs. And my pledge is to stay involved with that as our company grows.</p><p>And so, yeah, you know, the product, our our usage-based billing and and month-to-month, and then the service that we provide. I think those are the reasons why folks tend to and I can give you technical reasons. You know, we have a disable on our and our agent that MSPs love. We have autofail open. Our relay is the most capable relay, I think, on the market. The solution things that it does, our insight tabs, I think we provide some of the better the best insights and the way to work through those. Our integration with Entra and AD don’t require syncing tools. And there’s a lot of technical reasons. And we I’m more than happy to show those on demo call. But just from, you know, kind of the 50,000-foot level, the product, the service, and then our our billing model, I think is what MSPs really love about Scott DNS.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> Yeah. And I can vouch for it firsthand a month ago not knowing anything about you to now having tried it out and having chatted with you and now having interviewed you. So, this is fantastic. Thank you team Tim and team that’s behind you working with you. Absolutely. Keep on keep on doing good work. And we’ll I look forward to seeing what we can do together because I think there’s some pretty exciting synergies outside of the fact that “Adam” is in your name and in ours. So, Tim Adams, Scout DNS. We’ll see you again.</p><p><strong>Tim Adams:</strong> Thanks, David. Thanks for this opportunity. Yeah, look forward to continuing our our relationship. So, sounds great.</p><p><strong>David Redekop:</strong> Absolutely. Bye for now. Take care.</p><hr><p><strong>Narrator:</strong> The Defenders Log requires more than a conversation. It takes action, research, and collective wisdom. If today’s episode resonated with you, we’d love to hear your insights. Join the conversation and help us shape the future together. We’ll be back with more stories, strategies, and real-world solutions that are making a difference for everyone. In the meantime, be sure to subscribe, rate, write a review, and share it with someone you think would benefit from it, too. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you on the next episode.</p><p><small>1 post – 1 participant</small></p><p><a href="https://support.adamnet.works/t/tdl-009-inside-dns-threat-intelligence-privacy-security-innovation/1496">Read full topic</a></p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/tdl-009-inside-dns-threat-intelligence-privacy-security-innovation/" data-a2a-title="TDL 009 | Inside DNS Threat Intelligence: Privacy, Security &amp; Innovation"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Ftdl-009-inside-dns-threat-intelligence-privacy-security-innovation%2F&amp;linkname=TDL%20009%20%7C%20Inside%20DNS%20Threat%20Intelligence%3A%20Privacy%2C%20Security%20%26%20Innovation" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Ftdl-009-inside-dns-threat-intelligence-privacy-security-innovation%2F&amp;linkname=TDL%20009%20%7C%20Inside%20DNS%20Threat%20Intelligence%3A%20Privacy%2C%20Security%20%26%20Innovation" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Ftdl-009-inside-dns-threat-intelligence-privacy-security-innovation%2F&amp;linkname=TDL%20009%20%7C%20Inside%20DNS%20Threat%20Intelligence%3A%20Privacy%2C%20Security%20%26%20Innovation" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Ftdl-009-inside-dns-threat-intelligence-privacy-security-innovation%2F&amp;linkname=TDL%20009%20%7C%20Inside%20DNS%20Threat%20Intelligence%3A%20Privacy%2C%20Security%20%26%20Innovation" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Ftdl-009-inside-dns-threat-intelligence-privacy-security-innovation%2F&amp;linkname=TDL%20009%20%7C%20Inside%20DNS%20Threat%20Intelligence%3A%20Privacy%2C%20Security%20%26%20Innovation" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div><p class="syndicated-attribution">*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from <a href="https://support.adamnet.works/c/adamnetworks-blog/14">The ADAM Blog - ADAMnetworks</a> authored by <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/author/0/" title="Read other posts by Carly_Engelbrecht">Carly_Engelbrecht</a>. Read the original post at: <a href="https://support.adamnet.works/t/tdl-009-inside-dns-threat-intelligence-privacy-security-innovation/1496">https://support.adamnet.works/t/tdl-009-inside-dns-threat-intelligence-privacy-security-innovation/1496</a> </p>

Inside the Ingram Micro Ransomware Attack: Lessons in Zero Trust

  • None
  • Published date: 2025-11-13 00:00:00

None

<div class="wp-block-ssm-section-wrapper" style="padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--52);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--52)"><span aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-ssm-section-wrapper__background has-light-gray-background-color"></span> <div class="wp-block-ssm-section-wrapper__content"> <div class="wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-35ae31c0 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex"> <div class="wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:54%"> <h1 style="font-style:normal;font-weight:700;line-height:1.2; margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);" class="wp-block-post-title">Inside the Ingram Micro Ransomware Attack: Lessons in Zero Trust</h1> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity has-dark-blue-gradient-background has-background is-style-with-opacity" style="margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--16)"> <div style="font-style:normal;font-weight:700; margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10);" class="wp-block-post-date"><time datetime="2025-11-13T15:59:12-07:00">November 13, 2025</time></div> </div> <div class="wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:46%"> <figure class="is-style-box-shadow wp-block-post-featured-image"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="800" height="800" src="https://votiro.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Social_IngramBreac_Square.png" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt='Close-up of a data server with a red padlock and the words, "SECURITY BREACH"' style="border-radius:10px;object-fit:cover;" srcset="https://votiro.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Social_IngramBreac_Square.png 800w, https://votiro.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Social_IngramBreac_Square-300x300.png 300w, https://votiro.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Social_IngramBreac_Square-150x150.png 150w, https://votiro.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Social_IngramBreac_Square-768x768.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px"></figure> </div> </div> </div> </div><div class="wp-block-ssm-section-wrapper animate-bg-color theme-light" style="padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)"><span aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-ssm-section-wrapper__background" style="--top-gradient-color:var(--white);--bottom-gradient-color:var(--brand-green)" data-bg-color="has-brand-green-background-color"></span><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div> <div class="wp-block-ssm-section-wrapper__content"> <p><a href="https://www.ingrammicro.com/en-us/information" rel="noreferrer noopener">In July 2025</a>, the global technology community watched as one of its most trusted giants, Ingram Micro, was brought to a standstill. As one of the world’s largest IT distributors, Ingram sits at the center of a vast ecosystem that connects manufacturers, resellers, and customers worldwide. When its systems went dark following a ransomware attack by the SafePay group, the effects rippled far beyond its own walls. Orders halted, communications froze, and partners across the supply chain were left scrambling for answers.</p> <p>The attack wasn’t just another cybersecurity headline; it was a wake-up call. It showed how even the most sophisticated organizations, with deep technical resources and established defenses, can be blindsided when threat actors exploit trust, timing, and connectivity. For Ingram Micro, the incident served as a stark reminder of the vulnerability of digital supply chains. For the industry at large, it underscored how a single point of failure can impact thousands of businesses worldwide.</p> <p>This isn’t a story about fault or finger-pointing. It’s a story about resilience. The Ingram Micro breach exposed weaknesses that every modern enterprise faces: the challenge of securing sprawling ecosystems, the difficulty of maintaining visibility into numerous data exchanges, and the risk of relying on outdated, reactive defense models.</p> <p>By examining what happened and how it unfolded, we can identify opportunities to do better. And while this incident wasn’t the result of a file-borne threat, it is a stark reminder that zero trust applies to vulnerabilities both before and after an intrusion. </p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">What Happened: The Ransomware Attack on Ingram Micro</h2> <p>The attack began quietly, as most ransomware incidents do. <a href="https://www.blackfog.com/how-ingram-micro-overcame-a-major-ransomware-attack/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Early on July 3, 2025</a>, Ingram Micro employees started noticing unusual pop-ups on their screens, digital ransom notes demanding payment. Within hours, the company’s central systems began to fail. Key operational platforms, including Xvantage, Ingram’s AI-powered distribution system, and Impulse, its cloud licensing platform, were taken offline as engineers raced to contain the threat. What began as a few alarming alerts soon escalated into a full-scale global outage, halting orders, quotes, and license management for thousands of customers.</p> <p>By July 4 and 5, Ingram Micro publicly confirmed what many already suspected: it had suffered a ransomware attack, later attributed to the SafePay group. The timing just ahead of a U.S. holiday weekend was strategic, designed to maximize disruption while response teams were short-staffed. SafePay, an emerging yet highly coordinated threat actor, had already established a reputation for targeting large enterprises. Their methods were precise and low-profile, leveraging stolen credentials and stealthy internal movement to quietly disable defenses before triggering their payload.</p> <p>Investigations soon revealed how the attackers likely gained access. Using leaked VPN credentials tied to Ingram Micro’s GlobalProtect remote access system, SafePay slipped through the perimeter undetected. Once inside, they moved laterally across internal systems, exploiting the inherent trust between connected servers and users. This wasn’t an attack that relied on a single vulnerability; it was the exploitation of everyday connectivity, a reminder that the most dangerous intrusions often begin with legitimate access.</p> <p>From July 6 to 8, Ingram Micro’s teams worked around the clock to restore critical systems. Recovery was methodical: infrastructure was cleaned, tested, and brought back online in phases to ensure no residual malware remained. By July 9, the company announced that <a href="https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/ingram-micro-restores-global-operations-hack/752708/" rel="noreferrer noopener">global operations had been fully restored</a>, a swift turnaround given the scale of disruption.</p> <p>While there was no public evidence of sensitive data being leaked or sold, <a href="https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/30/ingram_micro_ransomware_threat/" rel="noreferrer noopener">direct threats were made by the attackers</a>. The outage rippled through the global supply chain, delaying shipments, disrupting sales pipelines, and leaving vendors and resellers scrambling to fulfill orders. The incident revealed not only how interconnected modern business systems have become, but also how a single compromised entry point can paralyze an entire ecosystem.</p> <h4 class="wp-block-heading has-h-2-font-size">The Impact: Beyond Downtime</h4> <p>The fallout from the ransomware attack extended far beyond downtime. For a company of Ingram Micro’s scale, every hour offline carried a weight that analysts estimated would result in losses <a href="https://www.provendata.com/blog/ingram-micro-ransomware-attack/" rel="noreferrer noopener">exceeding $136 million per day</a>, as order processing and fulfillment froze. But the deeper cost was systemic. As one of the world’s largest IT distributors, Ingram sits at the heart of a vast supply chain. When it stopped, so did everyone connected to it.</p> <p>Partners like Dell, HPE, and Cisco faced delays just as quarterly sales closed, while resellers and manufacturers scrambled to fill gaps and manage inventory. The event highlighted how interdependence magnifies risk, as a single compromised hub can have a ripple effect throughout an entire ecosystem.</p> <p>Complicating matters was an early communication lapse. Initial silence and vague updates frustrated customers and partners, eroding trust during the first critical hours. Yet once Ingram confirmed the ransomware attack and began issuing regular, transparent updates, confidence began to return.</p> <p>By week’s end, global operations had resumed. Though the financial toll was immense, Ingram’s rapid recovery and restored transparency demonstrated resilience. They delivered a lasting lesson on how one breach can reverberate across the modern digital supply chain.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading has-h-2-font-size">Lessons Learned from Ingram Micro’s Response</h3> <p>Ingram Micro’s response to the attack offers important lessons in resilience. Once the ransomware was detected, the company moved fast to contain it, taking systems offline to halt the spread and restoring operations in carefully tested phases. Within a week, Ingram had achieved full global recovery, a rare feat for an event of this scale. Its shift from initial silence to consistent, transparent updates also helped rebuild trust, showing that communication can be just as vital as technical response.</p> <p>Still, the attack revealed opportunities for improvement across the industry. Detection is only effective if it comes early; once attackers gain internal access, traditional defenses struggle to keep up. Adopting a Zero Trust model can help limit lateral movement and minimize damage.</p> <p>It also underscored the need for communication readiness within incident response plans. Rapid, transparent messaging prevents speculation and helps maintain confidence during a crisis.</p> <p>Ultimately, the event underscored the significance of supply chain visibility. In an interconnected ecosystem, a single weak link can have a ripple effect. True resilience means securing not only your own environment but also the partners and vendors that keep your business running.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading has-h-2-font-size">How CDR Helps Prevent Ransomware Spread</h3> <p>Again, while this particular breach was the result of stolen credentials, and not that of a compromised file, we feel that any opportunity to educate and enable teams to create a stronger defense posture makes the entire cyber landscape safer as a result. </p> <p>With that being said, even with the best perimeter defenses, a single compromised credential can provide an attacker with access. Once inside, ransomware operators rarely strike immediately; they move quietly, using internal file transfers, shared drives, and email attachments to distribute malicious payloads and escalate control. These movements often appear routine to security tools, blending into the flow of everyday business. That’s what makes them so dangerous.</p> <p>When it does come to file compromises, <a href="https://votiro.com/content-disarm-and-reconstruction-cdr/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR)</a> technology stops this silent spread before it begins. Instead of trying to detect which files are infected, we assume every file could be malicious and sanitize them all, whether they come from an external vendor or an internal colleague. Our Positive Selection® technology rebuilds each file on a clean, verified template, carrying over only the known-safe elements, such as text, formatting, and legitimate images. Everything else, macros, scripts, and hidden code that ransomware could exploit is removed or regenerated safely.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading has-h-2-font-size">Conclusion: Zero Trust Equals Stronger Business</h3> <p>The Ingram Micro ransomware attack serves as a potent reminder that credential theft and internal propagation can cripple even the most robust enterprises. When attackers move freely within a trusted environment, it’s not just the perimeter that’s at risk. It’s every file, every system, and every partner connected to the network. The lesson is clear: true prevention requires more than detection or containment. It demands a mindset where every file, from every source, is verified safe before it’s allowed to move between channels, endpoints, and users.</p> <div class="wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex"> <div class="wp-block-button"><a class="wp-block-button__link wp-element-button" href="https://votiro.com/book-a-demo/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Book a Demo Today!</a></div> </div> </div> </div><p>The post <a href="https://votiro.com/blog/inside-the-ingram-micro-ransomware-attack-lessons-in-zero-trust/">Inside the Ingram Micro Ransomware Attack: Lessons in Zero Trust</a> appeared first on <a href="https://votiro.com/">Votiro</a>.</p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/inside-the-ingram-micro-ransomware-attack-lessons-in-zero-trust/" data-a2a-title="Inside the Ingram Micro Ransomware Attack: Lessons in Zero Trust"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Finside-the-ingram-micro-ransomware-attack-lessons-in-zero-trust%2F&amp;linkname=Inside%20the%20Ingram%20Micro%20Ransomware%20Attack%3A%20Lessons%20in%20Zero%20Trust" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Finside-the-ingram-micro-ransomware-attack-lessons-in-zero-trust%2F&amp;linkname=Inside%20the%20Ingram%20Micro%20Ransomware%20Attack%3A%20Lessons%20in%20Zero%20Trust" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Finside-the-ingram-micro-ransomware-attack-lessons-in-zero-trust%2F&amp;linkname=Inside%20the%20Ingram%20Micro%20Ransomware%20Attack%3A%20Lessons%20in%20Zero%20Trust" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Finside-the-ingram-micro-ransomware-attack-lessons-in-zero-trust%2F&amp;linkname=Inside%20the%20Ingram%20Micro%20Ransomware%20Attack%3A%20Lessons%20in%20Zero%20Trust" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Finside-the-ingram-micro-ransomware-attack-lessons-in-zero-trust%2F&amp;linkname=Inside%20the%20Ingram%20Micro%20Ransomware%20Attack%3A%20Lessons%20in%20Zero%20Trust" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div><p class="syndicated-attribution">*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from <a href="https://votiro.com/">Votiro</a> authored by <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/author/0/" title="Read other posts by Votiro">Votiro</a>. Read the original post at: <a href="https://votiro.com/blog/inside-the-ingram-micro-ransomware-attack-lessons-in-zero-trust/">https://votiro.com/blog/inside-the-ingram-micro-ransomware-attack-lessons-in-zero-trust/</a> </p>

How AI-Generated Content is Fueling Next-Gen Phishing and BEC Attacks: Detection and Defense Strategies

  • Paul Reynolds
  • Published date: 2025-11-13 00:00:00

None

<p><span data-contrast="auto">With over 25 years of experience in cybersecurity and hundreds of incident response cases across UK businesses, I’ve witnessed the most dramatic shift in attack sophistication to date. <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/10/the-phishing-renaissance-how-ai-brought-back-the-classics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AI phishing attacks have fundamentally reshaped the threat landscape</a>, with attackers now using natural language models to craft emails that even experienced security professionals struggle to identify.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":34,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">The numbers are staggering: Nearly 82.6% of phishing emails now use AI language models or generators — a 53.5% increase since 2024. These AI phishing attacks achieve a 60% overall success rate against humans, with 54% of recipients clicking malicious links — nearly four times higher than traditional phishing campaigns.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559738":240,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><p><span data-contrast="auto">This comprehensive guide reveals exactly how attackers leverage AI tools, the defense strategies that actually work in 2025 and the step-by-step approach I use to protect organizations from these sophisticated threats. You’ll learn how to recognize AI-generated lures, implement effective detection systems and build layered defenses that adapt to evolving attack methods.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559738":240,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><h3 aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">The Real Data: Why AI Phishing Attacks Are Exploding</span><span data-ccp-props='{"335559685":23}'> </span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">Through my work assessing security incidents across the UK, I’ve tracked the explosive growth of AI-enhanced attacks. The transformation isn’t gradual; instead, it is a seismic shift that’s caught most organizations completely unprepared.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559738":80,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Business email compromise (BEC) has reached crisis levels, with a staggering 1,760% annual increase — now accounting for 18.6% of all cyberattacks. What makes this especially concerning is how AI cyberthreats have lowered the barrier to entry. Attackers now launch campaigns significantly quicker and at lower costs compared to traditional methods.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":34,"335559738":240,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Understanding comprehensive </span><span data-contrast="auto">cybersecurity protection strategies</span><span data-contrast="auto"> has become essential for organizations facing these evolving threats. The sophistication of AI-generated attacks requires a fundamentally different approach to traditional security measures.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559738":240,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><h3 aria-level="2"><span data-contrast="auto">Critical Statistics: The Scale of AI Phishing in 2025</span><span data-ccp-props='{"335559685":23}'> </span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">By April 2025, </span><a href="https://blog.barracuda.com/2025/06/18/half-spam-inbox-ai-generated" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span data-contrast="auto">over half of all global spam emails were generated or adapted via AI tools</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">. In the UK alone, I’ve observed a sharp rise in sophisticated phishing attempts, particularly targeting financial services and healthcare organizations.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":34,"335559738":285,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">The economic impact is devastating. UK SMEs face average breach costs in millions, with AI phishing attacks emerging as the primary attack vector in most successful compromises I’ve investigated this year. Implementing comprehensive</span><a href="https://paulreynolds.uk/ai-checklist-for-smes/"><span data-contrast="auto"> AI security measures</span></a><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><a href="https://paulreynolds.uk/ai-checklist-for-smes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span data-contrast="auto">for SMEs</span></a><span data-contrast="auto"> has become critical for survival in today’s threat landscape.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559738":240,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><h3><span data-contrast="auto">Attack Vector Comparison Table</span><span data-ccp-props='{"335559685":23,"335559738":1}'> </span></h3><p><span data-ccp-props="{}"> <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Picture2-5.png"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-2075979 size-full" src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Picture2-5.png" alt="" width="602" height="225" srcset="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Picture2-5.png 602w, https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Picture2-5-300x112.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 602px) 100vw, 602px"></a></span></p><h3 aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">How Attackers Use AI in Real Life: The 2025 Playbook</span><span data-ccp-props='{"335559685":23}'> </span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">I’ve analyzed hundreds of AI-generated phishing campaigns, and their sophistication is remarkable. Attackers use tools such as ChatGPT and Llama-2 to craft tailored, natural-language lures at scale. By harvesting LinkedIn profiles, company websites and social media, they generate phishing emails that reference real projects, colleagues and business relationships.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":579,"335559738":298,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">The most dangerous development I’ve encountered is the integration of deepfake voice and video payloads. Attackers create convincing audio clips of CEOs or finance directors to pressure teams into urgent wire transfers or disclosure of credentials.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559738":80,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><h3 aria-level="2"><span data-contrast="auto">The September 2025 NPM Supply Chain Attack</span><span data-ccp-props='{"335559685":23}'> </span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">In September 2025, </span><a href="https://www.varonis.com/blog/npm-hijacking" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span data-contrast="auto">attackers used an AI-written</span></a><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">spear phishing email to target a developer at a leading software company. </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">The email referenced specific GitHub commits, used the developer’s preferred coding terminology and included a convincing fake security vulnerability report. This led to credential theft and hijacking of NPM packages with billions of weekly downloads.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":1000,"335559738":285,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><h3 aria-level="2"><span data-contrast="auto">Dark Web Toolkits: The Democratization of AI Attacks</span><span data-ccp-props='{"335559685":23,"335559738":1}'> </span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">On the dark web, </span><a href="https://dataconomy.com/2025/09/12/spamgpt-cybercrime-toolkit-enables-large-scale-automated-phishing-campaigns-in-2025/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span data-contrast="auto">full-service toolkits like ‘SpamGPT’ sell for thousands of pounds</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">, enabling even non-technical attackers to automate phishing end to end. These platforms offer template generation, domain spoofing, account takeover capabilities and even customer support.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":34,"335559738":284,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">I’ve observed these toolkits being used to launch campaigns against UK businesses within hours of purchase, requiring no technical expertise beyond basic computer literacy.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559738":240,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><h3 aria-level="3"><span data-contrast="auto">Common AI Attack Methods</span><span data-ccp-props='{"335559685":23,"335559738":240}'> </span></h3><ul><li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="●" data-font="Arial" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props='{"134224900":false,"335551671":0,"335552541":1,"335559685":743,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Arial","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}' data-aria-posinset="0" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Password Reset Lures:</span><b><span data-contrast="auto"> </span></b><span data-contrast="auto">AI generates personalized messages referencing real projects, invoices or team members for credibility. I’ve seen emails that perfectly mimic IT department communication styles, including specific jargon and approval processes.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559737":386,"335559740":276,"469777462":[743],"469777927":[0],"469777928":[1]}'> </span></li></ul><ul><li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="●" data-font="Arial" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props='{"134224900":false,"335551671":0,"335552541":1,"335559685":743,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Arial","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}' data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Urgent Finance Requests:</span><b><span data-contrast="auto"> </span></b><span data-contrast="auto">Attackers use AI to craft compelling business cases for emergency payments, often timed around weekends or holiday periods when verification processes are relaxed.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559737":44,"335559740":276,"469777462":[743],"469777927":[0],"469777928":[1]}'> </span></li></ul><ul><li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="●" data-font="Arial" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props='{"134224900":false,"335551671":0,"335552541":1,"335559685":743,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Arial","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}' data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Supply Chain Manipulation:</span><b><span data-contrast="auto"> </span></b><span data-contrast="auto">AI is used to craft convincing security alerts about software vulnerabilities, often leading to malicious package installations or credential harvesting via fake security portals.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559737":507,"335559740":276,"469777462":[743],"469777927":[0],"469777928":[1]}'> </span></li></ul><ul><li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="●" data-font="Arial" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props='{"134224900":false,"335551671":0,"335552541":1,"335559685":743,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Arial","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}' data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Social Engineering at Scale:</span><b><span data-contrast="auto"> </span></b><span data-contrast="auto">Platforms like SpamGPT allow attackers to personalize thousands of emails simultaneously, each tailored with specific details about the target organization and its industry.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559737":450,"335559740":276,"469777462":[743],"469777927":[0],"469777928":[1]}'> </span></li></ul><h3 aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">What Works Best in Detecting AI Phishing Attacks </span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559740":276}'> </span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">Traditional email filters are failing spectacularly against AI-generated content. I’ve implemented new detection strategies across several organizations in the UK, and the key is understanding that AI phishing attacks exploit human psychology, not just technical vulnerabilities. </span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559738":240,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">The most effective approach combines anomaly detection AI with human awareness training specifically designed for AI-generated threats.</span></p><h3 aria-level="2"><span data-contrast="auto">Detection Method Effectiveness Table</span><span data-ccp-props='{"335559685":23,"335559738":1}'> </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"><a href="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Picture3-3.png"><img decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-2075980 size-full" src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Picture3-3.png" alt="" width="602" height="225" srcset="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Picture3-3.png 602w, https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Picture3-3-300x112.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 602px) 100vw, 602px"></a></span><span data-contrast="auto">Red Flags for AI-Generated Content</span><span data-ccp-props='{"335559685":23}'> </span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">Through extensive analysis, I’ve identified specific patterns that indicate AI-generated content. These aren’t perfect indicators, but they significantly improve detection rates when combined:</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":579,"335559738":285,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><ul><li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="●" data-font="Arial" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props='{"134224900":false,"335551671":0,"335552541":1,"335559685":743,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Arial","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}' data-aria-posinset="4" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Unnatural Perfection: AI often produces grammatically perfect emails that lack the small imperfections of human communication. Perfect spelling and grammar from supposedly urgent requests should trigger suspicion.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559737":228,"335559738":240,"335559740":276,"469777462":[743],"469777927":[0],"469777928":[1]}'> </span></li></ul><ul><li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="●" data-font="Arial" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props='{"134224900":false,"335551671":0,"335552541":1,"335559685":743,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Arial","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}' data-aria-posinset="5" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Context Mismatches:</span><b><span data-contrast="auto"> </span></b><span data-contrast="auto">AI struggles with subtle contextual details. Look for emails that reference the right projects but use slightly incorrect terminology or miss company-specific processes.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559737":435,"335559740":276,"469777462":[743],"469777927":[0],"469777928":[1]}'> </span></li></ul><ul><li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="●" data-font="Arial" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props='{"134224900":false,"335551671":0,"335552541":1,"335559685":743,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Arial","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}' data-aria-posinset="6" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Timing Anomalies: AI-generated phishing campaigns are often launched outside normal business hours or during periods when the supposed sender is likely to be unavailable.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559737":231,"335559740":276,"469777462":[743],"469777927":[0],"469777928":[1]}'> </span></li></ul><ul><li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="●" data-font="Arial" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props='{"134224900":false,"335551671":0,"335552541":1,"335559685":743,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Arial","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}' data-aria-posinset="7" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Deepfake Audio Signatures: Current deepfake technology produces subtle audio artifacts. Unexpected audio or video requests, especially involving financial transactions, require immediate verification through alternative channels.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559737":312,"335559740":276,"469777462":[743],"469777927":[0],"469777928":[1]}'> </span></li></ul><h3 aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Defense: Bulletproofing Your Organization Against AI Phishing Attacks</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559740":276}'> </span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">I’ve developed a systematic approach to defend AI phishing attacks. The key insight is that traditional security awareness training actually makes people less vigilant, as it teaches them to look for outdated indicators. </span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559737":45,"335559738":80,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><h3 aria-level="2"><span data-contrast="auto">Proven Defense Strategy: The Five-Layer Approach</span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">Zero-trust principles are now essential, not optional. While this approach requires significant investment, it consistently prevents average losses that far exceed the implementation cost. Every request (regardless of apparent source) must be verified through independent channels. This approach has significantly reduced successful AI phishing attacks in the organizations I’ve worked with.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559737":45,"335559738":80,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><h3 aria-level="2"><span data-contrast="auto">Essential Prevention Tactics for 2025</span><span data-ccp-props='{"335559685":23,"335559738":1}'> </span></h3><ul><li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="●" data-font="Arial" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props='{"134224900":false,"335551671":0,"335552541":1,"335559685":743,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Arial","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}' data-aria-posinset="8" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Upgrade Email Security:</span><b><span data-contrast="auto"> </span></b><span data-contrast="auto">Deploy AI-rated spam and phishing filters that specifically detect generative content. Traditional filters miss the vast majority of AI-generated emails. Budget appropriately for enterprise-grade protection.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559737":166,"335559738":284,"335559740":276,"469777462":[743],"469777927":[0],"469777928":[1]}'> </span></li></ul><ul><li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="●" data-font="Arial" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props='{"134224900":false,"335551671":0,"335552541":1,"335559685":743,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Arial","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}' data-aria-posinset="9" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Implement Universal MFA: Automate credential resets and mandate MFA for every user. AI phishing attacks typically target credential theft as the primary objective.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559737":348,"335559740":276,"469777462":[743],"469777927":[0],"469777928":[1]}'> </span></li></ul><ul><li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="●" data-font="Arial" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props='{"134224900":false,"335551671":0,"335552541":1,"335559685":743,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Arial","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}' data-aria-posinset="10" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">One-Click Reporting: Enable every user to report suspicious emails instantly. Complex reporting processes significantly reduce reporting rates, while simple systems dramatically increase them.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559737":410,"335559740":276,"469777462":[743],"469777927":[0],"469777928":[1]}'> </span></li></ul><ul><li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="●" data-font="Arial" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props='{"134224900":false,"335551671":0,"335552541":1,"335559685":743,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Arial","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}' data-aria-posinset="11" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">AI-Aware Training: Use simulation training that includes AI-generated lures, not just traditional examples. Modern training approaches significantly enhance detection rates.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559737":121,"335559740":276,"469777462":[743],"469777927":[0],"469777928":[1]}'> </span></li></ul><ul><li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="●" data-font="Arial" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props='{"134224900":false,"335551671":0,"335552541":1,"335559685":743,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Arial","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}' data-aria-posinset="12" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Deepfake Verification: Establish independent verification protocols for any audio or video requests that involve sensitive operations. Phone different numbers and use separate communication channels.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559737":71,"335559740":276,"469777462":[743],"469777927":[0],"469777928":[1]}'> </span></li></ul><ul><li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="●" data-font="Arial" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props='{"134224900":false,"335551671":0,"335552541":1,"335559685":743,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Arial","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}' data-aria-posinset="13" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Supply Chain Vigilance: Verify all software updates through official channels. The September 2025 NPM attack demonstrates how AI phishing can lead to supply chain compromise, affecting millions of users.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559737":92,"335559740":276,"469777462":[743],"469777927":[0],"469777928":[1]}'> </span></li></ul><ul><li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="●" data-font="Arial" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props='{"134224900":false,"335551671":0,"335552541":1,"335559685":743,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Arial","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}' data-aria-posinset="14" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">High-Risk Period Monitoring: Increase security posture during weekends, holidays and payroll cycles. Attackers specifically target these periods when verification processes are reduced.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559737":69,"335559740":276,"469777462":[743],"469777927":[0],"469777928":[1]}'> </span></li></ul><ul><li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="●" data-font="Arial" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props='{"134224900":false,"335551671":0,"335552541":1,"335559685":743,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Arial","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"●","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}' data-aria-posinset="15" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Threat Intelligence Integration: Subscribe to current threat feeds that include</span><span data-ccp-props='{"335559685":742,"335559991":359,"469777462":[742],"469777927":[0],"469777928":[1]}'> </span></li></ul><p><span data-contrast="auto">AI-specific indicators. Attack methods evolve monthly, requiring continuous updates to detection capabilities.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":743,"335559737":111,"335559738":38,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><h3 aria-level="2"><span data-contrast="auto">Advanced Detection Technologies</span><span data-ccp-props='{"335559685":23}'> </span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">I’ve tested dozens of anti-phishing tools specifically for AI-generated content. The most effective solutions combine NLP, behavioral anomaly detection, threat intelligence feeds and real-time alerting.</span><a href="https://keepnetlabs.com/blog/understanding-anti-phishing-your-2025-guide-to-staying-secure" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span data-contrast="auto"> Modern anti-phishing tools</span></a><span data-contrast="auto"> have evolved significantly to address AI-generated threats.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559738":285,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">When evaluating solutions, consider platforms that specifically advertise AI detection capabilities. Traditional signature-based systems simply cannot keep pace with the AI evolution rate. Look for tools that analyze writing patterns, context anomalies and behavioral indicators rather than just relying on reputation databases.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559738":240,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><h3 aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Frequently Asked Questions</span><span data-ccp-props='{"335559685":23,"335559738":60}'> </span></h3><p aria-level="2"><span data-contrast="auto">How can I tell if an email was generated by AI rather than written by a human?</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559738":338,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">After analyzing thousands of AI-generated phishing emails, I’ve identified several key indicators. AI content often exhibits unnatural perfection: Perfect grammar and spelling in supposedly urgent messages should raise suspicion. Look for context mismatches where the email references correct information but uses slightly wrong terminology or processes specific to your organization. AI also struggles with subtle human inconsistencies, producing emails that feel too polished for the supposed sender’s typical communication style.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":107,"335559738":240,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">However, these indicators become less reliable as AI technology improves, which is why technical detection tools are essential alongside human awareness.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p aria-level="2"><span data-contrast="auto">What’s the cost of implementing AI-aware anti-phishing defenses for a UK SME?</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Comprehensive AI-aware defenses require significant investment for organizations with standard workforce sizes. This includes AI-powered email security, deepfake detection capabilities and enhanced security awareness training. Consider this — the average data breach in the UK costs millions, with AI phishing attacks being the initial vector in most successful compromises. The investment pays for itself by preventing even a single breach. Many organizations also qualify for Cyber Essentials funding that could offset a substantial portion of these costs.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":135,"335559738":240,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p aria-level="2"><span data-contrast="auto">Are traditional email security filters completely useless against AI-generated phishing?</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":1274,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Traditional filters catch only a small fraction of AI-generated phishing attempts. The fundamental issue is that these systems rely on pattern recognition and reputation databases that AI easily circumvents. AI generates unique content that hasn’t been seen before, uses legitimate domains and services and crafts emails that pass traditional authenticity checks. However, completely replacing existing systems isn’t necessary. The most cost-effective approach combines upgraded AI-aware filters with enhanced user training and behavioral analysis tools. This layered approach achieves substantially higher detection rates while leveraging existing security infrastructure investments.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559738":240,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p aria-level="2"><span data-contrast="auto">How quickly can attackers launch AI phishing campaigns, and how does this affect our response planning?</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Attackers now launch AI-enhanced campaigns significantly faster than traditional methods (typically within hours from initial reconnaissance to active phishing). Modern toolkits enable non-technical attackers to create and deploy thousands of personalized emails within hours of purchasing access. This speed requires fundamental changes to incident response</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":140,"335559738":240,"335559740":276}'> </span><span data-contrast="auto">planning. I recommend implementing automated threat intelligence feeds, real-time email analysis and rapid isolation capabilities that can respond within minutes rather than hours. Your incident response team needs predefined procedures for AI-enhanced attacks, including immediate verification protocols and communication lockdown procedures that prevent further compromise while investigation proceeds.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559738":80,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p aria-level="2"><span data-contrast="auto">Should we focus more on technological solutions or user education to defend AI phishing attacks?</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":34,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Both are essential, but the balance has shifted significantly. Traditional security awareness training, which teaches users to spot poor grammar and obvious signs, actually reduces vigilance against AI-generated content that deliberately mimics professional communication. My approach combines AI-aware technical defenses with updated user education. The technology detects what humans cannot — subtle linguistic patterns and contextual anomalies that indicate AI generation. However, users remain the final line of defense against suspicious requests, especially those involving financial transactions or credential changes. The most effective programs I’ve implemented use AI-generated examples in training scenarios, teaching users to verify rather than simply detect.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559738":240,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p aria-level="2"><span data-contrast="auto">What specific steps should we take if we suspect our organization has been targeted by AI-enhanced phishing?</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Immediately implement communication lockdown: Verify any pending financial transactions, password resets or system changes through independent channels. Document everything without interacting with suspicious emails or attachments. Activate your incident response team and initiate systematic credential auditing, starting with privileged accounts and financial systems. Contact your cyber insurance provider within 24 hours, as AI-enhanced attacks often qualify for enhanced coverage. </span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":34,"335559738":240,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Implement temporary, additional verification requirements for all sensitive operations. In my experience, early response within the first few hours significantly reduces both the impact scope and recovery costs. Engage external incident response specialists familiar with AI-enhanced attacks, as these require different investigation techniques than traditional phishing incidents.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":34,"335559738":240,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p aria-level="2"><span data-contrast="auto">How do deepfake attacks integrate with AI phishing, and what defense strategies work best?</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Deepfake integration represents the most sophisticated evolution of AI phishing attacks. Attackers now combine AI-generated emails with deepfake audio or video content to create multi-channel social engineering campaigns. The email establishes the scenario, then deepfake media provides ‘verification’ through familiar voices or faces. I’ve seen convincing deepfake audio of CEOs authorizing emergency wire transfers and fake video calls with suppliers requesting changes in payment details. The most effective defense combines technical deepfake detection tools with strict verification protocols that require multiple independent confirmation channels. Never approve financial transactions based solely on audio or video requests, regardless of apparent source. Establish code words or questions that only genuine contacts would know and always verify through separately initiated contact methods.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559685":23,"335559737":45,"335559738":240,"335559740":276}'> </span></p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/how-ai-generated-content-is-fueling-next-gen-phishing-and-bec-attacks-detection-and-defense-strategies/" data-a2a-title="How AI-Generated Content is Fueling Next-Gen Phishing and BEC Attacks: Detection and Defense Strategies "><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fhow-ai-generated-content-is-fueling-next-gen-phishing-and-bec-attacks-detection-and-defense-strategies%2F&amp;linkname=How%20AI-Generated%20Content%20is%20Fueling%20Next-Gen%20Phishing%C2%A0and%C2%A0BEC%C2%A0Attacks%3A%C2%A0Detection%C2%A0and%C2%A0Defense%C2%A0Strategies%C2%A0" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fhow-ai-generated-content-is-fueling-next-gen-phishing-and-bec-attacks-detection-and-defense-strategies%2F&amp;linkname=How%20AI-Generated%20Content%20is%20Fueling%20Next-Gen%20Phishing%C2%A0and%C2%A0BEC%C2%A0Attacks%3A%C2%A0Detection%C2%A0and%C2%A0Defense%C2%A0Strategies%C2%A0" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fhow-ai-generated-content-is-fueling-next-gen-phishing-and-bec-attacks-detection-and-defense-strategies%2F&amp;linkname=How%20AI-Generated%20Content%20is%20Fueling%20Next-Gen%20Phishing%C2%A0and%C2%A0BEC%C2%A0Attacks%3A%C2%A0Detection%C2%A0and%C2%A0Defense%C2%A0Strategies%C2%A0" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fhow-ai-generated-content-is-fueling-next-gen-phishing-and-bec-attacks-detection-and-defense-strategies%2F&amp;linkname=How%20AI-Generated%20Content%20is%20Fueling%20Next-Gen%20Phishing%C2%A0and%C2%A0BEC%C2%A0Attacks%3A%C2%A0Detection%C2%A0and%C2%A0Defense%C2%A0Strategies%C2%A0" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fhow-ai-generated-content-is-fueling-next-gen-phishing-and-bec-attacks-detection-and-defense-strategies%2F&amp;linkname=How%20AI-Generated%20Content%20is%20Fueling%20Next-Gen%20Phishing%C2%A0and%C2%A0BEC%C2%A0Attacks%3A%C2%A0Detection%C2%A0and%C2%A0Defense%C2%A0Strategies%C2%A0" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div>

Microsoft’s November Security Update of High-Risk Vulnerability Notice for Multiple Products

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  • Published date: 2025-11-13 00:00:00

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<h2>Overview</h2><p>On November 12, NSFOCUS CERT detected that Microsoft released the November Security Update patch, which fixed 63 security issues involving widely used products such as Windows, Microsoft Office, Microsoft SQL Server, Azure, and Microsoft Visual Studio, including privilege escalation, high-risk vulnerability types such as remote code execution.</p><p>Among the vulnerabilities fixed by Microsoft’s monthly update this month, there are 5 critical (Critical) and 58 important (Important), including 1 0day that has been detected for wild exploitation: Windows Kernel Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (CVE-2025-62215). Please update the patch as soon as possible for protection. For a complete list of vulnerabilities, please refer to the appendix.</p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><p>Reference link: <a href="https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/releaseNote/2025-Nov">https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/releaseNote/2025-Nov</a></p><h2>Key Vulnerabilities</h2><p>Based on the product popularity and vulnerability importance, this update contains vulnerabilities with greater impact. Relevant users are requested to pay special attention:</p><p><strong>Windows Kernel Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (CVE-2025-62215):</strong></p><p>A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Windows Kernel. Due to a concurrent synchronization flaw in the Windows kernel’s processing of shared resources, an authenticated local attacker can elevate privileges to SYSTEM by triggering race conditions and double release. The vulnerability has been exploited in the wild.CVSS score 7.0.</p><p>Official announcement link:</p><p><a href="https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2025-62215">https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2025-62215</a></p><p><strong>DirectX Graphics Kernel Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (CVE-2025-60716):</strong></p><p>There is a privilege escalation vulnerability in the DirectX Graphics Kernel. Because the DirectX graphics kernel does not reset the pointer after releasing GPU resources, an authenticated local attacker can reuse (use-after-free) kernel objects through conditional competition release, thereby escalating privileges to SYSTEM. CVSS score 7.0.</p><p>Official announcement link:</p><p><a href="https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2025-60716">https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2025-60716</a></p><p><strong>Nuance PowerScribe 360 Information Disclosure Vulnerability (CVE-2025-30398):</strong></p><p>There is an information disclosure vulnerability in Nuance PowerScribe 360. Because PowerScribe lacks authorization for API endpoints, unauthenticated attackers can obtain sensitive information such as PowerScribe configuration by requesting to call specific API endpoints. CVSS score 8.1.</p><p>Official announcement link:</p><p><a href="https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2025-30398">https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2025-30398</a></p><p><strong>Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2025-62199):</strong></p><p>A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Office. Since Microsoft Office does not clear the pointer (use-after-free) after releasing the object, an attacker can trick the user into opening or previewing a pane by delivering a specially crafted file, thereby executing arbitrary code on the user’s computer. CVSS score 7.8.</p><p>Official announcement link:</p><p><a href="https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2025-62199">https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2025-62199</a></p><p><strong>Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2025-62214):</strong></p><p>A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Visual Studio. Since Visual Studio does not escape the special characters in the prompt when calling Copilot to generate a build command, an authenticated local attacker can trigger the build by injecting malicious instructions into Copilot, thereby achieving arbitrary code execution. CVSS score 6.7.</p><p>Official announcement link:</p><p><a href="https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2025-62214">https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2025-62214</a></p><p><strong>Customer Experience Improvement Program Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (CVE-2025-59512):</strong></p><p>A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Customer Experience Improvement Program. Due to improper customer experience improvement program (CEIP) access control, an authenticated local attacker can bypass privilege verification and execute malicious code to elevate privileges to SYSTEM. CVSS score 7.8.</p><p>Official announcement link:</p><p><a href="https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2025-59512">https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2025-59512</a></p><p><strong>GDI+ Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2025-60724):</strong></p><p>There is a remote code execution vulnerability in the Windows GDI+ component. Since the GDI+ component will cause a heap buffer overflow when parsing specially crafted metafile files, an unauthenticated attacker can upload malicious files to the Web service that parses the document to achieve remote code execution. CSS score 9.8.</p><p>Official announcement link:</p><p><a href="https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2025-60724">https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2025-60724</a></p><p><strong>Dynamics 365 Field Service (online) Spoofing Vulnerability (CVE-2025-62210)</strong></p><p>A spoofing vulnerability exists in the Dynamics 365 Field Service, which allows an unauthenticated attacker to hijack user sessions by tricking users into clicking on malicious links and injecting and executing arbitrary XSS scripts due to improper handling of user input when generating web pages. CVSS score 8.7.</p><p>Official announcement link:</p><p><a href="https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2025-62210">https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2025-62210</a></p><h2>Scope of Impact</h2><p>The following are the affected product versions of some key vulnerabilities. For the scope of products affected by other vulnerabilities, please refer to the official announcement link.</p><figure class="wp-block-table is-style-stripes"> <table> <thead> <tr> <th><strong>Vulnerability Number</strong></th> <th><strong>Affected product versions</strong></th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>CVE-2025-62215 <br>CVE-2025-60716</td> <td>Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 21H2 for 32-bit Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 21H2 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 22H2 for 32-bit Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 23H2 for ARM64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 23H2 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 24H2 for ARM64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 24H2 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 25H2 for ARM64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 25H2 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows Server 2019 <br>Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2022 <br>Windows Server 2022 (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2022, 23H2 Edition (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2025 <br>Windows Server 2025 (Server Core installation)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>CVE-2025-30398</td> <td>Nuance PowerScribe 360 version 4.0.1 <br>Nuance PowerScribe 360 version 4.0.2 <br>Nuance PowerScribe 360 version 4.0.3 <br>Nuance PowerScribe 360 version 4.0.4 <br>Nuance PowerScribe 360 version 4.0.5 <br>Nuance PowerScribe 360 version 4.0.6 <br>Nuance PowerScribe 360 version 4.0.7 <br>Nuance PowerScribe 360 version 4.0.8 <br>Nuance PowerScribe 360 version 4.0.9 <br>Nuance PowerScribe One version 2019.1 <br>Nuance PowerScribe One version 2019.2 <br>Nuance PowerScribe One version 2019.3 <br>Nuance PowerScribe One version 2019.4 <br>Nuance PowerScribe One version 2019.5 <br>Nuance PowerScribe One version 2019.6 <br>Nuance PowerScribe One version 2019.7 <br>Nuance PowerScribe One version 2019.8 <br>Nuance PowerScribe One version 2019.9 <br>Nuance PowerScribe One version 2019.10 <br>PowerScribe One version 2023.1 SP2 Patch 7</td> </tr> <tr> <td>CVE-2025-62199</td> <td>Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise for 32-bit Systems <br>Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise for 64-bit Systems <br>Microsoft Office for Android <br>Microsoft Office 2016 (32-bit edition) <br>Microsoft Office 2016 (64-bit edition) <br>Microsoft Office LTSC 2021 for 32-bit editions <br>Microsoft Office LTSC 2021 for 64-bit editions <br>Microsoft Office LTSC 2024 for 32-bit editions <br>Microsoft Office LTSC 2024 for 64-bit editions <br>Microsoft Office LTSC for Mac 2021 <br>Microsoft Office LTSC for Mac 2024</td> </tr> <tr> <td>CVE-2025-62214</td> <td>Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.14</td> </tr> <tr> <td>CVE-2025-59512</td> <td>Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 21H2 for 32-bit Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 21H2 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 22H2 for 32-bit Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 23H2 for ARM64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 23H2 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 24H2 for ARM64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 24H2 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 25H2 for ARM64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 25H2 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows Server 2012 <br>Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2012 R2 <br>Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2016 <br>Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2019 <br>Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2022 <br>Windows Server 2022 (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2022, 23H2 Edition (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2025 <br>Windows Server 2025 (Server Core installation)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>CVE-2025-60724</td> <td>Microsoft Office LTSC for Mac 2021 <br>Microsoft Office LTSC for Mac 2024 <br>Microsoft Office for Android <br>Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 21H2 for 32-bit Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 21H2 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 22H2 for 32-bit Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems <br>Windows 10 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 23H2 for ARM64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 23H2 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 24H2 for ARM64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 24H2 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 25H2 for ARM64-based Systems <br>Windows 11 Version 25H2 for x64-based Systems <br>Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 <br>Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 <br>Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 <br>Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2012 <br>Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2012 R2 <br>Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2016 <br>Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)<br>Windows Server 2019 <br>Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2022 <br>Windows Server 2022 (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2022, 23H2 Edition (Server Core installation) <br>Windows Server 2025 <br>Windows Server 2025 (Server Core installation)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>CVE-2025-62210</td> <td>Dynamics 365 Field Service (online)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </figure><h2>Mitigation</h2><p>At present, Microsoft has officially released security patches to fix the above vulnerabilities for supported product versions. It is strongly recommended that affected users install patches as soon as possible for protection. The official download link:</p><p><a href="https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/releaseNote/2025-Nov">https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/releaseNote/2025-Nov</a></p><p>Note: Patch updates for Windows Update may fail due to network problems, computer environment problems, etc. After installing the patch, users should check whether the patch has been successfully updated in time.</p><p>Right-click the Windows icon, select “Settings (N)”, select “Update and Security”-“Windows Update”, view the prompt information on this page, or click “View Update History” to view the historical update status.</p><p>For updates that have not been successfully installed, you can click the update name to jump to the Microsoft official download page. It is recommended that users click the link on this page and go to the “Microsoft Update Catalog” website to download the independent program package and install it.</p><h2>Appendix</h2><figure class="wp-block-table is-style-stripes"> <table class="has-fixed-layout"> <thead> <tr> <th><strong>Affected products</strong></th> <th><strong>CVE No.</strong></th> <th><strong>Vulnerability Title</strong></th> <th><strong>Severity</strong></th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Microsoft Office</td> <td>CVE-2025-62199</td> <td>Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution Vulnerability</td> <td>Critical</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Office,Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60724</td> <td>GDI+ remote code execution vulnerability</td> <td>Critical</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Visual Studio</td> <td>CVE-2025-62214</td> <td>Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability</td> <td>Critical</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Other</td> <td>CVE-2025-30398</td> <td>Nuance PowerScribe 360 Information Disclosure Vulnerability</td> <td>Critical</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60716</td> <td>DirectX Graphics Kernel privilege escalation vulnerability</td> <td>Critical</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Azure</td> <td>CVE-2025-59504</td> <td>Azure Monitor Agent Remote Code Execution Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Dynamics</td> <td>CVE-2025-62206</td> <td>Microsoft Dynamics 365 (On-Premises) information disclosure vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Dynamics</td> <td>CVE-2025-62210</td> <td>Dynamics 365 Field Service (online) spoofing vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Dynamics</td> <td>CVE-2025-62211</td> <td>Dynamics 365 Field Service (online) spoofing vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Office</td> <td>CVE-2025-60726</td> <td>Microsoft Excel Information Disclosure Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Office</td> <td>CVE-2025-60727</td> <td>Microsoft Excel remote code execution vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Office</td> <td>CVE-2025-60728</td> <td>Microsoft Excel Information Disclosure Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Office</td> <td>CVE-2025-62216</td> <td>Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Office</td> <td>CVE-2025-60722</td> <td>Microsoft OneDrive for Android Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Office</td> <td>CVE-2025-59240</td> <td>Microsoft Excel Information Disclosure Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Office</td> <td>CVE-2025-62200</td> <td>Microsoft Excel remote code execution vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Office</td> <td>CVE-2025-62201</td> <td>Microsoft Excel remote code execution vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Office</td> <td>CVE-2025-62202</td> <td>Microsoft Excel Information Disclosure Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Office</td> <td>CVE-2025-62203</td> <td>Microsoft Excel remote code execution vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Office</td> <td>CVE-2025-62204</td> <td>Microsoft SharePoint Remote Code Execution Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Office</td> <td>CVE-2025-62205</td> <td>Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft SQL Server</td> <td>CVE-2025-59499</td> <td>Microsoft SQL Server Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Visual Studio Code CoPilot Chat Extension</td> <td>CVE-2025-62222</td> <td>Agentic AI and Visual Studio Code Remote Execution Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Microsoft Visual Studio Code CoPilot Chat Extension</td> <td>CVE-2025-62449</td> <td>Microsoft Visual Studio Code CoPilot Chat Extension security feature bypass vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Open Source Software</td> <td>CVE-2025-62220</td> <td>Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI Remote Code Execution Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>System Center</td> <td>CVE-2025-47179</td> <td>Configuration Manager privilege escalation vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Visual Studio Code</td> <td>CVE-2025-62453</td> <td>GitHub Copilot and Visual Studio Code security feature bypass vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-59505</td> <td>Windows Smart Card Reader privilege escalation vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-59506</td> <td>DirectX Graphics Kernel privilege escalation vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-59507</td> <td>Windows Speech Runtime Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-59508</td> <td>Windows Speech Recognition Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-59509</td> <td>Windows Speech Recognition Information Disclosure Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-59510</td> <td>Windows Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) Denial of Service</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-59511</td> <td>Windows WLAN Service Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-59512</td> <td>Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) privilege escalation vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-59513</td> <td>Windows Bluetooth RFCOM Protocol Driver Information Disclosure Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60703</td> <td>Windows Remote Desktop Services Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60704</td> <td>Windows Kerberos privilege escalation vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60705</td> <td>Windows Client-Side Caching Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60706</td> <td>Windows Hyper-V Information Disclosure Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60707</td> <td>Multimedia Class Scheduler Service (MMCSS) Driver Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60708</td> <td>Storvsp.sys Driver denial of service vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60709</td> <td>Windows Common Log File System Driver Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60710</td> <td>Host Process for Windows Tasks Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60719</td> <td>Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-62217</td> <td>Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-62218</td> <td>Microsoft Wireless Provisioning System Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-62219</td> <td>Microsoft Wireless Provisioning System Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-62452</td> <td>Windows Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-59514</td> <td>Microsoft Streaming Service Proxy Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-59515</td> <td>Windows Broadcast DVR User Service Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60713</td> <td>Windows Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) privilege escalation vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60714</td> <td>Windows OLE Remote Code Execution Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60715</td> <td>Windows Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60717</td> <td>Windows Broadcast DVR User Service Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60718</td> <td>Windows Administrator Protection Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60720</td> <td>Windows Transport Driver Interface (TDI) Translation Driver Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60723</td> <td>DirectX Graphics Kernel denial of service vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-62208</td> <td>Windows License Manager Information Disclosure Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-62209</td> <td>Windows License Manager Information Disclosure Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-62215</td> <td>Windows Kernel privilege escalation vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-62213</td> <td>Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Windows</td> <td>CVE-2025-60721</td> <td>Windows Administrator Protection Privilege Escalation Vulnerability</td> <td>Important</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </figure><h2>Statement</h2><p>This advisory is only used to describe a potential risk. NSFOCUS does not provide any commitment or promise on this advisory. NSFOCUS and the author will not bear any liability for any direct and/or indirect consequences and losses caused by transmitting and/or using this advisory. NSFOCUS reserves all the rights to modify and interpret this advisory. Please include this statement paragraph when reproducing or transferring this advisory. Do not modify this advisory, add/delete any information to/from it, or use this advisory for commercial purposes without permission from NSFOCUS.</p><h2>About NSFOCUS</h2><p>NSFOCUS, a pioneering leader in cybersecurity, is dedicated to safeguarding telecommunications, Internet service providers, hosting providers, and enterprises from sophisticated cyberattacks.</p><p>Founded in 2000, NSFOCUS operates globally with over 4000 employees at two headquarters in Beijing, China, and Santa Clara, CA, USA, and over 50 offices worldwide. It has a proven track record of protecting over 25% of the Fortune Global 500 companies, including four of the five largest banks and six of the world’s top ten telecommunications companies.</p><p>Leveraging technical prowess and innovation, NSFOCUS delivers a comprehensive suite of security solutions, including the Intelligent Security Operations Platform (ISOP) for modern SOC, DDoS Protection, Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) Service and Web Application and API Protection (WAAP). All the solutions and services are augmented by the Security Large Language Model (SecLLM), ML, patented algorithms and other cutting-edge research achievements developed by NSFOCUS.</p><p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://nsfocusglobal.com/microsofts-november-security-update-of-high-risk-vulnerability-notice-for-multiple-products/">Microsoft’s November Security Update of High-Risk Vulnerability Notice for Multiple Products</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://nsfocusglobal.com/">NSFOCUS, Inc., a global network and cyber security leader, protects enterprises and carriers from advanced cyber attacks.</a>.</p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/microsofts-november-security-update-of-high-risk-vulnerability-notice-for-multiple-products/" data-a2a-title="Microsoft’s November Security Update of High-Risk Vulnerability Notice for Multiple Products"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fmicrosofts-november-security-update-of-high-risk-vulnerability-notice-for-multiple-products%2F&amp;linkname=Microsoft%E2%80%99s%20November%20Security%20Update%20of%20High-Risk%20Vulnerability%20Notice%20for%20Multiple%20Products" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fmicrosofts-november-security-update-of-high-risk-vulnerability-notice-for-multiple-products%2F&amp;linkname=Microsoft%E2%80%99s%20November%20Security%20Update%20of%20High-Risk%20Vulnerability%20Notice%20for%20Multiple%20Products" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fmicrosofts-november-security-update-of-high-risk-vulnerability-notice-for-multiple-products%2F&amp;linkname=Microsoft%E2%80%99s%20November%20Security%20Update%20of%20High-Risk%20Vulnerability%20Notice%20for%20Multiple%20Products" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fmicrosofts-november-security-update-of-high-risk-vulnerability-notice-for-multiple-products%2F&amp;linkname=Microsoft%E2%80%99s%20November%20Security%20Update%20of%20High-Risk%20Vulnerability%20Notice%20for%20Multiple%20Products" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fmicrosofts-november-security-update-of-high-risk-vulnerability-notice-for-multiple-products%2F&amp;linkname=Microsoft%E2%80%99s%20November%20Security%20Update%20of%20High-Risk%20Vulnerability%20Notice%20for%20Multiple%20Products" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div><p class="syndicated-attribution">*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from <a href="https://nsfocusglobal.com/">NSFOCUS, Inc., a global network and cyber security leader, protects enterprises and carriers from advanced cyber attacks.</a> authored by <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/author/0/" title="Read other posts by NSFOCUS">NSFOCUS</a>. Read the original post at: <a href="https://nsfocusglobal.com/microsofts-november-security-update-of-high-risk-vulnerability-notice-for-multiple-products/">https://nsfocusglobal.com/microsofts-november-security-update-of-high-risk-vulnerability-notice-for-multiple-products/</a> </p>

