In our recent webinar, Cybersecurity Threats for Private Industry in 2025, Colin Glover, a cybersecurity coordinator at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), took the stage to deliver a dynamic and insightful presentation. His message? Cyber defense and resilience are more important than ever, and many organizations are at extremely high risk due to the lack of fundamental cybersecurity best practices.
Glover revealed that many cyberattacks succeed due to basic vulnerabilities. After sharing the story of the exploitation of an organization via a critical device that was using a default password of "1111," he states, "What we find time and again is that a lot of the hacks that we see just aren't very difficult, and that's what's so concerning... Most of them had changed their default password. You know, they had done a good job on that to a certain extent. They missed one. And that's one of the hardest parts is, you know, we get eighty, ninety percent there. We think we're good. We just missed one, and we allow an easy route into our network."
Glover also touched on pressing threats, including the infiltration of critical infrastructure by Chinese nation-state actors and the growing menace of ransomware attacks. He introduced the concept of "living off the land," where cybercriminals exploit native tools on systems, making their attacks harder to detect. To combat these dangers, Glover emphasized a few key practices: effective patch management, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and robust backup systems.
The Q&A session was packed with audience engagement, as Glover tackled questions ranging from whether scams should be categorized as cybersecurity threats to how best to report them to the FBI. His advice for organizations just starting their cybersecurity journey was straightforward and practical: focus on good backups, regular patching, and MFA. Glover also urged attendees to adopt standard cybersecurity frameworks and take part in information-sharing initiatives to strengthen their defenses. The webinar wrapped up with a strong reminder about the invaluable resources available through CISA and the critical need for proactive cybersecurity strategies.
For the full presentation from CISA expert Colin Glover, view the webinar recording below:
