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40% of Environments are Vulnerable to Full Take Over, New Picus Security Report Unveils

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The Picus Blue Report 2024 also found, security controls for macOS endpoints only prevented 23% of simulated attacks, compared to over 60% for Windows and Linux

SAN FRANCISCO, July 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Picus Security, the leading security validation company, has released The Blue Report 2024: State of Exposure Management* that revealed 40% of tested environments allowed attack paths that lead to domain admin access. Achieving domain admin access is particularly concerning because it is the highest level of access within an organization’s IT infrastructure, and is like giving attackers a master key. The report was based on a worldwide comprehensive analysis of more than 136 million cyber attacks simulated by the Picus Security Validation Platform.

The Security Domino Effect is Concerning

The report reveals that, on average, organizations prevent 7 out of 10 of attacks, but are still at risk of major cyber incidents because of gaps in threat exposure management that can permit attackers using automation to move laterally through enterprise networks. Of all attacks simulated, only 56% were logged by organizations’ detection tools, and only 12% triggered an alert. 

“Like a cascade of falling dominoes that starts with a single push, small gaps in cybersecurity can lead to big breaches,” said Dr. Suleyman Ozarslan, Picus co-founder and VP of Picus Labs. “It’s clear that organizations are still experiencing challenges when it comes to threat exposure management and balancing priorities. Small gaps that lead to attackers obtaining domain admin access are not isolated incidents, they are widespread. Last year, the attack on MGM used domain admin privileges and super admin accounts. It stopped slot machines, shut down virtually all systems, and blocked a multi-billion-dollar company from doing business for days.” 

Well over a third (40%) of environments have weaknesses that allow attackers with initial access to a network to achieve domain admin privileges. Once they have these privileges they can manage user accounts or modify security settings. A compromised domain admin account can lead to full control of the network, allowing attackers to conduct data exfiltration, deploy malware, or disrupt business operations.

macOS EDR Misconfigurations Lead to Vulnerabilities

The Blue Report 2024 also highlights that macOS endpoints are far more likely to be misconfigured or allowed to operate without Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR). macOS endpoints only prevented 23% of simulated attacks, compared to 62% and 65% for Windows and Linux. This highlights a potential gap in IT and security team skill sets and approach in securing macOS environments.

“While we have found Macs are less vulnerable to start, the reality today is that security teams are not putting adequate resources into securing macOS systems,” said Volkan Ertürk, Picus Security Co-Founder and CTO. “Our recent Blue Report research shows that security teams need to validate their macOS systems to surface configuration issues. Threat repositories, like the Picus Threat Library, are armed with the latest and most prominent macOS specific threats to help organizations streamline their validation and mitigation efforts. 

The Blue Report 2024 helps security teams benchmark their performance against peers and identify areas for improvement. Additional key findings include:

Common language passwords: 25% of companies use passwords that are words commonly found in the dictionary. This means that it is easy for attackers to crack hashed passwords and obtain cleartext credentials.Organizations only prevent 9% of data exfiltration techniques used by attackers. Data exfiltration is used to steal sensitive data and is commonly used in ransomware attacks.BlackByte, the most challenging ransomware group for organizations to defend against, is prevented by just 17% of organizations, followed by BabLock (20%) and Hive (30%).

For more information: 

Download the Picus Blue Report 2024Read the Blue Report 2024 blogBlue Report 2024 Media Kit

*Methodology:

The findings in this report are based on the results of simulated attack scenarios executed by Picus Security customers from January to June 2024. The data has been anonymized and aggregated from 136 million attack simulations. Research and analysis was completed by Picus Labs, the research team of Picus Security.

About Picus Security

Picus Security, the leading security validation company, gives organizations their validated risk level and pinpoints critical gaps. Picus Security Validation Platform transforms security practices by correlating, prioritizing, and validating exposures across siloed findings so teams can focus on high-impact fixes. The Picus Exposure Data Fabric and Numi AI™ help security teams understand their risk and prioritize a short-list worth pursuing. 

The pioneer of Breach and Attack Simulation, Picus delivers award-winning threat-centric technology that allows teams to pinpoint fixes worth pursuing. Picus Security also has a willingness to recommend percentage of  95% in the 2024 Gartner® Peer Insights™ Voice of the Customer for Breach and Attack Simulation Tools**.

