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Democrats in Trump-won districts call on party to rebrand

NPR News Headlines - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 13:19

Democrats need to flip three seats to take back the House next year – and the path to a majority likely runs through districts President Trump carried. Democrats who won alongside Trump offer their prescription for a party they say needs to make big changes.

(Image credit: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

Categories: News

Best Internet Providers in Tennessee

CNET News - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 13:11
The Volunteer State has plenty of fast and reliable internet options. From Nashville to Knoxville, here are CNET's expert picks for the best internet service providers across Tennessee.
Categories: Technology

Don't Flush 'Flushable' Wipes and Other Tips From Plumbers

CNET News - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 13:00
Is it ever safe to flush a "flushable" wipe? We asked a plumber to find out.
Categories: Technology

Best Internet Providers in South Carolina

CNET News - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 12:44
There are several providers in South Carolina that offer fast speeds, reliable connections and affordable plans. Here are our top picks.
Categories: Technology

BenQ W2720i Projector Review: Short-Ish Throw Comes Up Short

CNET News - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 12:44
On paper, it's a contender. On screen, it is not.
Categories: Technology

A new wave of blocks in Russia targets VPN apps and Cloudflare subnets

TechRadar News - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 12:06
  • Russia's Roskomnadzor has intensified internet blocks across the country
  • Google has reportedly received at least 47 removal request orders so far
  • Cloudflare subnets were also temorarily blocked, causing large-scale disruptions of major websites

Internet users in Russia have been suffering a new wave of online disruptions lately, with VPN apps and a major DNS server provider being the targets.

Starting March 12, 2025, Russia's censor body Roskomnadzor has reportedly hit Google with at least 47 removal orders of some of the best VPN apps from its Google Play store.

A few days later, on March 20, Cloudflare subnets were also temporarily blocked. This causes large-scale outages across multiple Russian regions, with many popular websites going dark. Some VPN services also experienced connectivity issues due to the DNS blocking.

Digital rights experts across the country now fear that's just the beginning of further blocks.

An ever-more restricted internet

Android and Windows users in Russia could soon be prevented from downloading almost 50 of the most popular VPN apps in an escalation of VPN censorship in the country. (Image credit: Photo Illustration by Idrees Abbas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Roskomnadzor's fight against VPN apps is nothing new but the scale of Russia's VPN blocking efforts keeps intensifying.

So, while almost 200 VPNs are already blocked across the country, Roskomnadzor has presented Google with some new removal orders.

A Russian journalist has counted 47 new requests since March 12, with the likes of HideMyNetVPN, Proxy Shield VPN, and Secure VPN being among the targets. It isn't yet clear if Google has already complied with such orders at the time of writing.

This new wave of VPN app removal from the Google Play Store follows the same modus operandi that has brought Apple to kill around 60 VPN apps from its App Store in Russia between July and September, bringing the total to 98 unavailable applications in the Big Tech giant's official store.

The orders appear to have been issued under a law enforced in March last year, which criminalizes the spread of information about ways to circumvent internet restrictions – VPNs included.

Website outages were observed across Russia this week, with regulators attributing them to issues with foreign servers. Observers said the problems might be tied to Russian government moves to block Cloudflare services https://t.co/bd0gu5g2c1March 20, 2025

Russia's latest crusade against VPN services came at the same time Cloudflare subnets (a group of over 500k IP addresses within the network) were also blocked across the eastern part of the country, from the Urals to Primorye.

Around 1.5 million IP addresses were impacted – a technical expert for Russian digital rights advocacy group Roskomsvoboda told TechRadar. The likes of TikTok, Steam, Twitch, Epic Games, DeepSeek, Duolingo, and mobile operator sites were all inaccessible without a VPN.

"VPN services have also experienced problems, as they often have their own management infrastructure linked to Cloudflare," Roskomsvoboda told TechRadar, noting that Warp VPN, which is developed by Cloudflare, also stopped working.

Commenting to a Russian news agency, Roskomnadzor said officials "will conduct scheduled technical checks of the use of foreign server infrastructure by Russian services and telecom operators."

