Understanding Extortion Without Encryption

Traditionally, attackers deployed malware to encrypt files and demanded payment for decryption. More recently, their tactics have shifted toward data theft and immediate extortion, threatening to publish stolen information if victims refuse to pay.

From Ransomware to Extortion Campaigns

In traditional encryption-based ransomware attacks, attackers infected systems with malware that encrypted victims’ files. Then, they demanded payment in exchange for the decryption key. The data was locked but not exfiltrated. This meant that once those affected restored data from backups or obtained a decryptor key, their data’s confidentiality wasn’t necessarily compromised.

More recently, extortion without encryption campaigns have become more popular. In this model, attackers often directly steal sensitive information and threaten to publish it if the ransom isn’t paid. In many cases, they add new pressure layers, such as threatening to contact customers and the media to force victims to pay.

Why Attackers Skip Encryption

It takes time and expertise to develop ransomware that can bypass antivirus and EDR defenses, while advances in backup and recovery have made encryption far less profitable for attackers. Many organizations have also invested in stronger detection and response capabilities, which increase the likelihood of failure.

As a result of this, many modern ransomware groups use ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) which involves leasing ransomware that is developed and maintained by other groups. Other groups skip encryption entirely and go straight for data exfiltration. This means they can operate faster, resulting in more profit.

The Rise of Double and Triple Extortion Ransomware

Many attackers are now using layered extortion tactics to maximize their leverage against victims and increase their chances of getting paid.

Double Extortion Ransomware Explained

In a double extortion ransomware attack, threat actors steal victims’ sensitive data whilebefore encrypting their files. This means they can raise the stakes when demanding ransom. In addition to paying to get their data decrypted, those affected must pay to stop attackers from leaking their stolen information.

This tactic significantly increases pressure on victims. Even if they can restore their systems from backups, the fear of data exposure is significant as it can lead to reputational damage and regulatory consequences. This often pushes them to negotiate or pay.

Triple Extortion Attacks

In a triple extortion attack, attackers go beyond encrypting and stealing data. Once they have demanded payment to stop a data leak, they ramp up their threats. This often involves contacting customers, business partners, or regulators to warn them that their information will be exposed.

This tactic puts pressure on the victim by creating public embarrassment and customer panic, as well as potential legal consequences. The goal is to expedite the ransom payment.

Harassment and Reputational Damage

Increasingly, attackers are targeting executives, customers, partners, and the media to put more pressure on their victims. This can include writing threatening letters or making calls to leadership, and letting third parties know that their data has been stolen.

In some cases, threat actors make more noise by publishing partial leaks or contacting journalists.

A recent example of this is the recent threats against Salesforce by the ShinyHunters group in October. The group claimed to have stolen 1 billion records from Salesforce customer databases, and announced that they would publish data publicly if their demands were not met.

In all of these cases, the attackers’ goal is to turn a breach into a reputational and legal crisis, ultimately forcing victims to pay the ransom more quickly.

Business and Security Implications of Data Theft Attacks

Extortion without encryption and data-theft attacks extend the threat beyond IT. As well as exposing organizations to financial losses and regulatory penalties, they can cause severe reputational damage that takes years to recover from.

Regulatory and Legal Exposure

Data breaches can trigger compliance violations under laws like GDPR, HIPAA, and other data-protection regulations. Breaching these regulations and exposing sensitive information can result in fines and legal penalties for organizations.

Operational and Financial Impact

Data theft attacks can quickly disrupt operations and lead to significant downtime costs. They also erode trust, which leads to customer churn. When combined with potential litigation and regulatory fines, these attacks can cause substantial financial and operational burdens.

Brand Trust and Reputational Fallout

Successful data theft attacks can significantly undermine public confidence in an organization’s ability to protect information. Stakeholders may lose trust, and negative media coverage can result in long-term reputational damage. Even temporary exposure of data can have lasting effects on brand perception and market credibility.

Defending Against Post-Ransomware Threats

Now that attackers no longer rely on encryption as their primary weapon, managed detection and response (MDR) and proactive defense strategies must adapt.

Detecting Data Exfiltration

Extortion without encryption typically involves silent data exfiltration. Once attackers gain entry, they focus on high-value information and exfiltrate it gradually, often disguising it as normal network traffic.

To identify these unusual transfers, organizations should invest in security solutions like network monitoring, data loss prevention (DLP), and anomaly detection. Regular monitoring can help identify newly installed applications like Rclone, which attackers often use to exfiltrate stolen data. It can also help detect outbound traffic to sites like mega.io or other cloud backup providers.

Improving Response Time

Speed is crucial for mitigating harm in data theft attacks. As soon as an account or system is compromised, security teams should take immediate action to contain the threat as quickly as possible. Real-time visibility into network and user activity can make it easier to detect suspicious behavior and prevent further data exfiltration.

Acting quickly can significantly reduce the operational and financial impact of threats. Integrating automated alerts and incident response workflows can also help teams to act decisively under pressure.

Preparing for the Next Phase of Ransomware

Organizations can build resilience and reduce the chance of successful silent exfiltration through continuous monitoring and rehearsing incident response. This helps anticipate attacks and safeguards sensitive data.

Continuous Threat Intelligence

Security teams can maintain continuous threat intelligence by monitoring the dark web and staying updated on leak sites. This helps uncover emerging attack trends, enabling them to anticipate new extortion tactics that bypass encryption.

Organizations should also monitor leak sites and other common exfiltration paths to look for evidence of their own data being leaked. In the event that the initial attack was missed, this can be an indicator of compromise.

Building a Culture of Preparedness

Creating a culture of preparedness is essential for dealing with post-ransomware threats. For instance, conducting regular tabletop exercises can help teams practice responding to data theft attacks in a controlled setting. This helps clarify roles and responsibilities and identify gaps in your strategy.

Executive involvement is also essential for embedding cybersecurity into your organization’s culture. It highlights security as a strategic priority and drives accountability, ensuring a more coordinated response when incidents occur.

Adapting to Extortion Without Encryption

Ransomware isn’t disappearing; it’s just changing. The rise in extortion without encryption means that organizations will need to rethink their defenses. This will involve prioritizing early detection, rapid response, data loss prevention, and strong collaboration across IT, legal, and executive teams to contain threats and reduce impact. Success will depend on adapting as quickly as the attackers do.

The post Extortion Without Encryption: The Next Phase of Ransomware appeared first on CyberMaxx.

The true value of a managed detection and response (MDR) lies not in the alerts generated. It’s the savings you get by minimizing (or eliminating) the damage from cyber attacks. And the faster you respond, the more you save.
This economic advantage separates the response-first MDR from alert-heavy models.

Here’s how (and why) rapid response delivers a return on investment (ROI):

Why Response-First MDR ROI Matters

Imagine you’re a CISO at a board meeting. You’ve been tasked with justifying a recent cybersecurity investment. Where would you start?

Most boards and executives demand measurable financial returns. So addressing technical activity doesn’t do the trick. They want cost savings.

Moving Beyond Alert Volume

Traditional tools are great for drowning security analysts in alerts, but not delivering ROI.

Response-driven MDR models prioritize actionable threats and incident containment. They filter the “noise” and offer tangible value by removing threats (not just finding them).

So instead of being a cost center that reports on problems, security becomes a value center that directly protects the bottom line.

Calculating the MDR Economic Impact

Quantifying the savings of a response-first MDR is straightforward. Use metrics that highlight the cost of a security incident and the savings achieved by stopping it sooner.

Time-to-Contain Breaches

The primary driver of savings is speed of response. It dramatically shortens the breach lifecycle. So one metric you can use is the Mean Time to Respond (MTTR).

Solid MTTR is often the difference between threats sent and threats activated.

For instance, say you found ransomware within hours (and not days). You could isolate it before it activated encryption on the servers. In this case, you prevented spending millions on ransom payments, recovery services, and lost revenue from downtime simply by increasing your response time.

Loss Avoidance as ROI

Loss avoidance is a super clear economic benefit. Frame MDR ROI as a risk reducer that has kept millions of dollars in the bank. And it’s something you can calculate fairly quickly:

• What were the potential costs of ransomware payments?
• What about the recovery or remediation expenses of hiring a provider?
• Are there any regulatory fines or legal fees associated with a potential breach?
• And what does downtime truly cost the business (e.g., customer churn, lost revenue)?

These are real, measurable costs that directly impact the bottom line. In reality, you’re a profit saver!

