Topics
Browse all cybersecurity topics covered on Unlocked. Each topic page collects our latest articles, guides, and analysis in one place.
Access Control
Access control governs who can interact with which systems, data, and resources, and under what conditions. Coverage of access control models including RBAC and ABAC, least-privilege design, just-in-time elevation, segregation of duties, and the policy and enforcement architecture defining how organizations grant and revoke access at scale.
Advanced Persistent Threats (Apts)
Advanced persistent threats (APTs) are well-resourced, often state-sponsored, threat actors that maintain long-term access to high-value targets. Coverage of major APT groups, their tradecraft, intelligence collection objectives, and the detection engineering and threat hunting practices defenders use to identify and disrupt sustained intrusion campaigns.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence is reshaping both offensive and defensive cybersecurity. Coverage of AI-enabled threat actors, deepfake-driven fraud, prompt injection and model security, AI-powered detection and response tools, and the regulatory and operational decisions facing IT and security teams as AI adoption accelerates across the enterprise stack.
Asset Security & Tracking
Asset security and tracking covers how organizations and individuals discover, monitor, and protect physical and digital assets — devices, hardware, intellectual property — across their lifecycle. Coverage of asset inventory, lost device recovery, GPS and Bluetooth tracking, and the security controls reducing loss and theft.
Authentication
Authentication is the front door of every application and system. Coverage of authentication protocols, MFA and passkey adoption, federated identity, session security, and the architectural decisions that determine whether identity controls hold up against modern attacker techniques.
Best Practices
Cybersecurity best practices distilled from incident response, vendor research, and frameworks like NIST and CIS. Coverage spans identity, endpoints, cloud, email, and the operational habits that consistently differentiate organizations that hold up under attack from those that don't.
Biometrics
Biometrics — fingerprints, face, voice, behavioral signals — sit at the center of modern authentication. Coverage of biometric matching technology, liveness detection, privacy and regulatory implications, and the role biometrics play in passkeys, device unlock, and identity verification at scale.
Bluetooth Technology
Bluetooth and BLE technology in cybersecurity contexts. Coverage of Bluetooth-based authentication, proximity unlock, IoT and OT device security, BLE-driven attacks, and the protocol and implementation considerations that determine whether Bluetooth-based access controls hold up in real deployments.
Case Study
Cybersecurity case studies showing how real organizations design, deploy, and recover from security programs and incidents. Detailed analysis of identity rollouts, ransomware recovery, MFA migrations, and the operational lessons IT and security teams can apply to their own environments.
Cloud Security
Cloud security covers the controls protecting workloads, data, and identities running in AWS, Azure, GCP, and SaaS environments. Coverage of cloud security posture management, IAM hardening, container and Kubernetes security, data exposure risk, and the shared-responsibility realities defining who defends what in modern cloud architectures.
Credential Management
Credential management covers how organizations securely create, store, rotate, and retire the secrets — passwords, API keys, certificates, service account credentials — that systems and people use to authenticate. Coverage of vault platforms, secrets sprawl, automation, and the controls preventing credential-based compromise.
Credential Stuffing
Credential stuffing attacks use credentials leaked from past breaches to brute-force their way into other accounts where users reused the same password. Coverage of credential stuffing tools and economics, account takeover impact, breach exposure monitoring, and the bot management, MFA, and passkey controls that disrupt these attacks at scale.
Critical Infrastructure Security
Critical infrastructure security defends the systems societies depend on — energy, water, transportation, financial services, communications. Coverage of OT and ICS vulnerabilities, sector-specific regulatory mandates, nation-state targeting, and the resilience strategies protecting essential services from cyber-driven disruption.
Cyber Insurance
Cyber insurance protects organizations against the financial impact of breaches, ransomware, and operational disruption from cyberattacks. Coverage of policy structure, underwriting requirements, control prerequisites like MFA and EDR, claims trends, and the evolving relationship between insurers and security programs.
Cyberattack
Cyberattack coverage tracking active intrusion campaigns, breach disclosures, and the techniques attackers use to reach high-value targets. Analysis of initial access methods, lateral movement, exfiltration tactics, and the indicators of compromise IT and security teams need to detect and respond to modern adversaries effectively.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity coverage spanning threats, defensive controls, identity, infrastructure, and the policy and operational decisions that shape modern security programs. Practical analysis built for IT leaders, security practitioners, and the technical teams running cybersecurity day to day.
