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We thought it was bad enough when traditional ransomware started to steal data in its second generation of evolution, now dubbed “double extortion”. The third stage of ransomware is beginning to happen now and will make us wish for the good, old days of Ransomware 2.0.
Attend this presentation to learn how ransomware is evolving to inflict maximum damage and more importantly how to protect yourself and your organization.
Roger A. Grimes, Data-Driven Defense Evangelist at KnowBe4, was among the first to warn the world about Ransomware 2.0 – the almost accidental attacks that became a storm.
Here is his latest early warning.
The more you participate, the more points you earn! It’s that simple. You’ll earn prize points for each activity you participate in throughout the virtual conference. Points will be calculated at the end of the live event day.
*Giveaways are limited to North American residents only. Winners are limited to one prize per calendar year for Informa Tech sponsored events.
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https://ve.informaengage.com/virtual-events/itpro-how-to-be-ready-for-ransomware/
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To review and recommend policies and procedures to ensure the safety of our participants.
To establish secure records and maintain the background check information program for volunteers, employees and others who are entrusted with the supervision and care of players and participants, including financial care.
To provide secondary medical coverage for injuries incurred during participation in North Texas Soccer activities.
To provide policy recommendations and education for North Texas Soccer Member Associations to minimize liabilities and other manageable risks including financial risk.
All background checks are completed through GotSoccer. Login into your account and under the Background Check tab, press the 'submit new report' button. Fill out all necessary information with your legal name and records. The background check includes a national and state level check, so please submit your report in a timely manner once per seasonal year.
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https://www.ntxsoccer.org/risk-management/
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Verizon Enhances Cloud-Based Identity PlatformUniversal Identity Services 2.0 comes with an updated mobile app, QR code-enabled access, and a simplified end-user interface. Top 10 Government IT Innovators Of 2013 (click image for larger view) Verizon has added new capabilities to its cloud-based identity platform, offering government users a more secure system that goes beyond a username and password.
The platform, Universal Identity Services, combines a person's username and password with a one-time password or biometric scan, such as fingerprint recognition. Authenticated users can get access to online content and corporate resources -- and depending on the level of assurance, electronic medical records -- on computers, smartphones or tablets. Universal Identity Services runs in three secure data centers, and meets standards through the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
When it comes to government users, the benefits of cloud-based identity and access management are twofold, Tracy Hulver, senior identity strategist of Verizon Enterprise Solutions, said in a phone interview. "First, agencies want to make it easier and less expensive to validate employees and contractors. We can provide that two-factor authentication," said Hulver. "Second, what the government is really wrestling with is how to authenticate citizens. How can the government cut down on the number of credentials that citizens have, while keeping the costs down? The Affordable Care Act (ACA) online portal, for instance, is having problems getting people on and signed up with a username and password." [ Want more on government security efforts? Read Energy Dept. Invests $30 Million In Utility Security. ] One solution, Hulver said, is providing citizens with a single identity that they can use government-wide. Last December, Verizon teamed with Criterion Systems to develop a more secure online identity system. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) awarded $9 million to five pilot programs lead by teams of online-identity and technology providers in support of the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC). Verizon is one of two providers of high-assurance identity credentials on a pilot program.
NSTIC, a public-private initiative launched by the White House in 2011, aims to create cost-effective and easy-to-use "trust elevation," or validation efforts, for online credentials. With trust elevation, individuals would be able to use one set of credentials to access any site, including online banking and medical records. The system would use additional information to electronically validate a user, such as a fingerprint or a mobile phone number. According to Hulver, Verizon, as a third-party identity provider, can scale to tens of thousands of users for a considerably smaller price point. The new features included in Verizon's Universal Identity Services are appealing to federal agencies looking for added security, he said. One such feature is Quick Response (QR) code-enabled access. Users can access a website using a unique QR code generated on a login screen, or scan a QR code as second-factor authentication on a smartphone.
The enhanced Universal Identity Services platform also includes an updated mobile app for the iOS, Android, Windows, and Blackberry operating systems; legally binding digital signature capabilities required for electronic prescriptions, online tax filing and license renewals; and a simplified end-user interface that provides administrators with an enhanced dashboard and operations reporting.
In addition to the new capabilities, Verizon has expanded the platform -- which was previously only offered in the U.S. -- to Europe.
CVE-2013-7445Published: 2015-10-15The Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) subsystem in the Linux kernel through 4.x mishandles requests for Graphics Execution Manager (GEM) objects, which allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via an application that processes graphics data, as demonstrated b...
CVE-2015-4948Published: 2015-10-15netstat in IBM AIX 5.3, 6.1, and 7.1 and VIOS 2.2.x, when a fibre channel adapter is used, allows local users to gain privileges via unspecified vectors.
CVE-2015-5660Published: 2015-10-15Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in eXtplorer before 2.1.8 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users for requests that execute PHP code.
CVE-2015-6003Published: 2015-10-15Directory traversal vulnerability in QNAP QTS before 4.1.4 build 0910 and 4.2.x before 4.2.0 RC2 build 0910, when AFP is enabled, allows remote attackers to read or write to arbitrary files by leveraging access to an OS X (1) user or (2) guest account.
CVE-2015-6333Published: 2015-10-15Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) 1.1j allows local users to gain privileges via vectors involving addition of an SSH key, aka Bug ID CSCuw46076.
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http://www.darkreading.com/risk-management/verizon-enhances-cloud-based-identity-platform/d/d-id/1111944?cid=sbx_iwk_related_news_cloud&itc=sbx_iwk_related_news_cloud
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Cyberattacks have become so common that there’s one every 39 seconds.
Sensitive data has always been a prime target of cybercriminals. “During the first quarter of 2023, more than six million data records were exposed worldwide through data breaches,” says a Statista report. Attackers tend to target high-value data such as payment details, PII, healthcare records, authentication credentials, insurance records, and more.
Data breaches are an expensive problem. Based on IBM’s cost of a data breach report, the global average cost of a data breach in 2023 was $4.45 million. The actual cost of a data breach amounts to more than just money lost to ransom, the cost of investigating the breach, or the revenue lost due to business downtime. Additional expenses include fines related to regulatory compliance violations, legal and audit fees, the fall of stock prices for publicly listed companies, and customer retention costs due to reputational damage.
While organizations are doing their best to adopt effective strategies to protect sensitive data, there’s no 100% foolproof cybersecurity system.
More and more organizations are acknowledging the fact that they are far more vulnerable to sophisticated attacks than ever before. The risk to business continuity and increase in the cost of data breaches have forced mature organizations to focus on bringing their cyber risk scores down to acceptable levels and minimizing the impact of a data breach.
According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023, the average data breach life cycle is 322 days—meaning it takes that long for organizations to identify and contain an active breach. This period usually gives attackers enough time to get away with their plan and access sensitive data and client records. The close relationship between response time and a data breach is a critical factor that can define the impact and severity of a data breach on an organization.
Take the case of one of the biggest breaches to date, the Equifax data breach. Hackers exfiltrated sensitive data of more than 148 million consumers—40% of the American population. Equifax had failed to patch a known vulnerability, making it easier for the attackers to enter its system. While the breach was discovered on July 29, 2017, it’s believed that the breach had occurred much earlier, possibly as early as May 2017. But Equifax made the public disclosure only on Sept. 7, more than a month after its discovery. This delay in detection and response gave attackers plenty of time to exfiltrate sensitive data. And this cost the company dearly. Equifax was fined $700 million for the breach. The Equifax data breach is a perfect example of the grave effects of a delayed response time.
In the business world, time is money. The same is true in the case of a data breach. A shorter mean time to detect (MTTD) means less time for cybercriminals to steal or tamper with sensitive data. And a faster response means better chances of controlling the damage caused by the breach. Both these factors can indirectly help reduce the total cost of a data breach. This means every second after a breach starts is pivotal and can directly determine the impact of the breach.
AI and automation can help
The good news is that AI and automation can be helpful in preventing and mitigating data breaches. IBM’s report shows that organizations that used both AI and automation reduced the data breach life cycle by 108 days. In fact, “organizations that deployed security AI and automation extensively saw, on average, nearly $1.8 million lower data breach costs than organizations that didn’t deploy these technologies.”
AI-based solutions can be a powerful instrument to curb data breaches. AI has the power to monitor and analyze large volumes of transactional data to detect fraudulent activities, anomalies, and unusual behavior. The implementation of AI-driven fraud detection systems can help banks save around $10 billion annually according to a study by Juniper Research. Automation, on the other hand, can help reduce data breach detection time and ensure quick incident response.
A survey by Capgemini Research Institute reports that 75% of cybersecurity executives use AI in network security, and another survey by BlackBerry found that “the majority (82%) of IT decision-makers plan to invest in AI-driven cybersecurity in the next two years and almost half (48%) plan to invest before the end of 2023.”
Being prepared
Preventing a breach might be implausible, but how an organization navigates its response to a breach is significant. Conducting regular security audits to ensure security measures are up to date, investing in a swift breach response system, and providing employees security awareness training can help organizations be better prepared. Additionally, investing in the right data security tools, leveraging AI and automation, and implementing Zero Trust principles can help reduce the time taken to detect and respond to a data breach, or even keep it from happening in the first place.
Breaches can be an expensive problem. However, with the right mindset, tools, and technology, IT teams can respond quickly to contain a breach and minimize its damaging consequences.
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https://insights.manageengine.com/it-security/every-second-counts-the-close-relationship-between-response-time-and-the-impact-of-a-data-breach/
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Every organization needs to ensure that intellectual property and confidential information are protected from unauthorized disclosure. Explosive growth in data, accelerating trends in virtualization and multi-tenancy, increasingly sophisticated information security breaches, and more stringent government regulations are creating new challenges that must be met.
¡ 92% of US data security breeches found by third party.
¡ 58% of data stolen by hacktivists.
NetApp Storage Encryption (NSE) provides transparent set-and-forget protection of your information. Both deduplication and data compression are supported.
Brocade Encryption Switches and blades (BES) encrypt data at rest on disk and tape in Fibre Channel environments.
The new SafeNet StorageSecure inline encryption appliances support granular encryption at the CIFS and NFS share, export, or volume level with the ability to compartmentalize shared storage into cryptographic silos.
The new SafeNet KeySecure key management appliance manages your encryption keys from a single platform, strengthening and simplifying your long-term key management needs.
NetApp® MultiStore® software creates multiple virtual storage systems within a single physical storage system. With MultiStore software, you can enable multiple users to share the same storage resource without compromising privacy and security.
Integrated antivirus scanning is a must-have feature to protect corporate data from malware attack. NetApp partners with leading vendors to protect corporate data from computer viruses.
NetApp storage security systems deliver nondisruptive, comprehensive integrity and confidentiality of your data, protecting sensitive information across the enterprise.
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http://community.netapp.com/t5/Technology/31-Increase-in-Hacks-and-20-Increase-in-use-of-Malware/ba-p/83291
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WEST 2023, co-sponsored by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) International and the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI), is the premier naval conference and exposition on the West Coast. The theme for this year’s conference was “Readiness, Capability and Capacity: How Do the Sea Services Match Up Against the Future Threat?”
The conference brings together tens of thousands of leaders in military, government, industry, and academia to discuss information warfare, integrated warfare, near-peer challenges and associated creative and agile solutions.
Top DoD leadership outlined how critical partnerships will be in helping the services maintain a strategic edge of readiness against evolving threats in the form of foreign adversaries, particularly China.
Navy Adm. Sam Paparo, Commander U.S. Pacific Fleet, discussed evolving threats during his keynote presentation on day one of the conference. He noted the Navy is constantly facing threats to its infrastructure, technology and personnel.
“I do have concern about potential cyberattacks to U.S. infrastructure and data systems that could exacerbate our ability to deploy the force rapidly in response to operational warning of any act of aggression, and I think that it requires unending vigilance in our cyber systems, in our port systems, and it requires a greater focus on ensuring that more of the fleet is ready to deploy on a moment's notice,” Paparo said.
In addressing the industry partners in the room, Paparo said, “We’re looking for your assistance to harness America’s creative and innovative spirit.”
Fortress Information Security continues to innovate and deliver real solutions for the threats and challenges described and discussed at West 2023. We help complex enterprises discover, prioritize and monitor supply chain cyber risk. We operate industry-wide joint ventures that enable utilities and other critical infrastructure suppliers to identify and remediate cyber risks and vulnerabilities among vendors in their supply chains.
Working with the nation’s largest utilities, Fortress is focused on a joint venture that will help vendors and suppliers identify and remediate vulnerabilities in software that manage mission-critical applications via the development of a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) for every product.
Fortress leaders Nick Nilan, Andrea Schaumann and Marcus Serrano engaged with dozens of partners, DoD leaders and industry collaborators throughout the week.
“Being at West is such a great opportunity to keep your finger on the pulse of what the demand signal is from government and DoD for solutions on the battlefield and in cyberspace,” said Schaumann. “From Marine Corps Systems Command to T-Mobile, West provides an incredible diversity of great minds and influencers in industry. In talking with them, they all agree…the battlefield of the future IS cyberspace. And Fortress plans to be there to lead the way in the delivery of these important solutions.”
Navy Chief of Naval Operations, ADM Mike Gilday, ended West 2023 with his final day keynote address, where he discussed “driving adaptation and effecting change.” ADM Gilday was very pointed in his remarks, and indeed the week was filled with a lot of messaging about China. Said Gilday, “Drawing a thread for the next 30 years, China is the pacing threat. It’s good to have someone breathing down your neck.”
Today’s cybersecurity threats - particularly those that affect our supply chain - are real. They are not going away. Fortress Information Security will be there with readiness, modernization and capacity to meet those threats now and in the future.
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https://www.fortressinfosec.com/blog/cybersecurity-challenges-and-opportunities-discussed-at-west-2023
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The online payment industry was exposed to a slew of attacks in 2013-14, with hackers meticulously examining the payment infrastructure to exploit potential weaknesses. To guard against such security breaches, the payment industry needs to devise global security initiatives and establish common rules.
According to Frost & Sullivan, host card emulation (HCE) has created a new layer of security services. On the other hand, the HCE solutions have raised several concerns as in the absence of a single network, a single protocol and a common set of rules, hackers can breach security layers using sophisticated tools.
Until the recent spate of attacks, banks and financial institutions had been reluctant to invest heavily in protecting their digital transactions. However, new awareness of the huge liabilities and losses that can be incurred through these data leaks is encouraging their support for the use of HCE security technology.
“The emergence of the cloud-based HCE will please security service providers as it offers an alternative that is easy to deploy in a short time frame,” said Jean-Noel Georges, Global Program Director for Information & Communication Technologies at Frost & Sullivan. “The solution is expected to accelerate the deployment of other payment solutions and already, it has forced the ecosystem to rethink the entire roadmap and portfolio strategy.”
HCE has changed the way mobile payment is processed and it is demanded because of certain aspects. For instance, HCE’s security level is lower than that of near field communication (NFC). Nevertheless, HCE is the answer to part of the bottleneck since it can aid in consumer management and reduce deployment time.
Significantly, HCE does not use a hardware secured element to store secret keys. Credentials are moved to a cloud-based platform and are accessible through a specific payment application. The credentials are available for one-time use and based on the risk, can be used only for a particular amount. With HCE, time is critical during a transaction and the payment mechanism usually does not request considerable encrypted information.
“More than the security component, consumers and retailers seek convenience. Many companies are now building solutions especially for the mobile instead of adapting existing solutions to the mobile,” noted Georges. “Technology developers could adopt the same approach with respect to convenience, so that security is an invisible component of the payment process.”
The payment industry needs to evolve a global standard that will provide answers to client and customer demands for advanced security solutions. A solution that is secure-by-design, and not merely a compilation of best secured practices, is essential to guarantee the safety of a payment process.
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https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2015/05/01/how-secure-are-digital-transactions/
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August 6, 2012 | By Parker Higgins and Julie Samuels myVidster: A Victory for Innovation and a Vote for Sensible Copyright Law Last week, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Flava Works v. myVidster, a case that raises questions about embedded videos and copyright infringement. Judge Richard Posner, who wrote the opinion, has a reputation for producing memorable and influential ruling, and this one is no exception. (You might remember that Judge Posner also recently issued an important ruling in a patent case between Apple and Motorola.) In reversing the injunction granted against myVidster, the Seventh Circuit wholly rejected the premise that embedding, linking to, or watching infringing videos constitutes infringement itself.
First, some background: Flava Works, a video company that makes full-length videos available only behind a paywall,1 sued MyVidster, a social video bookmarking site that allows users to save videos to a profile and share pages containing embedded videos with other users. Last summer, the district court sided with Flava Works and granted an injunction. The district court got it wrong on at least two counts. First, the Court failed to apply the appropriate standard for injunctive relief and second, the Court mistakenly found that myVidster’s users infringed Flava Work’s copyrights.
Fortunately, the Seventh Circuit agreed.
First, though the standard for an injunction may seem like an obscure procedural point of dispute, it’s an important one. When out of balance, it can have a profound chilling effect on free speech and innovation. In fact, we made this very argument in an amicus brief we filed along with Public Knowledge:
Many of these nascent entities cannot survive an extended interruption of operations pending lengthy litigation. An unbalanced standard for preliminary injunctions in copyright litigation therefore can easily chill innovation, as services are effectively put out of business long before a court can ever reach a determination on the merits of the infringement claim.
As to the substantive issue of infringement, the Court held that embedding videos does not constitute infringement. Simply put, people who download Flava Works videos and then re-upload them to another server (thereby making a copy of the video) may be infringers, but neither myVidster nor the users who watch videos embedded on its site are engaging in or contributing to infringement. From the decision:
myVidster is not an infringer, at least in the form of copying or distributing copies of copyrighted work. The infringers are the uploaders of copyrighted work.
In the ruling, Judge Posner also draws the meaningful distinction between copyright infringement, theft, and other actions that may reduce a company's income. Rhetoric from the copyright lobby often conflates these disparate concepts. An op-ed in the New York Times made the point earlier this year: “We should stop trying to shoehorn the 21st-century problem of illegal downloading into a moral and legal regime that was developed with a pre- or mid-20th-century economy in mind.”
For example, as Judge Posner wrote, a Flava Works employee embezzling corporate funds may be stealing and reducing the company’s income, but he is not infringing copyright. A person who sneaks into a movie theater to watch a copyrighted movie — like one who bypasses the Flava Works paywall by watching embedded videos on myVidster — isn’t infringing, either. Stealing a book from a bookstore and reading it “is a bad thing to do,” says Judge Posner, but again it is not copyright infringement. Considering how companies have abused copyright law for years to squelch competition and silence unflattering speech, this recognition is a major one.
