A U.K. Information Commissioner's report on its investigation into a 2015 TalkTalk breach offers essential information security takeaways for any organization that wants to avoid being breached, says David Stubley of 7 Elements.

The latest episode of the ISMG Security Report leads with security experts questioning the effectiveness of U.S. imposed sanctions against the Russians to stop Kremlin-backed cyberattacks.

Advanced threats are multi-layered and borderless - and so are today's enterprises. These are among the factors pushing organizations to adopt the Intelligent Hybrid Security approach, says Anil Nandigam of NSFOCUS.

As the Trump administration begins, expect a ramp-up in cyber espionage as well as more "test attacks" by nation-states, says cybersecurity specialist Brad Medairy of the consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton.

An analysis of a National Institute of Standards and Technology initiative to identify algorithms that could defend encryption against attacks from quantum computers leads the latest edition of the ISMG Security Report. Also featured: An update on new FDA guidance on cybersecurity for medical devices.

Now that more breaches are targeting industrial control systems, organizations that have paid little attention to operational technology security must ramp up their protection efforts, says breach response expert Christopher Novak of Verizon.

With the rise of malware infecting IoT devices, DDoS defenders "have to assume that the attackers have an unlimited supply of machines that they can compromise," says Akamai's Michael Smith. But quarantines, ISP feedback loops and better patch management can bolster defenses.

Will more "historical" breaches be revealed in 2017 and beyond? Data breach expert Troy Hunt is optimistic that such revelations will become rare as large businesses operating online continue to improve security. But what about small and mid-size organizations?

Because cyber threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated, bolstering employee and customer awareness and training about ransomware, phishing and other cyber risks must be a top priority in 2017, says Curt Kwak, CIO of Proliance Surgeons.

Cyber espionage groups are using unconventional channels to hack target organizations, according to Mandiant' s latest research. Trusted service provider relationships are being exploited to compromise organizations in government and defense, says Rob van der Ende, Mandiant's vice president for Asia Pacific and Japan.