The recent Verizon outage underscores a growing risk in today’s technology landscape: when critical services are concentrated among a small number of providers, failures don’t stay isolated.

In this live discussion, we’ll connect the Verizon outage to past telecom and cloud disruptions to examine how infrastructure dependency creates cascading business impact. We’ll also explore how large-scale outages intersect with security threats targeting telecommunications, where availability, confidentiality, and integrity failures increasingly overlap.

The session will close with actionable takeaways for strengthening resilience and risk planning across cybersecurity and IT programs.

Key Takeaways

1. Diversify your technology infrastructure. Relying on a single carrier, cloud provider, or bundled service creates a single point of failure. Purposeful diversification across providers can reduce the impact of large-scale outages and improve overall resilience.

2. Treat outages as security incidents, not just reliability problems. Large-scale telecom and cloud outages directly disrupt authentication, monitoring, and incident response, and should trigger security workflows—not just IT troubleshooting.

3. Identify and document your dependencies on carriers and cloud providers. Many security controls rely on SMS, voice, cloud identity, or single regions; understanding these dependencies ahead of time prevents dangerous blind spots during outages.

4. Plan and test incident response without phones, SMS, or primary cloud access. Assume your normal communication and authentication methods will fail and ensure your teams know how to coordinate securely when core services are unavailable.

5. Expect outages to increase fraud and social engineering activity. Attackers exploit confusion and urgency during service disruptions, so security teams should prepare staff for impersonation and “service restoration” scams during major outages.

6. Use widespread outages as learning opportunities. Review what happened, assess how your organization was—or could have been—impacted, identify potential areas for improvement, and update incident response, communications, and resilience plans accordingly.

Resources

1. Verizon official network outage update https://www.verizon.com/about/news/update-network-outage

2. Forrester: Verizon outage reignites reliability concerns https://www.forrester.com/blogs/verizon-outage-reignites-reliability-concerns/

3. CNN: Verizon outage disrupted phone and internet service nationwide https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/15/tech/verizon-outage-phone-internet-service

4. AP News: Verizon outage disrupted calling and data services nationwide https://apnews.com/article/85d658a4fb6a6175cae8981d91a809c9

5. CNN: AT&T outage shows how dependent daily life has become on mobile networks (2024) https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/23/tech/att-outage-customer-service

The FTC has issued an order against General Motors for collecting and selling drivers’ precise location and behavior data, gathered every few seconds and marketed as a safety feature. That data was sold into insurance ecosystems and used to influence pricing and coverage decisions — a clear reminder that how organizations collect, retain, and share data now carries direct security, regulatory, and financial risk. 

1. Prioritize data inventory and mapping in 2026 

You cannot assess risk, select controls, or meet regulatory obligations without knowing what data you have, where it lives, how it flows, and why it is retained. 

2. Reduce data to reduce risk 

Data minimization is a security control that lowers breach impact, compliance burden, and long-term cost. 

3. Expect that regulators care about data use, not just breaches 

Enforcement increasingly targets over-collection, secondary use, sharing, and retention even when no breach occurs. 

4. Create and actively use a data classification policy 

Classification drives retention, access controls, monitoring, and protection aligned to data value and regulatory exposure. 

5. Design identity and recovery assuming personal data is already compromised 

Build authentication and recovery flows that do not rely on the secrecy of SSNs, dates of birth, addresses, or other static personal data. 

6. Train teams on data handling, not just security tools 

Ensure engineers, IT staff, and business teams understand what data can be collected, how long it can be retained, where it may be stored, and how it can be shared. 

1. California Privacy Protection Agency — Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform (DROP) 

https://privacy.ca.gov/drop/ 

2. FTC Press Release — FTC Takes Action Against General Motors for Sharing Drivers’ Precise Location and Driving Behavior Data 

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/01/ftc-takes-action-against-general-motors-sharing-drivers-precise-location-driving-behavior-data 

3. California Delete Act (SB 362) — Overview 

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB362 

4. Texas Attorney General — Data Privacy Enforcement Actions 

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases 

5. Data Breaches by Sherri Davidoff 

https://www.amazon.com/Data-Breaches-Opportunity-Sherri-Davidoff/dp/0134506782

When Venezuela experienced widespread power and internet outages, the impact went far beyond inconvenience—it created a perfect environment for cyber exploitation. 