A final remarkable fact about this myVidster decision is how it compares to another decision Judge Posner wrote nearly a decade ago. The Aimster decision found that an injunction could be granted against a file-sharing service even when its operators had no knowledge of specific infringements. Of course many factors contribute to the difference between these cases, but the ruling in myVidster seems to reflect a growing recognition of a long imbalance in copyright law that needs to be fixed. Even more so, this ruling reflects an understanding by the Court of the way we actually use the Internet. It's not just about swapping files, but using the cloud, streaming, and linking. And it’s not just college students sharing data — it’s the way people do business everyday. There’s no way to know whether this cultural shift really changed Judge Posner’s mind, but we can’t help but speculate that increased use of and understanding of how technology actually works will lead to more rulings like this one.
This case is far from over — last week’s decision just overturns the preliminary injunction before the actual arguments begin — we hope to see more rulings like this one that protect young, innovative companies from abusive claims of copyright infringement.
1. As a side note, Eric Goldman points out that this case may be the first to include the term “pay wall” or “paywall.”
InnovationFair Use and Intellectual Property: Defending the BalanceDMCA Related Cases Flava Works v. myVidster.com More DeepLinks Posts Like This October 2010 Mom Asks Court to Declare Universal Violated Law in "Dancing Baby" Case February 2014 Bad Facts, Really Bad Law: Court Orders Google to Censor Controversial Video Based on Spurious Copyright Claim December 2015 Federal Court of Appeal Strikes Down Overbroad Permanent Injunction on Internet Speech June 2012 What!: Appeals Court Affirms South Park Parody Was Obvious Fair Use April 2005 FECA and Commercial Skipping Recent DeepLinks Posts Apr 28, 2016 A Battery of Dangerous Cybercrime Proposals Still Hang Over Brazil Apr 28, 2016 Captured U.S. Trade Agency Resorts to Bullying Again in 2016 Special 301 Report Apr 28, 2016 The Crime of Speech Apr 28, 2016 First FISC Phone Records Ruling Post-USA FREEDOM Exposes Shortcomings of Reforms Apr 27, 2016 House Advances Email Privacy Act, Setting the Stage for Vital Privacy Reform Deeplinks Topics Fair Use and Intellectual Property: Defending the Balance Free Speech Innovation UK Investigatory Powers Bill International Know Your Rights Privacy Trade Agreements and Digital Rights Security State-Sponsored Malware Abortion Reporting Analog Hole Anonymity Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement Biometrics Bloggers' Rights Broadcast Flag Broadcasting Treaty CALEA Cell Tracking Coders' Rights Project Computer Fraud And Abuse Act Reform Content Blocking Copyright Trolls Council of Europe Cyber Security Legislation CyberSLAPP Defend Your Right to Repair! Development Agenda Digital Books Digital Radio Digital Video DMCA Rulemaking Do Not Track DRM E-Voting Rights EFF Europe Electronic Frontier Alliance Encrypting the Web Export Controls FAQs for Lodsys Targets File Sharing Fixing Copyright? The 2013-2016 Copyright Review Process FTAA Genetic Information Privacy Hollywood v. DVD How Patents Hinder Innovation (Graphic) ICANN International Privacy Standards Internet Governance Forum Law Enforcement Access Legislative Solutions for Patent Reform Locational Privacy Mandatory Data Retention Mandatory National IDs and Biometric Databases Mass Surveillance Technologies Medical Privacy National Security and Medical Information National Security Letters Net Neutrality No Downtime for Free Speech NSA Spying OECD Offline : Imprisoned Bloggers and Technologists Online Behavioral Tracking Open Access Open Wireless Patent Busting Project Patent Trolls Patents PATRIOT Act Pen Trap Policy Analysis Printers Public Health Reporting and Hospital Discharge Data Reading Accessibility Real ID RFID Search Engines Search Incident to Arrest Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act Social Networks SOPA/PIPA: Internet Blacklist Legislation Student Privacy Stupid Patent of the Month Surveillance and Human Rights Surveillance Drones Terms Of (Ab)Use Test Your ISP The "Six Strikes" Copyright Surveillance Machine The Global Network Initiative The Law and Medical Privacy TPP's Copyright Trap Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Travel Screening TRIPS Trusted Computing Video Games Wikileaks WIPO Transparency Uncategorized Donate to EFF Stay in Touch Email Address
Postal Code (optional) NSA Spying eff.org/nsa-spying
EFF is leading the fight against the NSA's illegal mass surveillance program. Learn more about what the program is, how it works, and what you can do.
Follow EFF A battery of dangerous cybercrime proposals still hang over Brazil: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks... #CPICIBER
Apr 28 @ 5:49pm The Commerce Department is trying to improve coordinated vulnerability disclosure. Security researchers can weigh in https://www.surveymonkey.com/...
Apr 28 @ 5:27pm U.S. Special 301 Report complains about media boxes and social networking sites because they can be used for piracy: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks...
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https://www.eff.org/ar/deeplinks/2012/08/myvidster-victory-innovation-and-vote-sensible-copyright-law
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Deeplinks Blog posts about Online Behavioral Tracking June 14, 2012 - 1:32am | By Eva Galperin How to Turn on Do Not Track in Your Browser Privacy Do Not Track Online Behavioral Tracking In recent years, online tracking companies have begun to monitor our clicks, searches and reading habits as we move around the Internet. If you are concerned about pervasive online web tracking by behavioral advertisers, then you may want to enable Do Not Track on your web browser. Do Not Track is unique in that it combines both technology (a signal transmitted from a user) as well as a policy framework for how companies that receive the signal should respond. As more and more websites respect the Do Not Track signal from your browser, it becomes a more effective tool for protecting your privacy. Read full post April 16, 2012 - 2:40pm | By Peter Eckersley Will Industry Agree to a Meaningful Do Not Track? Privacy Do Not Track Online Behavioral Tracking The fifth W3C meeting on Do Not Track was held in Washington DC last week. While progress has been made on many aspects of the standard for Do Not Track, several deep disagreements remain between privacy advocates and representatives of the online tracking industry.
Most seriously, ad industry representatives maintain that they need to be allowed to continue setting third-party tracking cookies on browsers that send the Do Not Track HTTP header. This coalition of companies say they "only" want to track opted-out users for security purposes, market research, testing and improving their various advertising and tracking products, auditing, copyright enforcement and other "legal compliance" purposes, and "frequency capping" in order to manage online advertising campaigns — but not any other purposes. Read full post April 10, 2012 - 7:38am | By Mark Jaycox As Some Companies Choose "Do Not Target" Over "Do Not Track," What Are User Attitudes? Privacy Do Not Track Online Behavioral Tracking Do Not Track continues its surge of momentum in the past few months. As we document in The State of Do Not Track, a number of stakeholders are recognizing the importance of user control over whether or not an online company can track users and how much information, if any, the company can collect. Noticeably absent from the conversation are hard numbers on users' attitudes towards online behavioral advertising, or "targeted advertising." Read full post February 23, 2012 - 2:19pm | By rainey Reitman White House, Google, and Other Advertising Companies Commit to Supporting Do Not Track Privacy Do Not Track Online Behavioral Tracking When Stanford researcher Jonathan Mayer uncovered a Google workaround to circumvent the default privacy settings on Safari, EFF called on Google to change their tune on privacy by respecting the Do Not Track flag and building it into the Chrome browser. We specifically praised the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) multi-stakeholder process, which for a year has been convening consumer advocates, Internet companies, and technologists to craft how companies that receive the Do Not Track signal should respond. Read full post February 23, 2012 - 11:37am | By Marcia Hofmann Obama Administration Unveils Promising Consumer Privacy Plan, but the Devil Will Be in the Details International Privacy Online Behavioral Tracking Social Networks Today the White House proposed a framework for protecting privacy in the digital age. The plan, laid out in detail in a white paper (pdf), includes a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights based on well-established fair information practice principles. EFF, which has previously proposed a Bill of Privacy Rights for Social Network Users, believes this user-centered approach to privacy protection is a solid one.
Postal Code (optional) NSA Spying eff.org/nsa-spying
EFF is leading the fight against the NSA's illegal mass surveillance program. Learn more about what the program is, how it works, and what you can do.
Follow EFF A battery of dangerous cybercrime proposals still hang over Brazil: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks... #CPICIBER
Apr 28 @ 5:49pm The Commerce Department is trying to improve coordinated vulnerability disclosure. Security researchers can weigh in https://www.surveymonkey.com/...
Apr 28 @ 5:27pm U.S. Special 301 Report complains about media boxes and social networking sites because they can be used for piracy: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks...
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https://www.eff.org/es/deeplinks/online-behavioral-tracking?page=0%25252C6%252C3%2C4
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We are pleased to share that our Immersa has received its SOC 2 Type II report after a rigorous audit of its security and privacy procedures. The independent auditors evaluated Immersa’s security controls and procedures and confirmed that they meet the highest standards for protecting user information and privacy. The SOC 2 report is available under non-disclosure agreement to any of our customers or prospects who wish to review it. Our customers can be confident that their data remains secure with Immersa.
SOC 2 Type 2 is a report that provides evidence of the security and protective controls implemented by an organization. This report covers both the design and operating effectiveness of these controls over a period of time, typically six months to a year. SOC 2 Type II is considered a more valuable report than SOC 2 Type I, as it provides evidence that the controls are effective not just during the initial implementation but throughout the entire reporting period. This report is often requested by organizations that work with sensitive user information or handle large amounts of data in order to provide reassurance that their systems are secure and their users’ privacy is protected.
‘This report is important to our clients as it provides an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of our security and privacy controls,’ said Aseem Chandra, Co-founder and CEO at Immersa. ‘It demonstrates our commitment to protecting our customers’ data and meeting the highest standards of data security and privacy in the industry.’
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https://www.immersa.ai/2022/08/immersa-is-now-soc-2-type-ii-compliant-meeting-the-highest-industry-standards-of-customer-data-security-and-privacy/
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Feb 25th, 2014 Category: Managed File Transfer The last few months have been a rough stretch for data security. Adding to unprecedented retail breaches, the University of Maryland recently announced that about 300,000 personal records were exposed when hackers gained access to their system. These records contain sensitive information including social security numbers, which leaves victims highly concerned about identity theft.
"It sounds like they got Social Security numbers, so I wouldn't be surprised if people try to take out credit cards, that kind of stuff," Jake Federkeil, a computer science major from Sykesville, MD, told USA Today.
The University explained that the breach did not compromise financial, academic, health or contact information, reported NBC Washington, but the size of the incident and the exposure of Social Security numbers are driving yet another round of discussions about storing personal information and maintaining data security.
A University of Maryland spokesman said that the school had recently doubled its investment in security experts and tools, NBC Washington reported, but the hackers were able to work their way through multiple layers of security. Although no security system is completely fail proof, what's more concerning is the number of organizations that don't prioritize essential security precautions. David Vladeck, former director of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's consumer protection bureau, told The WSJ that budget-constrained universities often spend their financial resources elsewhere, rather than investing in stronger security measures.
The problem isn't restricted to academia: According to a recent Dell Global Security Study, the majority of IT leaders don't view unknown threats, such as new risks from BYOD vulnerabilities, as top security concerns. While 76 percent indicated that organizations need to protect against inside and outside threats, they aren't necessarily seeking safer solutions like managed file transfer services to bring their security to a higher level. Similarly, the 11th annual Global Information Security Survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and CSO found that security spending hasn't kept up with rapidly expanding threats as enterprise systems become more open, more mobile and bigger.
Security is complicated - but absolutely crucial. Many organizations need affordable solutions that allow them to manage the sensitive information they need to store in order to do business. These solutions need to be simple enough to ensure employees adhere to them while being affordable for companies with limited budgets. Security is an ongoing project that must cover multiple vulnerabilities, from the threat of outsiders hacking into the system to employees losing devices with unencrypted information stored on them.
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https://www.globalscape.com/blog/2014/2/25/university-data-breach-prompts-more-reflection-on-security
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The City of Long Beach was the target of a cyber attack last week, which forced the city to shut down its computer network.
The city publicly announced the attack on Friday after discovering it on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the city, some of its technology employees saw unusual interactions in the city’s network and told city leaders, who in turn contacted the county’s Information Technology Division and the state Office of Homeland Security.
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https://www.databreaches.net/ny-long-beach-computer-network-shut-down-after-cyber-attack-found/
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Mayflex and MOBOTIX Team up for Cyber Security Road Shows. January 2018, Mayflex, the distributor of Converged IP Solutions, is working with MOBOTIX to deliver an informative series of road shows that look at the Importance of Cyber Security in Video Surveillance Systems. The Mayflex and MOBOTIX teams will work side by side to deliver these sessions at Mayflex offices towards the end of February in Birmingham, London and Scotland.
These sessions will provide delegates with updates on how MOBOTIX an industry leader within digital surveillance is addressing the increasing risks of disruption or exploitation from criminal or terrorist attacks to security systems. The session will also look at the key product features that can help minimise these risks and other significant benefits of working with MOBOTIX and Mayflex.
Steve Proctor, Director of Sales, Security at Mayflex comments, “At the end of last year we announced an exclusive distribution agreement with MOBOTIX for the UK. We are working closely with MOBOTIX to ensure that our customers are kept up to date with the latest MOBOTIX product and industry news. A quick and easy way to reach a wide audience is via a series of short and educational regional roadshows.”
Steve continues, “As well as the road shows, our sales team have just completed an in-depth accreditation course to equip them with the knowledge they need to support customer enquiries whatever the project specification. We will continue to demonstrate our commitment to the MOBOTIX brand by undertaking on-going training to deliver expertise and knowledge to our customer base.”
If you would like to register for one of the roadshows taking place on the 20th February in Birmingham, 21st February in London and the 22nd February in Scotland visit www.mayflex.com/events or email [email protected]
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https://global-securitysolutions.com/mayflex-and-mobotix-team-%E2%80%A8up-for-cyber-security-road-shows/
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Crypsis was built based on a shared vision of creating a more secure digital world by providing the highest quality incident response, risk management, and digital forensic services.
Our daily mission is to fight cybercrime. We help and protect our clients by defending against and responding to severe cybersecurity threats. Staying ahead of the rapidly evolving threat landscape requires elite cybersecurity expertise, global response capability, and constant innovation. These competencies comprise our core values.
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https://www.cybersecurityintelligence.com/crypsis-6418.html
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Head of Crime and Protective Services, Superintendent Ian McGrail and Constable Jason Oton of the High Tech Crime Unit attended the Small Island Nations Centre of Excellence [SINCERE] launching conference.
At the conference Supt McGrail gave a presentation regarding local cybercrime threats, challenges and opportunities. He also attended workshops to discuss future cyber security strategies.
“It is vitally important for the RGP to be involved in projects such as SINCERE. Reliance on the internet, electronic devices and related critical infrastructure is increasing exponentially,” Mr McGrail said.
“Understanding how to mitigate the threat of cybercrime and also how to investigate and prosecute those that commit these crimes is becoming more relevant by the day. Our participation is a reflection of our investment in our staff working in this complex virtual world in the fight against cybercrime.”
The SINCERE project is a European Union funded project. The States of Jersey Police received £250,000 worth of European funding to create a centre for the fight against cybercrime.
The funds will also be used to promote cybercrime investigation training, research and education.
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https://www.chronicle.gi/rgp-in-cybercrime-conference-in-jersey/
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In a digital landscape where personal information is constantly collected and shared, privacy has become a paramount concern for individuals and businesses alike. With the increasing reliance on technology and the proliferation of data breaches, it has become more important than ever to evaluate the risks associated with privacy. This is where privacy risk assessment comes into play.
Privacy risk assessment is a strategic process that enables organizations to identify, analyze, and manage potential threats to individual privacy. By conducting a thorough privacy risk assessment, companies gain invaluable insights into the vulnerabilities that exist within their systems and processes, allowing them to make informed decisions to protect sensitive data.
One effective tool that can be utilized in privacy risk assessment is the SWOT analysis. By carefully examining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to privacy, organizations can highlight areas of concern and develop targeted measures to address them. This analysis delves deep into the core of the organization, shedding light on potential blind spots and vulnerabilities that could compromise privacy.
However, identifying privacy risks is just the first step. To truly safeguard sensitive information, businesses need to employ comprehensive privacy solutions that address both existing and potential threats. One such solution is the use of EasyBA, a powerful Business Analysis service that encompasses product management, financial analysis, and data analysis. Developed specifically with smaller businesses in mind, EasyBA offers a holistic approach to privacy risk assessment, empowering organizations to navigate the complex landscape of data privacy and security.
As privacy continues to be a critical concern in our interconnected world, it is essential for businesses to take a proactive approach towards privacy risk assessment. With the right tools and strategies, organizations can mitigate potential dangers, protect sensitive data, and build trust among their customers. So, let’s dive deeper into the realm of privacy risk assessment and uncover the hidden dangers that can compromise our most precious asset – privacy.
1. SWOT Analysis: Understanding Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
In order to comprehensively evaluate and mitigate privacy risks, it is essential to conduct a thorough SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, and this framework provides a structured approach to assess various aspects of a privacy risk assessment. By understanding these key factors, organizations can make informed decisions and devise effective strategies to safeguard sensitive information.
Strengths refer to internal factors that give an organization an advantage over others in terms of privacy protection. These could include robust data encryption protocols, a competent IT security team, or adherence to regulatory compliance frameworks. Identifying and leveraging these strengths can enhance an organization’s privacy risk management practices and establish a strong foundation for protecting sensitive data.
On the other hand, weaknesses represent internal vulnerabilities that may expose an organization to potential privacy risks. These weaknesses could involve outdated security systems, lack of employee awareness about privacy best practices, or insufficient data breach response plans. Recognizing and addressing these weaknesses enables organizations to proactively strengthen their privacy measures and mitigate potential threats.
User Story Software
Opportunities, in the context of privacy risk assessment, are external factors that can be harnessed to improve privacy practices. For example, the introduction of new privacy regulations or emerging technologies that enhance data protection can present opportunities for organizations to enhance their privacy frameworks. By capitalizing on these opportunities, businesses can stay ahead of privacy threats and gain a competitive edge.
Lastly, threats encompass external factors that pose risks to an organization’s privacy. These threats may include cyberattacks, data breaches, regulatory fines, or reputational damage due to privacy incidents. Identifying and understanding these threats is crucial for organizations to proactively implement measures to prevent or mitigate potential breaches and protect sensitive information.
In conclusion, conducting a SWOT analysis provides a holistic approach to privacy risk assessment. By comprehensively evaluating strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, organizations can develop effective strategies to safeguard data privacy, maintain regulatory compliance, and protect their reputation. Understanding the nuances of these factors enables businesses, like the "EasyBA" Business Analysis service, to address the hidden dangers and establish a robust privacy risk assessment framework tailored to their specific needs and targeted towards smaller US-based businesses aiming for growth.
2. Privacy Risk Assessment: Evaluating Hidden Dangers
In today’s increasingly digital world, protecting sensitive information has become a top priority for businesses of all sizes. One crucial step in safeguarding data is conducting a comprehensive privacy risk assessment. This process allows organizations to identify and evaluate potential threats to their customers’ privacy, ensuring appropriate measures are in place to mitigate these risks.