** Gartner, Voice of the Customer for Breach and Attack Simulation Tools, Peer Contributors, 30 January 2024 

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark, and PEER INSIGHTS is a trademark and service mark, of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences with the vendors listed on the platform, should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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Digital & Intelligent Pathway: Xiaohongshu and VOGUE Business Unveil Groundbreaking Lifestyle Marketing Insights at Milan Summit

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MILAN, Sept. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — As the exclusive strategic partner, Xiaohongshu teamed up with VOGUE Business to host the The Digital Silk Road: Pioneering the Future of Luxury Lifestyles summit at Milan’s historic Palazzo Serbelloni on September 26-27, 2024. The event aimed to redefine marketing, product innovation, and brand evolution through a human-centric lens, nurturing a more creative and vibrant ecosystem for global brands. 

The summit gathered marketing experts from prestigious global brands and senior executives from Xiaohongshu’s Beauty, Luxury and Clothing, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), and Durable Goods departments. Together, they explored the forefront of digital marketing trends and pioneering lifestyle ecosystems within China’s luxury, beauty, wellness, beverage, and home living domains. 

Xiaohongshu, a trendsetting hub for brands to gain popularity, boasts a vast young consumer base and a high-quality content ecosystem. With deep insights into industry trends and user preferences, it has become the premier marketing platform for brands seeking to forge emotional connections with Chinese consumers.

For those venturing into the Chinese market or seeking new growth opportunities, Xiaohongshu is not just an optimal community to reach target consumers but also an essential partner for expanding their presence in China. It serves as a crucial platform for business growth, making now the prime time to join this content community platform. 

In the era of digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI), social media, and innovative commercial solutions are redefining modern lifestyles and enhancing human potential. The two-day event delved into cutting-edge digital marketing tools and emerging consumption trends, with Xiaohongshu showcasing human-centric marketing strategies spanning the luxury, wellness, beverage, and home living sectors. 

In today’s digital landscape, public attention has fragmented, leading to diverse interest circles and personalized lifestyles. How can brands capture the attention and recognition of a broader audience? During a roundtable titled “Tapping lifestyle trends the micro-cultures driving engagement”, Shawn Li, General Manager of  the Commercial Durable Consumption Division at Xiaohongshu, exchanged insights on shifting consumer behaviors with global leaders in fashion, home furnishings, and beauty. 

— Influencers now serve as messengers and amplifiers within specific interest circles, emerging as a novel communication medium and reshaping communication dynamics within these communities;

— Younger consumers prioritize the blend of personal needs and aesthetic experiences, valuing emotional depth, sentimental value, and individuality.

Health, a trending global topic in recent years, dominated the FMCG-Wellness Breakfast Session on September 27. The event, themed “Navigating the new tools for digital success”, featured Rex Zhang, General Manager of the Commercial Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Industry Group Division at Xiaohongshu, and Jayden Wu, Head of the Healthcare and Wellness Industry Division at Xiaohongshu. They examined Chinese market trends for global wellness brands: 

— The seamless integration of social media and e-commerce is transforming shopping habits and brand experiences, ushering in an unprecedented revolution in the health sector.

China’s youth are embracing emerging wellness trends, incorporating traditional Chinese practices, and unlocking substantial consumption potential.

Cynthia Zhong, head of the Luxury Industry Division at Xiaohongshu, presented on the theme “Xiaohongshu:The new frontline of lifestyle platform” showcasing the platform’s unique approach to unlocking brand potential alongside global fashion, luxury, and lifestyle brands. 

— Xiaohongshu has cultivated a distinctive community ecosystem by leveraging its differentiated community positioning and extensive user base, fostering a trusted and engaging atmosphere.

— With premium user-generated content (UGC) as its cornerstone, Xiaohongshu enables brands to authentically share compelling, relevant content featuring users’ genuine experiences, creating exclusive brand identities and enhancing brand appeal.

Human-Centric Marketing: Unlocking Marketing Potential

At the summit, Xiaohongshu unveiled its comprehensive insights into 20 demographic groups, with a particular focus on luxury through the introduction of the “Luxury Living” persona. This classification segmented luxury consumers based on their varied spiritual needs, highlighting four core motivators behind luxury spending and granting attendees an insightful glimpse into Xiaohongshu’s luxury consumer base. The diversity of the “Luxury Living” persona opens up fresh avenues for brand-consumer interactions, aligning brand identity with consumer self-expression. It satisfies the target consumers’ quest for self-identity markers and a sense of belonging, transcending conventional status symbols and instead embodying the essence of individuals, nurturing their evolving spiritual world and cultivating a deep, lasting emotional connection with brands. 

Additionally, in the realm of wellness, health-conscious consumers across different age groups exhibit varying physical, experiential, and expressive desires in diverse usage scenarios. Based on health philosophies, consumption motivations, and use settings, Xiaohongshu identified eight key demographic groups as “Physique Care Advocates” within the healthcare and wellness sector at the summit, including Vitality Chargers, Workplace Efficiency Seekers, Slow Living Advocates, Glow-Up Researchers, Self-Care Enthusiasts, Fitness Fanatics, Endurance Explorers, and Silver-Haired Trendsetters.

