Tag

Incident Response

Explores the strategies, frameworks, and best practices organizations use to detect, contain, and recover from cybersecurity incidents. Articles cover team roles, communication protocols, forensic analysis, and lessons learned from real-world security breaches.

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Jobs Computer Security

Jobs in Computer Security: Your 2021 Career Guide

3.5 Million Unfilled Positions — And Counting Cybersecurity Ventures projected 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs globally by 2021. We've hit that number. Right now, organizations across every sector — healthcare, finance, government, retail — are scrambling to hire people who understand how to defend networks, investigate breaches, and build

Carl B. Johnson Jun 01, 2021 7 min read
Ransomware Attack Prevention

Ransomware Attack Prevention: A Practical Guide

The Attack That Shut Down a Pipeline — and a Wake-Up Call for Everyone In February 2020, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) published an alert after a ransomware attack forced a natural gas compression facility to shut down for two full days. The threat actor got in through a

Carl B. Johnson Mar 31, 2021 6 min read
Ransomware

What Is Ransomware? A Practical Defense Guide for 2021

In February 2021, Kia Motors America was hit with a ransomware attack reportedly demanding $20 million in Bitcoin. Customers couldn't access dealer portals. Internal systems went dark. The company spent days scrambling to restore operations. This wasn't an isolated event — it was the latest in a

Carl B. Johnson Mar 31, 2021 6 min read
Ransomware Prevention

How to Prevent Ransomware: A Practical Defense Guide

The Attack That Cost a Pipeline — and a Country's Fuel Supply In May 2021, Colonial Pipeline shut down 5,500 miles of fuel infrastructure after a ransomware attack crippled its operations. Millions of Americans panic-bought gasoline. The company paid $4.4 million in Bitcoin to the DarkSide threat

Carl B. Johnson Mar 12, 2021 7 min read
Ransomware Recovery

Ransomware Recovery Steps: A Practical Playbook

The Colonial Pipeline Wasn't the Wake-Up Call — Your Last Backup Test Was In February 2021, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued renewed guidance on ransomware after a string of attacks against hospitals, schools, and local governments. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that

Carl B. Johnson Mar 12, 2021 7 min read
Data Breach Response Plan

Data Breach Response Plan: What Actually Works

When SolarWinds disclosed in December 2020 that threat actors had compromised their Orion software update mechanism — infiltrating roughly 18,000 customer networks including multiple U.S. government agencies — the breach didn't just expose data. It exposed how many organizations had no real data breach response plan in place.

Carl B. Johnson Jan 14, 2021 8 min read
Data Breach Reporting

How to Report a Data Breach: A Step-by-Step Guide

The Clock Starts Ticking the Moment You Discover a Breach In December 2020, FireEye disclosed it had been breached by a sophisticated threat actor — a revelation that quickly unraveled into the massive SolarWinds supply chain compromise affecting 18,000 organizations including multiple U.S. government agencies. The question every security

Carl B. Johnson Jan 14, 2021 7 min read
Incident Response Plan Template

Incident Response Plan Template: Build Yours Today

The SolarWinds breach discovered this month compromised at least 18,000 organizations — including multiple U.S. government agencies — and most of them had no actionable incident response plan template ready when the alerts started firing. I've watched organizations scramble through breaches with nothing but a stale PDF from

Carl B. Johnson Dec 20, 2020 7 min read
Incident Response

How to Respond to a Cyberattack: A Practical Guide

In July 2020, Garmin went dark. Their fitness trackers, aviation navigation tools, and customer support systems all went offline simultaneously. A ransomware attack attributed to the WastedLocker strain reportedly crippled the company for days. If you're wondering how to respond to a cyberattack, Garmin's very public

Carl B. Johnson Dec 20, 2020 7 min read