In this episode of Cyberside Chats, we use Venezuela’s disruption as a case study to show how cyber risk escalates when power, connectivity, and trusted services break down. We examine why phishing, fraud, and impersonation reliably surge after crises, how narratives around cyber-enabled disruption can trigger copycat or opportunistic attacks, and why even well-run organizations resort to risky security shortcuts when normal systems fail. 

We also explore how attackers weaponize emergency messaging, impersonate critical infrastructure and connectivity providers, and exploit verification failures when standard workflows are disrupted. The takeaway is simple: when infrastructure collapses, trust erodes—and cybercrime scales quickly to fill the gap. 

The December release of the Epstein files wasn’t just controversial—it exposed a set of security problems organizations face every day. Documents that appeared heavily redacted weren’t always properly sanitized. Some files were pulled and reissued, drawing even more attention. And as interest surged, attackers quickly stepped in, distributing malware and phishing sites disguised as “Epstein archives.” 

Amazon released two security disclosures in the same week — and together, they reveal how modern attackers are getting inside organizations without breaking in.

One case involved a North Korean IT worker who entered Amazon’s environment through a third-party contractor and was detected through subtle behavioral anomalies rather than malware. The other detailed a years-long Russian state-sponsored campaign that shifted away from exploits and instead abused misconfigured edge devices and trusted infrastructure to steal and replay credentials.

Together, these incidents show how nation-state attackers are increasingly blending into human and technical systems that organizations already trust — forcing defenders to rethink how initial access really happens going into 2026.

Key Takeaways

1. Treat hiring and contractors as part of your attack surface.

Nation-state actors are deliberately targeting IT and technical roles. Contractor onboarding, identity verification, and access scoping should be handled with the same rigor as privileged account provisioning.

2. Secure and monitor network edge devices as identity infrastructure

Misconfigured edge devices have become a primary initial access vector. Inventory them, assign ownership, restrict management access, and monitor them like authentication systems — not just networking gear.

3. Enforce strong MFA everywhere credentials matter

If credentials can be used without MFA, assume they will be abused. Require MFA on VPNs, edge device management interfaces, cloud consoles, SaaS admin portals, and internal administrative access.

4. Harden endpoints and validate how access actually occurs

Endpoint security still matters. Harden devices and look for signs of remote control, unusual latency, or access paths that don’t match how work is normally done.

5. Shift detection from “malicious” to “out of place”

The most effective attacks often look legitimate. Focus detection on behavioral mismatches — access that technically succeeds but doesn’t align with role, geography, timing, or expected workflow.

Resources:

1. Amazon Threat Intelligence Identifies Russian Cyber Threat Group Targeting Western Critical Infrastructure

https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/security/amazon-threat-intelligence-identifies-russian-cyber-threat-group-targeting-western-critical-infrastructure/

2. Amazon Caught North Korean IT Worker by Tracing Keystroke Data

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-12-17/amazon-caught-north-korean-it-worker-by-tracing-keystroke-data/

3. North Korean Infiltrator Caught Working in Amazon IT Department Thanks to Keystroke Lag

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/north-korean- infiltrator-caught-working-in-amazon-it-department-thanks-to-lag-110ms- keystroke-input-raises-red-flags-over-true-location

4. Confessions of a Laptop Farmer: How an American Helped North Korea’s Remote Worker Scheme

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-23/confessions-of-a-laptop- farmer-how-an-american-helped-north-korea-s-remote-worker-scheme

5. Hiring security checklist

https://www.lmgsecurity.com/resources/hiring-security-checklist/

AI has supercharged phishing, deepfakes, and impersonation attacks—and 2025 proved that our trust systems aren’t built for this new reality. In this episode, Sherri and Matt break down the #1 change every security program needs in 2026: dramatically improving identity and authentication across the organization. 

We explore how AI blurred the lines between legitimate and malicious communication, why authentication can no longer stop at the login screen, and where organizations must start adding verification into everyday workflows—from IT support calls to executive requests and financial approvals.  

Plus, we discuss what “next-generation” user training looks like when employees can no longer rely on old phishing cues and must instead adopt identity-safety habits that AI can’t easily spoof.  

If you want to strengthen your security program for the year ahead, this is the episode to watch.  