While the incident has now been resolved, Roskomsvoboda experts warn that the long-term plan may be blocking Cloudflare completely as Iran did.

"Judging by the scale of these ‘exercises’, this may happen quite soon," the expert told Techradar, explaining that all the mobile apps and online services relying on Cloudflare as a Content Delivery Network (CDN) could soon stop working.

We contacted Cloudflare for comment but are still waiting for a response at the time of publication.

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Categories: Technology

Fake file converters are stealing info, pushing ransomware, FBI warns

TechRadar News - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 12:03
  • The FBI warns about web-based file conversion projects being malicious
  • Some are dropping malware, others stealing sensitive data
  • FBI urges victims to report the attacks

Free online file converters, joiners, and similar productivity tools are actually covers for data scraping and malware/ransomware distribution campaigns, the FBI is warning.

The Bureau's warning says its Denver Field Office agents are “increasingly seeing a scam involving free online document converter tools.”

In the warning, the law enforcement agency also urged victims to come forward and report instances of this scam.

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Reporting the scam

“To conduct this scheme, cyber criminals across the globe are using any type of free document converter or downloader tool. This might be a website claiming to convert one type of file to another, such as a .doc file to a .pdf file. It might also claim to combine files, such as joining multiple .jpg files into one .pdf file. The suspect program might claim to be an MP3 or MP4 downloading tool.”

The worst part is that the tools work as intended, and the victims will still get the files they were looking for.

However, they will also get a piece of malware downloaded to their computer, or the files they uploaded for conversion/joining will be scrapped for information.

The FBI says the tools can scrape the submitted files for personal identifying information, such as social security numbers, dates of birth, and phone numbers, banking information, cryptocurrency information (seed phrases, wallet addresses, etc.), email addresses, and passwords.

“The best way to thwart these fraudsters is to educate people so they don’t fall victim to these fraudsters in the first place,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek.

“If you or someone you know has been affected by this scheme, we encourage you to make a report and take actions to protect your assets. Every day, we are working to hold these scammers accountable and provide victims with the resources they need.”

The FBI urges victims to report these scams to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.

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Categories: Technology

How are inflation or tariffs affecting your shopping and budget? NPR wants to know

NPR News Headlines - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 11:51

Whether you're a shopper or a seller, a worker or a business owner, you likely have a lot on your mind when it comes to budgeting, planning trips or big purchases. And we want to hear all about it.

(Image credit: Spencer Platt)

Categories: News

"Another pair of eyes" - Microsoft launches all-new Security Copilot Agents to give security teams the upper hand

TechRadar News - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 11:50
  • Microsoft is launching new AI agents for cybersecurity
  • Thenew Copilot-powered agents will help automate the defense process
  • Areas such as data security, identity management, and phishing could all get a boost

Microsoft is launching new Security Copilot Agents to help secure organizations with AI-first, end-to-end security platforms.

The company says its new agents are designed to “autonomously assist with critical areas” like data security, identity management, and phishing.

By working with some of the world’s top software companies, Microsoft hopes to deliver “game-changing” protections and help customers “scale, augment, and increase the effectiveness of their privacy operations” to help organizations navigate the increasingly complex threat landscape and regulatory requirements.

Core problems

Microsoft’s Global Head of Security, Vasu Jakkal, spoke to TechRadar Pro, to discuss the way that AI is changing the cybersecurity landscape, and how the new initiatives will help defenders use AI to their advantage.

Jakkal noted how AI is supercharging the volume of cyberattacks, and lowering the barriers for access to malicious campaigns, overwhelming security teams who often don’t have access to first-rate tools and rely on manual processes and ‘fragmented defenses’.

“So you look at these three core problems, threat landscape, operational complexity, and data security, there's no way humans can scale to keep up with these challenges. In fact, we don't have the human talent in security right now,” she warns.

To help security teams try and navigate this, Microsoft is unveiling 11 new Copilot agents.

Six of these agents will be available across the Microsoft end-to-end security platform, and are designed to assist with threat protection, data security, device management, identity and access, and threat intelligence.