Cybersecurity Associations
Coverage of cybersecurity professional associations including ISSA, ISACA, (ISC)², ISC2, OWASP, CSA, and others. Analysis of certifications, chapters, conferences, training programs, and the role professional organizations play in shaping the cybersecurity workforce and industry standards.
Cybersecurity Awareness
Cybersecurity awareness covers the programs, training, and communication efforts that help employees recognize and resist phishing, social engineering, and other human-targeted attacks. Coverage of awareness program design, phishing simulation, behavioral metrics, and what actually changes user behavior versus what just generates click-through reports.
Cybersecurity by Industry
Industry-specific cybersecurity coverage analyzing how threat actors, regulatory pressures, and operational realities shape security programs across healthcare, finance, manufacturing, education, government, and other verticals. Analysis of the threats and controls most relevant to each industry's threat landscape and compliance environment.
Cybersecurity Policy
Cybersecurity policy covers the laws, regulations, and government guidance shaping how organizations defend systems and disclose incidents. Coverage of CISA directives, SEC cyber disclosure rules, EU NIS2, executive orders, and the policy decisions translating into operational requirements for IT and security programs.
Cybersecurity Professionals
Coverage of the cybersecurity workforce — career pathways, hiring trends, compensation, burnout, and the skills shaping how security practitioners build and grow their careers. Analysis built for CISOs, SOC analysts, IR responders, and the broader community of professionals running enterprise cybersecurity programs.
Cybersecurity Tools
Coverage and comparisons of cybersecurity tools across identity, endpoint, network, cloud, and SOC categories. Analysis of vendor selection, integration architecture, deployment realities, and the buying decisions IT and security leaders face when assembling a defensive stack that holds up in production.
Cybersecurity Training
Cybersecurity training covers the technical and role-based education programs developing security practitioners and the broader IT workforce. Coverage of certifications, hands-on labs, security operations training, vendor-specific programs, and the upskilling pathways IT leaders use to build defensive capability inside their teams.
Cybersecurity Trends
Coverage of the trends shaping enterprise cybersecurity — identity-first security, passwordless adoption, AI in offense and defense, ransomware economics, regulatory tightening, and the architectural shifts redefining how organizations design and operate security programs across hybrid and cloud environments.
Digital Protection
Digital protection covers the controls and practices defending personal and business identities, devices, and data from cyber threats. Coverage spans antivirus and EDR, identity protection, account security, dark web monitoring, and the layered defenses individuals and organizations use to reduce digital risk.
Documentation
Cybersecurity documentation guidance for IT and security teams. Coverage of policy templates, incident response runbooks, audit-ready evidence, and the operational documentation programs that turn security strategy into repeatable, defensible practice across the modern enterprise.
Guide
In-depth cybersecurity guides covering identity, MFA, zero trust, IAM platforms, password managers, passkey rollouts, and the operational decisions IT and security teams face when designing or upgrading enterprise security programs in real environments.
Hacker Groups
Profiles and analysis of major cybercrime and nation-state hacker groups. Coverage of ransomware operators, financially motivated crews, state-sponsored APTs, and emerging collectives — including their tradecraft, targets, infrastructure, and the strategic indicators defenders use to attribute and disrupt their operations.
Healthcare Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity in healthcare faces uniquely high stakes — patient safety, HIPAA-protected data, and connected medical devices. Coverage of ransomware against hospitals, EMR security, medical device vulnerabilities, HIPAA enforcement, and the operational realities of defending healthcare systems against persistent threat actor interest.
IAM
IAM (identity and access management) coverage for IT and security teams. Analysis of IAM platforms, authentication and authorization architectures, federation and SSO, lifecycle automation, and the policy and tooling decisions defining how organizations secure access across cloud, SaaS, and on-premises systems.
Identity and Access Management
Identity and access management (IAM) is the framework controlling who can access what, when, and under which conditions. Coverage of authentication, authorization, federation, role and attribute-based access, and the IAM platforms and architectures securing modern cloud, SaaS, and hybrid enterprise environments.
