The First 5 Cybersecurity Investments I’d Make If I Was A CIO or CISO Again

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In this edition:

• 12 Key Insights from the CrowdStrike 2025 Global Threat Report

• Original Article - The First 5 Cybersecurity Investments I’d Make If I Was A CIO or CISO Again

• Artificial Intelligence News & Bytes

• Cybersecurity News & Bytes

• AI Power Prompt

• Social Media Image of the Week

12 Key Insights from the CrowdStrike 2025 Global Threat Report

Based on the CrowdStrike 2025 Global Threat Report, here are 12 key insights sparking engagement and discussion online:

1. The 60-Second Intrusion Threat: Can Your Security Respond?

   🔹 The fastest breakout time recorded in 2024 was just 51 seconds—meaning adversaries can pivot deeper into your network in less than a minute.

2. AI-Powered Cybercrime Is No Longer The Future, It’s Here

   🔹 GenAI-fueled attacks surged, with deepfake job applicants, AI-generated phishing emails (54% click-through rate), and fake LinkedIn profiles fooling recruiters and security teams alike.

3. Voice Phishing (Vishing) Surged by 442% in Just Six Months 

   🔹 Attackers no longer rely on email alone—they’re calling employees, impersonating IT support, and tricking them into giving up credentials or remote access.

4. 79% of Cyber Attacks Were Malware-Free 

   🔹 EDR alone won’t save you. Attackers are living off the land, using stolen credentials, remote monitoring tools, and legitimate software to evade detection.

5. 52% of Exploited Vulnerabilities Were Initial Access Points

   🔹 Half of all exploited vulnerabilities were entry points for attackers, proving that patching speed is now a competitive advantage.

6. China’s Cyber Espionage Surged 150%, Some Sectors Hit With 300% More Attacks

   🔹 The financial, media, and manufacturing industries saw a triple-digit spike in China-linked cyber operations, highlighting a shift in geopolitical cyber risk.

7. Insider Threats Went High-Tech: Fake Employees and Stolen Laptops

   🔹 FAMOUS CHOLLIMA ran a global insider campaign, with fake job applicants infiltrating tech companies and sending their corporate laptops to remote hacking farms.

8. Attackers Now Buy Access, Not Just Exploits

   🔹 Access broker advertisements jumped 50% YoY, showing that hacker marketplaces now sell direct entry to corporate networks, bypassing the need for phishing or exploits.

9. Ransomware Gangs Are Moving Faster and Smarter

   🔹 New affiliate models, automation, and AI-powered scripts have enabled big-game hunting ransomware groups to compress their attack timelines, minimizing detection windows.

10. Cloud Security is the Next Battleground, 35% of Incidents Involved Account Takeovers

    🔹 Attackers aren’t hacking cloud systems, they’re logging in with stolen credentials, bypassing traditional defenses, and moving laterally inside cloud environments.

11. Social Engineering on Steroids, Hackers Are Impersonating Your IT Help Desk 

    🔹 Attackers are calling IT support desks to reset employee passwords and bypass MFA, often outside of business hours to delay detection.

12. Cybercriminals Are Chaining Exploits to Bypass Patching Priorities 

    🔹 Instead of relying on single vulnerabilities, hackers are combining multiple low-severity exploits into powerful exploit chains that bypass traditional patching strategies.

The First 5 Cybersecurity Investments I’d Make If I Was A CIO or CISO Again

Been There, Done That…

So, let’s say you’re suddenly in charge of cybersecurity for an entire organization. Congratulations, you’re now the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Sounds cool, right? Until you realize the weight of responsibility. One bad call, and your organization could end up in the headlines for all the wrong reasons “Massive Data Breach Exposes Thousands.” No pressure.

I’ve been in that hot seat several times, and let me tell you, the decisions you make early on can determine whether you’re defending a fortress or trying to patch a sinking ship. If I had to do it all over again, here are the first five cybersecurity investments I’d make, no hesitation.

Cyber Moves I’d Prioritize from Day One:

1. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

If there’s one security measure that significantly reduces the risk of cyberattacks, it’s Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Seriously, passwords alone are not enough attackers steal them, guess them, and even buy them off the dark web. But when you add an extra step, like a one-time code from an app or a security key, suddenly hacking in becomes a whole lot harder.

Yet, I still see companies leaving critical systems unprotected or making MFA optional. That’s a mistake. If I were in charge again, MFA would be mandatory across the board, email, VPN, cloud apps, everything. And if you really want to step up security? Go passwordless with biometric authentication (fingerprint or face scan). It’s easier for users and eliminates weak passwords entirely.

Cybercriminals go after the easiest targets. MFA helps makes sure your company isn’t one of them.