This comprehensive segmentation underscores the escalating health consciousness among young generations, who adopt a proactive stance in managing their health and drive the health consumption landscape towards greater daily integration and diversity. Xiaohongshu enables brands by unveiling real-world consumer scenarios, and cultivating profound understanding of diverse pain points and shopping preferences. Through a meticulous grasp of consumers’ wellness requirements, brands can enhance their offerings, emphasize core competencies, and fortify competitive advantages, ultimately widening market reach for products that truly align with user demands. 

In the realm of home living, Xiaohongshu pinpointed four distinct personas: Nomadic Youth, Nesting Youth, All-Rounders, and Home Curators. Through collaboration with Xiaohongshu, brands can tap into these unique consumer segments, anchored by the “People-Needs-Scenarios-Trends” framework. Encompassing home decor aesthetics, furniture and appliance efficiency, and emotional satisfaction, brands receive a holistic analysis of crucial growth trends within the home living sector. Jointly, they can carve out innovative avenues for user engagement and catalyze business expansion. 

Innovative Solutions: A Win-Win Ecosystem for a Shared Future 

Brands on Xiaohongshu have enhanced their marketing strategies and bolstered business value, streamlining the process from inspiration to purchase. Xiaohongshu, along with its partner brands, has introduced a novel marketing approach that caters to the preferences of the new generation by bridging the gap between online and offline channels. This strategy has further expedited consumer engagement and communication, providing a convenient, efficient, and reassuring shopping experience.

For luxury brands, effectively communicating brand mantra and proposition is vital in engaging with their target audience. The runway serves as the cornerstone for brand storytelling, acting as a bridge between luxury consumption scenarios and marketing endeavors. Xiaohongshu’s distinctive “See Now, Buy Now” model for luxury fashion shows presents a groundbreaking solution. During Louis Vuitton’s (LV) Early Fall Women’s Collection show, the brand premiered a hybrid live streaming format on Xiaohongshu, showcasing both the runway and a preview event. Through this exclusive collaboration, LV paved an innovative marketing pathway, spanning from show highlights and multi-faceted product previews to direct purchasing via its mini-App, achieving a seamless transition from brand exposure to sales conversion.

Meanwhile, Xiaohongshu continues to break new ground in innovative marketing. Capitalizing on its robust consumer engagement, the platform has established a unique KOS (Key Opinion Sales) ecosystem, proving instrumental for brands in expanding their customer base. Currently, Xiaohongshu boasts over 100,000 business sales accounts spanning all industries, with nearly 2 million content posts. The KOS ecosystem efficiently broadens customer reach, streamlines ordering processes, and bridges the communication gap with consumers. By leveraging various content formats and marketing strategies, it communicates brand identity and aesthetic propositions, accelerating brands’ digital transformation and achieving a seamless closed-loop from inspiration to purchase.

Since its inception, Xiaohongshu has served as a bridge, connecting users to premium products and real-life experiences to the commercial world. With a human-centric approach, Xiaohongshu provides a seamless solution for brands’ business growth and sales conversion. This is achieved through practical marketing strategies, diversified brand solutions, and pioneering omnichannel conversion pathways. 

Looking ahead, Xiaohongshu remains committed to collaborating with brands to navigate the dynamic consumer market, fostering emotional resonance and value alignment with users, and fueling enduring brand vitality. 

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AI’s Billion-Dollar Play in Sports: How Vertical Generative AI Platforms Are Boosting Efficiency and Unlocking New Revenue

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SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The $500 billion sports industry is on the verge of a technological revolution. LootMogul, an AI sports tech startup, is leading this charge. Artificial intelligence (AI), fueled by machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL), is poised to redefine fan engagement and unlock unprecedented revenue streams. Purpose-built, vertical AI solutions are emerging as the key to this transformation, offering tailored approaches that address the unique dynamics of the sports ecosystem.

Dr. Sarah Chen, a leading sports technology analyst, explains: “Vertical AI solutions in sports are game-changers. They’re not just generic AI applications retrofitted for sports; they’re built from the ground up to understand and enhance every aspect of the sports industry, from player performance to fan engagement.”

Founder, Raj Rajkotia envisions “a dynamic, interconnected sports ecosystem where AI empowers and generates new revenue for everyone,” fueled by collaboration with over 400 athletes, teams, brands, fans, and partners.