Efficiency Gains for Security Teams

A lesser-noticed value of response-first MDR is the time given back.
Imagine how many times per day security analysts chase false positives. There’s an opportunity cost to that. Every hour spent investigating a benign alert is an hour not spent on strategic defense, threat hunting, or patching critical vulnerabilities.

It also leads to “alert fatigue” and burns out valuable talent (who could ultimately leave the company).

Show how MDR can reduce overall labor costs and employee churn.

Response-First MDR ROI in Action

Case studies and scenario-building are effective methods for adding context. Here are some examples you can use to illustrate MDR cost savings:

Breach Scenario: Alert-Only vs. Response-First

An alert-only service flags suspicious activity, flooding analysts with alerts that require investigation.

So let’s say ransomware got deployed into the network at 2:00 PM EST. The analysts are so busy evaluating 22 other alerts, they don’t see and handle the ransomware until 6:00 PM EST.

By then, the system had already been encrypted, with the ransom demand posted.

In the same scenario, a response-first MDR gets the same alert but filters the noise. They’ve set up SOAR workflows that prioritize specific systems or activities and automatically trigger response protocols. At 2:00 PM EST, ransomware deploys. By 2:02 PM EST, the endpoint is quarantined and cleaned. No widespread exposure.

Real-World Cost Differentials

The 2017 Equifax breach is a classic example of how delayed detection and response can cause a ripple effect. While the breach occurred in May 2017, it wasn’t discovered until July 2017. Attackers had weeks to steal consumers’ sensitive PII and credit card data.

The company ended up with a bill of $1.38+ in settlements and remediation costs. They probably could’ve avoided the incident altogether had they spotted the vulnerability sooner.

Moneris Banking is the opposite, boasting a success story. When they were targeted by ransomware in 2023, it could’ve resulted in a $6 million extortion payment plus remediation fees and fines. Instead, they responded quickly and prevented any data from being compromised. No impact, just a minor inconvenience.

Executive Visibility

Unlike technical jargon from cyber activity metrics, CFOs and boards understand finances. They resonate with data showing how rapid response reduces risk and bottom-line exposure.

It’s much easier to present MDR as a cost-control center and profit protector, thereby making the investment case clear.

Building the Business Case for Response-First MDR

Position MDR as a strategic investment, not another line item on the expense report:

Mapping Security Metrics to Financial KPIs

Connect security performance to business language:

• Drop MTTR from 12 to three days? That’s loss prevention (prevents costs of business disruption, ransom payments, and lost data).
• Did you prevent five incidents in the last month? You’ve turned cyber risk from abstract to something measurable (the cost of five data breaches). That’s risk reduction.
• Spend $150,000 on MDR? You prevented $4.5 million in potential breach costs. That’s a 2,900% ROI.

Make the economics clear. A modern, response-first MDR is not a cost.

Vendor Evaluation Through Economics

Choosing an MDR partner is a financial decision as much as a technical one. Go beyond feature checklists and ask these cost-focused questions to gauge economic impact:

• What is your guaranteed or typical MTTR and MTTC? (No speed, no cost savings)
• Do you have any data on the average dwell time reduction for your clients? (Directly translates to lower breach costs)
• What is included in your “response” action? (you need automated containment, not just alerts)

Asking these questions shifts the conversation from technical capabilities to tangible financial protection.

Counting the Savings, Not Just the Alerts

MDR performance is not counted in alerts, but the millions of dollars saved by preventing a full-scale breach.

Every minute shaved off your dwell time is real money preserved. And the difference between a brief inconvenience and making the headlines is being able to respond in hours, not days.

It’s what makes response-first MDR ROI so vital. You’re not adding another IT cost; you’re investing in a profit protector.

The post The ROI of Response: Why Modern MDR Saves More Than It Costs appeared first on CyberMaxx.

In Part 2, we’re exploring four key areas: the hacker mindset, phishing tactics, technical hygiene, and emerging threats. You’ll also see guidance on password manager security, patch management strategy, zero trust practices, and threat detection best practices.

Understanding these tactics will help you sharpen your defenses and start to think like a hacker.

A Hacker’s Mindset: Zero Trust and Social Engineering

Hackers often exploit assumptions and take advantage of helpfulness. Adopting zero-trust practices and understanding common phishing tactics can help you stop social engineering attacks in their tracks. Combining these approaches with advanced cybersecurity tips makes it much harder for attackers to succeed.

Never Trust, Always Verify

In cybersecurity, the saying “Trust, but verify” isn’t enough. Adopting zero-trust practices means that everything and everyone must be verified before access. Some examples of zero-trust practices include:

• Verify identities: Always confirm someone’s identity independently before sharing information.
• Do not reuse passwords: Use unique passwords for every account and keep personal and corporate accounts separate.
• Use passkeys and MFA: Passkeys replace passwords with stronger cryptography, and multi-factor authentication adds an extra layer of protection.
• Password manager security: A secure password manager helps generate and store unique credentials safely, reducing the risk of leaks.
• Recognize phishing tactics and avoid public Wi-Fi: Learn to spot phishing attempts and never trust public networks.

Applying these zero-trust practices and building habits ensures you keep both your personal and organizational data safe.

Spotting Social Engineers

“Attackers will look for the weakest link, and usually that’s social engineering,” says one of our experts. “Being nice will compromise a system more quickly than a weak password. Being confident about saying no to someone who wants your help to get in is one of the best security practices. Social engineers prey on kindness. ”

Social engineers will exploit your politeness by trying to create scenarios that pressure you to act quickly or help someone. They know exactly how to seem friendly and authoritative. They also rely on the assumption that most people want to be helpful, which can help them bypass technical security measures. Setting clear boundaries, like refusing to provide credentials over the phone, verifying requests independently, or pausing before responding, is essential.

Advanced Phishing and Scam Awareness

Phishing remains one of the most persistent threat vectors in cybersecurity. Attackers know how to exploit urgency, fear, and trust to trick people into revealing sensitive information. Understanding phishing tactics and how professionals identify scams can help you avoid common pitfalls.

Dissecting Scam Tactics

Phishing attacks often rely on urgency, fear, and trust to trick targets. Some common techniques include:

• Spoofed domains: Scammers exploit quick glances, hoping that distractions or time pressure will prevent careful inspection. For example, a scam email pretending to be from E-ZPass might show a URL like ezpass[.]com-siba[.]xin. At first glance, it appears legitimate, but the actual domain is com-siba[.]xin, a completely unrelated top-level domain.
• Mismatched sender addresses: Email displays name can easily be faked, so always hover over the email to verify the real sender.

Always pause, slow down, and verify. Treat every unexpected request with skepticism, analyze URLs carefully, and confirm suspicious claims through official channels. Avoid becoming a “moron in a hurry” (this is a real legal standard), and always proceed with caution.

The Gift Card Red Flag

In some cases, scammers may demand payment via gift cards, claiming fines or urgent penalties. Remember that legitimate organizations, including the FBI, will never request gift cards as payment.

One of our experts backs this up: “No company or organization on the planet will offer or require you to pay any expense with literal gift cards – Target, Google, Apple, whatever. It doesn’t happen, and if it’s offered or preferred by someone stating you owe money, it’s not real and you should immediately hang up and call your bank.”

Seasoned professionals treat any request for gift card payments as an instant red flag. They know that scammers rely on urgency and fear to bypass rational thinking. Recognizing this tactic means you can pause, verify, and refuse to engage.

Pro-Level Technical Habits

Strong technical hygiene habits protect your systems and infrastructure. Security professionals follow advanced cybersecurity tips in their daily routines, such as keeping software patched and securing networks and devices. This helps to prevent breaches before attackers can exploit them.

Monitor Your Digital Footprint

Tracking your online presence is a simple yet powerful advanced cybersecurity tip. Use sites like haveibeenpwned.com to see if your emails or personal info have been exposed. Many password manager security tools, like Keeper’s BreachWatch, will also alert you to leaked passwords.

Cybersecurity pros also use email subaddressing (user+target@gmail.com) to monitor which companies share or compromise their data. Watching your digital footprint gives early breach warnings and strengthens both personal and organizational account security.

Securing Password Managers

Even trusted tools like password managers benefit from extra layers of protection. One advanced tactic is to append a short PIN or string to each generated password. For example, if the password manager creates YourGeneratedPWString, add 1111 when using it on a site. The stored password remains YourGeneratedPWString, so a breach won’t reveal the full credentials.

This technique adds a layer of defense-in-depth. This means that if the password manager is breached, the stored credentials alone are not directly usable. It strengthens your password manager security, complementing MFA, strong master passwords, and monitoring for overall protection.