A privacy risk assessment involves analyzing both internal and external factors that could compromise data confidentiality. By using methodologies such as SWOT analysis, businesses can gain a holistic understanding of their privacy vulnerabilities. This assessment enables them to identify strengths and weaknesses within their existing privacy practices, as well as recognize external opportunities and potential threats.
When it comes to privacy risk assessment, businesses can benefit from leveraging specialized services like "EasyBA". Designed to aid smaller businesses in the US that are seeking growth, EasyBA offers a comprehensive set of analytical tools. This service combines the expertise of product management, financial analysis, and data analysis to help organizations unlock their full potential. By utilizing the capabilities of EasyBA, businesses can thoroughly evaluate privacy risks while also streamlining their operations.
Taking a proactive approach to privacy risk assessment is vital for maintaining consumer trust and compliance with legal requirements. By uncovering hidden dangers and addressing them head-on, businesses can ensure they are adequately protecting customer data. Through the use of effective analysis techniques and services like EasyBA, organizations can develop robust privacy frameworks that instill confidence in their customers and promote the sustainable growth of their business.
3. EasyBA: Supporting Business Growth through Comprehensive Analysis
EasyBA is a cutting-edge business analysis service that offers a wide range of solutions aimed at helping smaller businesses in the US achieve their growth objectives. With a focus on product management, financial analysis, and data analysis, EasyBA brings together powerful tools and expertise to support business owners in making strategic decisions.
One of the key features provided by EasyBA is the use of SWOT analysis. By conducting a thorough assessment of a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, EasyBA enables businesses to gain valuable insights into their current position and competitive landscape. This analysis acts as a foundation for developing effective strategies to minimize risks and maximize growth potential.
In addition to SWOT analysis, EasyBA also offers comprehensive privacy risk assessment services. In today’s digital age, data privacy is of utmost importance, and businesses must ensure they are taking adequate measures to protect sensitive information. EasyBA’s privacy risk assessment goes beyond simple compliance with regulations, taking into consideration potential vulnerabilities and identifying areas where improvements can be made. By understanding the potential risks associated with data handling and implementing appropriate safeguards, businesses can safeguard their reputation and build trust with their customers.
The ultimate goal of EasyBA is to empower smaller businesses with the knowledge and tools they need to overcome obstacles and unlock their full potential. By leveraging the power of comprehensive analysis in areas such as product management, financial analysis, and data analysis, EasyBA serves as a valuable partner in the growth journey of businesses across the US. With its focus on supporting business growth and addressing privacy risks, EasyBA is poised to make a significant impact on the success of smaller businesses in the current competitive landscape.
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https://legitstar.com/unmasking-the-hidden-dangers-a-comprehensive-privacy-risk-assessment/
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subscription. Do not use a valuable password as it will occasionally be emailed back to you in cleartext.
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https://lists.owasp.org/mailman/listinfo/owasp-application-security-verification-standard
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If you have been following Ruckus Networks for a while, you have probably heard us frequently mention “security” and “policy” in the same breath. In many cases, the two do go hand in hand, and that’s certainly the case when it comes to network access policies.
IT policies that govern network access enhance security by limiting access to network resources to only those users whose role merits access to those resources. The HR and payroll departments get access to a server that houses confidential payroll data, but the call centre and marketing department do not.
Even with many applications moving to the cloud, lots of sensitive data still resides within the network. Organizations can use network access policies as an important tool for implementing sound data governance practices. Who gets access to what resources is an important element of this. Network access policies can be defined and managed centrally for enforcement within the wired and wireless network infrastructure itself. (The Ruckus SaaS/software product that lets you define and manage policies for secure network access is Cloudpath Enrollment System).
While this policy capability is a powerful way to enhance IT security as part of a layered defence, the uses of network access policies also extend beyond the security realm. Let’s examine a few ways that you might use this type of policy that doesn’t explicitly have to do with IT security.
You’ve probably heard us here at Ruckus talk more about the security aspects of network access policy than these other scenarios. The security element is front and centre when it comes to describing the policy capabilities of Cloudpath Enrollment System, our SaaS/software platform for secure network onboarding. But as we have seen in this blog, the benefits of centrally managed policies for network access extend beyond enhancing IT security. As you might have guessed by now, Cloudpath software can help you address the scenarios mentioned above.
You don’t have to switch out your existing wired/wireless infrastructure to use Cloudpath software, either. It works with any vendor’s network infrastructure. If this sounds interesting, you can learn more on the Cloudpath product page. You can even request a live online demo there when you’re ready.
View the original article at theruckusroom.com.
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https://www.net-ctrl.com/three-ways-to-use-network-access-policies-beyond-it-security/
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Gaining insight into the financial performance of customers, prospects, suppliers and partners is crucial to getting a clear picture of all risks and opportunities. But in this era of globalization, these parties are often located in other countries.
At first glance, this may not seem like a big deal. After all, companies are increasingly doing business across borders. The thing is, each country has its own requirements and standards regarding filing, financial reporting and generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
This can create considerable problems when evaluating the financial performance of companies. In addition, the filing requirements of laws and regulations are constantly changing. This makes it virtually impossible to continue using the standardized views you have developed.
Or at least it was until Dun & Bradstreet, along with its global partner network, introduced Global Financials .
Our global solution provides access to 150 million financial statements from public and private sources in 170 countries, standardized company reports and analytical benchmarking for the diverse international financial reporting standards.
More and more forward-thinking companies are using Global Financials to make informed decisions and assess the creditworthiness of companies in various countries. The solution provides seamless capabilities for comparing various business aspects, from the corporate balance sheet and income statement to financial ratios.
But it's not for me to explain the (legion) benefits of Global Finance. Our sales team can do that much better. Instead, I'd like to offer you insight into the new capabilities of the platform and show how we unlock the potential of data to support our clients' international growth.
Because at the end of the day, it doesn't come down to how much data you have, but what you do with the available data.
Unlocking the power of data with Global Financials
For example, we draw added value from data through the use of automation and the development of predictive credit scorecards. As any credit professional will tell you, credit assessments and decisions regarding new customers often include a subjective, time-consuming and labor-intensive process. Especially when the aforementioned GAAP comes into play.
To give an example, one of our customers had plans to expand into new regions. The company wanted to quickly identify companies that may have been paying late or represented a serious credit risk. We knew this was within the capabilities of Global Financials because of its long trading history, indicators of favorable/unfavorable business relationships, ability to draw unique conclusions regarding the financial condition of companies and functionality for calculating financial ratios.
We evaluated the client's portfolio, identified relevant industry/sector codes and used those in conjunction with our global database to understand the types of companies our client was doing business with. More specifically, we looked at the legal form, actual or modeled number of employees, and actual or modeled annual sales in dollars.
Using these dimensions, we created profiles of our client's clients in the targeted regions. The goal was to find out how many companies with the profile UNFAV PIE, or Unfavourable Out Of Business (bankruptcy), were present in Global Financials. Using these profiles, we searched Global Financials for similar companies in other countries.
As a starting point, we took countries with a similar gross national product to the region in question. Gradually we added more countries until two dimensions were met.
At first we tried to stay as close as possible to the region in terms of GDP. But of course we stepped away from this as we added more countries to the sample.
We were then able to provide a sufficient number of UNFAV PIE profiles in line with the statistics that work best with large numbers. It should be noted that we intentionally used a slightly larger UNFAV PIE sample than normal.
Using this new subset of data, we were finally able to report our findings back to the client, complete with an industry-specific scoring system that was able to predict, in the lowest 20% of scored cases, over 75% of future bankruptcies in the client's area. And this over a time horizon of bankruptcy within 1 to 5 years.
This delivered tangible benefits for our client. But the biggest success story lay in the fact that we were able to maximize the potential of data and Global Financials. We can identify and predict a substantial number of bankruptcies from one pool of data. This shows that it is not a question of the amount of data sources, but simply what you do with the data at your disposal.
Yes, I want to be informed every month about trends & development around Credit Risk, Compliance, Master Data, Supply Chain en Sales & Marketing.
I agree with the privacy policy.
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https://www.altares.nl/en/blog/credit-risk-management/how-global-financials-can-boost-the-international-growth-of-companies/
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“Out of the 27 member states of the European Union, only about six- seven are relatively prepared to face a cyber-attack”, stated a high official from the field of cyber-security, during a conference in London, held under the aegis of Chatham House (therefore under its rule of rigour as well), which I attended the other days.
This situation is worrisome as far as risks are concerned because at this level, EU member states should not only have a common policy strategy, but also standard procedures prepared to be implemented simultaneously. However, as stated by all speakers, sometimes is harder to overcome the boundaries between organizations and communities, than the geographic ones.
Experts recommend collecting data and developing better recordings on the general vectors, considering that information on how exactly a cyber-attack takes place are seldom in existing reports concerning cyber-threats; on the impact antagonists have in order to understand the goal of these attacks and to prioritize security measures; enclosing the users’ perspective which is still missing from current data; the usage of a common terminology and most importantly, a common policy without which, extensive progress cannot be made in this field. I have noticed though, that on the course of only two days, during a free- speech conference, how different opinions can vary from one person to another who has expertise in the field, simply because they come from China and Russia on one hand, and USA and the rest of the world, on the other.
A common policy will represent the real challenge.
Even though, in Romania the cyber- security matter takes up little interest and only when concerning critical structures, on the international agenda the prime focus is on this issue, the Pentagon stating that for the first time, cyber-war has become a zero- priority, ahead of terrorism.
Great Britain has assigned the Cyber Security National Program 650 million pounds, while Germany has allocated 100 million euro, ensuring the technological defence capabilities development of critical infrastructures. Our country is still at the level where two ministries have one IT expert, even though the last CERT-RO report debated in CSAT, shows that we have become a target for economic cyber-espionage and cyber-fraud; over 2000 cyber- attacks were recorded in the first trimester of this year, which were classified as high risk of escalation.
In Great Britain there is a cyber- security chair in eight of the most important universities, while at the National Defence University, ever since 1995, the first generation of officers trained for coordinating cyber- war campaigns graduated.
In Romania, the critical infrastructure’s resistance is very low and within the next period this will represent a major objective for institutions as well as for private organizations, and in the absence of a sincere partnership, fair and profitable, between the two entities, progress cannot be made.
Beyond adopting a legal and institutional framework, society is completely unaware of the dangers and vulnerabilities of cyberspace; hasn’t got the minimum of cyber- security knowledge, while as the official agenda is dealing with minor issues.
Two years ago, during an event organized by the Aspen Institute, Mircea Geoana said that Romania should have a word to say in the matter of global talk on cyber regulations, and recently, in a more closed format of reflections, the Big Data discussions were “released” in Bucharest.
Without trying to be a pessimist, I believe that first of all, we ought to evaluate the resilience degree of our national critical infrastructures, elaborate and implement, through sustained efforts, a national plan for cyber-events intervention, provide awareness campaigns about the fact that every laptop or smartphone can turn into a weapon used by someone else, encourage youth who excel in the cyber field to stay in the country and invest more in the security of our own networks. In other words, prioritize the discussions, the focus and the measures’ implementation.
We all know there are no barriers for hacking, that from the White House and Pentagon’s websites to that of Estonia’s were hacked, erasing the latter from the worldwide map in 2007 or the fact that in 2008, Georgia lost control over its country domain (.ge), while in 2010 Stuxnet became the first world known cyber-weapon and that in the cost/profit report if for a cruise missile two million dollars are spent, a cyber-weapon can cost only between 300 and 50.000 dollars, while the damages it can cause are beyond imagination.
The numbers presented at London by the speakers, show that on a daily basis 1,5 million people are facing cyber-attacks and that almost 300 billion euro worldwide are lost due to cyber-crimes.
Threats not only come from state actors, but also from organized crime and even some small “patriotic” groups (as Russian officials declared), or lead by financial interests, passion and even madness.
Internet is becoming a virtual “ecosystem” from which we have to eliminate the destructive and polluting factors influencing others “health”. Considering the global framework and the escalading trend of these threats, I believe Romania should concentrate its attention on cyber- security, should we not want to remain such a vulnerable target as we are now.
The hardest thing of course, will be synchronizing the different point of views of human rights advocates and the authorities entrusted with the dwellers’ security, which sometimes act borderline between abuse in the name of combating threats and the failure of bureaucracy and obtaining legal visas. Especially in the field of cyber-security, the fragile balance between human rights and his need for security shall raise a challenge not only for state institutions, but also for the business community and civil society. I’m afraid Romania, as a country with damaged and basic collective mentality, unaware of security issues, will sometimes reject what’s good for it, just because it won’t understand it.
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https://blog.qmagazine.ro/index.php/2013/06/23/cyber-security-balancing-risks-returns-and-responsabilities/
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In its long-awaited cybersecurity framework, the National Institute of Standards and Technology heeded the call from the American Hospital Association and others to keep it flexible and voluntary in the private sector.
Daniel Nutkis, CEO of the Health Information Trust Alliance, told HealthcareInfoSecurity, that the framework closely matches the recommendations in its HITRUST Common Security Framework and any new elements will be incorporated.
Based on collaboration between government and the private sector, the framework "uses a common language to address and manage cybersecurity risk in a cost-effective way based on business needs without placing additional regulatory requirements on businesses," the document states.
Framework Core: Activities grouped into five functions – Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover – that provide a high-level view of an organization's management of cyber risks.
Profiles: These can help organizations establish a roadmap for reducing cybersecurity risk that is aligned with organizational goals, regulatory requirements, industry best practices and risk-management priorities.
Tiers: Varying levels indicate an increasing degree of rigor in risk management practices, the degree to which they reflect business needs and are integrated into overall risk-management practices.
Through workshops and events over the next six months, NIST will work with organizations adopting the framework to improve it. Areas targeted for improvement in future versions, according to an article in InformationWeek Government, include authentication, automated information sharing, assessing compliance with standards, privacy standards and supply chain management.
At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security announced its Critical Infrastructure Cyber Community (C3) program to coordinate cross-sector cybersecurity efforts. It offers a free assessment--a "cyber resilience review"--which can be a self-assessment or conducted with in-person help.
Simulated attacks on the federal government and health sector are planned in March to help the healthcare industry be better prepared for and better able to respond to cyberattacks, with HITRUST coordinating the event, dubbed CyberRX.
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https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/it/nist-cybersecurity-framework-how-it-will-impact-healthcare
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Illegal collection or stealing personal data on the Internet, especially on social networks, in Vietnam has become so thorny lately.
One critical matter in Vietnam at present is to ensure the security and safety of its Population Database, which is developed by the Public Security Ministry and is fully exploited by various ministries and state agencies for socio-economic growth.
Minister of Public Security To Lam has just announced that the police are investigating the information leak of 30 million individuals, supposedly from the Education and Training Ministry. Before that, theses information pieces were sold publicly by hacker Meli0das.
Even though Vietnam has a basic legal frame to protect personal data, the sanctions are considered too light, while the impacts of privacy infringement might be quite serious in certain cases as they can damage the honor, dignity, and safety of victims.
Therefore, it is suggested to add more provisions on criminal liability for violation of personal data into the Penal Code. Some serious violations on the law to protect personal data like illegally collecting, exploiting, and selling personal data can be considered a crime. It is also necessary to increase the effectiveness of the personal data protection mechanism via civil lawsuits.
The National Population Database is a national property, and thus earning level-4 protection and management. The data collection and management from central to local levels must be detailed, and specialized technical monitoring must be done round the clock to prevent cyberattacks.
For the two years from 2019, the Public Security Ministry discovered hundreds of individuals and organizations in professional trading lines carrying out personal data stealing. The amount of personal data illegally sold came to 1,300GB, including different kinds of sensitive information.
The Criminal Police Department (under the Public Security Ministry) has just warned the public not to post or share images of the citizen ID cards or bank accounts onto social networks, which are quite popularly and carelessly done in Vietnam. Personal information should not be provided online to non-essential services with no commitment to ensuring the safety for such information on the cyber space.
During the national digital transformation process, personal data are a valuable resource for the growth of a digital society and economy. That demands an even higher level of protection for this special national asset. This is not only the responsibility of competent agencies but the duty of each individual in the community when participating in activities on the digital space.
Users of Vietnamese digital platform surge 23.5% in August
Vietnamese’s use of domestic digital platforms recorded a year-on-year rise of 23.5% in August, with 494 million users.
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https://vietnamnet.vn/en/vietnam-puts-top-priority-to-personal-information-security-2050182.html
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Every year millions of consumers file claims with their insurance agents and insurance companies. The trauma of an auto accident or theft is stressful enough without having to worry about your insurance claim. The following information, prepared by the Independent Insurance Agents of America, is designed to help you understand the claims process. Your independent insurance agent will be there to ensure your claim is handled promptly and fairly. Taking It To The Road There are two basic types of claims. The first involves loss or damage to your automobile. The second type is a liability claim which arises when someone else suffers an injury or damage to their property because of something you did or did not do. For example, if you run a stop sign and hit another vehicle, you could be liable for the damages to that vehicle and any injuries that may have occurred. Liability claims may result in a lawsuit against you. To cover these two key areas, most auto policies subdivide the coverage into the following categories:
Auto liability covers damage to other people’s property and injuries to the people.
Collision covers damage to your own vehicle.
“Other than Collision” or “Comprehensive” coverage pays to repair damage to your car caused by fire, theft, vandalism, natural disaster or similar events.
Medical payments, termed “good faith” coverage, guarantees immediate medical payments for you, your passengers and other parties involved in the accident, regardless of who is at fault. The point is to help someone who is injured get the necessary medical attention and deal with the issue of fault and insurance later.
Uninsured and underinsured motorists coverages protect you if you are injured in an accident with others who themselves do not carry enough insurance or have no liability insurance.
That’s It? No. There are additional coverages such as towing and temporary replacement vehicles available for your auto insurance policy. In fact, just about any contingency can be covered by adding clauses and conditions known as endorsements or riders to a standard policy. After An Accident For several reasons, the first conversation you have should be with your independent insurance agent. Chances are your policy includes a stipulation that the insurance company be notified promptly. Conversations with others about the situation can inadvertently waive some of your rights in the case. You will be asked to fill out a claim form–the formal document on which you request benefits to be paid according to the terms of the policy. All this will help your adjuster do his or her job and therefore speed the process. To support your claim, it may be necessary to supply the insurance company with some documentation such as a “proof of loss” form, auto repair and medical bills, and a copy of the police report. Be sure to keep a copy of your claim and any associated paperwork for your records. You may need to refer to it in the future. What Is A Deductible? Basically, when you purchase your insurance policy, you agree to pay the first specified amount of any damage as your share of the cost of repair or replacement. What Is A Claims Adjuster? The recommendation can be to accept the claim and pay the full amount requested, accept part of the claim and make a partial payment, or refuse the claim and make no payment. Freezing of a plumbing, heating air conditioning or other such household system.
If you should experience damage from an above listed caused, you can make temporary repairs (e.g., to the roof) to prevent further damage to your property. Remember to keep all receipts for the insurance company, and do not sign any deals with contractors or lawyers until you have spoken with your independent insurance agent. Suitable Coverage Unfortunately, there are other risks involved in everyday living besides loss or damage to your property. That old tree you kept meaning to remove may come crashing down during the next storm right on your neighbor’s garage. Or that pesky skateboarding teenager down the street may pick your sidewalk to have a spill and break a bone. If you find yourself involved in a situation where you may be held liable, it is important to notify your independent insurance agent. You may talk to the skateboarder’s “nice” parents or with your neighbors, but leave the insurance discussion and negotiating up to the professional. For several reasons, the first conversation you have about the incident should be with your independent insurance agent. Plus, in chatting about the situation you can inadvertently waive some of your rights in the case. More importantly, by inviting the insurance company in early in the process, the company can sometimes offer an early settlement that avoids a lawsuit. After all, the insurance company has a team of experts–claims adjusters, appraisers, lawyers, and medical experts–who have probably been down this road before and know exactly how to get mutual satisfaction for both sides without straining neighborly relations. That’s It? No. There are additional coverages such as flood and earthquake damage for your home. When The Time Comes If you do suffer property damage or injury or incur liability, it is time to file a claim. Be complete and supply as much detail as you can and, of course, be truthful. To support your claim, it may be necessary to supply some documentation. Pictures of your tree atop the neighbor’s garage, details on the sofa, chairs and CD collection destroyed in the fire, and so forth. The better you document your property beforehand with pictures, receipts and other evidence, the more likely your claim will be processed smoothly. Figuring Out The Costs How much financial settlement the insurance company offers you of course varies with the situation. However, for property damage, it helps to know that there are two basic ways to value your property: • Actual Cash Value–The replacement cost of the item minus depreciation. For example, a new television set may cost $500. If your 7-year-old TV set gets damaged in a fire, it might have depreciated 50%. Therefore, the televisions remaining value would be $250 • Replacement Coverage–The cost of replacing an item without deducting for depreciation. So today’s cost for a TV set with features similar to the 7-year-old one damaged by fire would determine the amount of compensation. If the similar new television costs $500, that would be the amount of your coverage. You may want to check your policy to see which kind of coverage you currently have. For example, if you would prefer replacement coverage and do not have it, this coverage can be added to your policy for an increase in your premium of about 10% to 15%. What is A Deductible? When you file a claim for property or loss, the payment made by the insurance company is subject to a deductible. The insurance company adjusts its rates accordingly, charging less for those who agree to pay a larger first share–or deductible. For example, if your home should sustain damages costing $2,000 to repair and you have a deductible of $250, you would pay $250 and the insurance company would pay $1,750. What is A Claims Adjuster? Once you have reported your claim to your agent, he or she will contact your insurer’s claims adjuster–usually within the hour. The adjuster will begin the settlement process, the length of which will depend on the cooperation of the other party, if any. While some claims are relatively easy and straightforward, others are more complicated. Your adjuster is charged with investigating the claim and then making a recommendation to the insurance company. The insurance company will then make a final decision regarding your claim and notify you. A Final Note The amount of compensation offered can vary according to the adjuster’s analysis of your claim. Keep in mind, if you feel it is too low, you do not have to accept the first amount offered. While you may have to do some research to prove a higher payment is valid, it may be worth it.
read more...
The coronavirus (COVID-19) has ushered in an unprecedented new reality with a far-reaching impact on families and businesses. Alliant remains steadfastly committed to serving as a pillar of strength and support for the valued clients and communities we serve. The health and safety of our employees and clients is of utmost importance to us.
Despite our offices being closed to the general public, please know that we are operating and are fully functional. We have encouraged our employees to work from home and continue to deliver the highest level of customer service with as little disruption as possible. As we continue to monitor and adapt to this everchanging situation, we will endeavor to keep you updated. The link below provides several resources for businesses owners and will be updated frequently.
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https://tcormanagement.com/risk-management/report-a-claim/
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The COVID-19 pandemic created new challenges for KIPIC as employees worked remotely and increasingly relied on mobile devices. As a critical national infrastructure organisation, the petroleum products company is highly visible and a valuable target for threat actors. KIPIC needed a security capability that would self-install for mobile users and provide clear alerts, guidance and protection on observed risks.
“When the pandemic began and our workforce started working remotely suddenly, we were no longer communicating from within the network inside our office,” said Husain Al-Maghrabi, Head of Cyber Security at KIPIC. “With staff more frequently using personal devices from home, we needed a mobile cybersecurity solution to protect our organisation and our staff from cyberthreats.”
©2020-2023 ITTech News or its affiliates - All rights reserved.
We are a global marketing support and inside sales company that enhances business performance of B2B organizations through data, quality and lead generation solutions. We mobilize your sales by building precise prospect database and technology marketing services, tailored to maximize your customer engagement opportunities.
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https://ittech-news.com/security/cutting-edge-cybersecurity-protects-the-mobile-workforce/
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Researchers warn of a now-fixed critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability in GitLab ‘s web interface actively exploited in the wild.
Cybersecurity researchers warn of a now-patched critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2021-22205, in GitLab’s web interface that has been actively exploited in the wild.
The vulnerability is an improper validation issue of user-provided images the can lead to arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability affects all versions starting from 11.9.
“An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 11.9. GitLab was not properly validating image files that is passed to a file parser which resulted in a remote command execution. This is a critical severity issue (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H, 9.9). It is now mitigated in the latest release and is assigned CVE-2021-22205.” reads the advisory published by GitLab.
GitLab addressed the vulnerability on April 14, 2021, with the release of 13.8.8, 13.9.6, and 13.10.3 versions.
The vulnerability was reported by the expert vakzz through the bug bounty program of the company operated through the HackerOne platform.
The vulnerability was actively exploited in the wild, researchers from HN Security described an attack one of its customers. Threat actors created two user accounts with admin privileges on a publicly-accessible GitLab server belonging to this organization. The attackers exploited the flaw to upload a malicious payload that leads to remote execution of arbitrary commands.
“Meanwhile, we noticed that a recently released exploit for CVE-2021-22205 abuses the upload functionality in order to remotely execute arbitrary OS commands. The vulnerability resides in ExifTool, an open source tool used to remove metadata from images, which fails in parsing certain metadata embedded in the uploaded image, resulting in code execution as described here.” reads the analysis published by HN Security.
The flaw was initially rated with a CVSS score of 9.9, but the score was later changed to 10.0 because the issue could be triggered by an unauthenticated attackers.
Researchers from Rapid7 reported that of the 60,000 internet-facing GitLab installations:
21% of installs are fully patched against this issue.
50% of installs are not patched against this issue.
29% of installs may or may not be vulnerable.
GitLab users are recommended to update their installs immediately.
“GitLab users should upgrade to the latest version of GitLab as soon as possible. In addition, ideally, GitLab should not be an internet facing service. If you need to access your GitLab from the internet, consider placing it behind a VPN.” reads the advisory published by Rapid7.
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We do not provide files or attachments in any form except links to our monthly emagazines for our readership and subscribers and our media kit, found here.
We are a non-partisan, inclusive, carbon-negative organization.
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https://www.cyberdefensemagazine.com/50-of-internet/
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Tiger Optics is a specialized distributor of cyber security solutions. The company was founded in 2011 in the Russian Federation and has representative offices in Kazakhstan, Belarus and Uzbekistan.
We help partners and customers increase security throughout the corporate IT infrastructure – from the data center to endpoints – workstations and corporate mobile devices.
Among our suppliers are the world leaders in the IT industry, including Palo Alto Networks, Tenable, Anomali, Illusive Networks, Radware, BlackBerry, Cymulate and others.
With five regional hubs in Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Uzbekistan, and more than 150 specialized cyber security channel partners throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Tiger Optics sells to end users in Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova.
13662 sanctions to the Russian financial sector.
Our partners include world leaders in cybersecurity, including Palo Alto Networks, Tenable (Nessus), SentinelOne, Anomali, Illusive Networks, Radware, BlackBerry and others.
Employees of Tiger Optics in their work interact directly with the largest vendors, system integrators and customers. The knowledge, experience and contacts gained allow you to develop a personal brand in the labor market and move up the career ladder, growing within the company or continuing your career in major international vendors such as Cisco, Check Point Software Technologies, Fortinet, Acronis, EPAM and Group-IB.
site:tiger-optics.ru filetype:pdf site:blog.tiger-optics.ru filetype:pdf
The US has sanctioned many Russian companies and passed legislation impacting doing business there.
There are many more US companies doing business in Russia. One such company should be of interest – Positive Technologies (ptsecurity.com) Washington has sanctioned Russian cyber security firm Positive Technologies. US intelligence reports claim it provides hacking tools and runs operations for the Kremlin.
Time to take a hard look at your ‘partner vendors.’ Your security is at stake.
The Persian Pasdaran - Iranian Cyber News and Activities persianpasdaran.com/?edition_id=0c… Internet scraped content from… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 51 minutes ago
The latest Voigt-Kampff Analyzer! voigt-kampffanalyzer.com/?edition_id=0b… Thanks to @LukaszProject @IainLJBrown @bahiajornal #machinelearning #ai 1 hour ago
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https://cybershafarat.com/2022/02/19/if-russia-invades-sanctions-what-happens-to-all-the-us-israeli-cyber-security-threat-intelligence-firms-doing-business-there/
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NuGet\Install-Package WebApplications. Utilities. Cryptography -Version 5.2.6463.29136
This command is intended to be used within the Package Manager Console in Visual Studio, as it uses the NuGet module's version of Install-Package.
dotnet add package WebApplications. Utilities. Cryptography --version 5.2.6463.29136 <PackageReference Include="WebApplications. Utilities. Cryptography" Version="5.2.6463.29136" />
For projects that support PackageReference, copy this XML node into the project file to reference the package.
paket add WebApplications. Utilities. Cryptography --version 5.2.6463.29136
The NuGet Team does not provide support for this client. Please contact its maintainers for support.
#r "nuget: WebApplications. Utilities. Cryptography, 5.2.6463.29136" #r directive can be used in F# Interactive, C# scripting and .NET Interactive. Copy this into the interactive tool or source code of the script to reference the package.
// Install WebApplications. Utilities. Cryptography as a Cake Tool
#tool nuget:?package=WebApplications. Utilities. Cryptography&version=5.2.6463.29136
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https://packages.nuget.org/packages/WebApplications.Utilities.Cryptography/5.2.6463.29136
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Colonial Pipeline, one of the largest pipeline operators in the United States, had to shut down operations on May 8th, 2021 after becoming the victim of a ransomware attack. The FBI confirmed that the DarkSide ransomware group was responsible for the attack on the Colonial Pipeline infrastructure.
Darkside is human-operated ransomware that uses various post-exploitation tools (such as Cobalt Strike, Metasploit framework, Bloodhound, etc.) to perform Active Directory enumeration, identify paths to high privilege targets, and deploy ransomware organization-wide.
Prior IR (Incident Response) engagements of organizations infected with Darkside ransomware have seen that the group targets the organization’s domain controllers after getting initial access.
“We observed Darkside payload (e.g., azure_agent.exe.exe) staged on the domain controller in a network-shareable folder (e.g., C:WindowsIMEazure), followed by the establishment of a scheduled task (e.g., WindowsSYSVOLdomainPolicies{L0NGMGU1D}UserPreferencesScheduledTasks) set with Group Policy and instructing hosts to obtain and execute the payload. This resulted in a fully automated enterprise-wide deployment less than 24 hours after data was exfiltrated.”
Source: https://www.areteir.com/darkside-ransomware-caviar-taste-on-your-big-game-budget/
The following are some of the methods the threat actors used to gain domain dominance after the initial compromise.
Use tools such as Cobalt Strike, Metasploit framework, Bloodhound, Powershell Empire, etc., to perform Active Directory enumeration and move laterally from the initially infected system to escalate privileges.
Use Mimikatz to dump credentials and gain domain administration access.
Deploy ransomware payload to a network shared folder that is accessible to all computers in a domain.
Deploy ransomware payload across the organization by creating GPO scheduled tasks.
How organizations can protect against human-operated ransomware operators
The Attivo Networks ThreatDefend® platform prevents attackers from moving laterally and stops ransomware from encrypting or exfiltrating data at multiple stages of the attack cycle.
Step 1: The Attivo Networks ADSecure solution restricts Active Directory enumeration access on an as-needed basis, preventing attackers from discovering privileged Active Directory users or group permissions.
They must also perform SMB Net session enumeration to discover the systems of privileged users.
Step 2: The Attivo Networks ADSecure solution detects attacker attempts to dump credentials, extract tickets, and elevate domain credentials to perform Golden Ticket and DC Sync Attacks.
Step 3: The Attivo Networks ADSecure solution prevents attackers from discovering and gaining access to the organization’s domain controllers.
Step 4: The Attivo Networks DataCloak function hides and denies access to local files, folders, and network or cloud shares from ransomware payloads. Files are not visible to malicious ransomware processes, and they can’t exfiltrate or encrypt files that are not visible.
The Darkside ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline caused significant damage to the company and disrupted pipeline operations for much of the east coast of the United States. Organizations can limit the damage these attacks can cause by implementing the Attivo ThreatDefend® platform.
About Attivo Networks:
Attivo Networks®, the leader in preventing identity privilege escalation and detecting lateral movement attacks, delivers a superior defense for countering threat activity. ThreatDefend® Platform customers gain unprecedented visibility to risks, attack surface reduction, and speed up attack detection. Patented innovative defenses cover critical points of attack, including at endpoints, in Active Directory (AD), in the cloud, and across the entire network. Concealment technology hides critical AD objects, data, and credentials. Bait and misdirection efficiently steer attackers away from production assets, and deception decoys derail lateral movement activities. Attivo has won over 150 awards for its technology innovation and leadership. attivonetworks.sentinelone.com.
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https://www.sentinelone.com/blog/darkside-ransomware-attack-and-domain-compromise/
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Intel hopes to make it easier for developers to make money by pushing a subscription model to sell applications through its tablet and netbook application store, a company executive said this week.
A subscription model would provide another revenue stream in addition to advertising and direct sales of applications hosted on Intel's AppUp store, said Peter Biddle, general manager of AppUp products and services at Intel.
AppUp, designed similar to Apple's App Store, hosts applications for netbooks and tablets running on Intel or x86 processors. Under the current revenue model, developers get a 70 percent cut on applications sold, and Intel and partners get the remaining 30 percent.
[ Further reading: Our picks for best PC laptops ]
"The notion of bundled subscriptions that developers can opt into as well as individual subscriptions unique to their brand -- individual titles or multiple titles -- absolutely we're going to be supporting that in the future," Biddle said. "It's very high-priority for us."
Intel's AppUp store currently hosts more than 3,000 applications, which are mostly priced under US$10 or available free. The subscription model would work for bundled applications, Biddle said, providing the example of a bundle of casual games at a price of $5 to $10 a month. The subscription model would also work for rental software under which users get the latest versions, new features or additional capabilities on a consistent basis.
"Users understand the business model of renting versus buying and they've been doing it with movies, books and audio for years. It's not a big leap for them," Biddle said.
Earlier this year, Apple implemented a subscription service for content-based applications such as newspapers, video and music in the App Store. News Corp.'s The Daily multimedia news application was one of the first to use the subscription model.
Other Features Considered
Intel is also looking to add highly desired developer capabilities, such as in-application billing and identity services, which are also high-priority, Biddle said. A billing system will enable payments through credit cards and services such as PayPal after a person's identity is verified. Such services can be embedded in an application.
By adding new features, Intel hopes to make available more software -- and thus create demand -- for devices based on its Atom chips. Most tablets today run on ARM-based processors, so developers write mobile applications first for the ARM architecture.
Intel will also put AppUp in MeeGo tablets in the future as a core part of the operating system, with units shipping by the end of this year, Biddle said. The company also wants to put AppUp in TV sets, cars and other electronics running MeeGo.
Earlier this year MeeGo took a big hit when Nokia abandoned the OS to establish a future smartphone strategy around Microsoft's Windows Phone OS. Intel and Nokia last year announced they would work together to develop MeeGo for smartphones and tablets.
Despite Nokia's MeeGo defection, there is a growing interest in the OS, Biddle said. Intel is also providing tools and helping developers port applications from Apple's App Store to work with Intel-based netbooks and tablets.
The initial tablets with Intel's first dedicated tablet chip, Oak Trail, started shipping late last month. In the future, Oak Trail tablets will be available with Google's Android 3.0 OS, code-named Honeycomb. Intel has no plans to put the AppUp store on Android to compete directly with the Android Market, Biddle said.
"It's starting to look like a crowded market," Biddle said.
To comment on this article and other PCWorld content, visit our Facebook page or our Twitter feed.
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https://www.pcworld.com/article/231150/intel_pushes_subscription_model_for_tablet_app_store.html
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Today’s columnist, Ravi Srinivasan of Votiro, reports that a survey by Google Cloud found that 83% of financial service companies are deploying cloud technology as part of their primary computing infrastructure. Srinivasan says that such modern cloud technologies can help companies mitigate ransomware attacks. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
The days of Bonnie and Clyde-style bank robberies are over. No need to go to the bank when cybercriminals can rob it from the comfort of their own home. That’s essentially what cybercriminals do via ransomware attacks.
When bad actors think of organizations with the most amount of highly sensitive information, as well as the most “wealthy” and willing to shell out for a ransom payment, it’s no surprise that financial institutions are a primary target. Cybercriminals narrowed their focus, and found success, deploying ransomware attacks against financial institutions. Victims range from small, regional banks to national financial agencies such as Brazil’s National Treasury.
What started a couple decades ago has transformed into a successful, lucrative operation for cybercriminal groups. Major ransomware players—Conti, REvil, Darkside, Clop, and Ragnar have become household names and new players—Hive, BlackMatter, AvosLocker and others—have entered the market. Bad actors have curated advanced techniques, adopted ransomware-as-a-service models, exploited new vectors and demanded outrageous payments—a $40 million ransom payment made by CNA Financial in March 2021 has been the largest payout to date. So, where does that leave us? What’s in store for ransomware in the financial sector this year and beyond?
New ransomware use cases on the rise
The way organizations operate now has drastically changed from when ransomware first emerged on the scene. Ransomware actually started back in the 1980s—yes, back in the floppy disk days. Think of how far technology has come since then and how much of our world has been digitized. Companies depend on these new digitized systems, and in the past couple of years we’ve truly immersed ourselves in digital transformation. These trends created new use cases and attack vectors for ransomware.
Threat actors usually disseminate ransomware through malicious documents downloaded via email. This has been a tried-and-true tactic for cybercriminals for years, but with digital transformations and increased teleworking policies, two new use cases have emerged: third-party ecosystems and the cloud.
The use of third parties
Third-party ecosystems for financial services companies consist of the digital products and service providers that these organizations integrate to conduct operations virtually or in digital environments. Think of Zelle. It’s a digital payments network that partners with most of the major banks as well as many smaller regional and local banks. Banks leverage Zelle to let consumers transfer money from one bank account to another, traditionally through their online banking platforms.