Identity Security
Identity security covers the controls protecting how users, devices, and machines authenticate and gain access. Coverage of identity threat detection and response (ITDR), session security, posture management, identity provider hardening, and the identity-first architecture defining modern enterprise security.
Infrastructure Security
Infrastructure security covers the controls protecting servers, networks, cloud platforms, and operational technology that enterprises run on. Coverage of network segmentation, server hardening, cloud workload protection, OT and ICS defense, and the architectural decisions that determine whether core infrastructure holds up under attack.
ISSA
Coverage of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA), the global community of cybersecurity professionals. Analysis of ISSA programs, chapters, certifications, professional development, and the role membership organizations play in connecting and educating modern security practitioners.
IT Professsionals
Cybersecurity coverage built for IT professionals — system administrators, network engineers, security analysts, and IT directors making the day-to-day decisions that keep enterprises secure. Practical analysis of tools, controls, frameworks, and operational practices grounded in real production environments.
Managed Services
Cybersecurity coverage of the managed services market — managed detection and response (MDR), managed SIEM, co-managed SOC, and outsourced security operations. Analysis of vendor selection, service-level economics, and the operational integration decisions defining whether managed security delivers real outcomes.
MSP
Cybersecurity coverage for managed service providers (MSPs) and the SMB and mid-market customers they serve. Analysis of MSP-targeted attacks, supply chain compromise, RMM and PSA security, and the operational practices MSPs use to protect both themselves and the clients depending on them.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a core control for stopping credential-based attacks. Coverage of MFA methods, push and SMS limitations, FIDO2 and passkeys, and the configuration and rollout decisions IT teams use to protect SaaS, VPN, and admin access at scale.
Newsletter
Cybersecurity newsletters and weekly briefings covering breaches, threat actor activity, regulatory developments, and the controls IT and security teams need to act on. Coverage focused on signal-over-noise updates designed for practitioners who can't read every report.
Passkey
Passkeys are replacing passwords as the default authentication standard. Coverage of how passkeys work, the FIDO2 and WebAuthn protocols underneath them, platform implementations across Apple, Google, and Microsoft, and the rollout patterns enterprises are using to phase out passwords.
Passkeys
Passkeys are the FIDO2 and WebAuthn-based authentication standard replacing passwords across consumer and enterprise applications. Coverage of platform rollouts, attestation, device-bound vs. synced keys, and the migration patterns moving organizations from password-based authentication to phishing-resistant identity.
Password Manager
Password managers remain a foundational tool for individual and enterprise security. Coverage of password manager selection, deployment, security architecture, breach response, and how teams are evolving from password vaults toward passkey-first authentication strategies.
Passwordless
Passwordless authentication is replacing passwords with phishing-resistant alternatives like passkeys, FIDO2 security keys, and platform biometrics. Coverage of passwordless protocols, deployment patterns, vendor comparisons, and the migration strategies IT teams use to phase out passwords across consumer and workforce identity.
Passwords
Coverage of passwords as both a foundational and increasingly outdated authentication mechanism. Analysis of password policy, hashing and storage, breach exposure, password manager adoption, and the migration patterns moving organizations from password-based authentication to passkeys and phishing-resistant alternatives.
Phishing
Phishing remains the most common entry point for cyberattacks. Coverage of email-based phishing, smishing, vishing, AI-generated lures, and the email security, awareness training, and authentication controls that meaningfully reduce the success rate of these attacks against organizations.
Privileged Access Management
Privileged access management (PAM) controls how administrators, service accounts, and other high-trust identities access sensitive systems. Coverage of PAM platforms, just-in-time access, session recording, secrets vaulting, and the architecture protecting the credentials attackers consistently target during ransomware and intrusion campaigns.
Product Alternatives
Practical comparisons and alternatives to leading cybersecurity and IT products. Coverage spans password managers, MFA platforms, IAM solutions, EDR vendors, and other categories where teams are evaluating switching costs, feature gaps, and pricing changes against established options in the market.
