Dispensary Security
The world's largest legal cannabis market has some of the strictest security requirements. Here's everything you need to know to stay compliant—and protected. Why California Matters California isn't just another cannabis market—it's the cannabis market. With over $5 billion in
social engineering
Your firewall is bulletproof. Your employees? That's where 95% of breaches begin. Here's how to build a human firewall for your cannabis operation. The Human Vulnerability You can spend millions on security technology, but one employee clicking the wrong link can render it all useless. According
Dispensary Operations
The STIIIZY breach came through a POS vendor. MJ Freeway disrupted dispensaries across multiple states. Your security is only as strong as your weakest vendor. The Vendor Problem Here's an uncomfortable truth: you can have perfect internal security and still get breached through a vendor. In late 2024,
Data Breach
Why These Breaches Matter to Your Business The cannabis industry has a data breach problem. And it's getting worse. Since legalization began spreading across states and countries, the industry has accumulated a troubling track record of exposing customer data, patient records, employee information, and business-critical systems. These aren&
Ransomware
The 380,000 Customer Wake-Up Call In late 2024, STIIIZY—one of California's largest cannabis retailers—sent breach notifications to 380,000 customers. Names, addresses, birth dates, driver's license numbers, passport numbers, photographs, medical cannabis card details, and transaction histories were all exposed through a compromise
Cannabis Compliance
Executive Summary The global landscape in 2026 is defined by a significant escalation in data privacy and cybersecurity regulation, coupled with increasingly sophisticated and costly cyber threats. The era of passive compliance has ended, replaced by a new paradigm of aggressive regulatory enforcement, particularly in the United States and Europe.
Insider Threat
The $75,000 Wake-Up Call The budtender arrived for her shift on a Tuesday morning. The vault was unlocked—a rare oversight by the closing manager the night before. She glanced at the security camera. Then at the stacks of cash . Three minutes later, she walked out with $75,000.
Cannabis Compliance
The $380,000 Question When STIIIZY suffered a data breach affecting 380,000 customers in 2024, the investigation revealed something more troubling than the breach itself: they had cybersecurity policies in place, but those policies hadn't been updated in over two years. Their documented "incident response plan&
Dispensary Operations
As France enters 2026, the nation's cannabis regulatory landscape is undergoing its most significant transformation in decades. With the medical cannabis pilot program set to transition into a permanent pharmaceutical framework on April 1, 2026, and increasingly aggressive enforcement against synthetic cannabinoids, businesses operating in or exporting to
Cannabis Compliance
The EU's most significant cybersecurity regulation in a decade is coming—and most cannabis businesses don't know they're in scope. Quick Reference: * Key Deadlines: September 11, 2026 (reporting obligations) | December 11, 2027 (full compliance) * Applies To: All "products with digital elements" sold
Incident Response
The Complete Playbook for Handling Cybersecurity Incidents, Data Breaches & Compliance Emergencies When the breach happens, you won't have time to figure out what to do. This template tells you exactly how to respond—minute by minute, hour by hour. HOW TO USE THIS TEMPLATE Before an incident:
Dispensary Security
420,000+ customer records exposed. Passports leaked. Purchase histories published. Don't let this happen to you. The Wake-Up Call: Stiiizy Breach (January 2025) On January 10, 2025, Stiiizy—one of the largest cannabis brands in California—confirmed a devastating data breach. The Everest ransomware gang stole data from