Zelle has become widely used, but there are many other products, service providers, APIs, and digital software that financial institutions rely on every day. While these companies help financial organizations create user friendly, accessible platforms and streamline internal processes, they also open up institutions to increased risk. Consider the cyberattack on Morgan Stanley last year. In the summer of 2021, Morgan Stanley announced that customer social security numbers were breached after the company was involved in a security incident because of a cyberattack impacting Accellion, one of Morgan Stanley’s vendors. Financial institutions traditionally have strong cyber defenses, but organizations are only as strong as their weakest third party. Bad actors always choose the path of least resistance, and often, they easily use third parties as avenues to larger targets.
Moving to the cloud
Financial institutions traditionally are slow to adopt the cloud, but that will change. Many financial institutions have prioritized public cloud adoption over the next few years. In fact, a recent Google Cloud survey reports 83% of surveyed financial services companies are deploying cloud technology as part of primary computing infrastructures. Increased usage of the cloud means migrating content-rich applications to the cloud, such as credit card, mortgage applications and storing customer and partner content in cloud data platforms.
And here’s where organizations make missteps. Many do not realize that they cannot use the same cybersecurity policies and processes in public cloud infrastructure as they did in self-hosted data-center infrastructure. For example, many organizations leveraged layers of firewalls to protect malicious activity on the servers that they knew the application was running on. Now, this approach isn’t as effective given that content runs on cloud servers outside of the enterprise. Bad actors continue to exploit the reality that organizations are not adapting their security policies and strategies to accommodate the shift to the cloud. Because of this, they can easily find loopholes in security coverage to access sensitive content hosted within cloud environments. Today’s user-friendly business processes require a new, modern approach to security – one that’s usable and enables secure business continuity.
A content-focused, approach to cybersecurity
Everything around us constantly gets upgraded to new and improved technologies. To put it in perspective, Apple has introduced 34 versions of the iPhone since 2007, each one with new capabilities. It’s also true with the business technologies that organizations rely on every day. And, just like how people upgrade their phone every couple of years, they need to do the same with security technology.
Organizations often fall down when they do upgrade the legacy security systems they have in place. They often try to plug the gaps by bringing on new security solutions in addition to the legacy systems they have in place, but that can quickly become very complex and expensive.
Companies really need to make a complete overhaul of the security stack and upgrade the entire system, but organizations often don’t have the resources to do so. There’s no shortage of solutions in the cybersecurity market that can offer the necessary protection that financial institutions need. Modern approaches to cybersecurity can start with focusing on how businesses use content. And, unlike traditional security technologies, many of these solutions are built with the end user in mind and enhance productivity among the workforce. Doing so may protect the company from a destructive and costly digital heist.
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https://www.scmagazine.com/perspective/ransomware/by-deploying-modernized-cloud-security-companies-can-better-defend-against-ransomware-%EF%BF%BC
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The CIO of Target, one of the world's largest retail chains, has become the first casualty of the massive data breach that occurred in the company's systems last year.
Beth Jacob, who was the executive in charge of Target's computer systems, is leaving as the firm attempts to overhaul its network security and computer infrastructure. She was named CIO in 2008 and played a major role in the firm's e-commerce operations.
The source of the breach, which lifted the details of more than 40 million people, was just one email. An unprotected supplier for Target - a refrigeration company - was infected and then passed the malware on to the retail giant's systems.
Part of the revamp to the company's systems involves changing the structure of the business itself to closely link technology and compliance areas, a step taken by big banks in recent years.
Target's incoming CIO, whoever they might be, will be called on to immediately oversee a payment system upgrade, which the company is spending more than $100 million (£60 million, AU$110 million) on.
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https://www.techradar.com/au/news/world-of-tech/target-cio-resigns-following-major-data-breaches-1231605
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Open the Task Manager by pressing the Ctrl + Shift + Esc shortcut keys on your Windows laptop.
In the Task Manager window, go to the Processes tab and check the running processes.
After detecting the suspicious processes, select them one by one and click the End task button.
Next, click the File tab and select the Run new task option.
Enter “MSConfig” in the text field and click the OK button.
In the new window, click the Service tab and remove all the suspicious services.
After removing or disabling the suspicious services, click the Apply button.
Click the OK button to finish the virus removal process using the Task Manager.
Method: 2
To know how to remove virus from laptop without antivirus software using command prompt as follows.
On your Windows laptop, click the Start menu available at the bottom-left corner of the screen.
Enter “cmd” in the search panel and give a right-click on the Command Prompt app from the search result.
Type “dir” and press the Enter button.
This command will load all the files on your desktop and reveals the virus-infected files.
Identify the virus-infected files and remove them from the system.
Method: 3
Go to the Windows Settings and click the Apps tab.
Under Apps & features, locate the newly installed or unfamiliar apps (that contain the virus).
After selecting the virus-infected programs/apps, click the Uninstall button. If you need a remote assistance about how to remove virus from laptop without antivirus Software, click the call button.
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https://laptop-support.co/how-to-remove-virus-from-laptop-without-antivirus-software/
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Infrastructure and licensing costs are deeply concerning for businesses looking to consolidate cybersecurity tools and make a move into the cloud, according to findings from a recent poll from Logpoint.
The poll revealed almost a third of respondents believe they are throwing money at nothing when it comes to their existing cyber security stack.
The poll was issued on Twitter over 3 days and targeted cybersecurity and IT professionals to uncover the security and cost implications enterprises face with their existing IT infrastructure and the overwhelming number of solutions and applications.
When questioned on their feelings towards their existing cybersecurity technology stack, 32 percent admitted feeling as though they were throwing money at nothing, with a further 17 percent stating that it was too time and cost consuming. Worryingly, 27 percent also said it was overwhelming and a further 23 percent said they were at a tipping point with their current technology.
"Today's enterprises face an increasing number of challenges on their IT infrastructure, with a growing workforce across numerous locations and huge amounts of data to manage," says Andrew Lintell, Logpoint VP for EMEA.
"If ever there was a lesson to be learned, the Covid pandemic certainly highlighted the importance of investing in the right business tools and technologies," he says.
"While some had to scale up, others had to scale back costs and reduce expenses to make up for lost revenue. These findings highlight that sentiment and the drastic need for businesses to get to grips with their existing infrastructure and the host of tools they are operating."
When questioned on where they think cost savings can be made in consolidating cybersecurity tools/solutions, 45 percent of respondents said reducing infrastructure would offer the biggest cost-saving, followed by removal of duplicated and unused tools (29%) and reducing analyst training (27%).
"With all the security products organisations have installed, sometimes up to 70 different solutions, and the money invested, they still remain vulnerable to cyberattack," says Lintell.
"Buying more solutions doesn't solve the problem and often results in duplication or crossover of tools and processes or solutions going unused. Businesses need to change tack and take up a more holistic and consolidated approach to cybersecurity."
When it comes to expense, this was also highlighted as the biggest concern with software licensing in the cloud, with 39 percent saying it was too expensive, and 24 percent noting unknown future costs as a cause for concern. Lock-in or lack of control with software licensing was flagged by 22 percent as an issue also, along with a lack of user-based licensing options over usage-based (14%).
"The cost of licensed software in the cloud is still a big blind spot for many businesses and can far exceed the cost of the cloud infrastructure itself," says Lintell.
"Without a complete picture of all of the costs particularly those associated with usage rather than based on the number of users, risk ballooning costs," he says.
"While security leaders may have the funds to buy multiple security solutions, they often do not have the expertise (or time and resources) to leverage the products feature set. Consolidation of capabilities, unified instrumentation and automation will minimise the time it takes for security teams to detect, orchestrate and respond to cyber incidents, and ultimately result in cost savings and limit wasted budget on unnecessary solutions."
Skills shortages hold orgs back from capitalising on cloud 2.0
Organisations are becoming more comfortable with sophisticated 'cloud 2.0' technologies, even as they confront difficulties in hiring and retaining IT talent.
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https://itbrief.co.nz/story/businesses-throwing-money-at-nothing-over-cybersecurity-stack
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Dell announced its Dell Data Protection/Encryption software to protect the data on endpoint devices against data breaches, the company said Nov. 17.
Designed to simplify endpoint encryption, Data Protection/Encryption protects data on laptops, desktops and external media, in case of loss or theft, said Dell. The software will be installed on Dell Latitude notebooks, Dell OptiPlex desktops and Dell Precision mobile and desktop workstations from the factory “in the coming weeks,” according to David Konetski from the office of the CTO, Dell Business Client. He declined to provide eWEEK with a specific date.
The software uses file-level encryption to secure the device against data breaches. Instead of just encrypting the partition at once, or every single file automatically, Data Protection/Encryption encrypts only files that meet the administrator-defined criteria. The options can be based on the end-user profile, data sensitivity, and the organization’s compliance needs, Dell said.
The software was co-developed by Dell with mobile security company Credant Technologies, said Konetski. With Credant’s Cryptography Algorithm at the base, Dell developers added “an enhanced user interface, single management console and pre-set compliance templates,” he said.
Konetski called Data Protection/Encryption a “foundational” product and additional security functionality specific to Dell are planned for future releases.
“Public exposure of private and highly sensitive data continues to occur in organizations both large and small,” said Eric Ouellet, vice president, Secure Business Enablement, Gartner. “Managed endpoint encryption solutions that are flexible and adaptable to the demands of mobile users help minimize risks and are an important part of best practice frameworks.”
The cost of data breaches is increasing in both the private and public sector, according to a report by the Ponemon Institute earlier this year. The organizational cost of a data breach in the United States can be up to $6.75 million per incident, said Dell.
A Global Fraud Report issued in October found that electronic and information theft accounted for 27.3 percent of fraud-related losses, with businesses losing almost $1.7 million per billion dollars in sales worldwide.
Since Data Protection/Encryption is currently available for Microsoft Windows systems only, supporting Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7, Dell is offering an optional “integration” with Credant to secure and encrypt other platforms such as select smartphones and non-Windows operating systems. The optional Credant offering extends the protection to include Mac OS X, Windows Mobile, Symbian smartphones, Palm OS devices, and iPhones, according to Credant.
IT managers have access to Data Protection/Encryption’s centralized management tools to detect endpoint devices within the organization that need encryption and to enforce encryption policies. The reporting tools let managers see that endpoints are protected regardless of user, device, or location. The reports can be used for audit purposes to meet regulatory compliance requirements such as for HIPAA and PCI DSS, said Dell.
The encryption application comes with preset policy templates that let managers define encryption rules for portable USB drives, internal and external drives including eSATA, 1394, and USB, optical drives such as CDs, and Secure Digital cards, said Dell.
There are some restrictions in order to encrypt data on optical storage such as CDs, said Dell. For Windows XP systems, Data Protection/Encryption requires additional software, Nero InCD. Vista systems require Vista Live File System to be activated and Windows 7 need native burning mode support.
Dell Data Protection/Encryption is also available through volume licensing, Dell said. The optional integration with Credant Technologies for non-Windows systems are also available through Dell, according to Konetski.
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https://www.eweek.com/security/dell-brings-data-protection-and-encryption-to-windows-systems/
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When it comes to reliability, antivirus and VPN software can be an wonderful combination. The two help to protect the devices against malware, stop tracking and block scam. Both also scan for potential hazards while you’re on the net. While antivirus security software does a good job of safeguarding your level of privacy and invisiblity online, a VPN is essential for total privacy and security.
Each of the products write about many features, but the main differences are definitely the level of secureness and personal privacy they provide. Anti virus software may protect your laptop or computer www.odrywisborn.net/data-room-software-and-its-function from malicious software program, while VPNs transform your life privacy by simply hiding the IP address. When you compare these two reliability products, be sure you choose the one that best suits your requirements.
Antivirus software program works by scanning services your computer for malware and cleaning out the risk. It does this by detecting shady code and assessing computing activity. Additionally, it provides real-time spyware reads and phishing protection. An excellent VPN needs to have plenty of hosts and make use of AES-256 security. Some VPNs also have WireGuard support, which in turn significantly improves your security.
McAfee’s malware method is a top-tier product. It offers essential security features such as anti-phishing shields, info breach monitoring, and parental controls. It also has a decent VPN that allows you to use endless data.
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https://carssurf.com/contrasting-antivirus-and-vpn-program/
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oriented. For example, Memphis will include better audio quality, an on screen TV interface (adapter required), and improved support for multimedia files. After
system and control which programs run on which monitors. Memphis also supports the Internet Explorer (IE) 4.0-integrated interface that lets you search your hard disk or the Web through the same user interface. Little of the Web-oriented technology in Memphis will be useful unless you have a dedicated Internet connection. IE 4.0 Although IE 4.0 is part of Memphis, IE has a life of its own. Microsoft is busily porting IE 4.0 to a variety of platforms--even 16-bit Windows and Macs.
However, to use the really cool features of IE 4.0 (e.g., the integrated browser
Transaction Server, both of which are mainstream NT 5.0 features. My advice is that if you want to preview NT 5.0 technology, take a look at IIS 4.0--it operates on the leading edge of NT technology. Zero Administration Technology
policies correctly, you can lower your desktop administration hassles and costs.
Microsoft will enhance and automate the SPE capabilities as part of NT 5.0. Microsoft's zero administration strategy also embraces the NetPC,
user's desktop runs on the server. Mark my words, NetPC and Windows terminal technology is getting hotter by the day. Site Server
afford a "real" firewall. But Proxy Server 2.0 stands to change my belief and promises to challenge the mainstream firewall products. With release
August 1997). Rest assured, no networking cowards are in this group of developers. As if such products weren't enough work for one group, I was amazed
1998. As for the Small Business Server, we all know that it is a combined version of NT Server, Exchange, SQL Server, and Proxy Server. But that's all we know at this point. This topic was one that Microsoft was unwilling to talk about--on or off the record. I'll keep you updated on this product as information becomes
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http://windowsitpro.com/print/windows-client/lab-guys-do-redmond
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Email account compromise does not just risk the information in the user’s email account, but also via the abuse of trust relationships can lead to further compromise as attackers use one compromised account in order to compromise other accounts, including those with administrator access. A compromise of an account with administrator permissions can lead to compromise of the entire email server, as well as the ability to run arbitrary system commands, which can in turn lead to escalated access to an organization’s secured network.
SonarSource researchers noted an available mitigation that can be deployed given the absence of a patch: editing the config/mime_drivers.php file in order to disable the rendering of OpenOffice attachments:
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https://www.binarydefense.com/threat_watch/horde-webmail-openoffice-preview-unpatched-vulnerability-allows-account-take-over/
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You know Play Store security scans are really bad when spyware based on open source code manages to slip past Google’s defenses, not once, but twice.
The Android app that did this is called Radio Balouch, also RB Music, an app for streaming Balouchi music, specific to a geographical region and population that spreads across Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Cyber-security firm ESET said this app, besides containing a legitimate radio streaming component, also integrated AhMyth, an remote access tool that has been available on GitHub as an open source project for more than two years.
Should have been avoidable
In a technical report published today detailing Radio Balouch’s features, ESET said this was the first known instance of a malicous app based on AhMyth reaching the Play Store, something which should have never happened due to AhMyth’s age and availability as an open source project of which the Play Store security team should have known about.
“The malicious functionality in AhMyth is not hidden, protected, or obfuscated,” said Lukáš Štefanko, malware researcher at ESET, who conducted the investigation into the malicious app. “For this reason, it is trivial to identify the Radio Balouch app – and other derivatives – as malicious and classify them as belonging to the AhMyth family.” “Nothing special was used to bypass either Google’s IP or postpone the malicious function. I think it wasn’t detected because users first had to set up the app – set the language, allow permissions, go through a couple of ‘next’ buttons, for an app overview and only then would the malicious code be launched,” he told ZDNet.
Štefanko said ESET spotted two instances of the malware being uploaded on the Play Store, one on July 2, and the second on July 13. Both were removed within a day, but only after they contacted the Play Store staff.
While the two apps never managed to get more than 100 installs, the problem here was the fact that they ended up on the Play Store using nothing more than unobfuscated open-source code.
“The (repeated) appearance of the Radio Balouch malware on the Google Play store should serve as a wake-up call to both the Google security team and Android users,” Štefanko said.
“Unless Google improves its safeguarding capabilities, a new clone of Radio Balouch or any other derivative of AhMyth may appear on Google Play,” he added.
Google did not return a request for comment from ZDNet regarding the background of this major Play Store security slip-up.
Play Store still better than any alternative
In the meantime, the malicious Radio Balouch app remains available for download via third-party Android app stores.
While the Play Store team might have failed users this time, the advice that users should limit the app they install on their phones to the ones they get from the Play Store remains valid.
Google still puts considerable effort into scanning for malicious apps, compared to any other third-party store, both pre and post app installation.
They might have bungled AhMyth’s detection, but the Play Store staff catches billions other threats every year.
Nevertheless, Štefanko also recommends that users install a mobile security app, just to be safe, in case Google misses anything, like in this case.
Since the two mallicious app targeted Iranian users, the targets of many cyber-espionage campaigns carried out in the past by Iranian state-sponsored groups, ZDNet also asked Štefanko if Radio Balouch was the work of such a group.
“That was also the first thing that came up to me, but I didn’t find any connection to any Iranian or other APT,” the ESET researcher told ZDNet.
Updated an hour after publication with additional comments from Štefanko.
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we are all about Ethical Hacking, Penetration Testing & Computer Security. We share and comment on interesting infosec related news, tools and more. Follow us on RSS ,Facebook or Twitter for the latest updates. DigitalMunition is designed to help Auditors, Pentesters & Security Experts to keep their ethical hacking oriented toolbox up-to-date .
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I’ve done an ip scan (with angry ip scanner) and found this ip address, i have no idea what it is i tried to google it but nothing. (And no its not my router ).
So how would you be able to override a ln admin password for a computer that runs on a server…
My hacked together but improved USB serial adapter for hacking GE’s GEABus appliance protocol. It is based off a repurposed software update dongle.
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https://www.digitalmunition.me/open-source-spyware-makes-it-on-the-google-play-store/
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Successful cyberattacks against organizations’ computer networks have ramped up in quantity and severity over the past years (Verizon, 2021) . As a recent example, the 2020 SolarWinds hack alone affected thousands of companies and United States government offices (Heath et al., 2021) . Timely detecting such breaches and thus stopping adversaries before they reach their final goals requires indicators of adversary activity. Log data provide numerous valuable sources of such indicators, ranging from operating system logs (e.g., Windows Event Logs or syslogs) over service logs (e.g., Apache’s Common Logs) to dedicated security system alerts (e.g., from firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDSs), or endpoint protection agents). Due to this large number of different log data sources, thoughtful configuration and analysis of these sources is vital for intrusion detection (Barse and Jonsson, 2004; Verizon, 2011; Yen et al., 2013) .
To aid in this task, companies employ security information and event management (SIEM) systems, which try to tackle the task of intrusion detection with several rule-based and anomaly-based methods (Bhatt et al., 2014) , but are far from being perfect (Maisey, 2014) . Consequently, current research is concerned with questions such as how events or alerts can be enriched, prioritized, or correlated (Roundy et al., 2017; Najafi et al., 2019; Veeramachaneni et al., 2016) as well as how adversaries can be modeled to improve the discovery of cyberattacks (Sodja et al., 2021) .