The new launches come alongside Microsoft’s release of five new Agentic solutions to help bolster security teams worldwide.

These include a privacy breach response agent by OneTrust, a network supervisor agent by Aviatrix, a SecOps Tooling agent by BlueVoyant, an alert triage agent by Tanium, as well as a task optimizer agent by Fletch.

A helping hand

So that teams can keep up with the quickly evolving landscape, Security Copilot Agents will enable teams to handle high-volume security and IT tasks, and will work seamlessly alongside existing Microsoft security tools.

Microsoft Threat Intelligence now processes 84 trillion signals per day, revealing the exponential growth in cyber-attacks, including 7,000 password attacks per second.

Although you can’t ever eliminate the risk of human error entirely, these new tools will look to be a “another pair of eyes and pair of hands” to help double check things to reduce the risk factor, Jakkal explains.

“Last year, in one year, we saw 30 billion phishing emails. That's a lot. And this volume, you just can't keep up, humans can't triage these. And so the phishing agent now can triage these emails and alerts, and it can tell you, hey, this is a false alarm and this is a true alert, so it kind of reduces that volume”

The upper hand

Jakkal, like many others, describes cybersecurity as a cat and mouse game between cybercriminals and security teams.

Right now, AI is the attacker’s tool of choice and allows for a monumental number of intrusions, but the more attacks are leveraged, the more defenders can learn.

“Microsoft processes 84 trillion signals every single day. That signal intelligence, it's hard for humans to just work through that and scan through, but guess what tool works really great with data? AI.”

For security teams to gain the upper hand, defenders must embrace AI, Jakkal argues, as the talent gap and skills shortage is holding the industry back, and cybersecurity teams, “just don't have enough defenders in the world,” so must look to AI to keep up with demand.

The barrage of attacks isn’t likely to change anytime soon, either. Cyberattacks continue to be a profitable endeavour, and cybercrime is even helping fund rogue nations across the world, and with rising geopolitical tensions, cybersecurity teams must be more alert than ever before.

“Attacks are happening all around and because ransomware is a very lucrative industry and in fact global cybercrime costs us 9.2 trillion dollars, US dollars a year," Jakkal concludes.

"So as long as there's money to be made in it, we are going to see attacks and it can be even worse for a small and medium business because they don't have the staff to even tackle these problems.”

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Categories: Technology

Disney+ drops new trailer for Doctor Who season 2 that promises an epic adventure across time and space

TechRadar News - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 11:49

A brand new trailer for the upcoming second season of Doctor Who has materialized and it looks like we’re in for a wild ride.

The official trailer (see below) emphasizes the epic scale of this season as Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor, alongside new companion Belinda (Varada Sethu) embark on a journey across time and space – and perhaps even realities – on a quest to return The Doctor’s new BFF to Earth.

The latest trailer for one of the best Disney+ shows continues to delve into the mystery surrounding Belinda, and just why she bares more than a passing resemblance to Mundy Flynn, from last season’s Steven Moffat penned episode, ‘Boom’.

While showrunner Russell T. Davies original claimed Sethu’s casting was simply a Karen Gillian-like case of a guest actor impressing enough to bag a full-time role, it’s clear from the footage we’ve seen that this is far more akin to Jenna Coleman’s initial appearance as Oswin, later revealed to be one of many versions of Clara scattered throughout The Doctor’s timeline. All will, of course, be revealed, but it makes for a tantalising hook as we embark on Gatwa’s second season.

That’s far from the only thing whetting fans appetite though, as we also get a little bit more information of Traitors US host Alan Cumming’s new cartoon villain Mr Ring-a-Ding, who we previously saw emerge from the screen of a 1950s theatre.

This time out though, it’s the Doctor and Belinda being pulled into the animated world. While Gatwa is far from the first Doctor to appear in cartoon form – plenty of lost episodes have been given a reprieve in animation, and David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor received an animated special – it marks a first for an episode of the main show.