The Future of AI in Security: From Reactive to Proactive Protection

  • Jim Dolce
  • Published date: 2025-11-12 00:00:00

None

<p><span data-contrast="auto">The harsh reality for cybersecurity professionals is that the traditional cybersecurity solutions and strategies they have relied on for decades cannot deter today’s sophisticated cyberattacks. <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/2024/03/doj-warns-using-ai-in-crimes-will-mean-harsher-sentences/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Threat actors are increasingly using AI</a> to generate highly effective phishing campaigns and cyberattacks designed to gain access to sensitive corporate data in the cloud. In response, more organizations are turning to AI-powered security solutions for real-time threat detection, improved scalability and proactive defense. However, tapping into AI’s potential also requires addressing the ethical and privacy concerns that arise from training models on vast troves of sensitive information.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></p><h3><span data-contrast="auto">Embrace a Predictive Approach</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">Human security teams alone cannot reliably detect every emerging threat across sprawling networks and endpoints. Relying on legacy security methods — often based on delayed responses and narrow detection capabilities — keeps organizations on their toes. AI shifts this dynamic. </span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><p><span data-contrast="auto">By continuously monitoring for unusual activity and suspicious behavior patterns, AI empowers organizations to detect unauthorized access and abnormal user actions before they escalate into significant incidents. Beyond this, agentic AI — a form of AI capable of acting autonomously to achieve goals without constant human oversight — goes a step further. It not only identifies atypical behavior but also recognizes established malicious patterns that organizations have previously encountered and developed mitigation strategies for. This capability enables security teams to proactively identify and neutralize threats before they become critical. This shift from reactive response to predictive intervention marks a fundamental transformation in organizations’ approach to cybersecurity.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">As these models identify malicious activities in real-time, they learn from each incident, refining their detection capabilities and becoming more effective over time. By closing critical skills gaps and offloading manual, time-consuming tasks, ML and deep learning allow security teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than routine monitoring.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></p><h3><span data-contrast="auto">Ethical, Privacy and Data Integrity Concerns</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">Despite AI’s potential, the technology’s reliance on vast amounts of personal data raises serious ethical and privacy issues. There’s always the danger of overreach. </span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Biases embedded in human-generated data can lead to discriminatory outcomes. At the same time, ‘AI hallucinations’ can produce misleading conclusions that sound authoritative but are factually incorrect — potentially causing misguided remediation efforts or overlooked threats. For instance, an AI-driven system might flag benign network activity as malicious, causing unnecessary remediation efforts or, conversely, overlook a genuine threat because it produces a plausible but false conclusion. In other words, AI can sometimes be wrong even when it conveys confidence in the information it provides, leading security teams astray. </span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Adversaries can also engage in ‘data poisoning’, i.e., tampering with training datasets to corrupt results. Meanwhile, data leakage remains a persistent concern, as AI models or their outputs may unintentionally reveal sensitive or confidential information.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Mitigating these issues requires a commitment to exceeding all standards and regulations. It may also require some organizations to rethink their current data privacy and protection approaches. Of course, that means keeping humans in the loop for continued accountability and decision-making.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></p><h3><span data-contrast="auto">Human-AI Collaboration</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">Even as AI becomes more integral to cybersecurity, human intervention remains critical to modern security systems. Advanced tools can identify threats, but human expertise and oversight ensure that accountability, informed decision-making and ethical considerations remain central. Skilled professionals can interpret insights from AI models, apply human judgment to ambiguous scenarios and refine strategies that address new and emerging threats.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Additionally, AI can help mitigate the impact of the years-long skills gap. The </span><a href="https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span data-contrast="none">2024 IBM Data Breach Report</span></a><span data-contrast="auto"> revealed that over half of the breached organizations experienced severe security staffing shortages, a 26.2% increase from the previous year. These shortages drive up the time and costs involved in containing and remediating breaches. The global average cost of a data breach in 2024 was $4.88 million — a 10% increase over the previous year and the highest total ever. </span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">AI can play a pivotal role in narrowing the skills gap by taking on manual-intensive tasks. This frees up security team members, allowing them to concentrate on strategic planning and critical decision-making. With AI handling repetitive functions, security professionals can focus their talent and creativity on higher-level challenges. Ultimately, the best outcomes emerge when humans and AI unite, blending machine-driven efficiency with the depth of human expertise and intuition.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></p><h3><span data-contrast="auto">No Time to Wait</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">Attackers are not standing still. They’re using AI to orchestrate highly effective phishing campaigns and cyberattacks. This makes AI-powered threat detection and response a necessity rather than an option. However, organizations must also implement tried-and-true measures: Employee training and awareness, prompt patching and updates, strong access controls and encryption.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Collaboration and shared threat intelligence are key. Defenders must stay current as adversaries evolve, share information about new attack methods and adopt forward-thinking strategies.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></p><h3><span data-contrast="auto">The Future of AI in Cybersecurity</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></h3><p><span data-contrast="auto">Adopting zero-trust models and integrating generative AI considerations into security policies is becoming the new normal. Organizations that fail to adapt will fall behind competitors who embrace AI-driven tools to stay ahead of emerging threats. Yet, the future of cybersecurity isn’t just about high-level frameworks and policies; it also depends on embedding security measures throughout the development life cycle.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">By harnessing AI earlier in the development process, teams can ‘shift security left’, embedding robust protections into code as it’s written. This approach helps ensure that developers become security champions, empowered to identify and address vulnerabilities before applications go into production. As AI-guided tools scan for known coding flaws and subtle anomalies that humans might miss, developers and security professionals can work together to strengthen their organization’s security posture.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">The security industry needs to be forward-thinking. Threats will only increase in number and become more sophisticated, so it’s critical to collaborate and share threat intelligence — and, above all — stay current: Organizations must keep their employees informed about emerging AI technologies and the threats they pose.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"201341983":0,"335559740":360}'> </span></p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/the-future-of-ai-in-security-from-reactive-to-proactive-protection/" data-a2a-title="The Future of AI in Security: From Reactive to Proactive Protection "><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fthe-future-of-ai-in-security-from-reactive-to-proactive-protection%2F&amp;linkname=The%20Future%20of%20AI%20in%20Security%3A%20From%20Reactive%20to%20Proactive%20Protection%C2%A0" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fthe-future-of-ai-in-security-from-reactive-to-proactive-protection%2F&amp;linkname=The%20Future%20of%20AI%20in%20Security%3A%20From%20Reactive%20to%20Proactive%20Protection%C2%A0" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fthe-future-of-ai-in-security-from-reactive-to-proactive-protection%2F&amp;linkname=The%20Future%20of%20AI%20in%20Security%3A%20From%20Reactive%20to%20Proactive%20Protection%C2%A0" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fthe-future-of-ai-in-security-from-reactive-to-proactive-protection%2F&amp;linkname=The%20Future%20of%20AI%20in%20Security%3A%20From%20Reactive%20to%20Proactive%20Protection%C2%A0" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fthe-future-of-ai-in-security-from-reactive-to-proactive-protection%2F&amp;linkname=The%20Future%20of%20AI%20in%20Security%3A%20From%20Reactive%20to%20Proactive%20Protection%C2%A0" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div>