Any research dealing with these questions must be backed by sound evaluations – which require meaningful log data to evaluate against. Unfortunately, there is a significant lack of such data in the scientific community (Turcotte et al., 2019) and freely available datasets usually do not match researchers’ requirements for novel experiments (Sharafaldin et al., 2018) .
Consequently, a recent survey by Landauer et al. (Landauer et al., 2020) , e.g., found that almost 60 % of papers in the field of log clustering rely on unpublished datasets for evaluation and the majority of those using public datasets concentrates on only two of them. While unpublished datasets prevent reproduction of findings, published yet fixed datasets are limited in scope, not adaptable (e.g., w.r.t. changes and up-to-dateness), and their creation process might lack transparency (Vandewalle et al., 2009) . As such, existing fixed datasets are often pointless for novel experiments, as unchangeable underlying scenarios or system configurations do not match the requirements of these experiments.
In this paper, we study the question of how to generate meaningful, reproducible, and adaptable log datasets for sound scientific cybersecurity experiments to address the lack of suitable and freely available datasets that can be adapted to the requirements of novel experiments. By formulating design goals for sound experiments in log data research, we find a need for dedicated and publicly available testbeds to efficiently generate suitable and realistic log datasets as they would arise in a real enterprise network in an adaptable and reproducible manner. To address this need, we present and evaluate SOCBED, a proof-of-concept testbed allowing for a reproducible and adaptable generation of log datasets. SOCBED enables researchers to better build on existing work by reusing existing scenarios and consequently save the effort of building own testbeds from scratch while at the same time improving the comparability of results.
We survey the field of log data generation for cybersecurity experiments and find that data collection in productive networks or proprietary testbeds leads to experiments that often lack validity, controllability, and reproducibility.
To remedy this situation, we derive design goals for sound experiments in cybersecurity research, specifically focusing on the generation of realistic, transparent, adaptable, replicable, and available artifacts such as log datasets.
To showcase and validate our approach, we present SOCBED, a self-contained open-source cyberattack experimentation testbed with a focus on generating datasets, e.g., for intrusion detection research. SOCBED simulates a company network with clients, servers, and common services as well as benign user activity and an adversary performing multi-step attacks. The testbed can be built and run on a commodity PC and is freely available (SOCBED contributors, 2021) .
We use SOCBED to perform a practical attack detection experiment and show that this experiment is reproducible on commodity PCs, yields meaningful results, and allows for an adaptation of log data generation in a controlled manner. The generated dataset is also publicly available (Uetz et al., 2021) .
The remainder of this paper is structured as follows. In Section 2 we formulate challenges of acquiring log data for cybersecurity research and motivate the need for datasets. Subsequently, we derive design goals for sound cybersecurity experiments in Section 3 and analyze to which extent related work meets these goals in Section 4. To fill the gap of a testbed particularly targeting the generation of data, we present SOCBED in Section 5. We evaluate the reproducibility and adaptability of SOCBED by performing an exemplary experiment in Section 6, before discussing SOCBED’s design decisions and resulting limitations in Section 7. Section 8 concludes this paper.
2.1. Challenges of Acquiring Log Data
Log data as required for intrusion detection research are usually generated by assets as they are typically found in company networks, i.e., operating systems, services, and dedicated security products such as firewalls, network-based intrusion detection systems (NIDSs), and endpoint protection agents. Depending on the desired experiment, logs of benign user activity and/or realistic cyberattacks are required. To achieve this goal, log data acquisition can be done in two fundamentally different ways: Collection in a productive network with real users or generation in a dedicated, controlled lab environment. Both sources come with specific advantages and disadvantages, which are discussed in the following.
While collecting real-world log data in a productive network has the obvious advantage of providing realistic data, it also comes with significant drawbacks: Most importantly, the variety of successful cyberattacks may be too small for meaningful evaluations because the productive network is either not vulnerable to the attacks, their implementation is too costly, or attack execution is deemed too dangerous and thus not permitted. Likewise, confidentiality or privacy issues often forbid the publication of collected data or necessitate extensive anonymization, severely reducing utility for other researchers (Turcotte et al., 2019) . Furthermore, as there is only one instance of each productive network and its state always changes, collected data are neither replicable at a later point in time nor reproducible by other researchers. This leads to a lack of controllability: It is not possible to examine the effect of a changed parameter that affects log data generation (e.g., configuration change) in an isolated way. Finally, the adaptability of the productive network is usually limited. It might not be possible to add, remove, or exchange certain assets as required for an evaluation. In particular, other researchers without access to the network cannot perform configuration changes that might be required for subsequent experiments.
Consequently, researchers often rely on dedicated lab testbeds for log data acquisition to avoid these issues (Davis and Magrath, 2013) . Log datasets generated by such testbeds are usually not affected by confidentiality or privacy concerns and can therefore be made available. However, typically only datasets are published, but the testbeds with which they were generated are not (Moustafa and Slay, 2015; Bowen et al., 2016; Sharafaldin et al., 2018) . As all datasets are created with a specific use case in mind (e.g., IDS evaluation), they often do not fit the requirements of other researchers even though the underlying testbed could be adapted to generate the desired data if it was publicly available. Thus, researchers who require slightly different data often have to create an own testbed instead of using an existing dataset.
2.2. Missing Reproducibility and Adaptability
Although being one of the most important properties of scientific experiments (Peisert and Bishop, 2007) , reproducibility is often limited in current log data research (Landauer et al., 2020) . Besides being an integral part of sound experiments, reproducibility also facilitates adaptability and thus spurs further research: With the data and information required to reproduce others’ findings, experiments can be (slightly) adapted to study novel research questions. Specifically focusing on the research area of intrusion detection, numerous works (Khraisat et al., 2019) present and use once generated datasets without the ability to reproduce or adapt them, let alone the option to adjust them to other use cases. To illustrate this issue, Sharafaldin et al. (Sharafaldin et al., 2018) provide an overview over publicly available datasets ranging from network packet to system call captures generated for IDS training. For all of these datasets, the testbeds used to generate the dataset are not made available, thus preventing reproduction or adaptation.
Even worse, for a large batch of work on log data and intrusion detection, the underlying log data are not (publicly) available at all, rendering the reproduction (and thus also extension) of their experiments impossible. Examples include MalRank (Najafi et al., 2019) , Smoke Detector (Roundy et al., 2017) , and Beehive (Yen et al., 2013) . We assume that the main reason for not disclosing these datasets are confidentiality or privacy concerns.
2.3. The Case for Adaptable Log Datasets
Given the missing reproducibility and adaptability of existing log datasets, using these as a basis for novel experiments is often meaningless because the datasets’ underlying scenarios or configurations differ from what is required for novel experiments. Common issues include outdated scenario components (e.g., obsolete operating systems or attacks that are no longer prevalent in the real world), a scenario not matching the new experiment’s context (e.g., Windows vs. Linux clients/servers or different security measures in place), or a logging configuration not producing the logs required for the evaluation (e.g., logs produced by an up-to-date Sysmon version are required as input for an IDS). We encountered such issues in several experiments in the context of intrusion detection, leaving us with no other choice than building testbeds from scratch to generate log data instead of using existing log datasets. Given these problems with missing reproducibility and adaptability of log data research, especially in the context of intrusion detection, we set out to remedy this situation with our contributions in this paper.
To achieve this goal, we are convinced that long-ranging, usable log datasets for sound cybersecurity research must be subject to frequent updates and modifications by different groups of researchers. This can only be achieved by an open-source testbed specifically built for easy reproducibility and adaptability, thus allowing a large number of researchers to reproduce log datasets and adapt, e.g., the logging configuration, while retaining the same scenario. Vice versa, the scenario (e.g., systems, services, or attacks) can be adapted or extended while still producing the same types of log data.
3. Design Goals for Sound Cybersecurity Experiments
Our analysis of the use of log data in cybersecurity research identifies several pitfalls when performing experiments based on log data, especially w.r.t. reproducibility and adaptability. In the following, we summarize these issues and derive design goals for sound cybersecurity experiments. In this process, we abstract from log data to artifacts in general, but still focus on log data in the examples given. As summarized in Figure 1, we start by discussing three vital properties of scientific experiments in general: validity, controllability, and reproducibility (Section 3.1). From these properties, we derive design goals for artifacts used by such experiments (Section 3.2). Finally, we derive design goals for testbeds for artifact generation (Section 3.3). As a result, we argue that sound experiments that require artifacts such as log data benefit strongly from testbeds that allow for (1) realistic scenarios and (2) deterministic activity while being easy to use for other researchers because they are (3) open source, (4) can be run on commodity hardware, and (5) provide self-tests to verify correct functionality after installation or adaptation.
Figure 1. Conducting sound experiments imposes requirements on the used artifacts (e.g., log data), which in turn impose requirements on testbeds used for their generation.
Block diagram summarizing the properties of artifacts and testbeds that support sound experiments, as described in the text.
Testbeds are complex and consist of multiple interdependent components, making their installation and operation prone to errors. A testbed should therefore provide self-tests to verify that all components function correctly after installation. Self-tests improve replicability of artifacts because potential errors can be found and fixed. They also aid adaptability because changes that break existing functionality can be identified (Bajpai et al., 2019) .
We would like to note that a complete fulfillment of all desired properties might not be possible. Some goals might even contradict each other, e.g., perfect replicability can impede realism because Internet connectivity must be disabled to avoid non-deterministic network traffic such as software updates. It is thus the duty of an experiment designer to find appropriate trade-offs during artifact generation to facilitate sound experiments.
In the following section, we analyze existing testbeds and show that all of them have major flaws with regard to the presented requirements, thus impeding their utility for the generation of log data for sound cybersecurity experiments.
4. Analysis of Related Work
Different streams of related work address the challenge of generating meaningful and adaptable artifacts for cybersecurity experiments. As artifacts collected from productive systems or networks typically cannot be made publicly available due to confidentiality or privacy concerns and are inherently non-replicable (cf. Section 2 ), dedicated testbeds are the predominant approach to create such artifacts. Testbeds for artifact generation can be classified into three categories (Davis and Magrath, 2013) : An (1) overlay simulates or emulates desired functionality (e.g., cyberattacks) on top of an existing, usually productive network, a (2) simulation employs an abstracted model instead of real networks or machines, and an (3) emulation makes use of full-featured (i.e., virtualized or physical) systems.
Considering our requirements for testbeds for artifact generation underlying sound cybersecurity experiments (cf. Section 3.3), we require testbeds to be implemented with deterministic activity. Thus, overlay testbeds, which are realized on top of uncontrollable networks do not fit our requirements. Likewise, simulations are not well-suited for generating sound artifacts, as, due to abstraction, they cannot generate realistic log data in the same way as complex, real software such as operating systems. Consequently, we focus our analysis of related work on testbeds relying on emulation. We provide an overview of our analysis in Table 1.
Table 1. Our analysis of existing testbeds from related work identifies substantial gaps in meeting the requirements for sound log data generation.
LARIAT (Rossey et al., 2002) extends the testbed of the well-known DARPA 1998 and 1999 intrusion detection evaluations (Lippmann et al., 2000) and offers sophisticated adversary and user emulation. However, a proprietary traffic generator and its use of physical machines prohibit the free generation of datasets with commodity hardware by others. Likewise, the National Cyber Range (Ferguson et al., 2014) , an effort of DARPA to build a large-scale, diverse physical testbed for cybersecurity testing, consists of only one instance and access is restricted. CyberVAN (Chadha et al., 2016) is a complex testbed including user emulation, but relies on commercial components and is only accessible to selected entities. Since attacks are performed manually, the testbed also lacks determinism.
ViSe (Richmond, 2005) is a testbed based on virtual machines (VMs) and focuses on the forensic analysis of exploits against common operating systems. It lacks multi-step attacks and user emulation, thus providing only limited realism. DETERLab (Benzel, 2011) is a cybersecurity testbed provided as a web service. Registered researchers can create and run experiments remotely with choosable topology, nodes, and user/adversary emulation. The code for the testbed is not publicly available, it does not run on commodity hardware, and it does not provide self-tests.
MITRE ATT&CK Evaluations (The MITRE Corporation, 2020) assess cybersecurity products on a yearly basis utilizing a network environment that consists of Microsoft Windows VMs provided by Microsoft Azure. Rough information on how the environment was build is publicly available, but not sufficiently detailed to completely reproduce the performed experiments. Furthermore, a lack of user emulation impairs realism. DetectionLab (Long, 2021) is a testbed for Windows domain logging, focusing on a quick setup with security tooling and best-practice logging. It does not implement a benign user emulation and also lacks deterministic activity. SimuLand (Microsoft, 2021) is a recent open-source approach for deploying lab environments with attacks and detection mechanisms in place. Although deployment instructions and scripts are freely available, a commercial license is needed to deploy the labs to Azure. Furthermore, there is no automation for benign or malicious activity, which contradicts the requirement of determinism for generated artifacts.
Skopik et al. (Skopik et al., 2014) focus on realistic emulation of users interacting with an exemplary web application. They mix generated legitimate activity with manually performed cyberattacks to attain more realistic log data. However, the system’s source code is not publicly available and no self-tests are included. Finally, Landauer et al. (Landauer et al., 2021) introduce the concept of a model-driven testbed generator, together with an implementation for web applications. They do provide a dataset created using the testbed, but neither the testbed nor its generator are publicly available, and hence, our requirements are not met. Furthermore, deterministic activity in dataset generation is briefly discussed, but not evaluated.
Our analysis shows that existing testbeds only insufficiently fulfill the requirements for artifact generation, especially w.r.t. the generation of log data: While several testbeds emulate real-world scenarios and provide scripted/deterministic activity, none of them are designed with a focus on reproducibility and adaptability, i.e., none is available as open source software to other researchers, runs on commodity hardware, and provides features to ease reproduction and extension such as infrastructure as code and self-tests.
If the primary goal of a testbed is to generate network traffic instead of log data, there are approaches that fulfill at least most of our criteria for artifact generation: Handigol et al. (Handigol et al., 2012) examine the reproducibility of networking experiments with a focus on container-based emulation. Wright et al. (Wright et al., 2010) discuss general requirements for reproducible realistic user emulation and present a model of users interacting with a graphical interface. Notable simulators with a focus on network cybersecurity and especially attack simulation include ADVISE (LeMay et al., 2011) , NeSSi2 (Grunewald et al., 2011) , and MASS (Moskal et al., 2014) . However, the high level of realism and detail required for generating meaningful cybersecurity log data artifacts paired with the inherent need of reproducibility and adaptability necessitates a testbed specifically designed for these purposes.
5. SOCBED: Reproducible and Adaptable Log Data Generation
Figure 2. SOCBED emulates a small company network including benign user activity as well as multi-step cyberattacks in a reproducible and adaptable manner to facilitate sound log data generation.
Block diagram visualizing the default systems and topology of SOCBED, as described in the text.
To address the pressing need for a testbed particularly targeting the generation of data as foundation for sound cybersecurity experiments, we present the design and implementation of SOCBED, our Self-contained Open-source Cyberattack experimentation testBED. The focus of SOCBED lies on the generation of sound log datasets for intrusion detection research, i.e., log data that are realistic, transparent, adaptable, replicable, and publicly available. To this end, SOCBED emulates a typical company network including benign user activity and an adversary acting from the Internet or inside the company’s infrastructure. As such, SOCBED is the first proof-of-concept testbed with the goal of fostering data generation, thus allowing researchers to reuse or adapt existing scenarios for novel experiments to achieve better comparability of results and avoid the unnecessary effort of building new testbeds from scratch. Most importantly, SOCBED thereby lays the foundation for long-ranging, usable log datasets fostering sound cybersecurity research by allowing frequent updates and modifications through various groups of researchers. In the following, we describe in more detail SOCBED’s emulated company network (Section 5.1), infrastructure (Section 5.2), generation of log data (Section 5.3), and measures implemented to ensure reproducibility and adaptability (Section 5.4).
In general, a testbed can be realized using different types of infrastructure such as physical machines, virtual machines (VMs), or containers. For our proof-of-concept implementation of SOCBED, we specifically decided to use VMs for the following reasons: Physical machines are costly to operate and duplicate, which contradicts reproducibility. Containers do not allow access to the underlying operating system for the purpose of attack execution (e.g., kernel exploits) and log data collection, hence impeding realism. In contrast, VMs are easy to operate and duplicate, as well as able to produce realistic log data on operating system level. Furthermore, setup and control of VMs is comparatively simple, making it possible to scale the underlying network for experimentation needs.
When building a VM-based testbed, VMs can be either self-hosted (i.e., on own hardware) or provided as a cloud service (such as Microsoft Azure). The latter option has potential drawbacks on the reproducibility of experiments as the service provider might make changes to VMs or periphery (e.g., unavailability of older OS versions). Additionally, such services are usually charged, contradicting our goal of reproducibility for as many researchers as possible. According to our requirements, we chose to implement SOCBED’s infrastructure using the open-source hypervisor VirtualBox. The minimum host system requirements for basic experiments using SOCBED’s base systems and network topology (cf. Section 5.1) are 16 GB of RAM, 30 GB of SSD space, and a multi-core CPU with hardware-assisted virtualization. These rather modest requirements make it possible to run SOCBED even on most modern laptops, thus enabling a majority of researchers and students to use it.
Client systems run a user emulation to generate a “noise floor” of benign activity in the log data. The user emulation is implemented as an agent running on all clients, which executes individual modules concurrently. Its actions are logged locally. To this end, we implemented modules for web surfing, exchanging emails, and manipulating files. The implementation of the modules is based on configurable, seeded finite-state machines, which facilitates deterministic activity (detailed in Section 5.4).
We chose to implement web and email as they are by far the most frequent delivery methods for malware (Verizon, 2020) . The web surfing module alternates periods of active web browsing sessions and prolonged periods of inactivity. A Firefox browser window is opened at the start of each session and closed afterwards. It is remote-controlled using the Selenium framework. During a session, so-called routines are executed until the session is over. Each routine starts with either performing a web search on Google or opening a known web page directly. The search terms and web pages are chosen from configurable lists. When the web page has loaded, random links on the web page are followed with random delays in between. Relevant parameters and distributions are modeled after published statistics of real users’ web surfing activity (Pauksztelo, 2014) .
For the emailing module, each client has an account on the mail server, which is running on the DMZ Server VM. The inbox is regularly checked by the module. If a received email contains hyperlinks or attachments, they are opened automatically, facilitating phishing attacks. Emails are also created and sent randomly by the module. The recipient is either another client or an external address, which replies to each incoming email with a slightly modified message.
File manipulation was implemented to increase the volume and variety of endpoint log data. This module simulates basic file activity in a specified folder. Per iteration, a random filename and action (create, delete, append, read, move, and copy) are executed.