2. “Assume Breach” and Lock Down Access

Imagine you’re running a theme park. Would you give every visitor the keys to the roller coasters? Nope. But companies do this all the time with data and systems. The Zero Trust model means we assume hackers are already inside the network and restrict access so people can only touch what they actually need. No more one-size-fits-all access. If an employee in HR doesn’t need to access engineering files, they don’t get access period.

3. Near Real-Time Recovery

Ransomware attacks are brutal. You go into work one morning, and every file, database, and system is locked unless you pay some faceless hacker in Bitcoin. The real question is: Can you get everything back without paying? My investment here would be immutable backups, backups that can’t be changed, deleted, or encrypted, even if a hacker gets admin access. Combine that with RPO (Recovery Point Objective) and RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and you have near real-time recovery. The goal? Instead of spending weeks recovering, you’re back up and running in hours or even minutes.

4. Threat Intelligence and Threat Detection

Hackers don’t operate in the dark they follow patterns, reuse tactics, and often leave digital fingerprints before launching an attack. Two keys to you staying ahead of them? Threat intelligence and real-time detection.

Threat intelligence helps organizations understand the latest attack trends, track cybercriminal activity, and predict threats before they strike. Instead of waiting to be blindsided, companies can proactively strengthen defenses based on actual intelligence from ongoing attacks across industries.

Threat detection ensures that if an attacker gets in, they don’t stay undetected for weeks or months. Investing in real-time monitoring, AI-driven anomaly detection, and 24/7 security operations means threats can be spotted before they escalate into full-blown breaches.

If I were a CISO again, I’d make sure the company isn’t just reacting to cyber threats. We’d be anticipating them.

5. Incident Response

The worst time to figure out how to handle a cyberattack is while you’re in the middle of one. Incident response isn’t just about fixing problems, it’s about responding fast and minimizing damage.

I’ve personally conducted over 130 Incident Response Tabletop exercises for both public and private sector organizations, and let me tell you many companies think they’re prepared, but when we run a real-world attack simulation, it becomes clear they have massive gaps in their plans. Some don’t even know who’s in charge during a breach, others take hours to detect an attack that should’ve been caught in minutes, and a surprising number have no recovery plan at all.

A solid incident response strategy includes:

• Trained response team: Everyone knows their role, and they’ve practiced it under pressure.

• Clear playbooks: Step-by-step guides for different attack scenarios (ransomware, data breaches, insider threats, etc.).

• Real-world testing: Regular tabletop exercises to simulate attacks and refine responses.

Cyberattacks aren’t a question of if, they are a question of when. The organizations that survive don’t just rely on hope, they prepare for the worst before it happens.

Invest Smart, Defend Hard

Cybersecurity isn’t about making a system impossible to hack. It’s about making it so difficult that hackers move on to an easier target. These five investments aren’t just about stopping threats, they are about staying ahead.

If you were a CISO tomorrow, what would you prioritize first?

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Cybersecurity News & Bytes 🛡️

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AI Power Prompt

This prompt will assist in researching online, justifying, and then help create a plan to implement the top 5 cybersecurity investments for your organization.

#CONTEXT:
Act as a cybersecurity expert with CIO and CISO-level experience. Your task is to develop a structured plan to research and implement the top five cybersecurity investments that provide maximum impact in strengthening an organization’s security posture. These investments should focus on mitigating risks, ensuring compliance, and improving overall resilience.

#GOAL:
Create a well-researched, step-by-step plan to identify, justify, and implement the five most effective cybersecurity investments a CIO or CISO should prioritize.

#RESPONSE GUIDELINES:

RESEARCH & JUSTIFICATION

1. Define Business & Security Objectives – Identify key business functions, regulatory requirements, and cybersecurity risks.

2. Conduct Risk & Threat Analysis – Evaluate the organization's current security maturity, assess vulnerabilities, and analyze cyber threats.

3. Select the Top 5 Investments – Identify high-impact security investments based on ROI, risk reduction, and strategic alignment.

4. Justify Each Investment – Provide data-driven reasoning for each investment, including cost-benefit analysis and potential risk mitigation.

5. Develop an Investment Roadmap – Prioritize investments based on urgency, feasibility, and integration with existing security frameworks.

#INFORMATION ABOUT ME:

• My organization’s industry: [INDUSTRY]

• Key cybersecurity risks: [RISK FACTORS]

• Existing security investments: [CURRENT SECURITY TOOLS]

• Compliance requirements: [REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS]

• Budget & resource constraints: [FINANCIAL & STAFFING LIMITATIONS]

#OUTPUT:
Provide a comprehensive cybersecurity investment plan with research-backed justifications and an actionable implementation roadmap. Ensure the plan includes investment priorities, deployment steps, and measurable success criteria.

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