Threats & Vulnerabilities: Page

News brief: KillSec, Yurei score successful ransomware attacks

Check out the latest security news from the Informa TechTarget team.

By Staff report • Sept. 19, 2025

What is a forensic image?

A forensic image (forensic copy) is a bit-by-bit, sector-by-sector direct copy of a physical storage device, including all files, folders, and unallocated, free and slack space.

By Paul Kirvan, Nick Barney • Sept. 15, 2025

What is a stealth virus and how does it work?

A stealth virus is a computer virus that uses various mechanisms to avoid detection by antivirus software.

By Nick Barney, Rahul Awati • Sept. 12, 2025

10 tips to keep personal data safe and secure

Security should always be a concern when online. Whether at a larger organizational level or at an individual level, you should have at least some way to keep your data safe.

By Alexander Gillis • Sept. 3, 2025

How AI malware works and how to defend against it

AI malware is evolving faster than traditional defenses. Learn how attackers weaponize AI and how organizations can implement effective countermeasures.

By Matthew Smith , Sharon Shea • Aug. 27, 2025

What is security theater?

Security theater refers to highly visible security measures that create the illusion of increased safety but don't stop threats.

By Rahul Awati, Laura Fitzgibbons • Aug. 13, 2025

Black Hat news: Exposed vaults, firmware flaws, AI hacks

Check out the latest security news from the Informa TechTarget team.

By Staff report • Aug. 8, 2025

Malware vs. ransomware: What’s the difference?

Ransomware is malware, but malware isn't always ransomware. It can be confusing, and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but the threats have distinct characteristics.

By Phil Sweeney , Andy Patrizio • Aug. 6, 2025

What is sensor data? Examples of sensors and their uses

Sensor data is the output of a device that detects, analyzes and responds to some type of input from the physical environment.

By Paul Kirvan , Ben Lutkevich • Aug. 4, 2025

How to use the John the Ripper password cracker

Password crackers are essential tools in any pen tester's toolbox. This step-by-step tutorial explains how to use John the Ripper, an open source offline password-cracking tool.

By Ed Moyle • Aug. 1, 2025

News brief: Rise of AI exploits and the cost of shadow AI

Check out the latest security news from the Informa TechTarget team.

By Staff report • Aug. 1, 2025

How liveness detection catches deepfakes and spoofing attacks

Biometric liveness detection can stop fake users in their tracks. Learn how the technology works to distinguish real humans from deepfakes and other spoofing attacks.

By Karen Kent • July 31, 2025

What is an IoT gateway?

An IoT gateway is a physical device or software program that serves as the connection point between the cloud and internet of things devices, such as controllers, sensors and smart devices.

By Alexander Gillis • July 29, 2025

News brief: SharePoint attacks hammer globe

Check out the latest security news from the Informa TechTarget team.

By Staff report • July 25, 2025

News brief: Cyberattack trends signal security arms race

Check out the latest security news from the Informa TechTarget team.

By Staff report • July 18, 2025

Prompt injection attacks: From pranks to security threats

Prompt injection attacks manipulate AI systems to bypass security guardrails, enabling data theft and code execution -- yet they lack comprehensive defenses and CVE tracking.

By Joshua Wright • July 14, 2025

News brief: Hafnium, Scattered Spider hackers arrested

Check out the latest security news from the Informa TechTarget team.

By Staff report • July 11, 2025

What is a threat actor?

A threat actor, also called a malicious actor, is an entity that poses a security risk and seeks to cause harm to individuals, devices, networks or digital systems, often by exploiting vulnerabilities.

By Rahul Awati, Kinza Yasar, Ivy Wigmore • July 2, 2025

Top 15 IoT security threats and risks to prioritize

Certain IoT security concerns, like botnets, are hard to forget, but others might not come to mind as easily, including DNS threats and physical device attacks.

By Mary Pratt • July 2, 2025

Ransomware: Examples, prevention and mitigating the damage

Top cybersecurity experts gathered to discuss the latest threats from ransomware and how organizations, large and small, can prevent or, at least, mitigate an attack.

By Staff report • June 30, 2025

What is phishing? Understanding enterprise phishing threats

Phishing is a fraudulent practice in which an attacker masquerades as a reputable entity or person to trick users into revealing sensitive information.

By Kinza Yasar, Alexander Gillis • June 27, 2025

What is cyber resilience?

Cyber resilience is the ability of a computing system to identify, respond to and recover quickly from a security incident.

By Corinne Bernstein, Alexander Gillis • June 26, 2025

12 smart contract vulnerabilities and how to mitigate them

Smart contracts execute tasks automatically when specific events occur, and they often handle large data and resource flows. This makes them particularly attractive to attackers.

By Karen Kent , Michael Cobb • June 26, 2025

Authorization sprawl: Attacking modern access models

Attackers exploit authorization sprawl by using legitimate credentials and SSO tokens to move between systems, bypassing security controls and deploying ransomware undetected.

By Joshua Wright • June 25, 2025

22 free cybersecurity tools you should know about

Cybersecurity products can get pricy, but there are many excellent open source tools to help secure your systems and data. Here's a list of some of the most popular.

By Andy Patrizio • June 24, 2025