There’s also another glimpse at the Interstellar Song Contest, hosted by Rylan Clark alongside what appears to be a member of New Earth’s cat-like race, a tease of a return to UNIT HQ featuring former companion Ruby (Millie Gibson), and plenty of rocket ships and robots. Interestingly, Anita Dobson’s Mrs. Flood is absent this time round, although expect to see her crop up throughout the season as the mystery around her continues to build.

Also expected to return this season are UNIT members Mel (Bonnie Langford), Kate (Jemma Redgrave) and Shirley (Ruth Madely), despite the trio gearing up for their own spin-off. And Slow Horses fans are in for a treat as three actors make the jump from Slough House in the form of Christopher Chung, Kadiff Kirwan and a villainous Freddie Fox.

Season 2 is looking like an awful lot of fun, with historical adventure, futuristic action and plenty of humor and heart. And we don’t have long to wait either, with the season set to premiere on BBC iPlayer in the UK and Disney+, aka one of the best streaming services, around the globe on April 12.

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It's an excellent price the amount of movies and shows it gets you – all of the Disney catalogue, the Marvel movies and shows, the Star Wars universe, and Hulu's more adult-focused range of films and TV.

It does come with some caveats you need to know, though. It's for the ad-supported tiers, so there will be commercials. It's only available to new subscribers or those with a lapsed subscription. And this price lasts for four months, after which your monthly fee will rise to the usual $10.99 unless you cancel the subscription.

The deal is available until the end of March – 11:59pm on 31 March, to be exact.

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Categories: Technology

How the Ph.D. Project, and 45 colleges, became a target of the Trump administration

NPR News Headlines - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 11:46

For about 30 years, the Ph.D. Project has supported students from underrepresented groups who are earning doctoral degrees in business. Now, it's attracted the attention of the Trump administration.

(Image credit: Joe Buglewicz)

Categories: News

How Do You Pronounce Nvidia, Huawei, Bezos and Other Tech Terms?

CNET News - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 11:24
Nvidia's stock is making headlines, but do you know how to pronounce the company's name?
Categories: Technology

New Andor season 2 trailer has got Star Wars fans asking the same question – and it includes an ominous call back to Rogue One's official teaser

TechRadar News - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 11:23
  • Lucasfilm has released the final trailer for Andor season 2
  • Star Wars fans think it teases a possible appearance from Darth Vader
  • The teaser also includes a reference to Rogue One's official trailer

There's less than four weeks to go until Andor season 2 is released – and, just like London buses, after waiting so long for one trailer, we've received two in quick succession.

That's right, exactly one month (at the time of publication) since Andor season 2's first trailer made its worldwide debut on February 24, Lucasfilm has released one final teaser before the show returns.

It's a more suspense-filled trailer than its predecessor, too, which speaks to the heightened stakes at play as the embryonic Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire's major players position themselves for the battles ahead.

The trailer's runtime comes in at a snappy 82 seconds, but there's a lot to unpack from the footage within. Sure, there are numerous scenes and clips from the acclaimed Star Wars series' first season 2 trailer, but there's enough new material to whet our appetite ahead of the forthcoming entry's Disney+ debut.

The trailer's been live for less than two hours (again, at the time of writing), but there's one specific clip that's dominated fan discussions in the immediate aftermath of its release. Indeed, at the 0:52 mark, Dedra Meero, one of the Empire's Imperial Security bigwigs, is seen clutching at her jacket collar, which suggests she's struggling to breathe.

Star Wars devotees don't need a second invitation to hazard a guess about what's going on. Indeed, as many have pointed on a couple of Reddit threads, it appears Meero is being force-choked by... someone.

Orson Krennic isn't the guy I'm talking about (Image credit: Lucasfilm/Disney+)

That begs the question: if Meero is being force-choked, who is the likely culprit? There's only one individual who's renowned for squeezing the air out of people's throats: Darth Vader.

Is the Star Wars franchise's legendary Sith Lord going to make a brief cameo in Andor's second season, then? Maybe. After all, he made a telling cameo in one of the best Disney+ shows' soon-to-be sequel movie Star Wars: Rogue One, which actually came out in 2016 but will pick up where Andor season 2's story leaves off. Vader is knocking about at this point on the Star Wars timeline, so I wouldn't rule out an appearance from the man formerly known as Anakin Skywalker.

