What if We are Losing Cybersecurity War?

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What is Cybersecurity?  Is it the way one uses and defends their data and systems?

CISA the government agency (not my certifications Certified Information Systems Auditor by ISACA) … I know confusing right?

https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news/what-cybersecurity  I like to show you the full link so you know where you are going(not like phishing scams).

Cybersecurity is explained in first paragraph:

“Cybersecurity is the art of protecting networks, devices, and data from unauthorized access or criminal use and the practice of ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information. It seems that everything relies on computers and the internet now—communication (e.g., email, smartphones, tablets), entertainment (e.g., interactive video games, social media, apps ), transportation (e.g., navigation systems), shopping (e.g., online shopping, credit cards), medicine (e.g., medical equipment, medical records), and the list goes on. How much of your daily life relies on technology? How much of your personal information is stored either on your own computer, smartphone, tablet or on someone else’s system?”

When asking you.com (an AI engine) it came up with the above paragraph and  the following paragraph from Kaspersky and wikipedia US cyber command explanation:

This involves a combination of people, processes, and technology working together to identify vulnerabilities, detect and respond to threats, and implement safeguards that prevent or mitigate cyber attacks. Defenders use a range of strategies and tools—such as firewalls, encryption, intrusion detection systems, and security policies—to safeguard computers and networks from hacking, malware, phishing, and other cyber threats.

It is of course a defense of computers so that the user can use it and an unauthorized user not using it.  There are many forms of attack and defense and I have discussed this in the past –

   last blog post:  https://oversitesentry.com/attack-versus-defense-what-is-status/ September2022

What has changed if anything in 3 years?

The above is my screenshot of this week’s Redshort weekly communication where they reviewed multiple insurance company breaches – including:

  1. CNA Ransomware incident 2021 costing $40 million
  2. Allianz Life vendor breach impacting 1.4 million customers
  3. Anthem breach in 2015 affected potentially 78 million people
  4. The latest breach Farmers insurance where the quote system affected California residents.
    1. (there was also a newer breach at Farmers)  where 1.1 million customers were affected as outlined here:

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/farmers-insurance-data-breach-impacts-11m-people-after-salesforce-attack/   link among other links:

The Farmers Insurance data breach, disclosed in August 2025, affected over 1.1 million customers and was linked to a cyberattack on a third-party vendor, widely reported as part of a broader Salesforce social engineering campaign. On May 29, 2025, an unauthorized actor accessed a vendor-managed database containing Farmers’ customer information, with the breach detected the following day. The compromised data included sensitive personal details such as names, addresses, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and, in some cases, the last four digits of Social Security numbers. No evidence suggests additional data, like full financial or medical records, was accessed, and Farmers’ internal systems were not directly compromised.
The attack, attributed to threat actors like ShinyHunters and Scattered Spider, involved tactics such as voice phishing (vishing) to trick employees into granting access to Salesforce environments. Farmers notified affected customers starting August 22, 2025, offering two years of free credit monitoring through Cyberscout to mitigate risks of identity theft or fraud. The delay in notification—nearly three months—has raised concerns, with law firms like Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe investigating potential violations of state and federal laws. This breach is part of a wave of cyberattacks targeting the insurance industry in 2025, with other companies like Allianz Life and Aflac also reporting incidents. Farmers is working with law enforcement and cybersecurity experts, and while no misuse of the stolen data has been confirmed, customers are urged to monitor their accounts and credit reports for suspicious activity.

So basically the threats have moved to more attacks like vishing (voice based or phone calls to trick employees)
As usual the attackers come up with more ways to attack and will have to be understood as a new attack.
It is also interesting how the organizations are “working with law enforcement and cybersecurity experts” after the breach. I suppose we will not know how much of a cybersecurity program they had before. But it is nigh time to start a serious cybersecurity program.
This includes TTP Tactics Techniques and Procedures…. which of course means you have to have a security policy.
Today written 9/4/2025 – as this is a perennial issue apparently.