Mistakes in security configuration, coding, or operations can expose systems, enable unauthorized access, and complicate incident response.
Search across headline titles and summaries.
Background for this topic.
Mistake is an unintentional human or operational error that weakens security or exposes information. In infosecurity reporting, it commonly includes misconfigured cloud storage or access controls, use of default or improperly protected credentials, accidental disclosure of sensitive data, and incorrect security or software changes. The term generally describes how a weakness was introduced, not a deliberate attack.
Its significance depends on what the error exposes and how long it remains undetected. A permissive firewall rule or publicly reachable administration interface can expand an attack surface; mishandled credentials can enable unauthorized access; and sending data to the wrong recipient can create a privacy incident. Useful safeguards include secure defaults, least-privilege access, peer review and approval for changes, automated configuration checks, and logging that helps detect and investigate errors. Reports under this tag may also indicate a need to correct the underlying process rather than only fix the immediate mistake.
Weekly headline count for the current query.
Data purges deemed an example of 'misaligned behavior' that upstart is working to avoid
Failing to disable a former employee’s account was a huge mistake
Bungled link handed over sensitive docs, and when recipient didn't cooperate, police opted for cuffs Dutch police have arrested a man for "computer hacking" after accidentally handing him their own sensitive files and then getting annoyed when he didn't hand them back.…
AI security reviews add new risks, say researchers App security outfit Checkmarx says automated reviews in Anthropic's Claude Code can catch some bugs but miss others – and sometimes create new risks by executing code while testing it.…
The second max score this week for Netzilla - not a good look If you're running the Engineering-Special (ES) builds of Cisco Unified Communications Manager or its Session Management Edition, you need to apply Cisco's urgent patch after someone at Switchzilla made a big mistake.…
Emeraldwhale gang looked sharp – until it made a common S3 bucket mistake A criminal operation dubbed Emeraldwhale has been discovered after it dumped more than 15,000 credentials belonging to cloud service and email providers in an open AWS S3 bucket, according to security researchers.…
Legitimate emails misclassified in software snafu Updated Many administrators have had a trying Monday after getting spammed out with false malware reports by Microsoft.…
And reveals the small mistake that bricked 8.5 million Windows boxes CrowdStrike has hired two outside security firms to review the Falcon sensor code that sparked a global IT outage last month – but it may not have an awful lot to find, because CrowdStrike has identified the simple mistake that caused the incident.…
If it can happen to folks that run social engineering defence training, what hope for the rest of us? Cybersecurity awareness and training provider KnowBe4 hired a North Korean fake IT worker for a software engineering role on its AI team, and only realized its mistake once the guy started using his company-provided computer for evil.…
PLUS: Another local government hobbled by ransomware; Huge rise in infostealing malware; and critical vulns In Brief Protecting your privacy online is hard. So hard, in fact, that even a top Israeli spy who managed to stay incognito for 20 years has found himself exposed after one basic error.…
Getting connection failures? Don't panic. Get new keys Github has updated its SSH keys after accidentally publishing the private part to the world. Whoops.…
Fellow crypto-exchange Gate.io spots error, returns funds Over the weekend it was revealed that cryptocurrency exchange company Crypto.com accidentally sent over $400 million to another cryptocurrency exchange and was miraculously able to get it back.…
Changes story again to say customers weren't in danger, admits it waited for incident report instead of asking tough questions Identity-management-as-a-service outfit Okta has acknowledged that it made an important mistake in its handling of the attack on a supplier by extortion gang Lapsus$.…