The cybersecurity skills shortage is an issue impacting all industries. As cyberattacks become more frequent and sophisticated, organizations all over the world are struggling to outfit their teams with personnel that are armed with essential cybersecurity backgrounds and technical security skills, in addition to broader IT know-how.
https://blog.fortinet.com/2018/01/03/addressing-three-major-pain-points-of-the-cybersecurity-skills-gap
Showing posts with label cybersecurity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cybersecurity. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Friday, January 23, 2015
Private cybersecurity school set to open in London
A school entirely focussed on teaching cybersecurity skills has launched in the UK, reportsComputer Business Review.
The Global Institute of Cyber, Intelligence & Security is opening in London, and will offer short courses covering areas such as cyber resilience, security, military, policing, counter terrorism and financial crime, according to IT Pro Portal.
Private cybersecurity school set to open in London
Edward Snowden doesn't use an iPhone for privacy reasons
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has claimed he doesn’t use an iPhone for fear of surveillance technology in the smartphone, reports The Independent.
Snowdon’s attorney, Anatoly Kucherena, explains that Snowden does not use an iPhone, due to alleged secret software that can be activated to monitor the user. Speaking to Russian news agency RIA Novosti, Kucherena explained, “Edward never uses an iPhone, he’s got a simple phone.”
Edward Snowden doesn't use an iPhone for privacy reasons
Blackhat: Lessons from the Michael Mann, Chris Hemsworth movie?
The hacker flick Blackhat definitely uses the language of cybersecurity, real terms like: malware, proxy server, zero day, payload, RAT, edge router, IP address, PLC, Bluetooth, Android, PGP, bulletproof host, and USB, to name just a few. But how real is the plot of Blackhat, with its malware-induced scenarios of physical and financial mayhem?
I went along to a screening of the film with some of my ESET colleagues to find out if there were any useful lessons to be learned from this latest contribution to the hacker movie genre (for a review of this genre from the security expert’s perspective check out Hacker Movies We Love & Hate on Dark Reading).
Blackhat: Lessons from the Michael Mann, Chris Hemsworth movie?
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
IBM Study: Number of Cyber Attacks on Retailers Drops by Half; Criminals Still Stole Over 61 Million Customer Records in 2014
From IBM:
Contrary to what most would expect, the majority of cyber attackers scaled back their hacking efforts around Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2014 rather than capitalize from the massive spike in retail spending. The 2014 Retail Research and Intelligence Report and the Holiday Trends: Black Friday/Cyber Monday Research and Intelligence Report were created by IBM’s Managed Security Services team of analysts, who monitor more than 20 billion security incidents every day.
IBM Study: Number of Cyber Attacks on Retailers Drops by Half; Criminals Still Stole Over 61 Million Customer Records in 2014
Cyber Thieves Scale Back, Take Off Two Biggest Shopping Days of the Year
ARMONK, N.Y. - 05 Jan 2015: According to findings released today by IBM (NYSE: IBM), despite an 50 percent decline in the number of cyber attacks against U.S. retailers, the number of records stolen from them remains at near record highs. IBM Security researchers report that in 2014, cyber attackers still managed to steal more than 61 million records from retailers despite the decline in attacks, demonstrating cyber criminal’s increasing sophistication and efficiency.
According to the research, cyber attackers are becoming increasingly more sophisticated, using new techniques to obtain massive amounts of confidential records with increased efficiency. Since 2012, the number of breaches reported by retailers dropped by 50 percent. Despite this decline, the perpetrators were able to impact a far greater number of victims with each incident.
“The threat from organized cyber crime rings remains the largest security challenge for retailers,” said Kris Lovejoy, General Manager, IBM Security Services. “It is imperative that security leaders and CISOs in particular, use their growing influence to ensure they have the right people, processes and technology in place to take on these growing threats.”
Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Identified as the two biggest shopping days of the year by IBM’s Digital Analytics Benchmark, cyber attackers reduced their activity across all industries on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, rather than taking action. When looking at the two week period (Nov 24 - Dec 5) around these days, the data shows the following activity across all industries:
- The number of daily cyber attacks was 3,043, nearly one third less than the 4,200 average over this period in 2013.
- From 2013 and 2014, the number of breaches dropped by more than 50 percent for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
- In 2013, there were more than 20 breaches disclosed including several large breaches that caused the number of records compromised to rise drastically, reaching close to 4 million.
- Over the same period in 2014, 10 breaches were disclosed which resulted in just over 72,000 records getting compromised
Despite this “cyber threat slow down,” the retail and wholesale industries emerged as the top industry target for attackers in 2014, a potential result of the wave of high profile incidents impacting name brand retailers. In the two years prior, manufacturing ranked first amongst the top five attacked industries while the retail and wholesale industry ranked last. This past year, the primary mode of attack was unauthorized access via Secure Shell Brute Force attacks, which surpassed malicious code, the top choice in 2012 and 2013.
Top Breaches Overshadow Growing Trend
Attackers secured more than 61 million records in 2014, down from almost 73 million in 2013. However, when the data was narrowed down to only incidents involving less than 10 million records (which excludes the top two attacks over this timeframe, Target Corporation and The Home Depot), the data shows a different story--the number of retail records compromised in 2014 increased by more than 43 percent over 2013.