That said, other fans think Meero is simply having a panic attack. That's also a possibility, especially if a severely traumatic event occurs that involves her. Anyone who's suffered a panic attack knows how they can take your breath away and/or make it hard to breathe, so maybe that's all that's happening here.

The critically acclaimed series returns for its final season.Don’t miss the three-episode premiere of Andor, streaming April 22 only on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/D5KyqZ2VMfMarch 24, 2025

But I digress. Andor season 2's latest trailer also contains an ominous call back to Rogue One's own trailers – and no, I'm not talking about the numerous characters who are slated to appear in season 2, and who also show up in Rogue One.

I am, in fact, talking about the spine-chilling siren that can be heard throughout this teaser's near-90-second runtime. Okay, said klaxon can only be heard once Rogue One's official trailer (at the 1:10 mark, to be exact), but it's nonetheless a fun little Easter egg that further strengthens the ties between Andor and its movie sibling.

When will Andor season 2 be released? And who's a part of its cast?

The revolution will be televised in late April (Image credit: Lucasfilm/Disney+)

Andor season 2's release date was announced last September. It'll make its debut on Disney+, aka one of the world's best streaming services, on April 21 (US) and April 22 (UK and Australia). It'll launch on those dates with a three-season premiere, too, so you'll have plenty to watch on release day.

As for when new episodes will air, they'll arrive in three additional episodic batches of three on a weekly basis. So, episodes 4 through 6 will be released on April 28 (US) and April 29 (UK and Australia), and so on.

On the cast front, Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgard, Adria Arjona, Kyle Soller, Genevieve O'Reilly, and Denise Gough are just six faces returning from season 1. New additions to the cast include Ben Mendelsohn, who reprises his role as Orson Krennic from Rogue One, and Alan Tudyk, who is also back as his Rogue One character in K-2SO. You can read about the rest of the show's cast, as well as other important details, in my dedicated Andor season 2 hub.

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Categories: Technology

23andMe is bankrupt and about to sell your DNA, here's how to stop that from happening

TechRadar News - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 11:18
  • 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy
  • It means the company and all of its data is up for sale
  • Unfortunately, that could include your personal information and your DNA, but there's action you can take right now

23andMe – which oversaw a viral surge in DNA testing a couple of years ago and was once worth over $6bn – has filed for bankruptcy, and if you've ever used the service your data could be on the table.

The company announced on March 23 that it has initiated voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the US Bankruptcy Court "to facilitate a sale process to maximize the value of its business."

The company said, "After a thorough evaluation of strategic alternatives, we have determined that a court-supervised sale process is the best path forward to maximize the value of the business."

The company is seeking to sell "substantially all of its assets," and it's bad news for customers who have ever used the service.

As The Telegraph reports, 23andMe was once worth $6 billion but has seen revenue slump in recent years, reflecting a fall in the popularity of DNA testing. Now, with all of its assets on the chopping block, customer DNA data submitted to the company as part of its testing process could be up for sale.

As the report notes, 23andMe's privacy statement, which all customers must accept to use the service, contains provisions that it may sell your personal information if it is ever involved in bankruptcy proceedings.

23andMe bankruptcy: Save your data

23andMe's DNA testing used to be all the rage... (Image credit: 23andMe)

California's Attorney General recently issued an urgent customer alert, outlining some of the actions customers can take to protect their data before 23andMe sells it off to the highest bidder.

Customers can delete their account and personal information on 23andMe's website, specifically in the Settings section of their profile.

Before you do, you can also download a copy of your data for your personal storage, before selecting "Delete Data" in the 23andMe Data section.

If you've previously opted to have your saliva and DNA stored by 23andMe, you can also change this preference and get it destroyed by the company in the Preferences section.

Finally, you can also revoke your permission for your genetic data to be used for research in the Research and Product Consents section of the account settings page.

Alternatively, simply deleting your account should ensure your personal data, genetic data included, gets deleted.