Rethinking Patch Management

Thoughtful timing is key to an effective patch management strategy. Not every update should be installed immediately. One of CyberMaxx’s pros notes that newly released patches can introduce untested features or bugs, which creates potential risks. For example, a Windows update in August 2025 required an emergency out-of-band patch to fix device reset and recovery problems. Waiting a few days can allow critical issues to surface and be resolved.

Layering Everyday Defenses

One of our experts emphasized that resilience doesn’t come from a single habit, but from the way simple habits reinforce each other. Password managers, URL checks, email scrutiny, and device hygiene may seem basic, but when layered together, they form a shield that’s greater than the sum of its parts.

Here’s how these everyday defenses connect to build pro-level security:

1. Use a password manager to generate and store strong, unique credentials.
2. Review URLs before visiting websites to prevent spoofed domains from slipping past a glance.
3. Check sender domains in emails before opening messages to spot impersonation attempts.
4. Turn off Bluetooth when not in use to remove unnecessary entry points for attackers.
5. Stay informed on trends and evolving tactics so new scams and techniques don’t catch you off guard.
6. Share what you learn with others to strengthen habits across your team and community.

These small actions stack together, building professional-level resilience across your personal and organizational security.

Emerging Threats: Voice Cloning and AI Risks

As AI technology advances, attackers are finding new ways to launch sophisticated scams. Voice cloning is a prime example, as it allows attackers to mimic trusted voices with startling accuracy. This glimpse into the next wave of attacks shows how AI can make phishing and social engineering even more convincing, emphasizing a greater need for proactive defense.

The Danger of AI Voice Cloning

Attackers are using AI voice cloning at alarming rates to create realistic impersonations. It’s easier than you might think: answering an unknown call from an attacker allows them to capture a few seconds of your voice. With that snippet, they can use AI to generate a clone. When combined with personal data from past breaches, this can create a detailed profile for fraud or social engineering.

The risk is high because AI makes impersonation more convincing, enhancing phishing tactics. Scammers can mimic your voice to trick friends, family, or colleagues into sharing sensitive information or authorizing transactions.

Stay vigilant, let unknown numbers go to voicemail, and avoid sharing personal information over the phone. You should also take the time to verify any unexpected requests through trusted channels.

Why Thinking Like a Hacker Matters

Thinking like a hacker isn’t about paranoia. It’s all about staying one step ahead. Security professionals know that attackers exploit assumptions, urgency, and human trust. Adopting a proactive mindset means you can anticipate threats before they happen.

Four key themes guide this approach:

1. Applying zero-trust practices
2. Analyzing phishing tactics
3. Maintaining rigorous technical hygiene
4. Preparing for AI-driven risks like voice cloning and deepfakes.

Employees who regularly verify unexpected requests, scrutinize URLs, use strong, unique credentials, and keep systems patched create multiple layers of defense. Combining these actions with monitoring digital footprints and reinforcing secure habits across teams makes it significantly harder for attackers to succeed.

Organizations that embed these practices achieve stronger resilience and reduce the risk of human and technical weaknesses. Thinking like a hacker helps teams protect themselves, which boosts security across the rest of the enterprise. In the long run, this ensures a proactive, adaptive posture against evolving threats.

Stay Ahead by Thinking Like a Hacker

Hackers succeed because they think creatively, and they know how to exploit small assumptions and overlooked details. Defenders must adopt the same mindset by approaching security with skepticism and adaptability. Anticipating tactics like social engineering, phishing, and emerging AI-driven threats means you can act before attackers strike.

To make things easier, we suggest you start small by adopting just one of our advanced cybersecurity tips this week. This might be enabling MFA on a previously unprotected account, taking the time to review any unusual emails carefully, or downloading a password manager. Each step builds your resilience.

Consider CyberMaxx as your partner in helping you to stay ahead of threats and turn personal vigilance into enterprise-level defense. Thinking like a hacker means you can protect your own data while also strengthening the rest of your organization. In the long run, this is essential for staying ahead of evolving threats.

The post Think Like a Hacker: Pro-Level Cybersecurity Insights You Can Steal appeared first on CyberMaxx.

I’ve been in cyber for more than a hot moment now and have learned a heap ton about dos and don’ts (it would not be a great look for me as a marketer if I didn’t, right?) I actually surveyed our employees here at CyberMaxx to learn the tips they have picked up while working here as well.

The team delivered!

So much that we’ve got blog posts chock-full of tips. This post is focused on practical guidance on everyday cybersecurity habits that actually work. These tips include password security best practices, the importance of MFA, and phishing awareness.

Stronger Passwords and Smarter Access

Your credentials are an attacker’s favorite target. Weak passwords, reused logins, and simple human errors can make it surprisingly easy for criminals to gain access to accounts. The good news is that you can make a big difference today with just two practical upgrades: using a password manager and using passphrases or MFA.

Why Password Managers Make a Difference

When we ask our CyberMaxx security pros for their top cybersecurity awareness tips, one employee sums it up perfectly: “Password managers 4 life.”

Password reuse is one of the most common methods by which attackers gain access to accounts. That’s why password managers are true game-changers for everyday cybersecurity habits. They help generate secure passwords and store them securely. This approach makes strong, unique credentials achievable even for non-technical users.

With a password manager, you can use a different password for every account. You don’t need to memorize them, which strengthens your overall password security best practices.

Passphrases Over Passwords

One CyberMaxx security pro says, “Use passphrases, not passwords, and turn 2FA on when possible. Think before you click: if it’s too good to be true, it usually is. And use credit cards, not debit cards, online.”

Passphrases use longer, unique word combinations that make them far more difficult for attackers to crack than standard passwords. They can also be easier for you to remember. Turning on 2FA (or MFA) adds an extra layer of protection, so even if your passphrase is compromised, your account remains secure.

The “too good to be true” warning applies to login prompts as well as suspicious emails or offers. If something seems unusual or feels a little off, it probably is. Always take the time to pause and verify before entering your credentials.

Phishing Awareness and Safe Browsing

Phishing is one of the most common ways attackers gain initial access, as it exploits attention and urgency. Strengthening your phishing awareness is crucial for improving your everyday cybersecurity habits. You should avoid clicking on inbound links from unexpected sources and always verify requests out of band.

Think Before You Click

One CyberMaxx security expert advises, “Don’t click on links in emails or texts you receive to make payments or to access applications you use. Instead, go to the website and log in to your account or the app directly.”

This simple habit prevents attackers from tricking you with spoofed login pages designed to steal credentials. Navigating directly to the official site means you avoid malicious links that could bypass MFA or capture your password.

Trust But Verify Calls and Messages

“I always tell my family and friends, ‘If you receive an email or text from your bank (or anywhere) that is out of the norm, go to the original source. For example, log in to the website from your browser, or call the bank’s phone number on the back of your credit card,” says one expert.

“If someone calls you, hang up the call and call the main phone number. I tell them to make a joke with the caller. Say something like, ‘I have to call the main number I have in my files. Surely, you can understand that with all the crazy scammers in the world out to do bad stuff, they should go to jail for it.’ Your bank will encourage you to do so, but scammers will do the opposite. Now, my circle practices this on the regular, and I feel proud when they tell me they have.”

This advice reinforces the out-of-band rule. When a request seems unusual, pause and verify through a separate, trusted channel.

Hang up suspicious calls, call the official number, and log in via the known URL or app. Getting in the habit of doing this consistently stops attackers from tricking you into giving up credentials or sensitive information. In the long run, it significantly strengthens your phishing awareness and everyday cybersecurity habits.

Physical and Device Hygiene

The choices you make in the physical world (such as what you scan, what you leave unlocked, and how often you update your devices) quietly shape your cybersecurity risk. This section highlights five concrete habits you can adopt today to protect your devices and data.

QR Codes in the Wild

One of our security pros wisely advises, “Do not scan QR codes in the wild, even if they’re offering free ice cream.”
Free ice cream sounds tempting, but the QR code is likely serving up malware rather than sprinkles. QR code security is essential, given that codes can be an easy entry point for attackers, via a technique known as “quishing” (QR code phishing).

When you scan a malicious code, it can direct you to spoofed websites, trigger unwanted downloads, or capture your login credentials. Unlike URLs that you can inspect, QR codes hide the destination. That hidden destination can make it difficult to verify safety at a glance.

Enhance your QR code security by treating random QR codes with the same caution as untrusted links. Only scan codes from trusted sources, and when in doubt, navigate directly to the official website or app. Thinking carefully before you scan helps you reinforce your everyday cybersecurity habits and reduces your chance of falling victim.