Nile’s Bold Claim: Your LAN Architecture Is Fundamentally Broken

  • Jack Poller
  • Published date: 2025-11-12 00:00:00

None

<p>At Security Field Day, Nile delivered a message that challenges decades of enterprise networking orthodoxy: the traditional Local Area Network architecture is fundamentally obsolete for modern security requirements.</p><p>The problem isn’t subtle. While connectivity remains the lifeblood of most organizations, traditional LAN environments—where the majority of users and devices operate—receive the least investment and are consequently the least secure within the enterprise attack surface. Return-to-office mandates, delayed refresh cycles, and resource constraints have created what Nile describes as a “perfect storm” requiring complete architectural rethinking.</p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><p>Networks were originally built for communication, not security. Everything that followed has been a series of bolt-on solutions creating what industry experts recognize as a massive attack vector: complexity itself.</p><h3>The Corporate Spaghetti Monster</h3><p>During their Security Field Day presentation, Nile outlined the fundamental flaws in traditional LAN architecture:</p><ul> <li><strong>Disjointed Security:</strong> Security layers comprise disparate appliances, different management consoles, separate policy engines, and unique update cycles. Nile calls this the “corporate spaghetti mess”—each new security requirement adds another strand of complexity.</li> <li><strong>Layer 2 Vulnerability:</strong> Reliance on Layer 2 protocols and VLANs creates brittle networks that enable easy lateral movement. Most organizations fail to implement Layer 2 ACLs or private VLANs, leaving lateral movement essentially unchecked.</li> <li><strong>Implicit Trust:</strong> When a device connects to an Ethernet port, implicit trust often grants access based purely on VLAN assignment. Nile describes securing wired ports in legacy environments as “almost impossible.”</li> <li><strong>The IoT/OT Blind Spot:</strong> Surveillance cameras, printers, and OT/IoT equipment are inherently insecure. Some 80% of enterprise assets fall outside IT control and are inadequately protected by placement in single, vulnerable VLANs.</li> <li><strong>Zero Trust Theater:</strong> The complexity of traditional architectures makes achieving genuine zero trust implementation more complicated than organizations can endure. Nile predicts many companies will simply walk away from implementation efforts due to operational impossibility.</li> <li>The result: according to the Verizon DBIR, 20% of breaches exploit network vulnerabilities, targeting the accumulated complexity of decades of incremental security additions, a 34% year-over-year rise.</li> </ul><h3>Network-as-a-Service: Flipping the Script</h3><p>Nile’s response, detailed in their Security Field Day demonstration, represents a foundational architectural rethink delivered via AI-powered Network-as-a-Service.</p><p>Nile’s architecture rests on three pillars:</p><ul> <li><strong>Zero Trust Fabric:</strong> Unifying wired and wireless networking, security, and IT natively into the fabric itself.</li> <li><strong>Simplified Operations:</strong> Moving from hands-on to autonomous, AI-powered operations.</li> <li><strong>Service Ownership:</strong> Taking accountability for the entire lifecycle and service delivery.</li> </ul><p>The philosophy: achieving the “power of zero”—zero trust, zero touch, zero configuration, and zero CAPEX through an OpEx model with predictable costs.</p><h3>Security Baked Into DNA, Not Bolted On</h3><p>Nile’s solution directly addresses legacy networking flaws by inverting the priority: security first, communicate later.</p><p><strong>Zero-Trust and Microsegmentation</strong></p><p>The Nile Zero Trust Fabric employs default deny: any device connecting to the network is denied access until explicitly authenticated and authorized.</p><ul> <li><strong>Segment of One:</strong> Every device is isolated by default, creating a “segment of one” where the blast radius is limited to that specific compromised device.</li> <li><strong>Identity-Based Control:</strong> Security is defined by identity, not IP address or subnet. Nile uses Active Directory, SCIM, or IDPs like Okta for user authentication and device fingerprinting for IT/IoT/OT devices, enabling fine-grained microsegmentation policies.</li> <li><strong>Elimination of Complexity:</strong> The fabric is Layer 3 only, eliminating Layer 2, VLANs, and manual port configuration entirely.</li> </ul><h3>Unified Access Without Compromise</h3><p>Nile delivers truly unified wired and wireless access—a capability the industry has pursued for two decades.</p><ul> <li><strong>Colorless Ports:</strong> All wired ports are blocked by default and colorless—no pre-assigned configuration, VLAN, or identity. Authentication happens via SSO or MAC-plus-fingerprinting.</li> <li><strong>Secure Infrastructure:</strong> Nile’s proprietary hardware includes Trusted Platform Module and secure boot to prevent compromise. Communication within the Zero Trust Fabric uses mutual authentication and end-to-end encryption.</li> <li><strong>Secure Guest Service:</strong> Guest traffic is automatically isolated and tunneled to the closest Nile Point of Presence for URL filtering and secure internet access, requiring no complex customer configurations.</li> </ul><h3>Real-World Validation: JetZero’s Story</h3><p>The urgency of moving beyond legacy architectures becomes concrete with customers like JetZero. The company is engineering the next generation of aviation—a blended wing body aircraft expected to be 30% more fuel efficient—backed by Air Force partnership, $4.7 billion in investment, and a $44 billion backlog.</p><p>For JetZero, innovation extends to infrastructure, and networking security stakes are “very, very real.”</p><p>Before Nile, JetZero used top-tier traditional vendor solutions, but complexity overwhelmed their small IT team. Layering VLANs, ACLs, NACs, and firewalls resulted in a non-cohesive, fragile solution. They faced hundreds of network-related trouble tickets monthly and constant internet outages that damaged confidence.</p><p>Nile’s deployment transformed their environment:</p><ul> <li><strong>Simplicity and Invisibility:</strong> The network became invisible and reliable, operating “like electricity.” Engineers immediately noticed the change—no dead spots or bottlenecks, with speeds hitting 800 to 1,000 Mbps.</li> <li><strong>Uninterrupted Mission:</strong> JetZero completed a major PLM migration without a single complaint. The reliable foundation allowed them to focus on their core mission—running thousands of complex simulations—rather than fighting network failures.</li> </ul><p>For JetZero, NaaS provided a foundation where they “don’t have to choose between security and performance.”</p><h3>Control Without Complexity</h3><p>During their Security Field Day presentation, Nile addressed a critical concern for security architects: relinquishing control, particularly regarding automated updates and policy changes.</p><ul> <li><strong>Human Oversight in AI Ops:</strong> Nile recognizes that AI cannot be automatically trusted in critical infrastructure. The system uses AI to provide recommendations in plain English, reviewed and tested by Nile’s production network engineers before automation.</li> <li><strong>Customer Control Over Patching:</strong> Customers maintain control over software upgrades, defining maintenance windows and restricted periods. For highly regulated environments, Nile informs customers in advance, allowing them to accept or defer updates. Updates undergo rigorous testing through multiple internal stages and digital twin validation before customer rollout.</li> <li><strong>Flexible Deployment:</strong> The solution isn’t all-or-nothing. Customers can start with just the access layer and scale to include distribution, core, or entire campus as needs grow.</li> </ul><h3>Why This Matters</h3><p>Traditional LAN architectures create overwhelming operational complexity and critical security exposure through inherent Layer 2 trust, microsegmentation difficulty, and endless bolt-on security appliances. This complexity funnels 60% of cyberattacks through network vulnerabilities.</p><p>Nile’s Network-as-a-Service offers necessary architectural shifts by integrating security and networking into a foundational Zero Trust Fabric. By unifying wired and wireless, eliminating VLANs, and enforcing identity-based, default-deny posture, Nile provides the simplicity and guaranteed performance required to make the LAN a first-class citizen of enterprise security.</p><p>For security and network architects, Nile fundamentally shifts IT workload from repetitive configuration and troubleshooting to strategic focus. This isn’t just a technology upgrade—it’s a business enabler, providing the reliable, secure, invisible infrastructure that allows innovative companies like JetZero to prioritize their core mission over fighting their network.</p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/niles-bold-claim-your-lan-architecture-is-fundamentally-broken/" data-a2a-title="Nile’s Bold Claim: Your LAN Architecture Is Fundamentally Broken"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fniles-bold-claim-your-lan-architecture-is-fundamentally-broken%2F&amp;linkname=Nile%E2%80%99s%20Bold%20Claim%3A%20Your%20LAN%20Architecture%20Is%20Fundamentally%20Broken" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fniles-bold-claim-your-lan-architecture-is-fundamentally-broken%2F&amp;linkname=Nile%E2%80%99s%20Bold%20Claim%3A%20Your%20LAN%20Architecture%20Is%20Fundamentally%20Broken" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fniles-bold-claim-your-lan-architecture-is-fundamentally-broken%2F&amp;linkname=Nile%E2%80%99s%20Bold%20Claim%3A%20Your%20LAN%20Architecture%20Is%20Fundamentally%20Broken" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fniles-bold-claim-your-lan-architecture-is-fundamentally-broken%2F&amp;linkname=Nile%E2%80%99s%20Bold%20Claim%3A%20Your%20LAN%20Architecture%20Is%20Fundamentally%20Broken" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fniles-bold-claim-your-lan-architecture-is-fundamentally-broken%2F&amp;linkname=Nile%E2%80%99s%20Bold%20Claim%3A%20Your%20LAN%20Architecture%20Is%20Fundamentally%20Broken" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div>

Commvault Extends AI Ability to Ensure Cyber Resilience

  • Michael Vizard
  • Published date: 2025-11-12 00:00:00

None

<p>Commvault today <a href="https://ir.commvault.com/news-releases/news-release-details/commvault-unveils-new-era-enterprise-resilience-commvault-cloud">extended the reach and scope of its data protection portfolio</a> as part of an effort to enable IT organizations to achieve and maintain resiliency.</p><p>Announced at its <a href="https://www.commvault.com/shift-virtual?">SHIFT 2025</a> event, these additions are part of a Commvault Cloud Unity platform that now makes it simpler to backup and recover workloads running in multiple cloud computing environments, including instances of Kubernetes clusters, across more than 200 cloud services running in regions around the world. Additionally, Commvault has developed artificial intelligence (AI) tools that automatically discover cloud workloads and recommend policies to apply based on classification.</p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><p>Commvault also announced it is making available, via an early access program, updated threat scanning tools that make use of artificial intelligence (AI) to identify, analyze and quarantine suspicious files, detect newly encrypted files, and search for new or specific Indicators of Compromise (IoCs).</p><p><a href="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Threat-Detection-Dashboard.png"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-2075897" src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Threat-Detection-Dashboard-278x300.png" alt="" width="352" height="380" srcset="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Threat-Detection-Dashboard-278x300.png 278w, https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Threat-Detection-Dashboard-948x1024.png 948w, https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Threat-Detection-Dashboard-768x829.png 768w, https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Threat-Detection-Dashboard-1423x1536.png 1423w, https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Threat-Detection-Dashboard.png 1680w" sizes="(max-width: 352px) 100vw, 352px"></a></p><p>A Synthetic Recovery capability also now makes it possible to leverage AI to automatically detect threats and surgically remove them during recovery to ensure that files that have been infected with malware are not restored in a production environment.</p><p>Commvault has also extended its Cleanroom Recovery service to make it possible for IT teams to automatically execute runbooks to recover data faster and, via an early access program, has extended its existing recovery service for Microsoft Active Directory to automatically log and audit malicious changes, and then rapidly roll back changes to a trusted, clean state.</p><p>Brian Brockway, vice president and global CTO for Commvault, said the company plans to make all of these capabilities generally available next year as part of an effort to enable IT teams to consistently manage backup and recovery workflows across multiple platforms. Ultimately, the company will provide feature compatibility across both the software-as-a-service (SaaS) editions of its platforms and any on-premises edition, he noted.</p><p>Ultimately, it will become simpler to achieve that goal using conversational interfaces enabled by AI, added Brockway. In the meantime, however, IT and cybersecurity teams need to be able to protect workloads anywhere they happen to be running, he added.</p><p>It’s not clear to what level organizations are achieving cyber resiliency, but if history is any guide, most are not as prepared to withstand, for example, a ransomware attack as they would like. In general, organizations are better able to recover data but it still requires a significant amount of time and effort. The issue then becomes how long can applications be unavailable before downtime costs start to exceed the ransom being demanded.</p><p>In the meantime, cybersecurity teams should assume that adversaries will be making greater use of AI to scan their defenses. In fact, the cost of launching malware attacks is only going to continue to decrease as cybercriminal syndicates continue to develop more sophisticated tactics that they can target more effectively. No one can prevent those attacks from being launched but the one thing that organizations can control is how quickly they can recover to minimize the scope of the impact.</p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/commvault-extends-ai-ability-to-ensure-cyber-resilience/" data-a2a-title="Commvault Extends AI Ability to Ensure Cyber Resilience"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fcommvault-extends-ai-ability-to-ensure-cyber-resilience%2F&amp;linkname=Commvault%20Extends%20AI%20Ability%20to%20Ensure%20Cyber%20Resilience" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fcommvault-extends-ai-ability-to-ensure-cyber-resilience%2F&amp;linkname=Commvault%20Extends%20AI%20Ability%20to%20Ensure%20Cyber%20Resilience" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fcommvault-extends-ai-ability-to-ensure-cyber-resilience%2F&amp;linkname=Commvault%20Extends%20AI%20Ability%20to%20Ensure%20Cyber%20Resilience" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fcommvault-extends-ai-ability-to-ensure-cyber-resilience%2F&amp;linkname=Commvault%20Extends%20AI%20Ability%20to%20Ensure%20Cyber%20Resilience" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fcommvault-extends-ai-ability-to-ensure-cyber-resilience%2F&amp;linkname=Commvault%20Extends%20AI%20Ability%20to%20Ensure%20Cyber%20Resilience" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div>