These are primarily targeted at California consumers but everyone who has ever used 23andMe can access these settings and should be able to carry out at least some of the steps to protect their data.

Alongside the bankruptcy proceedings, 23andMe announced that CEO Anne Wojcicki is resigning her role with immediate effect.

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Medusa ransomware is able to disable anti-malware tools, so be on your guard

TechRadar News - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 11:13
  • Researchers spot Medusa ransomware operators deploying smuol.sys
  • This driver mimics a legitimate CrowdStrike Falcon driver
  • Medusa is actively targeting critical infrastructure organizations

Operators of the Medusa ransomware are engaging in old-fashioned bring-your-own-vulnerable-driver (BYOD) attacks, bypassing endpoint protection, detection and response (EDR) tools while installing the encryptor.

Cybersecurity researchers Elastic Security Labs noted the attacks start as the threat actors drop an unnamed loader, which deploys two things on the target endpoint: the vulnerable driver, and the encryptor.

The driver in question is smuol.sys, and it mimics a legitimate CrowdStrike Falcon driver named CSAgent.sys. It was also said to have been signed by a Chinese vendor the researchers dubbed ABYSSWORKER.

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A growing threat

"This loader was deployed alongside a revoked certificate-signed driver from a Chinese vendor we named ABYSSWORKER, which it installs on the victim machine and then uses to target and silence different EDR vendors," Elastic Security Labs said in its report.

Using outdated and vulnerable drivers to kill antivirus and malware removal tools is nothing new. The practice has been around for years and is being used to deploy malware, steal sensitive information, propagate viruses, and more.

The best way to mitigate potential threats is to keep your software updated.

Medusa ransomware has grown into one of the most prolific Ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) providers around.

Standing shoulder to shoulder with LockBit, or RansomHub, Medusa has taken responsibility for some of the biggest attacks in recent years, prompting the US government to issue a warning about its activities.

In mid-March 2025, the FBI, CISA, and MS-ISAC said Medusa targeted more than 300 victims from a “variety of critical infrastructure sectors”, by February 2025.

"As of February 2025, Medusa developers and affiliates have impacted over 300 victims from a variety of critical infrastructure sectors with affected industries including medical, education, legal, insurance, technology, and manufacturing," the report says. "FBI, CISA, and MS-ISAC encourage organizations to implement the recommendations in the Mitigations section of this advisory to reduce the likelihood and impact of Medusa ransomware incidents."

Via The Hacker News

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Categories: Technology

23andMe Files for Bankruptcy, Loses CEO: What That Means for You and Your Data

CNET News - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 11:06
The personal DNA testing service went public in 2021 and has been struggling with slowing sales ever since.
Categories: Technology

The U.S. and Russia are holding talks in Saudi Arabia on a Black Sea ceasefire

NPR News Headlines - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 11:03

The closed-door talks at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh follow U.S. consultations with a Ukrainian delegation on stabilizing the front lines and implementing a proposed 30-day armistice.

(Image credit: Efrem Lukatsky)

Categories: News

Google Maps Timeline Data Was Lost for Some People. Here's How to Restore It

CNET News - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 10:46
The company said a brief technical issue led to the data loss.
Categories: Technology

India is hoping its manufacturing industry will profit from Trump's tariffs on China

NPR News Headlines - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 10:37

India is hoping to attract more manufacturing as the Trump administration's tariff policies make it more expensive to do business in China.

(Image credit: Diaa Hadid)

Categories: News

How CISOs can meet the demands of new privacy regulations

TechRadar News - Mon, 03/24/2025 - 10:31

On the list of high-priority concerns for chief information security officers (CISOs) these days, privacy is occupying an increasingly prominent position.

Privacy has always been important for businesses and other organizations handling sensitive customer and stakeholder information, but recent changes in privacy regulations are putting greater responsibility on CISOs, who are required to perform thorough risk assessments while making the results available on demand. Failure to conduct assessments or correct deficiencies can incur significant fines and, in some cases, even jail time.

