Happy Hallow-Meme! Creepy compliance delights for infosec enthusiasts.

Who says infosec compliance and data privacy can’t be ferociously fun? This year, to honor the spooookiest month of the year, we curated a delightfully creepy collection of compliance-themed memes for your enjoyment.

Feast your eyes for a chuckle and a scare—and share… if you dare.

Pen-testing: A hellish hack-a-thon 

What do Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers, and Jason have in common with your infosec team? They are big fans of hacking… ethical hacking, that is.

Known as penetration testing (or pen-testing), the process involves testers attempting to access or exploit vulnerabilities in your organization’s computer systems, networks, websites, and applications. To clear SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, and other compliance audits, your organization must provide pen-test reports to auditors.

And if you’re not ready for anything the test throws your way? Valuable time and resources get wasted—a nightmare for any organization seeking compliance.

Insider threats: Uncovering secrets from the crypt

According to Verizon’s 2022 Data Breaches Investigations Report, 82% of data breaches involved a human element. Insider threats also tend to be much more costly than the average data breach. In the Ponemon Institute’s 2020 Cost of Insider Threats study, researchers observed that the global average cost of an insider threat was $11.45 million, while the average cost of a data breach over the same period was $3.86 million. 

Whether insider threats are malicious or accidental haunts, there are a variety of tools and procedures organizations can utilize to mitigate them:

• Zero trust mentality (assumption that your organization is compromised)
• Internal employee training program
• Security information and event management (SIEM)
• Intrusion detection systems (IDS)
• Endpoint detection and response (EDR)

Zero-day vulnerability: Nightmare on CISO street

A zero-day vulnerability is a sinister cyberattack vector or technique that takes advantage of an unknown or unaddressed security flaw in computer software, hardware, or firmware. ‘Zero-day’ refers to the fact that the software or device vendor has zero days, or no time, to fix the flaw because malicious actors can already use it to gain access to vulnerable systems. As you can imagine, this three-word term would send a shiver down any CISO’s spine.

Recently, MOVEit Transfer,  a secure file-sharing tool relied upon by government agencies and private enterprises for securely sharing business, experienced one such chilling ordeal. The vulnerability, related to SQL injection, was first exploited by a Russian-speaking professional ransomware group called CI0P. Patches have since been released; however, the fallout from the attack is ongoing, most recently including a change by the vendor in how updates and fixes to MOVEit products are distributed and installed. However, the event’s full impact is likely yet to be realized, with an estimated 150+ organizations’ and over 15 million individuals’ data at risk. 

Hey freaks, ready to get compliant?

Infosec compliance and data security are becoming increasingly critical for businesses of all sizes. The global average cost of a data breach has risen to around $4.45 million—a petrifying increase from $4.35 million compared to last year. Taking compliance seriously is no longer a choice; it’s an absolute must.

Lucky for you, services like Thoropass exist that incorporate smart automation and key integrations to provide a seamless experience, including an integrated audit experience where your auditor is involved in the conversation from Day 1. We call it the OrO^TM Way, and we can’t wait to share it with you and show you how we can help clear all the cobwebs along your compliance journey. If you’re curious to learn more, reach out to one of our experts today! No tricks, only treats await you.