Proximity
Proximity-based authentication and security technologies use physical nearness — Bluetooth, BLE, ultra-wideband, NFC — to authenticate users, unlock devices, and secure access. Coverage of proximity authentication models, deployment in workforce identity, and the security and privacy considerations that shape adoption.
Ransomware
Ransomware combines encryption-based extortion with data theft to pressure victims into payment. Coverage of major ransomware groups, double extortion economics, ransomware-as-a-service operations, leak site activity, negotiation realities, and the prevention and recovery strategies that determine whether organizations survive an attack.
Remote Workers
Cybersecurity for remote and hybrid workforces. Coverage of endpoint security, VPN and ZTNA replacements, identity and access controls, home network risk, and the operational practices keeping distributed teams secure without sacrificing the productivity remote work depends on.
Scattered Spider
Scattered Spider is a financially motivated cybercrime group known for advanced social engineering and identity-based intrusions. Coverage of the group's help desk impersonation, MFA bypass, lateral movement tradecraft, and the high-profile retail, hospitality, telecom, and insurance breaches attributed to its affiliates and operators.
Security Keys
Security keys are hardware devices implementing FIDO2 and WebAuthn for phishing-resistant authentication. Coverage of YubiKey and other hardware key vendors, deployment patterns, attestation, registration and recovery flows, and the role security keys play in passwordless and high-assurance access.
SIM Swapping
SIM swapping is a social engineering attack against mobile carriers, transferring a victim's phone number to an attacker-controlled SIM to intercept SMS-based authentication codes. Coverage of SIM swap techniques, account takeovers, carrier defenses, and why SMS-based MFA is being phased out in favor of phishing-resistant authenticators.
Single Sign-on
Single sign-on (SSO) lets users authenticate once and access multiple applications through federated identity. Coverage of SAML, OIDC, and OAuth flows, identity provider integrations, SSO bypass risks, and the architectural patterns that centralize and harden access across modern enterprise SaaS estates.
SOC 2
SOC 2 is the audit framework demonstrating how SaaS and service organizations protect customer data. Coverage of SOC 2 Type I and Type II, the trust service criteria, control implementation guidance, audit preparation, and the common gaps that delay or compromise SOC 2 attestation efforts.
Social Engineering
Social engineering exploits human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities. Coverage of phishing, vishing, smishing, pretexting, help desk impersonation, MFA fatigue, and the AI-augmented manipulation tactics threat actors use to bypass technical controls — alongside the training, verification workflows, and policies that disrupt them.
Spoofing
Spoofing attacks impersonate trusted identities — email addresses, phone numbers, websites, IP addresses, GPS signals — to deceive victims into trusting malicious traffic. Coverage of email spoofing and DMARC, caller ID spoofing, website and DNS spoofing, and the authentication and verification controls that disrupt impersonation-based attacks.
Supply Chain Security
Supply chain security covers the threats targeting the software, hardware, and vendor relationships organizations depend on. Coverage of NPM and PyPI package compromises, software publisher intrusions, hardware tampering, SBOM-driven defense, and how attackers leverage trust relationships to reach high-value downstream targets.
The Breach Report
Detailed analysis of major data breaches and security incidents. Coverage of root cause, attacker techniques, affected systems and data, regulatory and legal fallout, and the controls IT and security leaders should review based on each incident's lessons.
Threat Intelligence
Threat intelligence covers the indicators, techniques, and adversary insights that inform defensive decisions. Coverage of cyber threat intelligence (CTI) program design, MITRE ATT&CK mapping, ISAC sharing, vendor feeds, and the analytical tradecraft turning raw data into prioritized, actionable guidance for SOC, IR, and executive audiences.
Zero Day Vulnerabilities
Zero-day vulnerabilities are security flaws being actively exploited before vendor patches exist. Coverage of zero-day discovery and disclosure, exploit broker market dynamics, in-the-wild abuse by APTs, and the proactive defense, virtual patching, and exposure management practices used to mitigate risk before patches ship.
Zero Trust
Zero trust replaces implicit network trust with continuous verification of every user, device, and request. Coverage of zero trust architecture, NIST 800-207 alignment, microsegmentation, identity-centric access, and the program-management realities of executing zero trust across hybrid enterprise environments.