For those who didn’t attend this week’s Davos 2023, the annual event hosted by the World Economic Forum, you might have instead read the headlines of “frosty conversations,” where industry experts are “sounding the alarm on cybersecurity,” calling for “a global response to the gathering ‘cyber storm,’ ” with additional warnings that “geopolitical instability could result in ‘catastrophic’ cyberattacks.”

When viewed alongside burgeoning concerns that ChatGPT could create a polymorphic malware wave, one could easily fall victim to fears that the sky is falling. But it’s not. Forbes contributor Stewart Room penned a piece reminding readers, “the security community for critical infrastructure consists of highly competent and highly motivated professionals who are clear-eyed on the responsibilities they carry.” The reality is that a good cybersecurity success story doesn’t often make headlines, but Computer News Middle East (CNME) spoke with Microsoft UAE’s General Manager, Naim Yazbeck, who recognized the incredible work Microsoft is doing to keep its customers safe.

“Between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022, we blocked 37 billion email threats and thwarted 34.7 billion attempts to compromise identities.” The key is remaining vigilant. You can stay ahead of threats by joining us for our upcoming RSAC 365 webcast, where our guest will affirm his belief that “we’re not doomed.” For more or preventing, detecting, and responding to cyberthreats, check out the content available in our Library.

Now let’s look at what else made industry headlines this week.

Jan. 20: Security Week reported, “A report published by the blockchain data company on Thursday shows that the cryptocurrency addresses known to have been used by ransomware groups received a total of $457 million last year, compared to $766 million in 2021, which represents a drop of more than 40%.”

Jan. 20: Reuters reported that Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc, will reduce its workforce by 6%, suggesting that an increased focus on AI might be at play.

Jan. 20: “Costa Rica’s government has suffered another ransomware attack just months after several ministries were crippled in a wide-ranging attack by hackers using the Conti ransomware,” The Record reported.

Jan. 19: After detecting a credential stuffing attack, PayPal issued a data breach notification informing 35,000 customers that their personal information had been compromised.

Jan. 19: According to CyberScoop, the recently published report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted, “The lethargic pace in which government agencies put in place cybersecurity precautions and best practices underlines the need for the Biden administration to ‘urgently’ release a comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy with effective oversight.”

Jan. 18: “Email marketing firm MailChimp suffered another breach after hackers accessed an internal customer support and account administration tool, allowing the threat actors to access the data of 133 customers,” BleepingComputer reported.

Jan. 17: A web skimmer attack on the online store of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, one of Canada’s largest liquor distributors, resulted in the compromise of customers’ personal data, including names and credit card information.

Jan. 17: “The University of Texas at Austin, one of the largest public universities in the nation, banned TikTok from its wi-fi and across its wired networks yesterday—and not because someone made a call-out video of Bevo’s Shein haul,” Morning Brew reported.