Sophisticated Methods of Attack
While there has been a rise in the number of Point of Sale (POS) malware attacks, the vast majority of incidents targeting the retail sector involved Command Injection or SQL injection. The complexity of SQL deployments and the lack of data validation performed by security administrators made retail databases a primary target. Over 2014, this Command Injection method was used in nearly 6,000 attacks against retailers. Additional methods include Shellshock as well as POS malware such as BlackPOS, Dexter, vSkimmer, Alina and Citadel.
The data for the number of records compromised and breaches disclosed was analyzed by IBM security experts and was made publically available by Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. The remaining data came from IBM’s Managed Security services team.
About IBM Security
IBM’s security platform provides the security intelligence to help organizations holistically protect their people, data, applications and infrastructure. IBM offers solutions for identity and access management, security information and event management, database security, application development, risk management, endpoint management, next-generation intrusion protection and more. IBM operates one of the world’s broadest security research and development, and delivery organizations.
For more information, please visit www.ibm.com/security, follow @IBMSecurity on Twitter or visit the IBM Security Intelligence blog.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
The Truth about the Sony Hack
Stefan Molyneux is a philosopher, not a cybersecurity expert. But he has some interesting thoughts about the SONY hack and who might (or might not) be responsible.
Video (35:14)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzLyvgMwgUU
Video (35:14)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzLyvgMwgUU
Monday, December 22, 2014
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Microsoft Security Intelligence Report Warns of Ongoing Conficker Threat and Clarifies Reality of Targeted Attacks
Microsoft Security Intelligence Report Warns of Ongoing Conficker Threat and Clarifies Reality of Targeted Attacks
April 25, 2012
Latest study analyzes data from more than 600 million systems worldwide, offers solutions for mitigating both targeted and broad-based attacks such as Conficker.
REDMOND, Wash. — April 25, 2012 — Microsoft Corp. today released the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report volume 12 (.pdf file), which found that the Conficker worm was detected approximately 220 million times worldwide in the past two and a half years, making it one of the biggest ongoing threats to enterprises. The study also revealed the worm continues to spread because of weak or stolen passwords and vulnerabilities for which a security update exists.
According to the SIRv12, quarterly detections of the Conficker worm have increased by more than 225 percent since the beginning of 2009. In the fourth quarter of 2011 alone, Conficker was detected on 1.7 million systems worldwide. In examining the reasons behind Conficker’s prevalence in organizations, research showed that 92 percent of Conficker infections were a result of weak or stolen passwords, and 8 percent of infections exploited vulnerabilities for which a security update exists.
“Conficker is one of the biggest security problems we face, yet it is well within our power to defend against,” said Tim Rains, director of Microsoft Trustworthy Computing. “It is critically important that organizations focus on the security fundamentals to help protect against the most common threats.”
The SIRv12 also revealed that many of the threats often referred to as Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) are no more advanced or sophisticated than other types of attacks. In most cases, these attacks leverage known vectors such as exploiting weak or stolen passwords and vulnerabilities for which security updates exist, but their success lies in the persistence and determination in trying different tactics to compromise the target. This is why Microsoft refers to these types of threats as Targeted Attacks performed by Determined Adversaries, rather than APTs.
“Labeling cyberthreats as ‘advanced’ is often times misleading and can divert organizations’ attention away from addressing basic security issues, which can prevent more common threats from infiltrating their systems,” Rains said. “Most attacks do not possess new, super-advanced techniques or technology as the APT label implies; in the majority of cases, they simply exploit weak or stolen passwords or vulnerabilities for which a security update exists and employ social engineering.”
Microsoft recommends that customers and businesses adhere to the following security fundamentals to help ensure they are protected:
• Use strong passwords and educate employees on their importance
• Keep systems up to date by regularly applying available updates for all products
• Use antivirus software from a trusted source
• Invest in newer products with a higher quality of software protection
• Consider the cloud as a business resource
“With organizations being presented with significant amounts of data and media reports on cyberthreats, the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report volume 12 gives us good perspective on recent trends in the global threat landscape,” said Bob Rodger, global head of IT Infrastructure Security at HSBC. “The report, in combination with other sources of intelligence, assists us to more accurately and effectively invest, prioritize and make informed decisions about our security infrastructure to ensure that our business continues to be optimally protected from threats.”
For businesses, as Scott Charney, corporate vice president of Microsoft Trustworthy Computing, outlined in his keynote presentation at RSA 2012, Microsoft recommends a more holistic approach to risk management to help protect against both broad-based and targeted attacks, including the following:
• Prevention. Employ security fundamentals and pay close attention to configuration management and timely security update deployment.
• Detection. Carefully monitor and perform advanced analysis to identify threats. Keep abreast of security events and leverage credible sources of security intelligence.
• Containment. If the targeted organization has configured its environment with targeted attacks by determined adversaries in mind, it is possible to contain the attacker’s activities and thereby buy time to detect, respond to and mitigate the attack. To contain an attack, consideration should be given to architecting domain administration models that limit the availability of administrator credentials and apply available technologies, such as IPsec-based network encryption, to restrict unnecessary interconnectivity on the network.
• Recovery. It is important to have a well-conceived recovery plan, supported by suitably skilled incident response capability. Maintain a “crisis committee” to set response priorities and engage in exercises to test the organization’s ability to recover from different attack scenarios.
Microsoft produces the SIR twice per year to keep the industry informed on the changing threat landscape and provide actionable guidance for customers in an effort to create safer more trusted computing experiences for everyone. The latest report, volume 12, provides insight into online threat data with new information for July 2011 through December 2011 and analysis of data from more than 100 countries and regions around the world. More information about SIRv12 is available at http://www.microsoft.com/sir.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.
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