This commitment to collaboration is reflected in LootMogul’s platform, which is developing several AI capabilities that are emerging as game-changers for the sports industry:

AI-Driven Game Development: Text-to-game technology could empower fans to design and share their own custom sports games, opening up exciting new possibilities for user-generated content.Text-to-Merch AI Capability: Using AI to generate custom merchandise designs based on fan input, allowing fans to create and purchase unique, personalized apparel and accessories.Personalized Content Generation: Fans receive custom highlight reels of their favorite player’s best moments, delivered directly to their phone after each game.AI-Powered Fantasy Sports: Deep learning models could provide real-time player performance predictions, giving fantasy sports enthusiasts an unprecedented edge.Virtual Coaching and Training: Computer vision and ML can analyze athlete movements, offering personalized training programs that bridge the gap between professional and amateur athletes.Immersive AR/VR Experiences: Fans can step onto the field alongside their favorite athletes, experiencing the thrill of the game from their perspective.Predictive Analytics for Teams and Leagues: From optimizing ticket pricing to predicting player performance, ML and big data analytics can revolutionize team and league operations.Automated Sports Journalism: Advanced NLP could generate insightful sports articles and reports, providing cost-effective content generation for media outlets and teams.Sentiment Analysis for Brand Partnerships: By analyzing fan sentiment on social media, brands and athletes can form more effective and authentic partnerships.

The potential for AI in sports is vast, and the market is primed for disruption. The global sports technology market is projected to reach $40.2 billion by 2026, with AI and data analytics as key growth drivers. For investors seeking significant returns, the sports tech sector, particularly AI-driven platforms, presents an unprecedented opportunity.

LootMogul believes the future of sports is intelligent, immersive, and interconnected, and the company is dedicated to building the platform that will make this vision a reality. To learn more about LootMogul and its vision for the future of sports, podcast.

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SOURCE LootMogul

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PrePass Now Integrates with Motive to Enhance Fleet Operations, Maximize Weigh Station Bypass Opportunities, and Save on Tolling Expenses

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PHOENIX, Sept. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — PrePass is now available on the Motive Marketplace through a new partnership with AI-powered integrated operations platform Motive, offering its comprehensive suite of services. Now available on the Motive Marketplace, this integration empowers fleets with seamless access to PrePass’ industry-leading integrated weigh station bypass and toll management services, significantly enhancing fleet safety, productivity, and profitability.

Customers will benefit from fewer weigh station stops and improved bypass reliability with the PrePass app and transponder. Additionally, Motive and PrePass customers will gain access to PrePass GPS Toll Verification, an innovative new service that saves fleets time and money by matching GPS location to toll charges. By surfacing toll charge inaccuracies, PrePass can file and resolve disputes on behalf of its customers, ensuring accurate toll payments and reducing operational costs.

Chris Murray, President of PrePass LLC, added, “This new partnership with Motive will help fleets optimize their operations by delivering more value today and into the future. As the only integrated bypass and tolling solution, we maximize their investment in telematics platforms by enabling more bypass opportunities, delivering substantial toll cost savings, and enhancing the experience for drivers and back-office staff.”

“Through our partnership, fleets can use PrePass to optimize routes, reduce expenses, and enhance safety,” said Harvey Grasty, Senior Director of Partnerships at Motive. “With PrePass integrated into Motive’s platform, fleets can save time by bypassing weigh stations and improve operations by relying on one unified platform for comprehensive support, toll management, and dispute resolution.”

For more information about the integration and services, visit PrePass.com.

About PrePass Safety Alliance:

PrePass Safety Alliance is a nonprofit public-private partnership of state commercial vehicle compliance agency and trucking industry leaders devoted to the safe, secure, and efficient use of North America’s highway system. Through widespread deployment of PrePass advanced technologies, the Alliance works to increase compliance in commercial vehicle operations while saving motor carriers time, fuel, and money. PrePass LLC, an Alliance subsidiary, is the operational entity for the PrePass program. To date, the Alliance has invested over $1 billion to deploy services that improve safety, reduce truck-related emissions, and preserve highway infrastructure. Learn more at PrePassAlliance.org

About PrePass:

PrePass® is North America’s most utilized and technologically advanced weigh station bypass and toll payment platform. Proven PrePass technologies enable safe, qualified motor carriers to bypass inspection facilities at highway speeds, saving them time, fuel, and money while reducing harmful emissions. As the only provider to offer bypass and electronic toll payment service on one device, PrePass technology helps fleets regain control of their toll costs, eliminate toll violations, and automatically identify and resolve max toll disputes. PrePass is the only preclearance system developed, owned, and operated in the United States of America. That’s why more than 100,000 fleets subscribe over 750,000 commercial vehicles to PrePass services. Learn more at PrePass.com

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SOURCE PrePass Safety Alliance

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