Securing Devices and Networks

“Lock your laptop when you walk away from it. Use a mobile hotspot instead of a public wifi,” advises one expert. Physical access and unsecured networks are often overlooked entry points for attackers. Securing devices and avoiding public Wi-Fi connections minimizes opportunities for attackers to access sensitive data.

Keeping software, browsers, and apps up to date ensures known security flaws are patched. Doing so prevents attackers from exploiting outdated systems. “If an update is available in your browser (e.g., Chrome), always take a few seconds out of your day and proceed with the update. It’s very quick, yet so important. Updates have patches for old vulnerabilities that were known to be exploited. Taking those few extra seconds can potentially save your company millions by preventing threat actors from stealing cookies and cached credentials,” another expert says.

Another security pro recommends periodically clearing out your clipboard on your mobile phone when using copy and paste. “You want to ensure no passwords or other sensitive information is hanging out in the clipboard,” they explain.

Finally, make sure your home network is secure. “Always change your home router’s default name, admin password, and wifi password,” says one expert. Default credentials are easy for attackers to find, making home networks an easy target if they aren’t changed.

These device and network hygiene practices form a crucial layer of protection. Together, they minimize risk and strengthen everyday cybersecurity habits, keeping both your personal and organizational data safe.

Why Everyday Habits Matter

Building consistent habits beats one-off awareness when it comes to cybersecurity. Small, everyday behaviors stack over time, creating a stronger defense against threats. Using unique passwords, understanding the importance of MFA, thinking before you click, keeping devices updated, and securing your networks may seem minor individually. Together, they can drastically reduce the chances of phishing successes, credential leaks, and device exposures.

Over time, these small, consistent actions transform individual vigilance into measurable risk reduction. When your employees consistently practice safe behaviors, your entire enterprise becomes more robust against attacks.

CyberMaxx’s mission is to help organizations scale this vigilance by turning personal, everyday security habits into enterprise-grade protection. Through emphasizing habit formation, we empower people to make a meaningful difference to their personal security. This focus helps to reinforce the collective security posture of the wider organization.

From Awareness to Action: CyberMaxx’s Role

Individual cybersecurity habits are powerful, but their impact multiplies when organizations support them at scale. That’s where CyberMaxx comes in, combining everyday vigilance with advanced MDR (Managed Detection and Response) and XDR (Extended Detection and Response) solutions. Over time, this helps teams embed strong security practices across the entire organization.
CyberMaxx’s approach reinforces human-risk mitigation, from phishing defense to device and network monitoring. We provide the tools and insights that turn personal cybersecurity habits into enterprise-wide protection, enabling your employees to become part of a broader, coordinated defense.

In this way, CyberMaxx acts as a force multiplier. We empower organizations to amplify the effectiveness of individual habits by providing comprehensive monitoring and rapid response. That support enables you to transform cybersecurity awareness tips into scalable protection.

Building Safer Habits for a Safer Future

As Cybersecurity Awareness Month reminds us, consistent vigilance compounds over time, making it harder for attackers to succeed and easier to protect your most important data.

In addition to providing you with cybersecurity awareness tips, CyberMaxx is here to guide and support your organization on this journey. Through combining expert insight with MDR, XDR, and human-risk mitigation solutions, we can help your teams scale individual habits into enterprise-grade protection.

Explore our services and discover how CyberMaxx can help your organization strengthen its defenses and turn everyday cybersecurity habits into enhanced protection.

The post Everyday Cybersecurity Habits That Actually Work (From Real Security Pros) appeared first on CyberMaxx.

Cybersecurity faces a new frontier: Synthetic identity fraud and AI-driven phishing. These threats impersonate trusted individuals. They utilize generative AI to create convincing fakes and bypass traditional defenses.

It’s time to expose these digital doppelgangers!

What is Synthetic Identity Fraud?

Synthetic identity fraud is not traditional identity theft. Attackers don’t steal a single person’s identity. Instead, they fabricate new ones.

Building Identities with Real and Fake Data

Synthetic identity fraud is like building Frankenstein. It uses stolen or made-up elements (in this case, personal information, not body parts) and combines them to create a persona.

Fraudsters take real Social Security Numbers (SSNs) and addresses, sprinkle in some fake names with background information, and voilà — a fake identity that seems legitimate.
Why Synthetic Identities Are Hard to Detect
Synthetic identities are patient. Once cybercriminals create a believable persona, they nurture and develop it over time. They’ll, for instance:

• Open bank accounts and credit lines, and build financial histories
• Pay bills (but only in small amounts)
• Establish an online footprint (email address, social accounts, etc.)
• Apply to jobs

It’s the diligence and patience that make these more complex. Blatantly stolen identities are relatively easy to detect. One red flag, like suddenly appearing across the country or a personal data mismatch, and the jig is up.

With synthetic identities, however, those mismatches never appear. Victims remain unaware because attackers fabricate the persona from the ground up. It’s so challenging to find, in fact, that fraud losses from this attack hit $35 billion in 2023.

What starts as a fabricated digital persona can quickly escalate when paired with AI; these identities evolve into tools for convincing impersonation and social engineering.

Deepfakes and AI-Driven Social Engineering

Artificial intelligence (AI) threats take these nuances a step further. After creating a convincing profile, AI delivers convincing impersonation attacks via deepfake social engineering, making them dangerously persuasive.

Voice Cloning for Business Email Compromise (BEC)

Imagine this: You get an urgent call from your boss. At least you assume it is your boss because the voice sounds identical. They instruct you to send $100,000 to a specific account to make a late payment to a vendor. In reality, a cybercriminal is behind the voice.

In the past, attackers would craft legitimate-looking emails appearing to be from a trusted sender (email spoofing). Of course, email security tools have improved in spotting the scams.

Fast-forward to today, and attackers scrape voice samples from social media to clone accents and speech patterns. These voice and video impersonation attacks are common in AI-driven phishing campaigns. In 2024, over 105,000 deepfake attacks were reported, resulting in $200 million loss in just Q1.

Video Deepfakes in Remote Work Environments

Video deepfakes take social engineering a step further. With so much adoption of Zoom and other video conferencing tools, every conversation has to be legit, right?

Sadly, no. Deepfake technology can animate a still image (using AI) to make it appear as if someone is speaking live. You might think you’re talking to a work colleague when, in reality, it’s a sophisticated cybercriminal.

Like voice cloning, they’ll use this attack to authorize fraudulent transactions or extract sensitive information.

These aren’t just hypotheticals. Organizations across industries are already experiencing high-profile attacks that show the financial and operational damage of synthetic identities and deepfakes.

Real-World Examples of Synthetic Identity and Deepfake Attacks

The theoretical is now reality. Synthetic identities resulted in over $3.3 billion in lending exposure to individuals who aren’t even real. These false profiles and deepfakes can truly hit victims hard. Here are some high-profile cases:

High-Dollar Financial Fraud Cases

Financial institutions, large and small, have fallen victim to fraud by synthetic identities. Some notable cases include:

• New York Bank scam: Dozens of conspirators used synthetic identities to steal nearly $1 million from multiple New York banks and illegally take COVID relief funds.
• 2017 Georgia bank fraud: An Atlanta, Georgia resident used stolen SSNs to create synthetic identities. He defrauded banks out of $2 million in credit and loans.
• Decade-long Ontario scheme: In 2024, 12 individuals in Ontario, Canada, created over 680 synthetic identities to open fake accounts and credit lines. This scheme resulted in over $4 million in confirmed losses.

Deepfake Impersonation in Corporate Environments

Your everyday employees have also fallen victim. In one wild case in Hong Kong, a finance employee thought he was on a video conference with the CFO and a few other colleagues.

It turns out that every person on that call was a deepfake. They ultimately persuaded him to transfer nearly $25.6 million to fraudulent accounts. What’s crazier is that the team of fraudsters all stole citizen identity cards for data to create synthetic identities. There were 90 loan applications and 54 bank account registrations before the attack.

Another case targeted the CEO of the world’s largest advertising group. Though unsuccessful, scammers created a fake WhatsApp account pretending to be the CEO. They then set up a Microsoft

Teams meeting with the employee and used YouTube video footage to create a voice clone of the executive. The goal: Convince the victims to set up a new business to solicit money and personal information.

With incidents like these already costing millions, the question becomes not if but how organizations can verify identities and detect AI-powered fraud before damage occurs.

