Tag

Zero Trust

Understand the Zero Trust security model, which operates on the principle of never trust, always verify. Posts cover Zero Trust architecture, identity verification, micro-segmentation, least-privilege access, and practical steps for implementing Zero Trust frameworks across enterprise environments.

posts

VPN Best Practices

VPN Best Practices: What Actually Protects You in 2026

In early 2024, threat actors exploited critical vulnerabilities in Ivanti Connect Secure VPN appliances so aggressively that CISA issued an emergency directive ordering federal agencies to disconnect the devices entirely. Not patch them. Disconnect them. That moment should have been a wake-up call: having a VPN isn't enough.

Carl B. Johnson Apr 12, 2026 5 min read
Third Party Risk

Third Party Vendor Cybersecurity Risk: A 2026 Guide

When Target lost 40 million credit card records in 2013, the attackers didn't breach Target directly. They compromised an HVAC vendor. Over a decade later, the playbook hasn't changed — it's just gotten more devastating. Third party vendor cybersecurity risk is now the single fastest-growing

Carl B. Johnson Apr 07, 2026 6 min read
Securing Employee Mobile Devices

Securing Employee Mobile Devices: A Practical Guide

In 2023, Verizon's Data Breach Investigations Report found that 74% of all breaches involved the human element — and mobile devices have become the primary attack surface for exploiting that weakness. I've watched organizations spend six figures on perimeter defenses while their employees check corporate email on

Carl B. Johnson Apr 07, 2026 6 min read
Cybersecurity Terms Explained

Cybersecurity Terms Explained: A Practical Guide

Last year, a hospital administrator told me she ignored an alert about a credential stuffing attack because she didn't know what that phrase meant. Three days later, her organization was dealing with a ransomware incident that shut down patient scheduling for two weeks. The jargon gap in cybersecurity

Carl B. Johnson Mar 31, 2026 5 min read
NIST Cybersecurity Framework

NIST Cybersecurity Framework: A Practical Guide for 2026

The Framework 83% of Organizations Claim to Follow — But Few Actually Implement When the City of Dallas was hit by a devastating ransomware attack in May 2023, investigations revealed systemic gaps in risk management, incident response, and access controls — the exact areas the NIST Cybersecurity Framework was designed to address.

Carl B. Johnson Mar 28, 2026 6 min read
Cybersecurity Terms Explained

Cybersecurity Terms Explained: A No-Nonsense Guide

During a breach investigation last year, I watched a CFO stare blankly at an incident response report and ask, "What's lateral movement? What does 'exfiltration' mean? Can someone just speak English?" That moment crystallized something I've known for two decades: the cybersecurity

Carl B. Johnson Mar 28, 2026 6 min read
Phishing

Phishing in 2026: What's Actually Working Against It

The Threat That Refuses to Die In January 2025, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released its annual report showing that phishing and its variants remained the number one reported cybercrime by volume — for the fifth consecutive year. Over 298,000 complaints. That number only counts the

Carl B. Johnson Jan 18, 2026 7 min read
Ransomware Attack Prevention

Ransomware Attack Prevention: A 2025 Survival Guide

In February 2024, Change Healthcare — a company that processes roughly one-third of all U.S. medical claims — was hit by the ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware group. The fallout was staggering: $872 million in direct costs reported by UnitedHealth Group in a single quarter, pharmacies unable to process prescriptions, and the personal

Carl B. Johnson Aug 11, 2025 7 min read
Ransomware

How Ransomware Spreads: 7 Attack Vectors in 2025

In February 2024, Change Healthcare — the payment processor handling roughly one-third of all U.S. medical claims — was hit by the ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware group. The result: $872 million in direct costs reported by UnitedHealth Group, months of disrupted pharmacy operations, and the personal health data of over 100 million

Carl B. Johnson Jul 15, 2025 7 min read