Benefits of removing blind trust in systems

I’ve seen it happen too many times — family offices or high-net worth investors invest in a deal directly because their friends did. Without any diligence. They assume: - Their friends surely did their diligence already, right? - Their friends have their back, right? - They’re a minority investor, they don’t need access to the board or C-suite right? These assumptions put them in a bad situation, as is using someone else’s diligence because: 1) Different risk tolerance – A friend’s investment goals, risk appetite, and timelines may be completely different from yours. What works for them may not work for you. 2) Incomplete or biased information – Even experienced investors can miss critical red flags. Were they looking at the same risks that matter to you? 3) No substitutes for independent review – Every investment deserves fresh scrutiny. Understanding the company’s fundamentals, leadership, financials, and risk profile through your own lens is key to protecting your capital. This includes spending time with the company, as well as having carving out a structure where you have access to information if you decide to go through with the investment. Family offices have the flexibility to invest in unique opportunities—but that freedom comes with responsibility. No matter who else is in the deal, do your own diligence. Blind trust is not an investment strategy. #privateequity #familyoffices #HNWI #duediligence

The Hidden Risk: How Trusting the Wrong MSP Almost Crumbled a Financial Firm A quiet financial office in the suburbs thought they were secure. With IT outsourced to a "trusted" Managed Service Provider (MSP), leadership rested easy—until a routine risk assessment revealed glaring vulnerabilities that shattered their confidence. The Shocking Discovery The MSP hadn’t updated the server in over two years. Critical failures included: ➙ No vulnerability scans to uncover risks. ➙ Zero incident response plans—leaving the firm unprepared for a breach. The Risk: Wide-Open Exposure Sensitive client records, personal data, and banking details were sitting ducks for: ↳ Data breaches and ransomware. ↳ Financial fraud and identity theft. ↳ Reputational damage that could destroy trust—and the business. In the financial industry, trust is non-negotiable. A single breach can be catastrophic. Lessons Learned: Vet Your MSP Thoroughly Outsourcing IT is not outsourcing responsibility. To safeguard your business, ask these critical questions: ➙ Do they patch vulnerabilities regularly? ➙ Are there cybersecurity policies for encryption, MFA, and password management? ➙ Do they test incident response plans? ➙ Are they compliant with SOC 2, ISO 27001, or industry standards? ➙ How do they assess their vendors for third-party risks? The Power of Proactive Risk Assessments This firm learned that blind trust isn’t a strategy. A single assessment empowered them to: ➙ Replace their MSP with one prioritizing robust security. ➙ Implement stronger internal policies to safeguard data. ➙ Protect their business and rebuild client trust. PS: When’s the last time you evaluated your MSP? Is your data really secure? ♻️ Repost to raise awareness about third-party risks. 🔔 Follow Brent Gallo - CISSP for actionable insights to secure your business. #CyberSecurity #ThirdPartyRisk #MSPFailure #DataProtection #FinancialIndustry #RiskManagement #ITSecurity

When founders on X accused engineer Soham Parekh of juggling three, perhaps four, full-time roles, the internet gasped at his audacity. Yet the story is less about one coder’s duplicity and more about the frail scaffolding of trust that props up our global talent market. Start-ups rushed to hire cheaply and remotely; robust vetting and watertight contracts rarely kept pace. Parekh’s defence was stark: crushing personal debt and the ease of remote log-ins tempted him to stretch a 40-hour week into 140. Ethically, his secrecy breached the basic covenant of honest labour. Commercially, the incident shows that paying for “hours online” instead of verified outcomes is a false economy. The wider societal issue is clear. Insecure workers now court over-employment as a hedge, while employers cling to outdated supervision models. Neither side wins. Leaders must replace blind faith with a trust architecture: outcome-linked contracts, auditable workflows and wellbeing standards that make over-employment unattractive. If we reward transparency and traceable value rather than mere availability, episodes like this will fade. Is your organisation ready to make that shift?