Intel Sues Ex-Employee It Claims Stole 18,000 Company Files

  • Jeffrey Burt
  • Published date: 2025-11-12 00:00:00

None

<p>IT giant Intel is reportedly suing a former employee who allegedly downloaded about 18,000 files days before leaving the company.</p><p>Intel, on the last day of October, <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wawd.354479/gov.uscourts.wawd.354479.1.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filed a lawsuit</a> against Jinfeng Luo, who worked as a software engineer for the chip maker from September 2014 until July. The lawsuit doesn’t say why Luo was let go, though it’s likely he was part of another wave of layoffs at the company, which has cut more than 35,000 jobs in the last couple of years, including an expected 25,000 this year.</p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><p>The goal was to reduce its global workforce <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/24/tech/intel-layoffs-15-percent-q2-earnings#:~:text=Intel%20said%20the%20staff%20reduction,to%20cut%20nearly%202%2C400%20workers." target="_blank" rel="noopener">by about 15%</a>, to fewer than 90,000.</p><p>Intel notified Luo, who lived in Seattle, on July 7 that he was being let go, with an effective date of July 31. The lawsuit was filed on October 31 in federal court in Washington.</p><p>“Shortly after Luo was notified of his termination, he used a network attached storage (“NAS”) device to download nearly 18,000 files from his Intel accounts and laptop, many of which were Intel Top Secret or contained Intel Confidential Information,” Intel wrote in the lawsuit. “Luo’s data transfer was detected by Intel and triggered an internal investigation.”</p><h3>No Contact in Months</h3><p>The company has tried to contact Luo a number of times over the past few months, including via phone, email, and letters, but with no success. He’s essentially disappeared, so Intel is suing him for $250,000 and to force him to return any confidential information taken. They’re also asking the court to order him to temporarily turn over any personal devices to Intel so the company can inspect them and remove any company-related information they contain.</p><p>According to the lawsuit, Luo initially tried to download a file from his Intel-issued laptop onto an external hard drive onto his laptop no July 23, but was stopped by Intel’s internal controls. Five days later, he allegedly successfully connected the NAS device to his laptop and over four days downloaded almost 18,000 files.</p><p>Over the course of three months, Intel tried to contact Luo more than a dozen times, with no success.</p><p>“Despite Intel’s diligent attempts to remedy and mitigate the harmful effects of Luo’s conduct, including the misappropriation of Intel trade secrets, Luo has ignored repeated emails, phone calls, and physical letters from both Intel and outside counsel over the course of three months,” the company wrote in the lawsuit. “Luo’s continued silence demonstrates that he has no intention of cooperating with Intel in any capacity despite his contractual obligation to do so.”</p><p>Luo is violating an employee agreement he signed when he was hired, Intel claims.</p><h3>A Lot of Jobs Being Lost</h3><p>The Associated Press in late October reported about <a href="https://apnews.com/article/layoffs-2025-amazon-ups-job-cuts-8413af9ac5b434b092ed76d6fa6cd196" target="_blank" rel="noopener">widespread layoffs</a> occurring in corporate America, detailing some of the larger job cuts at high-profile companies amid growing economic uncertainty over the past year. Some examples include Amazon announcing last month that it was shedding about 14,000 jobs, Microsoft cutting at least 15,000, and Intel’s moves to shrink its workforce to about 75,000 by the end of the year.</p><p>Cybersecurity companies have warned about the heightened risk of data loss during times of employee layoffs and departures.</p><p>“As workforce dynamics shift with increased employee departures and layoffs, organizations must prioritize data security to mitigate rising risks,” Fidelis Security <a href="https://fidelissecurity.com/cybersecurity-101/data-protection/resignations-layoffs-and-data-risks/#:~:text=As%20workforce%20dynamics%20shift%20with,necessary%20protection%20for%20modern%20challenges." target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote in January</a>, adding that “76% of organizations have detected increased insider threat activity over the past five years, which usually happens during layoffs and resignations. When employees depart, the risk of sensitive data being exposed, stolen, or mishandled increases significantly.”</p><h3>Remote Work, Cloud Adoption Raise Risk</h3><p>The risk has increased over the past several years with the increase in remote work and the growing adoption of cloud technologies, which accelerated during the pandemic.</p><p>“Many companies are still relying on legacy security systems that were not designed to cope with the current flexible, cloud-based environments,” Fidelis wrote. “These older systems often fail to provide the necessary protection for modern challenges. … Tracking data movement and potential leaks during employee transitions is a complex task for organizations. Without proper oversight, unauthorized employee access to sensitive data can lead to serious breaches, especially if the departure happens suddenly or without proper monitoring.”</p><p>Several factors make it difficult to track data movement and potential leaks when an employee leaves, including the multiple devices and platforms – including email, cloud storage, and USB drives – workers use when handling corporate data.</p><p>The situation is made even more difficult when an employee leaves quickly, or a company can live track the data that employees are moving around.</p><p>“When multiple employees leave at once (for reasons like layoffs or mass resignations), the risk of data leaks or theft goes up,” the security company wrote. “It’s harder for security teams to manage everything happening at once. As organizations face these challenges, adopting advanced data security measures to prevent data leaks becomes critical.”</p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/11/intel-sues-ex-employee-it-claims-stole-18000-company-files/" data-a2a-title="Intel Sues Ex-Employee It Claims Stole 18,000 Company Files"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fintel-sues-ex-employee-it-claims-stole-18000-company-files%2F&amp;linkname=Intel%20Sues%20Ex-Employee%20It%20Claims%20Stole%2018%2C000%20Company%20Files" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fintel-sues-ex-employee-it-claims-stole-18000-company-files%2F&amp;linkname=Intel%20Sues%20Ex-Employee%20It%20Claims%20Stole%2018%2C000%20Company%20Files" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fintel-sues-ex-employee-it-claims-stole-18000-company-files%2F&amp;linkname=Intel%20Sues%20Ex-Employee%20It%20Claims%20Stole%2018%2C000%20Company%20Files" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fintel-sues-ex-employee-it-claims-stole-18000-company-files%2F&amp;linkname=Intel%20Sues%20Ex-Employee%20It%20Claims%20Stole%2018%2C000%20Company%20Files" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fintel-sues-ex-employee-it-claims-stole-18000-company-files%2F&amp;linkname=Intel%20Sues%20Ex-Employee%20It%20Claims%20Stole%2018%2C000%20Company%20Files" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div>

From Firewalls to the Cloud: Unifying Security Policies Across Hybrid Environments

  • None
  • Published date: 2025-11-11 00:00:00

None

<p>When your infrastructure spans firewalls, SD-WAN, containers, and multiple clouds, “secure” starts to mean a dozen different things. Each environment has its own controls, policies, and interfaces. Each team has its own tools and workflows. And every time something changes, whether it’s a new VPC rule, an updated security group, or a firewall migration, your risk exposure shifts. This happens often faster than you can see it.</p><p>Hybrid environments bring agility, but they also bring complexity. The challenge isn’t that teams can’t configure policies, it’s that they can’t see, understand, and enforce them consistently across all environments. And that’s exactly where <a href="https://www.firemon.com/blog/network-security-policy-management-nspm-in-2025/">Network Security Policy Management (NSPM)</a> proves its value.</p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><h2>The Hidden Cost of Fragmentation</h2><p>Security teams rarely suffer from a lack of effort, rather they suffer from a lack of alignment. On-prem teams manage traditional firewalls with rule-based precision. Cloud teams move faster with declarative policies. Containers spin up and down in seconds, making yesterday’s configurations obsolete.</p><p>This fragmentation leads to:</p><ul> <li>Policy drift: Rules evolve separately across firewalls and clouds, creating inconsistent enforcement.</li> <li>Operational drag: Manual checks and duplicated approvals slow down deployments.</li> <li>Audit fatigue: Proving compliance across mixed environments becomes a recurring fire drill.</li> <li>Increased risk: Blind spots between environments become easy targets for lateral movement.</li> </ul><p>The result? Even the most advanced organizations lose sight of what’s actually allowed, who approved it, and whether it aligns with policy intent.</p><p>Hybrid cloud security management isn’t about controlling every tool. It’s about orchestrating them into a unified system of control.</p><h2>Why Consistency Matters More Than Device Count</h2><p>In traditional environments, the number of devices often determined the complexity of security management. But in the hybrid era, complexity is exponential, not additive.</p><p>One inconsistent rule across your AWS Security Groups and Palo Alto Networks firewalls can create a gap wide enough for an attacker, or an auditor, to walk through.</p><p>What matters most today isn’t the number of controls you operate. It’s whether those controls:</p><ul> <li>Enforce consistent intent: “Allow only HTTPS” should mean the same thing across every platform.</li> <li>Apply the right context: Policies should adapt to workloads, locations, and compliance frameworks automatically.</li> <li>Provide traceability: Every change should be visible, attributable, and reversible.</li> </ul><p>That’s what unified security policy management delivers: a common language for enforcement across your entire hybrid infrastructure.</p><h2>From Silos to Synergy: How NSPM Unifies Control</h2><p>Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) is the bridge between traditional firewalls and modern cloud architectures. It doesn’t replace your tools. It connects them:</p><ul> <li>Centralizes visibility across disparate firewall and cloud controls for a unified, real-time compliance view.</li> <li>Automates rule analysis and change validation to cut review times by up to 60%.</li> <li>Normalizes policies across AWS, Azure, and GCP for consistent enforcement and fewer misconfigurations.</li> <li>Validates risk and compliance in real time so changes deploy confidently and securely.</li> <li><a href="https://www.firemon.com/network-security-monitoring-software/">Continuously monitors</a> and versions policies to simplify audits and generate compliance reports in minutes.</li> </ul><p>By abstracting policies from individual devices, FireMon helps teams visualize, optimize, and enforce intent-driven security, no matter where those rules live.</p><h2>FireMon: Visibility + Intelligence = Control</h2><p>FireMon <a href="https://www.firemon.com/products/policy-manager/">Policy Manager</a> provides the foundation: deep visibility and automated management across every rule, device, and platform in your network. Whether it’s Cisco ASA, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, AWS, Azure, or GCP, Policy Manager delivers a single pane of glass for all policy enforcement points. Explore all of our tech partners <a href="https://www.firemon.com/technology-partners/">here</a>.</p><p>FireMon <a href="https://www.firemon.com/products/insights/">Insights</a> builds on that foundation. It continuously analyzes configuration and risk data across both on-prem and cloud assets, delivering context-rich insights that reveal where your greatest policy and compliance risks actually lie.</p><p>Together, they enable:</p><ul> <li>Hybrid policy orchestration: Manage firewall and cloud controls side by side.</li> <li>Continuous compliance: Monitor and prove adherence to frameworks like PCI-DSS, NIST, and HIPAA in real time.</li> <li>Automated change validation: Detect risk and rule conflicts before changes are deployed.</li> <li>Data-driven decisions: See which controls reduce real risk and which just add noise.</li> </ul><p>This isn’t another dashboard. It’s a decision platform.</p><h2>The Payoff: Security That Moves at Business Speed</h2><p>By unifying security policies across hybrid environments, FireMon customers report measurable gains:</p><ul> <li>Up to 80% faster change reviews thanks to automated policy analysis.</li> <li>50% fewer misconfigurations through visibility and rule normalization.</li> <li>Continuous compliance with automated mapping to standards and audit-ready reporting.</li> </ul><p>The business result: security that scales without slowing innovation.</p><p>You can’t play the infinite game of security if you’re managing by exception. FireMon helps you move beyond firefighting to strategic control where every policy aligns with your intent, every change has context, and every risk is visible before it becomes a problem.</p><h2>Ready to Unify Your Security Policies?</h2><p>Hybrid infrastructure doesn’t have to mean hybrid chaos. FireMon gives you the visibility, intelligence, and automation to bring order to complexity, so your security posture stays strong as your environment evolves.</p><p><a href="https://www.firemon.com/request-a-demo/">Schedule a demo</a> to see how FireMon can help you unify and automate security policies across on-prem, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments.</p><div class="faq faq-div "> <div class="container"> <div class="column column--1"> <h2 class="h3 faq-title ">Frequently Asked Questions</h2> </div> <div class="column column--2 accordion"> <div class="card-faq accordion--item"> <div class="accordion--title"> <h3 class="h4 card_faq--title ">What is hybrid cloud security management?</h3> </div> <div class="accordion--content paragraph"> <p>It’s the practice of securing and managing policies consistently across both on-premises and cloud environments.</p> </div></div> <div class="card-faq accordion--item"> <div class="accordion--title"> <h3 class="h4 card_faq--title ">How does FireMon support multi-cloud policy management?</h3> </div> <div class="accordion--content paragraph"> <p>FireMon normalizes and manages policies across AWS, Azure, and GCP from a single interface.</p> </div></div> <div class="card-faq accordion--item"> <div class="accordion--title"> <h3 class="h4 card_faq--title ">What’s the benefit of unified security policies?</h3> </div> <div class="accordion--content paragraph"> <p>They reduce misconfigurations, simplify audits, and ensure consistent enforcement across all platforms.</p> </div></div> <div class="card-faq accordion--item"> <div class="accordion--title"> <h3 class="h4 card_faq--title ">Can FireMon integrate with cloud-native firewalls?</h3> </div> <div class="accordion--content paragraph"> <p>Yes. FireMon integrates with AWS Security Groups, Azure NSGs, and other cloud-native controls.</p> </div></div> <div class="card-faq accordion--item"> <div class="accordion--title"> <h3 class="h4 card_faq--title ">Does FireMon help with compliance?</h3> </div> <div class="accordion--content paragraph"> <p>Absolutely. 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The Limitations of Google Play Integrity API (ex SafetyNet)

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  • Published date: 2025-11-11 00:00:00

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<h6 style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">Updated November 2025</span></h6><p>This overview outlines the history and use of Google Play Integrity API and highlights some limitations. We also compare and contrast Google Play Integrity API with the comprehensive mobile security offered by Approov. The imminent deprecation of Google SafetyNet Attestation API means this is a good time for a comprehensive evaluation of solutions in this space.</p><h2>Why App Attestation and Device Integrity Checks are Important</h2><p>There are two fundamental problems with mobile apps: The first is that they can be reverse engineered, even if attempts have been made to obfuscate code. The second is that they run in a client environment which is neither owned nor controlled by the app owner. </p><div class="code-block code-block-13" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-13-1" data-info="WyIxMy0xIiwxXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="U2hvcnQ=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.techstrongevents.com/cruisecon-virtual-west-2025/home?ref=in-article-ad-2&amp;utm_source=sb&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=in-article-ad-2" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Banner-770x330-social-1.png" alt="Cruise Con 2025"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><p>This means that unless steps are taken, apps themselves can be analyzed, understood, cloned or copied, and the environments they run in can be hacked, rooted, instrumented and manipulated to interfere with the operation of an app. </p><p>Using these attack surfaces, hackers can directly intercept or tamper with data transferred between the app and its servers, intercept or manipulate financial transactions, or simply interfere with or stop the operation of the service. </p><p>Manipulated apps can be repackaged and redistributed with malware. Repackaged apps can be turned into automated tools (i.e. bots) to be used to attack APIs and backend servers. Secrets can also be lifted from apps then used in scripts to create bots. Bad actors use these techniques to carry out brute-force attacks, exploiting API vulnerabilities to steal data, or mount DDoS attacks. </p><p>So it’s no surprise that trying to prevent apps and devices from being tampered with must be at the heart of any security strategy designed to protect mobile apps. However, this is only a fraction of the whole story, as we will soon discover. App and device attestation are an essential piece of the puzzle but not sufficient in themselves.  </p><p>Different services are available to provide app attestation. Google provides app attestation and client integrity checks via Play Integrity API. Approov provides an end-to-end mobile app security solution which includes app and device integrity checking. The rest of this paper compares the two solutions.</p><h2>The History of Google Play Integrity API</h2><p>SafetyNet attestation API was launched in 2017 as part of Google Play services, in order to provide an API for developers to remotely evaluate whether they were talking to a genuine Android device. Developers, however, found it hard to implement and there were a number of studies that showed <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3458864.3466627">how incomplete implementations could be abused</a>.</p><p>In 2021 Google announced Play Integrity API, consolidating multiple integrity offerings (including the SafetyNet Attestation device verdict) under a single API. At the same time <a href="https://developer.android.com/privacy-and-security/safetynet/deprecation-timeline">they announced the deprecation of SafetyNet Attestation API</a> (one of the four APIs under the SafetyNet umbrella). </p><p>Google expects developers to fully replace Attestation API with the Play Integrity API by the end of January 2024 unless an extension is requested and accepted. SafetyNet Attestation API will be turned off completely in January 2025. This is forcing Android developers using SafetyNet to perform code updates across the board to all apps and to upgrade to the new attestation service. </p><h2>What Problem Does Google Play Integrity API Aim to Address</h2><p>You can call <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqUTX6hR9Mk">Play Integrity API</a> to check that you’re really interfacing with your genuine app binary, installed by Google Play, running on a genuine Android device. If something is off (for example it’s a tampered or sideloaded app, or it’s an unofficial emulator, or it’s a rooted or compromised device), you can decide what defensive actions to take.</p><p>The Integrity API unifies Google Play anti-abuse features with a collection of integrity signals to help Android app and game developers detect potentially risky and fraudulent traffic. This traffic could come from modified versions of your app or game, untrustworthy devices, or other untrustworthy environments. By detecting this traffic, you can respond with appropriate action to reduce attacks and abuse such as fraud, cheating, and unauthorized access.</p><p>You can use the Play Integrity API to protect your apps and games from risky interactions. By identifying these interactions, your app can respond appropriately to reduce the risk of attacks and abuse.</p><h2>How Does Play Integrity API Work?</h2><p>The Integrity API unifies Google Play integrity signals to help app and game developers detect potentially risky and fraudulent traffic. <br>When a user performs an app or game-defined action, your server instructs the client-side code to invoke the Integrity API. The Google Play server returns an encrypted response with an integrity verdict about whether or not you can trust this device and its binary. Your app then forwards that response to your server for verification. Your server can decide what your app or game should do.</p><p>The API provides what is called an “integrity verdict” in a response that includes the following information:</p><ul> <li><strong>Genuine app binary</strong>: Determine whether you’re interacting with your unmodified binary that Google Play recognizes.</li> <li><strong>Genuine Play install</strong>: Determine whether the current user account is licensed, which means that the user installed or paid for your app or game on Google Play.</li> <li><strong>Genuine Android device</strong>: Determine whether your app is running on a genuine Android device powered by Google Play services (or a genuine instance of Google Play Games for PC).</li> </ul><p>There are two types of requests supported by Google: “Classic” requests initiate a full assessment and require interpretation work on behalf of the user – these are recommended for the most sensitive request, and can be slow. The new “standard” requests are faster but delegate some of the decision making to Google Play.</p><h2>What Problems Does Google Play Integrity API Not Address?</h2><p>We will see in a later section that there are some limitations in the way that Google Play Integrity API provides app attestation, and as Google also points out, this technique, in order to be effective, must be part of a broader security effort. Google recommends that it is deployed as part of a broader <a href="https://developer.android.com/privacy-and-security/security-tips">security strategy</a>.</p><p>If we use, for example, the <a href="https://mas.owasp.org/MASVS/">OWASP MASVS</a> (Mobile Application Security Verification Standard) framework in order to assess end-to-end mobile app security, Google Play Integrity API ONLY partially addresses the guidelines in the category MASVS-RESILIENCE which is only one of seven categories in the guidelines. MASVS-RESILIENCE aims to ensure that the app is running on a trusted platform, prevent tampering at runtime and ensure the integrity of the app’s intended functionality.</p><p>In particular these are two other things you will need to take care of:</p><ul> <li><strong>Network and Channel Security</strong>: The APIs and the communications channel between app and APIs must also be protected. </li> <li><strong>Management and Security of API Keys and Secrets</strong>: The secrets used to authenticate and authorize access to backend services from mobile apps must be protected from being stolen and abused.</li> </ul><p>Now we understand the scope, let’s look specifically at the app attestation and device integrity checks provided by Google and compare them with Approov.</p><h2>What are the Limitations of Google Play Integrity API versus Approov?</h2><ul> <li><strong>Google Play API is Android Only</strong>  <ul> <li>Obviously the Android solution only works with Android devices and does not work with iOS or other client/app ecosystems. Implementing diverging security solutions for Android and iOS does not align well with efforts to save development and maintenance costs by using cross-platform development tools such as Flutter and React Native.  </li> <li>Approov covers all the devices that could be accessing your APIs, including iOS, WatchOS and HarmonyOS. Approov also integrates easily with a number of cross-platform solutions including Flutter and React Native. </li> </ul> </li> </ul><ul> <li><strong>It Needs Google Play Services to Work</strong> <ul> <li>Like the SafetyNet APIs, the Play Integrity API is offered by Google Services and thus is not available on free Android environments. Therefore, apps that require the API to be available may refuse to execute on AOSP builds. </li> <li>Approov works with any Android environment including AOSP builds and does not depend on Google Services.</li> </ul> </li> </ul><ul> <li><strong>Client Issues are as Defined by Google Play API (Not by You)</strong> <ul> <li>An environment is defined as problematic by Google, not by the app developer – Only integrity levels such as Virtual, Basic, Strong are reported back by the Integrity API in addition to some optional additional information about the state of the Google Play Environment. Some researchers have found that Google does not find all problematic scenarios in the client environment and the lack of granularity and visibility over what is checked could be an issue. </li> <li>Approov provides a rich set of device attestation checks which are regularly updated as new threats emerge. Rooted and jailbroken phones are detected. Frameworks and hooking environments such as Cycript, Cydia, Xposed, Frida, Magisk, Zygisk are all detected. What is acceptable can be controlled with a high level of granularity via over the air policy updates. </li> </ul> </li> </ul><ul> <li><strong>Google Play API Always Classifies Rooted Phones as “Bad”</strong> <ul> <li>Google Play API doesn’t work if the phone is rooted. But a high proportion of genuine users have rooted their phones in order to add features and capabilities so the dependence of Google Play on a root check to determine the ‘goodness’ of the device is problematic. In some vertical markets, such as financial services and healthcare, it is understandable and acceptable to block API access for rooted devices. For more general retail sectors, customer stickiness is a key metric. </li> <li>Approov provides a better approach: developer-defined policies are used to decide which of multiple factors are used to determine whether to rate limit or block a particular customer. </li> </ul> </li> </ul><ul> <li><strong>Play Integrity API is Slow </strong> <ul> <li>Google has rolled out new standard requests which have lower latency (a few hundred milliseconds on average) vs. the “classic” requests which took  on average several seconds. Unfortunately the classic requests are still recommended by Google for the “most sensitive” requests your app makes.  </li> <li>Approov provides consistent low latency performance worldwide via our network of mobile attestation points of presence (PoPs). In addition it works even where internet access is challenging.</li> </ul> </li> </ul><ul> <li><strong>Play Integrity API doesn’t prevent Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks</strong>  <ul> <li>Mobile phones are particularly prone to Man-in-the-Middle attacks on the channel between the app and the API, even if the traffic is encrypted. Google Play Integrity API does not prevent this.</li> <li><a href="https://approov.io/mobile-app-security/rasp/dynamic-cert-pinning/?hsLang=en"><span>Approov Dynamic Certificate Pinning</span></a> protects the channel from mobile Man-in-the-Middle attacks and makes it easy to manage certificates over the air, without needing code changes or forcing users to update their app version as a result. </li> </ul> </li> </ul><ul> <li><strong>Play Integrity API doesn’t stop API secrets from being stolen and abused</strong> <ul> <li>The Integrity API can help you distinguish scripts (using stolen secrets) from genuine apps but it does nothing to get secrets out of your app code It also does not provide any help in keeping your apps running when secrets are compromised, e.g. allowing you to dynamically rotate stolen API keys. Google does have a secret manager but it doesn’t work with Play API to test the app integrity checks offered by Google Play Integrity API before delivering secrets to an app. </li> <li>Approov provides a separate secrets  management solution that manages API keys and certificates securely in the cloud, delivering them “just-in-time” only when app and device integrity checks are passed. It also allows them to be easily rotated via <a href="https://approov.io/product/app-protection?hsLang=en"><span>over-the-air updates</span></a> if they are compromised elsewhere. </li> </ul> </li> </ul><ul> <li><strong>Implementation is complicated and subject to errors</strong></li> <ul> <li>The Implementation of Play Integrity requires app developers to defend API  calls at a function level, meaning nothing is protected out of the box. Developers need to review/audit all of the API call points and make modifications to many of them. Each API request that should be secured, needs to be secured explicitly, which is achieved by using specific play integrity framework methods. </li> <li>Approov deployment is easy and operation is also made easy via over the air updates. <a href="https://approov.io/resource/quickstarts/?hsLang=en">Approov quickstarts</a> exist for all major mobile development platforms, providing fast integration. A networking interceptor model automatically adds an Approov token or secured API key to the required API requests without the developer needing to do much on the mobile client, the SDK handles this for you. Approov’s multi-platform approach also means a single and simple backend check can reject invalid traffic for any clients, e.g. Android, iOS, AppleOS, Harmony OS: with Google you would need to identify and handle Android traffic separately within your server side code. </li> </ul> </ul><ul> <li><strong>Rate limits &amp; DDOS vulnerabilities</strong> <ul> <li>Google currently offers a quota of 10,000 API integrity checks per day, if this quota is exceeded the service will no longer work for your app. Google offers a quota increase on a case by case basis but in these circumstances a form needs to be submitted in which a review will take up to 2 – 3 working days. In the meantime a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack could take down the service running on your app. </li> <li>Approov has no quotas or thresholds on traffic and can easily scale to support millions of active mobile apps, always providing a consistently high performance. Because of this, Approov is always ready to sign up to stringent performance SLAs with our enterprise customers. </li> </ul> </li> </ul><h2><span style="color: #030303;">Update November 2025: Impact of Recent Android / Play Integrity API Enhancements</span></h2><p style="line-height: 1.5;">Since this blog was first published:</p><ul style="line-height: 1.5;"> <li>Google announced behavioural changes for the Play Integrity API “strong integrity” verdict: devices running Android 13 (API level 33) or later will only get the <strong>MEETS_STRONG_INTEGRITY</strong> verdict if they have a <a href="https://www.androidenterprise.community/kb/announcements/google-play-integrity-api-behavioral-changes/11228"><span>security update installed within the last 12 months. </span></a></li> <li>Also in May 2025, <a href="https://www.androidauthority.com/google-play-integrity-hardware-attestation-3561592/"><span>Google required hardware‑backed security signals for stronger integrity checks</span></a> — making it harder for rooted or custom‑ROM devices to pass.</li> <li>As planned, Google has <a href="https://linustechtips.com/topic/1612681-google-deprecates-old-safetynet-api-in-favor-of-play-integrity-api/"><span>phased out the older SafetyNet Attestation API in favour of Play Integrity</span></a>.</li> <li>Version 1.5.0 of the Integrity library (Aug 2025) added <a href="https://developer.android.com/google/play/integrity/reference/com/google/android/play/core/release-notes"><span>new remediation dialogs</span></a> (<span style="color: #188038;">GET_INTEGRITY</span>, <span style="color: #188038;">GET_STRONG_INTEGRITY</span>) to help users fix integrity issues.<span style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline;"><br></span></li> </ul><p style="line-height: 1.5;">These changes strengthen the native device attestation layer on Android, making it harder for rooted/custom‐ROM bypasses. However,  the same fundamental gap remains: <strong>attestation of the app </strong><strong><em>instance + request context</em></strong><strong> is still needed</strong>. It is also worth noting that the SafetyNet deprecation affects legacy devices/versions, and continuing to rely on older attestation methods is increasingly risky.</p><h2>Summary</h2><p>Google Play API provides a way to perform app and device attestation checks at runtime for Android apps deployed using Google services. It has some limitations and only works with Android apps which use Google Services. As Google SafetyNet Attestation API is deprecated this is a good time to evaluate alternatives.</p><p>Approov Mobile App Protection ensures that all mobile API traffic does indeed come from a genuine and untampered mobile app, running in a safe environment. Doing this blocks all scripts, bots and modified or repackaged mobile apps from abusing an API. 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Read the original post at: <a href="https://approov.io/blog/limitations-of-google-play-integrity-api-ex-safetynet">https://approov.io/blog/limitations-of-google-play-integrity-api-ex-safetynet</a> </p>