Detection and Verification Methods

No one seems safe anymore. The best practice for phishing emails used to be call-and-confirm. But with voice cloning and deepfakes, that doesn’t seem as foolproof.

Proactiveness and layered defenses are the best bet against the AI revolution and sophisticated attackers.

Multi-Layered Identity Verification

Relying on a single data point is obsolete. Companies must layer their controls with mechanisms that cybercriminals can’t deepfake.

Biometric authentication, such as fingerprinting, facial recognition, and eye scans, is nearly impossible to break. Each individual carries unique data, so scammers cannot replicate it.

Users also have unique behavioral patterns. After all, we are creatures of habit. Some log in at specific time windows, only use certain apps or devices, and exhibit online patterns (such as keystrokes, navigation, etc.). Set baselines for “normal” and continuously monitor to spot anomalies that could indicate a threat.

Deepfake Detection Technologies

Fortunately, the security industry became aware of deepfake technology early. Specialized tools can now analyze digital media for signs of manipulation.

Unnatural eye blinking? Probably fake. Inconsistent lighting or weird audio glitches? Another tell-tale. For audio-specific deep fakes, algorithms can also detect the synthetic lack of breath sounds or unnatural cadence.

Human-in-the-Loop Verification Workflows

Consider the human advantage. While people are the biggest liability to security, we can also set controls that technology cannot.

Implement protocols like mandatory callbacks to a verified number for payment approvals. Or dual-authorization requirements, where multiple users must review and approve requests. And if it’s unusual or invoking urgency and secrecy, manually review with your own eyes.

These verification methods are most effective when integrated into a comprehensive security strategy. CyberMaxx’s MDR approach offers unique value in that role.

CyberMaxx’s Role in Protecting Against Emerging Threats

CyberMaxx integrates defense against these nuanced threats directly into our Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service. Rather than wait, we constantly hunt, looking for signs of fabrication.

Integrating Threat Intelligence for Social Engineering

Attackers use new tactics, techniques, and procedures every day. Our intelligence feeds stay agile to anticipate and counter those moves.

Our team continuously monitors the evolving methods of synthetic identity fraud and emerging deepfake tools. Using data from dark web and criminal forums, threat research reports, and Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) threads, our defenses stay one step ahead.

Proactive Response to Identity and Deepfake Threats

Is there a potential indicator of an impersonation or social engineering attack? No matter how subtle, our team is on the scene.

We’ll correlate identity verification failures, network anomalies, and suspicious communication patterns to uncover coordinated campaigns. With our fast, guided response, our team quickly identifies and removes cyber threats before they can trick employees.

Value for CyberMaxx Clients

Real-time, integrated defense sets CyberMaxx apart. You don’t have time to evaluate countless data sources and determine whether a request is legit or fake.

We integrate deepfake and synthetic identity detection into the core of our MDR service. A single, unified view of threats across endpoints, identities, and cloud environments that prevents threat actors from hiding.

The lesson is clear: threats are advancing fast, but with the right partner, organizations can stay a step ahead.

Staying Ahead of Synthetic Identity Fraud and AI-Powered Threats

Deepfake fraud cases are on the rise. From 2022 to 2023, there was a 1,740% surge in cases across North America. This surge isn’t an emerging threat; it’s already here.

But CyberMaxx is here to defend your trust layer against AI-powered impersonation. With advanced detection and proactive response, you can combat social engineering tactics and stay resilient in the deepfake era.

The post Detecting Deepfakes and Synthetic Identities Before They Breach appeared first on CyberMaxx.

Threat actors have found a simple loophole: Rather than confronting MFA head-on, why not simply bypass it? Through exploiting technical nuances and common human flaws, they’ve turned a foundational security control into a false sense of comfort.

It’s a new battlefront, and MFA alone is no longer enough.

New Risks Facing MFA

Many of us still remember when MFA was the impenetrable barrier. Your IT or security team pushed it as the last (and only) control you needed to keep accounts safe.

And while still essential, cybercriminals didn’t just roll over and quit. They adapted using multi-factor authentication bypass methods. After all, why target the mechanism when you can go after the layers around it?

MFA Fatigue Attacks

Imagine this: You’re sitting at the dinner table when suddenly, your phone lights up with dozens of MFA push notifications. You don’t know where they came from. Eventually, you become frustrated, confused, or tired enough to accidentally “Accept” one of them.

That’s an MFA fatigue attack. Threat actors bombard users with requests until one “slips past the goalie.”
And they’re more effective than you might realize. Microsoft conducted a study on its apps, documenting 382,000 MFA fatigue attacks in a single year. The worst part is how it leverages social engineering to prey on victims. One percent of users blindly accept the first push notification they receive. (imagine getting dozens at once)

Token Theft & Replay

This method bypasses the user altogether. After stealing credentials (typically via phishing), attackers intercept the authentication token, a digital key that proves a user is already logged in. They then “replay” this stolen token to impersonate the legitimate user and gain access.

These attacks make the MFA challenge obsolete. It’s almost as if it never occurred, because the system already sees a valid session in progress.

Session Hijacking

Here, attackers completely skip both the login and MFA prompts.

They’ll target active user sessions and hijack a session cookie, allowing them to take over an existing session.

So, for instance, let’s say you’re logged into your online banking service. The bank’s website issues a session cookie (your temporary “wristband”). The threat actor could view and steal that wristband through malware or an adversary-in-the-middle attack. From the site’s point of view, it only recognizes a valid session and allows them in without requiring a password or second factor.

Why Traditional MFA Alone Isn’t Enough

These techniques reveal a dangerous truth: Stand-alone MFA creates a vulnerability bubble and a false sense of security. In fact, 60% of phishing-related breaches use bypass techniques that MFA couldn’t stop. The most common? MFA fatigue attacks.

Here’s why MFA is beginning to fall short:

User Behavior as a Weak Link

Humans remain the most susceptible to errors. It’s why phishing and other social engineering tactics are so successful.

We’re also far less patient than we used to be. We like things quick and convenient. So, when we are bombarded with push notifications (as seen in MFA fatigue attacks), it’s easy to slip up and click “Accept.”

Ironically, developers designed MFA as a failsafe for our errors. But now? It’s made us more fragile.

Attacker Innovation Outpacing Static Controls

Even if you solve the user awareness issue, static defensive tools would still fall short due to attacker resilience. Threat actors are constantly innovating. They adapt tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) faster than companies can update their security controls.

One example of this is account takeover (ATO) attacks. Despite the massive adoption of MFA and all these efforts to curb ATO threats, they still increased by 24% last year.

MFA once looked impenetrable. However, it now leaves gaps that most experts didn’t consider at the time.

Detection & Prevention Techniques for MFA Bypass

The cure for MFA bypass is the same best practice for any cybersecurity program: proactiveness, layers of defense, and continuous visibility.

Risk-Based Authentication

Static MFA is too simple. If someone enters a username and password, the protocol gets triggered.

Risk-based authentication, however, adds more context. Where was the login location? Is the device new or commonly used? Does the login replicate a similar behavior by the user or an anomaly?

Suppose there were a login attempt from a foreign country on a dated, unmanaged device. In that case, you can set up policies to trigger a step-up authentication challenge or outright block the session, even with correct credentials.

Monitoring for Abnormal Access Patterns

Cyber threats typically stem from the abnormal. And visibility is key to monitoring anomalies.

Security teams must see all suspicious access patterns. Is someone rapidly reusing tokens from various IP addresses? Or logging in multiple times within minutes from two places that are not geographically close? Are logins outside of known business hours?

Identifying these trends helps prevent token theft and detect session hijacking.

Session Management & Revocation Controls

Reduce the attacker’s window of opportunity by enforcing short session and token lifetimes. (Bonus tip: Make them especially short for more sensitive applications)

You can also set session revocation policies. Therefore, if a password change or login originates from a random IP address, the session is automatically terminated.

And don’t forget to auto-refresh user tokens frequently. Even if a threat actor gains access through a stolen key, you can at least minimize the damage by preventing long-term system access.

How CyberMaxx Strengthens Identity Defense

Modern attacks demand more than tools. They require expertise, and CyberMaxx layers identity defense into a strong managed detection and response (MDR) service.

Static MFA won’t counter evolving tactics. But constant vigilance will.

Integrating Identity Signals into Threat Detection

Data powers everything CyberMaxx does. Our security analysts don’t view identities “in a vacuum.” We combine telemetry feeds and evaluate how authentication logs, access requests, and session data correlate.

We also use threat hunting research to track attack activity outside your network. This research allows us to better protect and detect.