Key Takeaways: 

 Tune in weekly on Tuesdays at 6:30 am ET for more cybersecurity advice, and visit www.LMGsecurity.com if you need help with cybersecurity testing, advisory services, or training. 

Resources: 

CFO.com – Deepfake CFO Scam Costs Engineering Firm $25 Million 

Retool – MFA Isn’t MFA 

Sophos MDR tracks two ransomware campaigns using “email bombing,” Microsoft Teams “vishing” 

Wired – Doxers Posing as Cops Are Tricking Big Tech Firms Into Sharing People’s Private Data 

LMG Security – 5 New-ish Microsoft Security Features & What They Reveal About Today’s Threats 

Microsoft is rolling out a series of new-ish security features across Microsoft 365 in 2026 — and these updates are no accident. They’re direct responses to how attackers are exploiting collaboration tools like Teams, Slack, Zoom, and Google Chat. In this episode, Sherri and Matt break down the five features that matter most, why they’re happening now, and how every organization can benefit from these lessons, even if you’re not a Microsoft shop. 

We explore the rise of impersonation attacks inside collaboration platforms, the security implications of AI copilots like Microsoft Copilot and Gemini, and why identity boundaries and data governance are quickly becoming foundational to modern security programs. You’ll come away with a clear understanding of what these new-ish Microsoft features signal about the evolving threat landscape — and practical steps you can take today to strengthen your security posture. 

Key Takeaways 

Please follow our podcast for the latest cybersecurity advice, and visit us at www.LMGsecurity.com if you need help with technical testing, cybersecurity consulting, and training!

Resources Mentioned 

A massive 7-year espionage campaign hid in plain sight. Harmless Chrome and Edge extensions — wallpaper tools, tab managers, PDF converters — suddenly flipped into full surveillance implants, impacting more than 4.3 million users. In this episode, we break down how ShadyPanda built trust over years, then weaponized auto-updates to steal browsing history, authentication tokens, and even live session cookies. We’ll walk through the timeline, what data was stolen, why session hijacking makes this attack so dangerous, and the key steps security leaders must take now to prevent similar extension-based compromises. 

Key Takeaways 

Please tune in weekly for more cybersecurity advice, and visit www.LMGsecurity.com if you need help with your cybersecurity testing, advisory services, and training. 

#ShadyPanda #browserextension #browsersecurity #cybersecurity #cyberaware #infosec #cyberattacks #ciso

Insider threats are accelerating across every sector. In this episode, Sherri and Matt unpack the CrowdStrike insider leak, the two DigitalMint employees indicted for BlackCat ransomware activity, and Tesla’s multi-year insider incidents ranging from nation-state bribery to post-termination extortion. They also examine the 2025 crackdown on North Korean operatives who used stolen identities and deepfake interviews to get hired as remote workers inside U.S. companies. Together, these cases reveal how attackers are buying, recruiting, impersonating, and embedding insiders — and why organizations must rethink how they detect and manage trusted access. 

Key Takeaways 

Resources: 

Want to attend a live version of Cyberside Chats? Visit us at https://www.lmgsecurity.com/lmg-resources/cyberside-chats-podcast/ to register for our next monthly live session. 

#insiderthreat #cybersecurity #cyberaware #cybersidechats #ransomware #ransomwareattack #crowdstrike #DigitalMint #tesla #remotework

From routers to office cameras to employee phones and even the servers running your network, Chinese-manufactured components are everywhere—including throughout your own organization. In this live Cyberside Chats, we’ll explore how deeply these devices are embedded in modern infrastructure and what that means for cybersecurity, procurement, and third-party risk. 

We’ll break down new government warnings about hidden communication modules, rogue firmware, and “ghost devices” in imported tech—and how even trusted brands may ship products with risky components. Most importantly, we’ll share what you can do right now to identify exposure, strengthen procurement and third-party risk management (TPRM) processes, and protect your organization before the next breach or regulation hits. 

Join us live for a 25-minute deep dive plus Q&A—and find out whether your supply chain is truly secure… or “Made in China—and Hacked Everywhere.” 

Key Takeaways: 

References: 

#chinesehackers #cybersecurity #infosec #LMGsecurity #ciso #TPRM #thirdpartyrisk #security