CISOs need to take a proactive approach to meeting the challenge, particularly by performing rapid data security assessments to identify vulnerabilities and high-priority risks—including those involving third parties—and implement mitigations to protect data, the organization and its customers.

State regulators want risk assessments—now

A number of states have recently upped the ante for CISOs, requiring detailed risk assessments that must be produced upon request. State regulations that have added new requirements include the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) draft regulations, Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA), Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), Colorado Privacy Act (CPA), and the New York SHIELD Act.

CISOs need to be on the same page with these new regulations, even if not all of them use the same playbook. While Virginia and Colorado, for example, set clear guidelines for assessments, California’s rules are more vague, requiring assessments without offering details.

The responsibility for implementing and documenting privacy controls and policies falls primarily on the shoulders of the CISO, who must ensure that the organization’s procedures for managing information protects privacy data and meets regulatory requirements. Performing risk assessments that identify weaknesses and demonstrate that they are being addressed is a crucial step in the process, even more so now that they must be ready to produce risk assessments whenever regulatory bodies request them.

As if CISOs needed an added incentive, regulators at the state and federal levels have been trending toward targeting organization management, particularly CISOs, in the wake of costly breaches. The consequences include hefty fines for organizations and, in worst-case scenarios, even jail sentences for CISOs.

Responsibility for privacy protections also extends to third-party risks. Organizations can’t afford to rely solely on promises made by third-party providers because regulators and state attorneys generally can hold an organization responsible for a breach, even if the exploited vulnerability belonged to a provider. Organizations need to implement a framework for third-party risk management that includes performing due diligence on the security postures of third parties.

Rapid risk assessments boost both security and compliance

Teams should follow several best practices in performing rapid assessments.

Automated scanning tools can identify a range of vulnerabilities, such as weak or non-existent authentication processes, unpatched and/or outdated software and hardware, and misconfigurations in the network. An assessment of internal risks can be combined with an analysis of common external threats. Security teams can then prioritize risks based on their threat levels and establish a plan for remediation.

Penetration testing serves as another critical tool that can help security teams quickly evaluate and assess potential threats to their infrastructure. By simulating a real-world attack, it is designed to show how an organization's layered controls worked together (or did not work) to defend against a hacker. As a result, organizations have a better understanding of their security posture and vulnerabilities that may attract bad actors.

In today’s threat landscape, with the constant drumbeat of sophisticated attacks, the process needs to be done efficiently, making rapid data security assessments an essential part of any risk analysis framework. Rapid assessments enable teams to quickly identify, prioritize and remediate the greatest risks while laying plans for further remediations. It allows them to determine the appropriate steps in each case, such as whether they need to implement encryption, access controls, intrusion prevention systems, firewalls or other measures.

After remediations have been applied, teams need to test the affected system to verify that the fixes have taken hold, and then conduct broader testing to ensure that systems are functioning as expected.

As a final step, organizations should implement a well-seasoned partner in Managed Services that can watch their security environments and remediate any vulnerabilities that occur. Out of office on vacation? Cybercriminals won’t hesitate to exploit your weaknesses over Thanksgiving dinner. Maintaining a security posture requires 24/7 dedication in today’s evolving and turbulent cyber landscape, which is where managed service providers can offer support.

Performing rapid assessments on a regular basis, such as every six months, is a good practice on its own for protecting against expensive and damaging data breaches, but it is also imperative to being able to comply with increasingly stringent privacy regulations. Documenting the steps they’ve taken, as well as those they plan to take, will enable CISOs to deliver the risk assessments regulators are looking for.

Conclusion

Security is a never-ending process, as CISOs are well aware, but so is compliance. Depending on the field they work in, businesses can face an array of compliance requirements that are frequently changing, as in the case of the recent updates to state privacy laws. In all, 20 U.S. states (so far) have privacy laws, and although there is no overarching federal privacy laws, many businesses must comply with international laws such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) if they do business or monitor data subjects in the EU.

A proactive approach to security that makes use of automation in performing regular, repeatable rapid data security assessments as part of a robust risk management framework will enable CISOs to enhance data protections while keeping pace with the evolving compliance landscape.

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