These intelligence feeds transform identity signals into a powerful detection source, revealing attacks that other solutions miss.

Real-Time Response to Token Abuse

What’s the point of robust detection if you don’t take action?

When CyberMaxx identifies token theft or anomalous session activity, our MDR team is ready on the front lines.
We can rapidly isolate compromised accounts, revoke active sessions, and contain the threat before it leads to a full-scale breach.

Value for Clients

Threat actors aren’t getting complacent. And neither should your MDR provider.

Our adaptive security moves as fast as your attackers. We add layers that extend beyond static MFA to harden your environment against bypass techniques and enable rapid response if anything slips through.

Defending Beyond MFA

MFA isn’t obsolete but incomplete. While still vital for identity security, it’s just one piece. MDR expertise, continuous monitoring, and layered controls (like session management and auto-revocation) support adaptive defenses for token theft prevention and session hijacking detection.

It’s how CyberMaxx can stop modern identity attacks before they compromise your business.

The post Beyond MFA: Stopping Modern Identity Attacks appeared first on CyberMaxx.

Supply chain security incidents occur more frequently than most people realize. In July, Australian airline Qantas revealed a cyberattack that affected a third-party platform used by the airline’s contact center. Current reports reveal that the attack exposed the records of up to 6 million customers. Unfortunately, this is just one of many incidents.

Why Third-Party Risk is on the Rise

The growing number of third-party breaches means vendor ecosystems are now a significant focus of cybersecurity frameworks.

Real-World Examples of Vendor Breaches

Recent supply chain attacks show the real risks associated with vendor vulnerabilities and highlight the importance of third-party risk management.

In 2023, the Cl0p ransomware gang exploited a zero-day vulnerability in the MOVEit file transfer software application, which was used by nearly 1,700 organizations. It leaked sensitive information belonging to clients, including universities, banks, and government agencies.
Earlier, in late 2020, the CISA announced that attackers had compromised SolarWinds Orion’s software update process by injecting malicious code that reached thousands of customers. This allowed unauthorized access to critical networks and data, which made it one of the most significant supply chain security failures in recent history.

Why Vendors are Appealing Targets

It’s typical for attackers to exploit vendors’ lower security standards to gain access to larger networks. They often lack the same budgets, staff levels, or processes necessary to maintain top levels of security. This provides attackers with an easier path than targeting a well-defended large enterprise directly.

Understanding the Scope of Third-Party Risk

A single supply chain can include many organizations, ranging from IT service providers and software vendors to logistics and payment processors. This can make it tricky to comprehend the full spectrum of risk.

Direct vs. Indirect Vendor Risks

There are two categories of vendor risk: direct and indirect. Direct vendor risk comes from vendors that have direct access to your networks, systems, or data. This could include a Managed Service Provider (MSP) with remote administrative access, or a payroll processor that handles employees’ banking information.

Indirect vendor risk arises from vendors that aren’t directly connected to your systems, but could still impact you if they were to be compromised. For instance, they may have your data stored on their systems. This could include a marketing agency that stores customer lists.

The Challenge of Vendor Visibility

Often, due to complex supply chains, legacy systems, and a lack of centralized oversight, many organizations lack a precise list of their current vendors and dependencies. When an incident happens, many organizations struggle to determine if they’re exposed, which delays their response.

Frameworks and Best Practices for Managing Vendor Risk

Approaches such as the NIST Cyber Supply Chain Risk Management (C-SCRM) framework can help you conduct a thorough vendor risk assessment and enhance your third-party risk management strategy.

Overview of NIST C-SCRM and Other Frameworks

The NIST C-SCRM framework is designed to enable organizations to identify, assess, and mitigate the risks associated with using third-party suppliers. It provides detailed guidance for organizations to integrate supply chain security risk into their enterprise risk management by establishing clear policies, roles, and responsibilities.

There are also other frameworks available. For instance, the ISO/IEC 27036 Series provides principles for organizations to securely manage outsourced ICT services and ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability in supply chain interactions.

The CISA also provides information on cybersecurity best practices to help organizations reduce third-party risk.

Due Diligence, Contracts, and Continuous Monitoring

Before onboarding vendors, it’s important to assess their security posture by reviewing their policies, incident history, and relevant certifications. Check which other suppliers they rely on, and use security audits to find any gaps. You should also confirm which data they need access to and apply the principle of least privilege accordingly.

Throughout the vendor relationship, you should regularly reassess the vendor to check their risk profile. Remove any unused credentials and inform vendors that they should notify you immediately if their credentials are compromised.

Questions Every Organization Should Ask Vendors

Some questions you should ask as part of a thorough vendor risk assessment include:
What security certifications or standards do you follow?

• Do you use subcontractors or third-party vendors, and how do you verify their qualifications?
• Can you share examples of how you handled past security incidents?
• Do you agree to regular security reviews or audits?
• How do you ensure continuity if your systems are disrupted?

Asking these questions will help you understand how committed your vendors are to cybersecurity.

Steps to Strengthen Your Third-Party Risk Management Strategy Today

It can be challenging to know where to begin when it comes to strengthening your third-party risk management strategy and conducting a comprehensive vendor risk assessment. We have recommended some steps below.

Start with a Vendor Inventory

Identifying and categorizing all vendors by access level and business criticality helps you understand which vendors pose a risk to your organization. Knowing exactly which vendors are high-impact means you can respond faster in a crisis.

Implement Tiered Risk Assessments

Creating risk tiers to align review depth with vendor criticality is an essential part of a robust third-party risk management strategy, as it means you can focus your efforts where they matter most. Doing so helps you stay efficient when managing a large number of vendors.

Collaborate with Security Partners

Working together with a trusted cybersecurity partner like CyberMaxx means they can act as an extension of your internal team and provide you with a robust cybersecurity roadmap. This is especially critical for high-risk vendors, as it means you can respond much more quickly in a crisis.

How CyberMaxx Helps Mitigate Third-Party Risk

CyberMaxx cybersecurity services help organizations to enhance their third-party risk management strategy through proactive defense and detection.

Continuous Threat Detection Across the Extended Enterprise

CyberMaxx’s Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and Extended Managed Detection and Response (XDR) solutions surpass the offerings of typical security providers. They monitor vendor-related traffic and anomalies across the network, such as unusual logins or accounts being used outside of approved hours. This enables analysts to combine data across endpoints and servers, revealing signs of compromise and allowing them to respond to threats before they cause lasting damage.

Risk-Based Alerting and Response

CyberMaxx cybersecurity services prioritize and escalate alerts related to third-party activity. This reduces your organization’s mean time to respond (MTTR) and promotes faster triage and response. Ultimately, this prevents attackers from moving deeper into the network.

Customizable Dashboards and Transparent Reporting

CyberMaxx cybersecurity services provide tailored reports and intuitive, customizable dashboards that offer clients full visibility into their supply chain security. This means you can see vendor-related activity at a glance to track which third-party accounts are active and monitor high-risk vendors. You can also view detailed summaries of vendor-related incidents, escalations, and response actions. This provides a clear insight into how controls function over time.

Don’t Let a Vendor Breach Be Your Breach

Third-party vendors often serve as the entry point for supply chain attacks. CyberMaxx cybersecurity services provide the tools and support to help you continuously monitor, detect, and respond to vendor risks. This enhances your organization’s third-party risk management strategy, helping you remain secure and resilient.

The post Is Your Vendor Access the Weakest Link in Your Security Chain? appeared first on CyberMaxx.

So, as an insurance company, how secure is your third-party ecosystem?

The Growing Cybersecurity Risks in the Insurance Industry

The insurance industry is a vast network of agencies, carriers, and wholesale vendors. And because you’re dealing with personally identifiable information (PII), financial data, health records, and other sensitive information, it’s already a prime target for cybercriminals.

Add in how connected the network is, and you’re in a situation where one weak link or security failure can trigger a domino effect of breaches.

A Web of Interconnectedness and Third-Party Risks

Independent insurance agencies are essentially brokers between the insured (customer) and the carriers providing the policy. A single agency might represent 20+ carriers (Think of your Travelers, Nationwide, Hanover, etc.). Similarly, these carriers have thousands of agencies selling their products. Carriers might also use third-party services to support the operation or track specific data.

What does this mean for security risk? There is a lot of data sharing and system dependencies. Agencies have access to online portals and files for each carrier. When they first engage a potential insured (either a company or individual), they collect personal information and input it into the different carrier portals. Then, if they bind the coverage, the agencies can manage the policies from these portals.

