Happy New Year and all that jazz!

Whether you are the type of person who sets new goals every January, or are recovering from all of the extra demands of December and need some time to refresh before setting new priorities, I hope this year is a good one for you!

For those working those Christmas shifts, it wasn't quiet. December was a busy month for cybercrime, with several big-name breaches including Toyota Financial Services, EasyPark, Sony's Insomniac Games, several libraries in the US as well as a Cancer Centre, plus both a German Hospital and Ohio Lottery being hit by Ransomware on the 27th December.

Also in December, the US implemented new SEC rules which means that any publicly listed companies have to comply with security governance and incident reporting. Businesses should expect to be attacked and be prepared, the guidance now says. We have had a few inquiries recently off the back of this - we do offer international services by the way!

We know that there isn't such a thing as 100% secure, but one thing that has surprised me whilst in my current role, is the number of international serving businesses, that service key services or critical national infrastructure, that are reliant on just one person for both IT and Cyber Security.

We also discussed this within our December drop-in sessions, particularly the Cyber Security for IT Manager session we hosted. If you did miss either the Cyber Strategy session or the Cyber Security for IT Manager's session, we are planning to record those soon for our YouTube channel - watch this space.

If you need extra assistance in your security department or want to talk to us about getting some extra help on a consultancy basis, drop me a message.

So what are we planning for this quarter here at th4ts3cur1ty.company ?

For me, I am bedding into my new role, having been here for almost 3 months now. I spend the majority of my days speaking to customers about our Pen Testing, PocketSIEM , or Consultancy services, and helping to find the right solution for them. I am learning as I go, and am about to embark on some training myself via ITPro.TV

We have a new tool in production that will be open-sourced for the community, but that is still very much under wraps, but will be ready for Q2 of this year.

We have an in-person event for IT and Cyber Managers we are planning in Hull in partnership with another exciting business for the end of February - If you are based in the Humberside area, drop me a message!

And in my spare time (lol), I am either working on the second BSides Lancashire for March, keeping an eye on June for BSides Leeds , editing episodes for the Bee in Cyber podcast, organizing mentoring with CAPSLOCK or planning Manchester or Cheshire get-togethers. If you are interested in any of these things, let me know!

If you are stuck with your cyber strategy, want to understand where to start with securing your business, or have the budget for pen testing or a SOC, then do drop me a message. I am always happy to chat!