Supplementary custom user activity modules, e.g., videoconferencing emulation, can be added using a Python interface. Depending on the specific use case, the implemented user activity can also be exchanged by a more sophisticated, but possibly less deterministic software such as DETERLab’s DASH (Benzel, 2011; Kothari et al., 2015) .
Figure 3. SOCBED can generate and execute pseudo-random multi-step cyberattacks from the implemented attack steps using a customizable digraph that models prerequisites.
Directed graph visualizing all reasonable attack step sequences.
Adversary Emulation
To replicate realistic attacks on company networks, SOCBED allows to run multi-step attacks that comprise entire kill chains (Hutchins et al., 2011) , e.g., from a phishing email up to the exfiltration of confidential data. The attack steps are implemented using common security tools (e.g., Metasploit, mimikatz, sqlmap) as well as benign tools or commands often employed by adversaries (e.g., PowerShell, xcopy, reg). To choose an initial set of attack steps, we sighted publications on tactics, techniques, and procedures used by adversaries in successful network breaches, including academic research (Bilge and Dumitras, 2012; Hardy et al., 2014; Yen et al., 2014) , reports focusing on breach statistics (Verizon, 2020; Symantec, 2015; McAfee, Inc, 2015) , and reports on Advanced Persistent Threat campaigns (Gallagher, 2014; Kaspersky, 2014; Securelist, 2013) as well as the MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise tactics and techniques (The MITRE Corporation, 2021) . Currently implemented attack steps cover at least one attack step for each tactic of the ATT&CK Matrix for Enterprise (The MITRE Corporation, 2021) . A full list of implemented attack steps is shown in Appendix B.
SOCBED is self-contained in the sense that all cyberattacks (as well as benign activity) are fitted to the simulated company network, which is a significant advantage over stand-alone adversary emulation tools such as CALDERA (Applebaum et al., 2016) , which are not fitted to a specific environment and thus are either restricted to rather simple post-exploitation steps (e.g., running local PowerShell commands) or require a lot of initial configuration to work.
As in reality, some attack steps can only execute successfully if prerequisite attack steps were executed against the same target beforehand. In particular, there are several attack steps that use a command-and-control (C2) channel, which first has to be established by initial attack steps. We model these dependencies with a digraph (see Figure 3) and allow to pseudo-randomly generate valid attack chains as an alternative to fixed, scripted attacks. Analogue to the user emulation, generated attack chains solely depend on a configurable seed and are hence replicable (detailed in Section 5.4).
Cyberattacks in the real world change over time and observed campaigns reveal new attack techniques. Therefore, SOCBED’s modular adversary emulation can be adjusted to recreate different attack chains and be extended by new atomic attack steps, so-called attack modules, using a simple Python interface. Consequently, SOCBED can be used for both external and internal adversary models although the main focus of currently implemented modules lies on an attacker operating from the Internet.
Figure 4. SOCBED collects, processes, and stores log data from best-practice sources on a dedicated log server.
Visualization of all log data sources and their data flow from the source systems to the log server.
Logging
The main purpose of adversary and user emulation in SOCBED is to generate realistic log data that can be used for intrusion detection research. We therefore chose log data sources and their configuration according to best practices in productive company networks (Chuvakin et al., 2012; Australian Cyber Security Centre, 2020; Kent and Souppaya, 2006) . Consequently, log data are collected from operating systems, services, and dedicated security software as depicted in Figure 4. The Windows clients can be configured to run Microsoft Sysmon and Elastic Auditbeat to capture advanced audit and security log data. Windows Event Logs are collected and forwarded to the dedicated Log Server by an Elastic Winlogbeat agent. The Linux machines within the simulated company network forward all syslogs (including firewall and proxy logs) to the Log Server. The Company Router additionally runs Suricata and Packetbeat and forwards their log data as well.
The dedicated Log Server allows SOCBED users to easily search and visualize various log data from the machines in the company network. It runs Elastic Logstash, Elasticsearch, and Kibana to collect, store, search, and visualize log data. Additionally, log data can be exported in JSON format using the Elasticsearch API or the tool Elasticdump. This allows to freeze generated log datasets and make them available to other researchers.
Network Traffic
Although the focus of SOCBED lies on host-based log data, network traffic can be captured as well, e.g., by running the tool tcpdump on the Company Router. Generated and recorded traffic can then be analyzed or replayed in subsequent sessions using standard tools such as Tcpreplay. This setup enables strictly reproducible experiments that are based on the contents of network traffic, e.g., for NIDS evaluation.
Additionally, network flows and numerous higher-level events such as HTTP requests are captured and logged by a Packetbeat agent on the Company Router. These logs are forwarded and stored on the log server in the same way as described for system logs above, thus enabling a straightforward analysis of network-based activity such as benign user activity or traffic caused by attacks.
SOCBED targets to realize replicable log data generation and provide easy adaptability. Consequently, researchers using SOCBED need to be able to verify that their testbed instances are working as intended both after initial installation and after making changes. To this end, we provide a large number of unit and system tests, which can be executed automatically using a test runner. Unit tests check single functions for correct return values while system tests start all VMs and verify functionality of the running testbed. More specifically, the system tests verify correct setup of VMs, execution of cyberattacks, logging, and time synchronization. It is also possible to set up a continuous integration pipeline that rebuilds the testbed regularly (e.g., every night) and runs all tests. Consequently, as part of our efforts for reproducibility and adaptability, our self-tests ensure correct functionality of a SOCBED setup.
Overall, by realistically reassembling a typical company network, all involved systems and assets, as well as benign user activity and adversarial actions, SOCBED provides a proof-of-concept for generating realistic log data for cybersecurity experiments. Specifically focusing on generating datasets, SOCBED lays the foundation for other researchers to reproduce testbed setups on commodity computers, adapt testbed setups according to the requirements of their own research efforts, and verify the correct functionality of reproduced or adapted testbeds.
6. Evaluation
Sound cybersecurity experiments should be valid, controlled, and reproducible (cf. Section 3.1), which imposes requirements on the used artifacts such as log data (cf. Section 3.2) and consequently the testbed used for generating these artifacts (cf. Section 3.3). To fulfill these requirements for generating log data artifacts and thus lay the foundation for sound cybersecurity experiments, we proposed our proof-of-concept testbed SOCBED (cf. Section 5).
In the following, we exemplarily show that it is indeed possible to perform a practical, sound experiment with log data generated by SOCBED. We introduce the basic idea of this exemplary experiment (Section 6.1) and describe its technical setup (Sections 6.2 and 6.3). We then present its results (Section 6.4) and analyze them with respect to reproducibility, controllability, and validity (Section 6.5).
6.1. Methodology
To demonstrate SOCBED’s suitability for sound cybersecurity experiments, we chose an exemplary practical experiment from the field of cyberattack detection using log data and network traffic. More specifically, we simulate a common multi-step intrusion of an enterprise network, a topic of high practical relevance (cf. Section 1), to determine how well it can be detected with commodity detection software. To design a concrete experiment, we narrow this research question down and formulate a hypothesis that can be tested with an experiment.
As repeatedly claimed by security experts, the default logging configuration of a modern Windows system omits numerous events that can be helpful for attack detection (Australian Cyber Security Centre, 2020) . Therefore, we decided to design an experiment to analyze whether attack detection indeed improves when switching to a best-practice logging configuration. More precisely, our hypothesis is that when switching from the default to a best-practice configuration, more steps of an exemplary multi-step cyberattack will be detected. By detection, we refer to at least one alert being raised as a consequence of the attack step111 In our opinion, this is a more practical metric than the total number of alerts because some attack steps yield high numbers of alerts (e.g., vulnerability scans) while others might raise only one (e.g., execution of a malicious file)..
To test this hypothesis, we use SOCBED to recreate a small company network and launch a scripted multi-step attack against it. We also run commodity detection software and count the true positive alerts, both with the default and best-practice logging configuration. To prove that our experiment is reproducible, we automatically build SOCBED instances on two commodity computers, run several repetitions of the two scenarios on each of them, and then analyze the results. To prove that the experiment is controlled, we show that changing a variable (here: the logging configuration) does not lead to unexpected side effects and thus allows to analyze the cause-effect-relationship of the change. To show validity, we argue why the experiment results are reliable (internal validity) and can be generalized to real-world applications (external validity).
6.3. Testbed Setup and Log Analysis
The topology and systems for this simulation correspond to SOCBED’s default setup, as depicted in Figure 2 of Section 5, with three client machines running. As for detection tools, we decided to use two widespread open-source tools: Sigma rules from the official repository (Sigma contributors, [n. d.]) for log data-based detection and Suricata (Open Information Security Foundation, [n. d.]) with Emerging Threat rules (Proofpoint Inc, [n. d.]) for network-based detection.
We built a SOCBED instance from scratch (i.e., the infrastructure-as-code scripts created, configured, and snapshotted all virtual machines) on two notebook computers (Dell Latitude 5501 running Ubuntu 20.04 and MacBook Pro 15” Mid 2015 running macOS 10.15), each equipped with an Intel Core i7 CPU, 16 GB of RAM, and an SSD. For the second scenario, the Windows client was rebuilt with a best-practice logging configuration (Australian Cyber Security Centre, 2020) , which mainly differs in the installation of Microsoft Sysmon (Russinovich and Garnier, 2021) and the activation of verbose PowerShell logging. On each of the two machines, we ran ten iterations of the two scenarios described above, respectively, thus resulting in a total of 40 iterations. Each iteration starts with booting all machines from their initial snapshots. After 15 minutes, the described attack is launched, with three minutes idle time between the attack steps. After 60 minutes, log data are downloaded from the machines via the Elasticsearch API, then the machines are powered off and reset to their initial state.
The downloaded log data consist of Windows Event Logs from the client machines and syslogs from the Linux machines. For our analysis, we extracted the Suricata alerts from the syslogs and applied all suitable Sigma rules to the Windows logs. We discarded irrelevant or false Sigma and Suricata alerts (e.g., Windows reporting usage statistics to Microsoft servers) for further analysis, thus keeping only the alerts that were caused by the attack. Finally, we categorized these alerts by the attack step triggering them.
Table 2. We performed an exemplary experiment comprising a multi-step cyberattack ten times on two hosts. The results are consistent across all runs, thus showing that SOCBED facilitates data generation.
The goal of our exemplary experiment was to test the hypothesis that the number of detected attack steps is higher when the best-practice logging configuration is used (as compared to the default configuration). Table 2 shows the sample means and standard deviations of the true positive alerts and the number of detected attack steps over all iterations ( n=10) on both hosts for the default (¯xd, sd) and best-practice (¯xb, sb) configuration (Host 2 in gray, differences between the hosts in boldface). For brevity, we pooled Suricata and Sigma alerts. The detailed results are shown in Appendix C.
We can see that four attack steps were detected in all iterations with the default configuration and six in all iterations with the best-practice configuration. All standard deviations for the number of detected attack steps are zero, so there is no evidence to reject our hypothesis (the deviations in the number of alerts are discussed in Section 6.6). We can therefore accept our hypothesis and conclude that indeed more attack steps are detected with the best-practice configuration as compared to the default configuration.
However, this does not necessarily imply causality: The higher number of alerts could be caused by unintended side effects of the configuration change, i.e., uncontrolled behavior. The experiment could also have fundamental design flaws, which might be discovered by other researchers when reproducing the experiment. Furthermore, the results are not necessarily valid for real-world use cases. These potential concerns illustrate the importance of an experiment to be valid, controlled, and reproducible.
We have shown that the experiment can be performed on different machines and still leads to the same outcome, i.e., accepting the initial hypothesis. Furthermore, the same experiment can easily be performed by other researchers because SOCBED is available as open-source software and runs on commodity hardware. There are also no confidentiality or privacy restrictions concerning the log dataset, so it can be freely used as well. Thus, we conclude that the experiment is indeed reproducible.
However, this does not imply that each iteration of our experiment (and thus SOCBED) produces the exact same log data (highlighted by the differences for attack steps (1) and (3) in Table 2). Such differences result from an inherent trade-off between realism and replicability when using virtual machines for log data generation and can be attributed to different effects such as background processes and time-dependent tasks (Landauer et al., 2021; Skopik et al., 2014) . We further analyze the impact of such variations in Section 6.6 and discuss resulting limitations in Section 7. The important message here is that reproducible experiments need to be designed such that they are robust against intra- and inter-host variations (just as in productive networks).
Controllability
Our experiment has only one variable that is intentionally changed between runs: the Windows logging configuration. SOCBED’s infrastructure-as-code setup allows for transparent configuration changes and ensures that there are no further unintentional changes. Built-in self-tests additionally help to verify that the functionality is not impaired by a change. Furthermore, automated runs ensure deterministic user and adversary activity.
To confirm that the experiment is truly controlled with respect to the configuration change, we analyzed all alerts in detail. We verified that (1) the alert types raised by the best-practice runs are a superset of the alerts with the default runs and (2) the additional best-practice alerts were truly caused by the configuration change. Both can be easily verified, as the default configuration yields no Sigma alerts at all, which is expected as Sigma heavily builds on Sysmon as an event source. The Suricata alerts, on the other hand, are not affected by the configuration change. We provide more details on the types and numbers of alerts in Appendix C.
Validity
Due to the transparent infrastructure-as-code build, deterministic activity, and implemented self-tests, we have a high confidence that the testbed behaves as expected. This is confirmed by the steady results over the different iterations. We thus have no indication of a flawed internal validity of the experiment.
A more difficult question to answer is whether the experiment is externally valid, i.e., if its conclusion can be generalized and transferred to the real world. We have insights into large enterprise networks with tens of thousands of systems that utilize the same components as our scenario (Windows 10, Sysmon, Sigma, and Suricata). Even though we could not perform the exact same experiment in a productive network due to the risk that comes with the involved vulnerability scanning and malware execution, we are still convinced that it is indeed externally valid because all entities (operating systems, detection systems) are commonly used in practice and would thus generate similar alerts. However, this does not necessarily mean that performing our exemplary attack against such a network would yield the exact same alerts, e.g., due to different versions of detection rules. Nevertheless, the experiment can serve as an indicator as to whether the analyzed configuration change should be considered in an enterprise network.
Finally, we would like to note that external validity is not a property of a testbed per se, as every testbed fails to recreate at least some properties of real-world productive systems. Instead, external validity has to be considered for each specific experiment performed using a certain testbed. Consequently, we can also think of experiments performed using SOCBED that would likely yield invalid results, e.g., evaluating anomaly detection methods that require a huge variety in user activity to function properly. However, a notable advantage of SOCBED over fixed datasets is that researchers can adapt individual parts of the testbed to make their experiments valid.
Figure 5. In contrast to the consistent log data caused by the attacks, the “noise floor” of operating system logs shows notable differences between the runs, even though VMs are started from the same snapshots and all activity is scripted. This is common operating system behavior and must be considered when designing experiments.
Box plot showing that some of the 20 most frequent Windows event types significantly differ in their number of occurrence between runs and hosts.
6.6. Deep Dive: Variations in Log Data
While we have shown that our exemplary experiment is reproducible, this does not imply that each iteration of SOCBED generates the exact same set of log data. Various factors such as background processes and time-dependent tasks influence the generated log data, resulting in variations between iterations and, possibly, also host computers (Landauer et al., 2021; Skopik et al., 2014) . This is an unavoidable trade-off between realism and replicability when generating log data using real systems. In the following, we analyze variations in the log data generated during our experiment in more detail and particularly quantify differences between the two hosts. To the best of our knowledge, this important issue has never been examined before.
Table 2 shows that attack steps (1) and (3) exhibit variations in the number of alerts. These variations are caused by a different number of occurrence of two Suricata alerts (cf. Appendix C). The first one is raised during the SQL injection attack and the second one shortly after execution of the email attachment, when the shellcode is downloaded (Moore, 2011) . We were able to manually reproduce these differences on both hosts, so they indeed occur and are not a flaw of the analysis process. Still, we wanted to check whether the mean number of alerts differs between the two hosts. To do this, we performed a two-tailed two-sample unpaired Welch’s t-test (Szczepanek, 2020; McDonald, 2014) for the two differing alerts, which required us to run additional iterations of the triggering attack steps to obtain significant (α=0.05 ) results. Indeed, we found that for both alerts, we had to reject the test’s null hypothesis that the mean number is equal on both hosts (p-values 0.000392 and 0.00251, respectively). We suppose that the variations were caused by slight performance differences between iterations and hosts that resulted in a different rate of dropped packets (Suricata reported drop rates of 0.001-0.3 %).
Furthermore, we also took a closer look at the log data “noise floor”, i.e., data that are not (primarily) caused by the attacks. To give an idea of these variations, we analyzed the number of occurrences of each Windows event type (defined by the combination of provider name and ID) over all iterations. Figure 5 shows the 20 most frequent of the 138 total event types for the default configuration on the two hosts (legend in Appendix C). The plot for the best practice configuration (not shown) looks similar except for several Sysmon events in the top 20 types (172 types in total). We can see significant variations between runs for certain event types, but no striking differences between the two hosts.
In conclusion, our analysis of the Suricata alerts and Windows Event Log types shows that statistical variations between iterations and hosts indeed occur and should be anticipated. Experiment designers should keep this in mind and perform evaluations that are robust to such intra- and inter-host variations. This fact once again emphasizes the importance of soundly controlled and reproducible experiments so that variations caused by uncontrolled variables or non-deterministic activity can be ruled out in the analysis.
Summarizing the whole evaluation, our exemplary experiment of detecting a common multi-step intrusion of an enterprise network has shown that it is indeed possible to perform valid, controlled, and reproducible cybersecurity experiments based on log data generated with SOCBED, thus fostering research that can be built upon.
7. Discussion and Limitations
In this paper, we have proposed SOCBED, an open-source, virtual machine (VM)-based testbed designed with reproducibility and adaptability in mind that addresses several problems of current approaches and enables researchers to conduct sound experiments. However, every design decision also comes with potential limitations. In the following, based on our experiences while designing, implementing, and evaluating SOCBED, we share lessons learned, discuss trade-offs, and identify further use cases for SOCBED.
To begin with, emulating a real-world scenario may imply trade-offs with regard to reproducibility. For example, most operating systems regularly check for updates and some even download them automatically, thus making log data and network traffic depend on the time of day and the availability of updates. If the reproducibility of an experiment is impeded by such variations, Internet access should be disabled (but otherwise enabled for better realism).
Another requirement for reproducibility is the execution of deterministic activity. Yet, some experiments might comprise activity of a human adversary or user and depend on their exact timing (e.g., for anomaly detection). In this case, we recommend to record the activity and replay it using a script to ensure reproducibility. Likewise, for certain experiments a strong degree of determinism in network activity might be required, e.g., for an evaluation of time-based SQL attacks. To this end, SOCBED already provides the infrastructure to retrieve websites from within the simulated network to strengthen reproducibility (cf. Section 5.4). If an experiment requires an even higher degree of determinism in network activity, SOCBED’s modular approach allows to extend it with a man-in-the-middle proxy (e.g., mitmproxy (mitmproxy contributors, 2021), including the capability of intercepting TLS encrypted communication, to deterministically replay previously recorded network traffic.