See the challenge here? If one link in that chain is compromised, the fallout can be catastrophic.

For example, let’s say an agent’s password was compromised for one carrier system. If they were recycling that password, cybercriminals could access all the carrier systems. Now, you’re dealing with exposed personal, financial, and health information and policies controlled by an adversary.

Real-World Breach Examples in Insurance

Third-party risks are a real problem in cybersecurity for insurance. One report analyzed all data breaches targeting the top 150 insurance carriers. Of those incidents, 59% were caused by a compromised third party.

One notable incident, a global MOVEit attack, exploited a vulnerability of PBI Research Services, a third party that monitors death records for life insurance policies. Genworth, an insurance provider, had over 2.5 million policyholder records compromised. The attack also trickled down to Prudential, which exposed over 320,000 customer records.

Because of the size and scope of the breach, the incident resulted in over $12.15 billion in response, regulatory fines, liability payments, and other costs.

Common Cyber Threats Targeting Insurance Companies

Cybercriminals are working smarter and not harder. They understand the upside of a successful third-party attack and how to deliver devastating blows to the insurance industry.

Ransomware and Data Theft

Ransomware is a top concern for agencies, carriers, and anyone else supporting the insurance industry.

Cybercriminals can shut down your entire operation by locking you out of records you need to sell and manage policies. They can also use stolen credentials to steal data. There’s so much financial, health, and personal information stored and the ability to go up and down the insurance supply chain. That said, it’s not surprising that credential-based attacks are now the top-ranked threat among insurers.

Supply Chain Attacks

Here’s another headache: supply chain attacks. Threat actors exploit weaknesses in third-party vendors for the “bigger fish.”

Rather than go for one insurance agency, they can target a carrier hosting information collected by thousands of agencies. Or go for one provider, such as an IT company or information resource, that supports many carriers (like you saw in the MOVEit incident).

One compromised insurance partner = A cascading impact on the whole industry.

Compliance and Regulatory Risks

The “threat” of an attack isn’t just the impact of the insurance operation. Regulators are cracking down on third-party risk management.

If you don’t secure third-party data or hold providers to a certain standard, you risk a breach, fines, and legal consequences. A growing number of states are adopting the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Model Law for information security. These guidelines explicitly cover third-party risks and how to mitigate them.

HIPAA compliance also outlines how to assess and manage the risk of third parties with access to patient data (such as insurance companies and their providers).

The Role of Security Gap Analysis in Mitigating Third-Party Risk

Third-party risk isn’t something to scoff at. A security gap analysis is a great starting point for companies to pinpoint weak links of providers in the insurance supply chain.

Identifying Critical Vulnerabilities

First and foremost, a security gap analysis evaluates both internal and third-party security controls.

Are vulnerabilities like outdated software or weak access controls leaving “a weak link in the chain?” Is encryption being used? What about robust endpoint protection? Is there solid governance and policies for passwords, software usage, and incident response?

Strengthening Third-Party Risk Management

Finding gaps is one thing; now, it’s time to close them.

The main goal here is achieving cyber resilience. Hence, you can use continuous monitoring to proactively find and eliminate weaknesses and periodic risk assessments to ensure you’re constantly reducing the chances (and impact) of an attack.

But there’s a catch. It’s not enough to secure your own house; agencies and carriers need to work together to enforce stronger security standards nationwide.

How CyberMaxx Helps Secure the Insurance Industry

We at CyberMaxx pride ourselves on understanding the insurance world. Its interconnectedness and complexity aren’t something any cybersecurity company can handle. Whether you’re a carrier underwriting and providing coverage, an agency selling policies, or a service provider supporting the industry, we can help:

Comprehensive Gap Analysis for Insurance Companies

You have hidden vulnerabilities. We’ll uncover them.

With a comprehensive gap analysis across your entire insurance ecosystem, we can provide a clear roadmap for strengthening your defenses.

From endpoint protection and network security to compliance and managing third-party risk, we’ll get you to cyber resilience.

Implementing Stronger Security Controls

The buck doesn’t stop there. After a security gap analysis, we’ll help you implement stronger controls and enforce better cybersecurity policies.

The goal: Mitigate third-party risks and ensure regulatory compliance for state, federal, and insurance-specific guidelines.

Our “offense fuels defense” philosophy will keep your organization ahead of the curve by staying resilient against current and evolving threats.

Cybersecurity for Insurance: It Might Not Be Your Fault, But it is Your Problem

Third-party risk isn’t going away. But the good news: you don’t have to face it alone. A proactive approach via a security gap analysis can make all the difference.

Everyone in the insurance supply chain is exposed if just one link fails. So what’s your next move? Will you help secure the entire ecosystem? Or wait for a third-party vulnerability to be exposed?

The post Assessing Third-Party Risk: Protecting the Insurance Industry From Agency to Carrier appeared first on CyberMaxx.

These providers deliver tailored threat detection that’s more agile, proactive, and adaptable to your environment. They offer faster response times, more transparent communication, and easier customization of detection rules, escalation paths, and reporting formats. With a right-fit MDR partner, your organization gains more than a service provider. You also gain a long-term collaborator focused on strengthening your security posture and building cyber resilience.

Key Benefits of Choosing the Right-Sized MDR Partner

Below are the most significant advantages organizations experience when they choose a right-fit MDR provider:

1. Personalized Service & Attention

Right-sized MDR providers deliver tailored support that prioritizes your unique needs. Instead of being treated like another ticket in a queue, you gain a partner invested in your success. Larger MDR firms often rely on rigid support tiers that make it difficult to reach senior analysts, but with the right-fit partner, you benefit from:

• Faster response times and direct access to senior analysts or leadership.
• Deeper understanding of your environment, team, and business goals.
• Easier customization of detection rules, reporting formats, and escalation paths.

CyberMaxx maintains the optimal analyst-to-client ratio by providing a Shift Manager on every shift 24x7x365, and assigning a Customer Service representative and named Executive sponsor, making senior-level expertise and support always within reach. This level of attention enables your team to contain incidents quickly, minimizing disruption and reducing business risk.

2. Flexibility & Agility

Larger providers may have rigid processes, but right-sized partners can adapt more quickly to your evolving challenges. This flexibility translates into smoother collaboration and easier adoption. Their agility shows up in several ways:

• Ability to test and adapt to new threats or business changes.
• Seamless integration with your existing tech stack and workflows.
• Less bureaucracy, resulting in faster onboarding and implementation.

For example, CyberMaxx recently implemented a custom detection rule for a healthcare client within 48 hours, a process that can take weeks with larger providers. The result is smoother collaboration and security operations that move at the pace of your business.

3. Deep Partnership & Collaboration

A right-fit MDR partner becomes an extension of your team rather than a distant vendor. With larger providers, you may struggle to get strategic alignment beyond transactional service delivery. Right-sized providers foster collaboration through:

• Joint investment in strengthening your security posture.
• More proactive threat hunting and actionable strategic guidance.
• Better alignment with your internal security and compliance priorities.

The Customer Service Manager is your advocate, supporting business objectives and adapting to a dynamic landscape with focus and urgency. This partnership creates a stronger, more resilient defense strategy over time.

4. Cost Efficiency

The largest providers often bundle unnecessary services into expensive, long-term contracts. Right-sized MDR partners strike the right balance between cost and capability by offering flexible pricing that scales with your business. That advantage typically includes:

• Lower overhead translates into better client value.
• Scalable pricing models that adapt as your organization grows.
• Avoiding unnecessary spending on services or features you don’t need.

Instead of paying for scale you don’t need, you can redirect resources toward other critical security initiatives.

5. Threat Detection Innovation & Specialization

Bigger doesn’t always mean more advanced. Large MDR firms may be slow to roll out new capabilities due to their size and complexity. Right-fit providers often outpace them in adopting cutting-edge technologies and in delivering specialized expertise, including:

• Faster adoption of cutting-edge technologies or methodologies.
• May offer unique capabilities not found in larger providers, like more advanced custom threat detection capabilities that can help maintain a higher security posture.
• Industry- or compliance-specific expertise tailored to your risk profile.

CyberMaxx invokes Continuous Threat Exposure Monitoring, where there is zero latency between identifying novel threats to having these instrumented for protecting your business assets.

6. Transparency & Trust

Trust is essential in cybersecurity partnerships, and it can be challenging to achieve with large providers where communication is complex and layered. Right-sized MDR providers build stronger trust through:

• Clear communication through dedicated support.
• Easier to access and understand dashboards, data, and reporting.
• Stronger sense of accountability, trust, and partnership.