Digital Sovereignty Begins with Identity – Trump’s Order to Disrupt the ICC’s Work and Why Europe Must Act Now Last week, Microsoft blocked the email account of the International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor – following U.S. government sanctions. No security breach. No technical fault. It was a political decision, enforced by a U.S. tech giant (Microsoft) on behalf of U.S. foreign policy. This is not an isolated event. #Digital #Identity is the Core of Digital Sovereignty Whoever controls digital identity controls access to communication, cloud services, supply chains, and contracts. That includes individuals, companies, and public authorities. Without sovereign digital identities, Europe remains dependent—on foreign infrastructure, foreign laws, and foreign interests. The ICC incident proves: U.S. big tech can bring not only global justice to a halt, but also Europe’s industrial core. Tomorrow it could be your regulator. Your company. Your infrastructure. #Europe’s #Answer: Identity Wallets for All The European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet) and the European Business Wallet (EUBW) mark a strategic breakthrough: 👉 Natural persons (citizens and residents without citizenship) 👉 Legal persons (enterprises, associations, governments) 👉 Digital agents (AI, machines, IoT systems) All can hold verifiable credentials, sign documents, authenticate securely, and delegate trust – within a European trust infrastructure. No more blind trust in U.S. app stores, login buttons, or identity APIs. Why This Is a #Game #Changer 1️⃣ Economic Impact: The EUBW enables fast, secure onboarding, KYC/KYS, supply chain transparency, and automated compliance across industries. 2️⃣ Cybersecurity: Brings Zero Trust to B2B and B2G interactions, based on verifiable identities—not IP addresses or spreadsheets. 3️⃣ Geopolitical Resilience: Europe gains autonomy from unilateral extraterritorial actions. Like the one that silenced the ICC. The #Message Is Clear: Without control over digital identity, there is no digital sovereignty. Building Europe’s own digital identity and trust infrastructure is a super urgent strategic necessity, for economic resilience, democratic integrity, and cybersecurity in the age of digital conflict. Go deeper: https://lnkd.in/e8CPdEEz #DigitalSovereignty #EUBW #EUDIWallet #SSI #TrustInfrastructure #CyberSecurity #EuropeFirst #VerifiableCredentials

🔓 Most breaches don’t begin with a 𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐨-𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐢𝐭 or a sophisticated phishing campaign.⁣ They often start with something far more mundane: 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭.⁣ ⁣ 👨💻 A developer, working under pressure to meet a deadline, reaches for a popular open-source library.⁣ It’s well-documented. Widely used. Actively maintained.⁣ The 𝐆𝐢𝐭𝐇𝐮𝐛 page is full of ⭐️. Everything looks reliable on the surface.⁣ ⁣ So the code is pulled in, committed, and pushed to production.⁣ No one questions it, because why would they?⁣ It’s open source. It’s trusted. It’s fast.⁣ ⁣ 🚨 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭.⁣ ⁣ Unusual outbound traffic.⁣ A connection to an unknown domain.⁣ A backend service behaving in ways it shouldn’t.⁣ ⁣ By the time someone traces it back, the damage is done triggered by a dependency four layers deep in the software stack.⁣ ⁣ 📉 This isn’t theoretical. It’s happening more than we like to admit.⁣ And it’s not just an IT issue anymore, these risks bleed into OT environments, embedded systems, and critical infrastructure.⁣ ⁣ 🧾 We talk about SBOMs.⁣ 🏗 We talk about “secure by design.”⁣ But without real scrutiny and accountability, those are just buzzwords on a compliance checklist.⁣ ⁣ 🔁 Open-source isn’t the problem. "𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬".⁣ ⁣ 💬 How are you addressing software supply chain risks in your organization?⁣ Let’s swap notes, before the next breach is just a 𝐧𝐩𝐦-𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 away.⁣ ⁣ #OpenSourceSecurity #SupplyChainRisk #DevSecOps #CyberResilienceAct #OTSecurity #SecureDevelopment #SoftwareSecurity