This transparency lets you see how your partner manages threats and gives you confidence that they act in your best interest.

Building Long-Term Cyber Resilience with the Right MDR Fit

Security leaders must treat cybersecurity decisions as more than a question of size. The idea that larger providers always deliver stronger results overlooks the importance of alignment, flexibility, and specialization. Unlike large providers that trade agility for scale or smaller firms that lack enterprise-grade resources, CyberMaxx delivers both: scalability with personalized attention.

CyberMaxx represents this balance. We bring the scale organizations expect while maintaining the agility and partnership that make security effective. The result is a collaborator committed to strengthening your posture and building long-term resilience, ensuring your business receives comprehensive and trustworthy protection. Your business deserves comprehensive protection delivered with clarity, speed, and trust, and CyberMaxx ensures you get precisely that.

What CyberMaxx clients are saying:

“CyberMaxx, a trusted partner, not a vendor”

I cannot speak more highly of my organization’s relationship with CyberMaxx. They have been a dedicated and trusted partner of our organization for over three years now. Since contracting, they have frequently gone above and beyond to support our organization. CyberMaxx assisted us with a massive security incident, bringing resources onsite and remote support, even when they were not under contract. During our contract renewal, they were transparent, fairly priced, and produced multiple pricing models for our consideration.

“A Trusted Partner”

They have been dedicated to our success. They are reliable, trustworthy, and always available when we need support. They provide a dedicated and always available account rep and are there for any issues we are experiencing.

“CyberMaxx Delivers”

CyberMaxx delivers the quality expertise that we were looking for in this area. Quick response times to alerts, questions, and inquiries make them top in their field on this product. They learn and understand the needs of their customers.

The post Beyond Size: How to Choose the Right MDR Partner appeared first on CyberMaxx.

Within the last year, 99% of organizations have had an API-related security issue. Because APIs are often invisible to many traditional security tools, they offer a convenient blind spot that threat actors can expose.

And if your Managed Detection and Response (MDR) provider can’t see them, neither can you. API security for MDR buyers is becoming a real challenge.

It’s time to bring these hidden risks to light.

Why APIs Are a Growing Threat Surface

APIs are the ultimate connectors essential for businesses to pull data and bring services from different applications. But their accumulation has multiplied the attack surface. Shadow APIs, zombie APIs, and automated bot abuse create dangerous blind spots that security teams aren’t addressing.

Shadow and Zombie APIs

If you can’t control something, how can you protect it? That’s the challenge with shadow APIs. They’re undocumented endpoints thrown in by developers that can’t be easily found or managed. Maybe they were under a tight deadline and threw in a test API, but never decommissioned it. Or an employee who wanted to automate data entry by having two apps communicate, but didn’t notify IT.

Then there’s zombie APIs. These are the active but forgotten legacy endpoints. You commonly see this with old websites and microsites. The backend API continues to run even if the site is down.

Both shadow and zombie APIs create invisible entry points for attackers, and the impact has been clear. Over the last 12 months, API security incidents have doubled, with unauthenticated attackers responsible for 61% of attempts.

Bot Abuse and Automated Attacks

The issue with APIs is the scalability of attacks. Threat actors can deploy bots to do all the dirty work and automate specific attacks:

• Credential stuffing: Automated login attempts from stolen user names and passwords
• Data scraping: Pulling large amounts of data from API endpoints
• Denial of service (DoS) attacks: Overwhelming an API with requests or calls to shut down the system

Bot abuse has contributed significantly to the surge in malicious API activity. API traffic accounts for 71% of all web traffic. Last year, 46% of all Account Takeover (ATO) attacks targeted API endpoints.

Supply Chain Vulnerabilities

APIs bring businesses together to do more. An eCommerce clothing store might use a payment processing API to collect online payments. A Software as a Service (SaaS) product might integrate a CRM via API to collect customer data. Or a manufacturer’s ERP connecting with a warehouse system to monitor inventory.

The problem? This interconnectedness creates risks across the supply chain. One partner’s vulnerability is another’s data breach. And the impact is abundantly clear.

In 2024, third-party or vendor-related vulnerabilities accounted for 64% of major incidents.

Why MDR Buyers Can’t Afford to Ignore APIs

API security for MDR buyers must be part of the equation. Unmanaged APIs directly undermine the core MDR value proposition: Comprehensive threat detection and rapid response. And ignoring this surface leaves a critical gap for your business.

MDR Blind Spots Without API Coverage

Last year, 37% of organizations were victims of an API-related attack (up from 17% in 2023). Therefore, if your MDR provider focuses solely on endpoints and networks, it’s missing a significant channel of threat activity.

Attackers are aware of this gap. It’s how they pivot through APIs and exfiltrate data nearly undetected. Can’t analyze API traffic?

Then you’re blind to a primary attack path.

Impact on Compliance and Liability

API-targeted breaches don’t just mean lost data or down systems. They can trigger severe compliance penalties. Regulations such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and GDPR impose substantial fines on those who fail to protect personal and sensitive data.

And how would incidents and compliance violations impact your brand? It wouldn’t be a good look to potential customers. And that impact is reflected in the financial statements.

Retailers, for example, pay an average of $526,531 in fines, remediation, and lost profits due to API security breaches.

How MDR Enhances API Security

Point security solutions at the API endpoint or a gateway still leave you exposed. MDR, however, integrates API discovery and monitoring into a unified API threat detection strategy. This integration enables a rapid response if something is amiss and ensures that security teams do not overlook the attack vector.

API Enumeration and Discovery

The problem with API-only point security is that it only works on the APIs you know. But what about the undocumented shadow and zombie APIs?

MDR runs in-depth traffic analysis and integration scans for complete visibility. The platform enables you to create an inventory of your API ecosystem with integrations, calls, and other overlooked connections. Doing so helps eliminate the unknown.

Detecting Abnormal API Calls

Once you discover the hidden APIs, you can spot suspicious activity. MDR correlates API traffic. Teams apply security information and event management (SIEM) and extended detection & response (XDR) systems to establish a baseline for “normal.” From there, you can automatically flag anomalies.

Are there unusually large payloads or sequences of commands (which could indicate injection attacks)?

What about spikes in IP or user agents (which might be data scraping)? Or repeated authorization attempts (possibly credential stuffing)? Data access beyond the user’s normal permissions (account takeover)?

All this context turns simple traffic information into actionable intelligence.

Integration With Unified API Threat Detection

Don’t separate API data from other monitoring sources.

Modern MDR weaves it into the broader security workflow. It ensures that API, endpoint, network, identity, and cloud data work together as one. Unusual API calls with a suspicious endpoint login or unexpected connections to unknown servers might indicate a

looming threat.
MDR has become increasingly effective in comprehensive detection capabilities. It also demonstrates how quickly services can now identify threats. The median dwell time (the duration cyber actors spend intruding and lingering) decreased to 13 days in 2023.

That’s nearly half of what it was in years prior.

CyberMaxx’s Approach to API Security

API monitoring isn’t guaranteed in all MDRs. CyberMaxx includes API protection in its MDR and treats it as a foundational component of threat detection. It’s how we eliminate blind spots others overlook.

Unified Visibility Across Attack Surfaces

With security monitoring, we “take off the blinders.” API traffic is tracked and analyzed in the full context of endpoint, network, identity, and cloud activity.

Is an API suddenly receiving thousands of requests per minute from an endpoint across the world? Did the account making those requests receive excessive cloud storage permission in one change? The list goes on.
Connecting these dots reveals whether it’s an isolated anomaly or something more malicious.

Proactive Threat Response

CyberMax MDR doesn’t just alert; it takes action via zero-latency response.

Abnormal API behavior triggers our automated (but human-guided) response. Whether a credential stuffing surge, flood of API POST requests, or something more sinister, we investigate.

From there, threats are contained instantly and prevented from spiraling into a major incident. Reducing dwell time is the key to success. And that’s where we thrive.

Value for MDR Buyers

CyberMaxx treats APIs as first-class citizens, not afterthoughts. The hidden world of backend integrations means that API security for MDR buyers should be a top priority.

Our coverage extends to every corner of the modern attack surface —comprehensive threat monitoring with no blind spots.

Securing the Hidden World of API

APIs are no longer a secondary risk; they are the front line. Ignore them, and you undermine the entire security program, negating the value of your MDR investment.

CyberMaxx brings unity to your strategy. Our MDR offers visibility across APIs, endpoints, cloud, and identities with integrated response. Don’t let what you can’t see become your biggest breach.

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