From a different perspective, while the open-source infrastructure-as-code setup enables complete transparency and adaptability of a testbed, it comes with the challenge of occasionally disappearing software download links. We experienced a few cases where our automatic daily builds of SOCBED broke because software repositories or URLs for downloading operating system images changed and had to be updated in the SOCBED code. This might especially be an issue when reproducing testbed versions that are several years old. We therefore recommend to keep local copies of all downloaded software and/or VM images if updating versions could impede the conducted experiments.
Another trade-off of SOCBED results from the fact that it runs on commodity hardware and uses virtual machines. In contrast to simulations, VM-based testbeds run in realtime and may behave slightly different depending on the host’s soft- and hardware (just as physical systems). Our evaluation showed that even similar hosts may lead to slight variations in generated log data. We thus suggest to avoid running a testbed on hosts with scarce resources or background activity and to closely monitor indicators of performance issues during experiments to avoid uncontrolled behavior.
From a similar perspective, SOCBED focuses on scenarios with bounded scalability requirements to be able to provide a high level of detail when emulating systems (i.e., full OS emulation), as required for realistic log generation. Here, SOCBED’s scalability is primarily influenced by the number of virtual machines, not by the complexity of the underlying network topology. Given this design trade-off, very large-scale simulations requiring less realistic emulation but striving for complex scenarios with thousands of systems are out of scope for SOCBED. In such scenarios, approaches producing large amounts of fake log data (e.g., flog (flog contributors, 2020) might be a better fit than SOCBED. For the scope of this paper, we deliberately chose a small scenario with only few emulated systems which can be executed on commodity hardware to ease reproducibility. Still, outside the scope of this paper, we successfully scaled SOCBED to execute experiments with more than a hundred realistically emulated systems using a proprietary hypervisor running on dedicated hardware (VMware ESXi).
Finally, built-in self-tests demand additional effort during development. Yet, we found them to be extremely valuable for discovering errors when installing SOCBED on a new host or adapting it on an existing host. Tests are an established best practice in software development (Martin, 2009) and we also strongly recommend to use and maintain them when using SOCBED or developing other testbeds.
8. Conclusion
Various fields of cybersecurity research base their evaluations on artifacts (e.g., log data or network traffic) that are either not publicly available or are generated using proprietary testbeds, thus heavily restricting reproducibility of their findings. Furthermore, other researchers struggle to build on existing work because they cannot adapt existing artifact datasets for their purposes, e.g, by re-running a scenario with different attacks, other software versions, or a changed logging configuration. Likewise, fixed datasets can lead to invalid conclusions as researchers using them might not be able to assess the appropriateness of a dataset for their own use cases due to a lack of transparency in artifact generation.
To address this issue, in this work, we started by deriving requirements for generating artifacts for cybersecurity experiments that are realistic, transparent, adaptable, replicable, and publicly available. Based on these requirements, we argued that artifact generation for scientific experiments should be performed with testbeds that are specifically designed with a focus on reproducibility and adaptability. As a proof-of-concept implementation, we presented SOCBED, an open-source testbed specifically targeting the generation of realistic log data for cybersecurity experiments that runs on commodity hardware. To the best of our knowledge, SOCBED is the first testbed for log data generation that is specifically designed to foster reproducibility and adaptability, which is achieved through measures such as infrastructure as code, deterministic activity, and comprehensive self-tests.
To evaluate the reproducibility and adaptability of log data generated by SOCBED, we performed an exemplary, practical experiment from the domain of intrusion detection and showed that, even though log data naturally exhibit some variation between runs, the experiment itself is reproducible on different computers and adaptations can be performed in a controlled way. We make the evaluation scripts and generated log dataset publicly available (SOCBED contributors, 2021; Uetz et al., 2021) , thus enabling others to fully reproduce our experiment.
In conclusion, our work paves the way for better reproducibility in cybersecurity research, especially in the area of log data and intrusion detection research, and consequently increases the potential to build future research efforts on existing work.
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7 Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing 4672 407.7 8 Microsoft-Windows-DistributedCOM 10010 257.1 9 Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing 4799 255.2
16 Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing 4798 120.3 17 Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing 5058 119.3 18 Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing 4648 108.7
Table 6. Top 20 (by occurrence) Windows event types as shown in Figure 5 with their mean number of occurrences over 20 iterations using the default logging configuration.
Table 3 shows the operating systems, services, and applications running on the SOCBED base virtual machines. Default services such as DHCP are omitted for brevity. Most of the services and applications are required for the implemented attack steps. Additional services can easily be added and configured using Ansible scripts.
Table 4. The attack steps currently implemented in SOCBED cover all ATT&CK tactics (filled circles indicate coverage).
Table 4 shows the attack steps currently implemented in SOCBED. There are three types of attack steps. Steps starting with “infect” create initial access to the company network by exploiting the targeted client and then running a payload. This payload establishes a command and control (C2) channel to the Attacker VM using Metasploit’s Meterpreter reverse HTTP module (Moore, 2011) . Steps starting with “c2” use this channel to execute further actions via Meterpreter. They can only execute successfully when an “infect” attack step has been executed before on the same client and the payload is still active, i.e., the client is not rebooted and the process is not killed. Steps starting with “misc” are self-contained and can be executed independently. They can mimic, e.g., an internal adversary, an employee falling victim to a social engineering attack, or an attack step triggered by an already active malware.
Some of the implemented attack steps are commonly performed by external attackers (infect_email_*, c2_*), while others resemble internal attackers (misc_exfiltration, infect_flashdrive_exe) or both alike (remaining misc_* attacks).
Table 5. Alerts per rule for our exemplary scenarios (default and best-practice logging configuration). The two lines per rule show the results (sample mean and SD, n=10) for the two hosts on which the experiment was performed, respectively (second host with gray background, differences in boldface).
Table 5 shows all Sigma and Suricata alerts that occurred during our evaluation. For Sigma, we used all Windows Event Log-specific rules as of February 4, 2021222https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/tree/12054544bbac415438b2207c08bd92633a51b. For Suricata, we used Emerging Threat rules as of May 4, 2021. The latter are contained in the SOCBED repository because stale rule sets are generally not provided for download on the official website333https://rules.emergingthreats.net/OPEN_download_instructions.html, yet a fixed version of the rules is important for the reproducibility of Suricata alerts across different SOCBED instances.
Table 6 shows the top 20 (by occurrence) Windows event types as depicted in Figure 5. All of these types commonly appear on Windows systems and are not specific to the executed attacks. For example, the most frequent event Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing ID 5379 informs that “Credential Manager credentials were read”, i.e., a user performs a read on stored credentials, e.g., during the logon process444https://www.ultimatewindowssecurity.com/securitylog/encyclopedia/event.aspx?eventid=5379.
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https://deepai.org/publication/reproducible-and-adaptable-log-data-generation-for-sound-cybersecurity-experiments
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An administration panel of one vulnerable DSL modem. Kaspersky Lab
Millions of Internet users in Brazil have fallen victim to a sustained attack that exploited vulnerabilities in DSL modems, forcing people visiting sites such as Google or Facebook to reach imposter sites that installed malicious software and stole online banking credentials, a security researcher said.
The attack, described late last week during a presentation at the Virus Bulletin conference in Dallas, infected more than 4.5 million DSL modems, said Kaspersky Lab Expert Fabio Assolini, citing statistics provided by Brazil's Computer Emergency Response Team. The CSRF (cross-site request forgery) vulnerability allowed attackers to use a simple script to steal passwords required to remotely log in to and control the devices. The attackers then configured the modems to use malicious domain name system servers that caused users trying to visit popular websites to instead connect to booby-trapped imposter sites.
"This is the description of an attack happening in Brazil since 2011 using 1 firmware vulnerability, 2 malicious scripts and 40 malicious DNS servers, which affected 6 hardware manufacturers, resulting in millions of Brazilian internet users falling victim to a sustained and silent mass attack on DSL modems," Assolini wrote in a blog post published on Monday morning. "This enabled the attack to reach network devices belonging to millions of individual and business users, spreading malware and engineering malicious redirects over the course of several months."
Assolini said the mass attack was the result of a "perfect storm" brought on by the inaction of a variety of key players, including ISPs, modem manufacturers, and the Brazilian governmental agency that approves network devices, but failed to test any of the modems for security.
It remains unclear which modem manufacturers and models are susceptible to the attacks. Assolini said a vulnerability disclosed in early 2011 appears to be caused by a chipset driver included with modems that use hardware from communications chip provider Broadcom. It allows a CSRF attack to take control of the administration panel and capture the password set on vulnerable devices. Assolini doesn't know precisely when, but at some point attackers began exploiting the vulnerability on millions of Brazilian modems. In addition to pointing the devices to malicious DNS servers, the attackers also changed the device passwords so it would be harder for victims to change the malicious settings.
The attacks were recorded on modems from six manufacturers, five of whom are widely marketed in Brazil and several that are among the most popular. In an e-mail, a Kaspersky spokesman said the firm isn't publishing the affected manufacturers or models at this time.
"The negligence of the manufacturers, the neglect of the ISPs and ignorance of the official government agencies create a 'perfect storm,' enabling cybercriminals to attack at will," Assolini wrote.
People who connected to the Internet using a compromised modem were routed to imposter websites when they attempted to visit sites such as Google, Facebook, and Orkut. In some cases, the malicious sites exploited vulnerabilities in Oracle's ubiquitous Java software framework to silently install banking fraud malware when the booby-trapped websites were accessed. In other cases, users were told they should install a software plug-in so their computers would be able to take advantage of recent changes made to the sites. Attacks were recorded on all major Brazilian ISPs, with some providers seeing about 50 percent of their users affected, Assolini said.
One of the 40 DNS servers used in the attack that was later accessed by authorities showed more than 14,000 victims had connected to it. During his presentation, Assolini displayed an Internet chat in which one of the hackers claimed to earn "more than 100,000 Reais (approximately $50,000) and would spend his ill-gotten gains on trips to Rio de Janeiro in the company of prostitutes," according to a write-up by Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at antivirus provider Sophos.
With an attack this effective and easy to exploit, it wouldn't be surprising to learn the countries other than Brazil have also been targeted. Last year Kaspersky Lab researchers reported a similar attack hitting Mexico.
The mass attack is concerning because it successfully targeted devices few of us spend much time trying to secure. With so much emphasis spent on locking down computers, it's worth remembering that the modems and routers can also be exploited to steal banking passwords and other online assets. The vulnerability is even more alarming since the list of affected manufacturers and models is still unknown. Users who want to protect themselves should make sure their modems are using the latest available firmware, although based on what we know now, there's no guarantee the latest release has been patched against the exploited CSRF flaw.
Even at 1.0, Vivaldi closes in on the cure for the common browser
Review: Ultra customization, clever tab management breaks from Chrome, Firefox.
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http://arstechnica.com/security/2012/10/dsl-modem-hack-infects-millions-with-malware/?comments=1&post=23332036
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SkyePoint Decisions is a leading Cybersecurity Architecture and Engineering, Critical Infrastructure and Operations, and Applications Development and Maintenance IT service provider headquartered in Dulles, Virginia with operations across the U.S. We provide innovative enterprise-wide solutions as well as targeted services addressing the complex challenges faced by our federal government clients. Our focus is on enabling our clients to deliver their mission most efficiently and effectively - anytime, anywhere, securely. We combine technical expertise, mission awareness, and an empowered workforce to produce meaningful results. This is a contingent position based upon customer approval. As a SkyePoint employee you will be given the opportunity to support some of our nation's most critical information systems by utilizing not only your existing cybersecurity skills and talents, but those that you will learn in your new role. In your new role as a cyber security professional, you will protect our customer's most sensitive data and complex systems from all forms of threats including cyber-attacks, insider threats, rogue network devices, and malicious software and applications. You will work with a team of like-minded professionals to share and collaborate upon your ideas to improve the cybersecurity infrastructure, architecture, and configuration deployments. Your ideas and contributions will matter.
Qualified candidate will become part of the Department of State (DoS) Diplomatic Security Cyber Mission (DSCM) program providing leading cyber and technology security experience to enable innovative, effective and secure business processes. - The DSCM program encompasses technical, engineering, data analytics, cyber security, management, operational, logistical and administrative support to aid and advise DoS Cyber & Technology Security (CTS) Directorate. - This includes protecting a global cyber infrastructure comprising networks, systems, information, and mobile devices all while identifying and responding to cyber risks and threats. - Those supporting the DSCM program strive to leverage their expert knowledge and propose creative solutions to real-world cybersecurity challenges. -Based in Rosslyn, VA. - This role supports the Cyber Security Solutions (CSS) Team. Position Description:
Perform DOS community outreach to further Directorate cybersecurity mandates.
Provide guidance to systems owners for compliance with DOS configuration standards and policies.
Provide emerging technology analysis and trend reporting to CTS designated recipients.
Provide Cloud, wireless, and mobile security expertise, device assessment, vulnerability analysis, and risk mitigation services.
Research and formulate open source software innovations integration in support of DOS network modernization efforts using industry best practices for cost efficiency solutions.
Participate in intra-agency working groups (e.g., the Committee on National Security Systems, Defense Information Systems Agency-Secret IP Router Network (DISA-SIPRNET), NSA, Smart phone working group, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), and Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC).
Provide technical expertise and customer perspective on policy changes to DOS policy working groups (e.g., Cyber Security Policy Development Working Group (CSPD-WG) and Overseas Security Policy Board Working Group (OSPB-WG).
Facilitate the adoption of cyber and technological security solutions developed by CTS.
Coordinate Enterprise-wide Common Control Documentation and provide technical expertise as needed to Department partners on proper implementation of NIST Common Controls.
Provide technical responses and recommendations to ASKCTS Support Requests. Basic Qualifications- To be considered for this position, you must minimally meet the knowledge, skills, and abilities listed below:
Bachelor's Degree and a minimum of 2 years' experience required. An additional 4 years of experience may be substituted in lieu of degree.
Minimum of an active Secret security clearance required.
Possess CASP, CCNA, CISSP, CND, CySA+, GSEC, Security+ CE, GICSP, SSCP or Equivalent certification.
Efficient in developing requirements, workflow and systems analysis.
Proficient with correcting program errors.
Familiar with preparing operating instructions, can compile documentation of program development, and analyzes system capabilities. What We Can Offer You -
At SkyePoint, we go B.I.G. (beginning in GRATITUDE) by recognizing all we have and giving back to our employees, families, and communities. It instills a positive mindset that permeates all we do. By beginning in gratitude, SkyePoint can continue to spread living in gratitude each day.
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https://www.arlingtonvarecruiter.com/professions-jobs/3308415267/cyber-analyst-cyber-security-solutions-team
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Create restricted access areas and interactable objects that respond based on if the player has been granted access or not.
This package was intended to be used by the Events system and works well with OnInteract, OnTriggerEnter and OnTriggerExit. It can also be used via code.
Ideas on how to use this package:
Create a door that needs a key to open.
Limit interacting with an entity to one player at a time.
Create an area for each player similar to the tycoon blueprint.
One-time use items, a key that only opens a door once.
Use one authenticator for each entity. The authenticator asks the Enrollment script if the user has access and will automatically find the nearest enrollment script.
It first looks for the Enrollment script on the same entity. If the Enrollment script is not found on the same entity, it will continue to search each parent entity until found.
RequestAccess - When called, it will fire one of two events. On Enrollment Granted or On Enrollment Denied. If the player already has access, no event will fire.
All parameters passed into RequestAccess() will be forwarded to the events.
On Enrollment Granted - This event is fired when the player is granted access.
Usage: Change an indicator from available to unavailable.
On Enrollment Denied - This is fired when the Allow Multiple Players option is disabled and a player requests access, but another player was granted access earlier.
Usage: Tell the player that this area is already in use.
On Enrollment Revoked - This event will not fire if the player does not have access.
Usage: Change an indicator from unavailable to available.
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https://forum.crayta.com/t/access-control/2594
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– Attacks that are not considered social engineering (e.g. shoulder surfing) are also included; – Frequently asked questions. Ask a social engineering question and I’ll answer it with a video.
Why include bonus material, is the main course not exciting enough?
Is that a trick question? Getting organisational security right goes well beyond instructing employees. With the bonus material, I would like to inform you about the complementary measures that should be taken into account.
Also I’ve updated the course to include (though) quiz questions in 2021. These quizes will solidify your learning.
I’m fully convinced of the benefits, but I don’t see why I should learn all this from you.
True, let me explain by giving you an overview of my experience:
– Chief Information Security Officer (present). Managing Security, Privacy and Quality professionals. Responsible for implementing and maintaining a well balanced organisational risk posture;
– Security and privacy operations manager (2 years). Acting as a security liaison on strategic accounts, I monitor the security of 2500+ workstations, 500+ servers and 10+ firewalls and routers, report on the operational security status of European and Dutch law and integrate intelligence results from AVDS, Check Point, Nagios, Nessus, Palo Alto Traps,SCCM, SCEP, SEP, SCOM and SIEM; – Parttime PhD Candidate (7 years – present). I read the science, you’ll get the knowledge! What more do you want?
– Software quality consultant (6,5 years). I’ve advised many managers of large / small IT projects on various software related aspects; – IT auditor (1 year). I have closely worked with accountants and audited large governmental IT projects; – Quality assurance engineer (3 years). I have implemented large IT systems for large companies.
You can find more details on LinkedIn on or my profile.
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https://freetutsdownload.net/udemy/social-engineering-zero-to-hero-in-social-engineering.html
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According to the UK-based Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI), an error in the secure shell protocol (SSH) specification can in rare cases be exploited to reconstruct part of the plain text. According to their description of the error, the standard OpenSSH configuration allows 32 bits of plain text to be recovered from arbitrary points within the cipher text. In order to carry out a successful attack, the attacker must be able to observe the reaction of an SSH connection to various error states and be able to induce these error situations. The probability of a successful attack is, however, only 2-18. SSH connections are also generally torn down by attempts of this type.
The CPNI does not give more precise details, but the attack is reported to be rendered ineffective by switching SSH from cipher-block chaining mode (CBC) to counter mode (CTR). Counter mode turns a block cipher into a stream cipher.
Although CPNI has only looked in detail at OpenSSH, it is assumed that all SSH implementations which conform to RFC 4251 will contain this vulnerability. SSH Communications Security has already released its own security advisory, in which it discusses the problem in its SSH Tectia clients and servers. An update should fix the vulnerability. Alternatively, the company recommends switching to either the CryptiCore or Arcfour (RC4) encryption algorithms, which do not use CBC.
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http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Vulnerability-discovered-in-SSH-specification-738161.html
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At Liverpool Women's Hospital to record and review incidents we use an electronic risk management database. Clinical and non-clinical incidents are reported by staff so that the Risk team, Clinical Governance leads and Health and Safety team can monitor trends in incidents and review the actions taken to prevent the incident happening again.
When an incident is reported a nominated member of staff will review the incident and document what action has been taken as a result of the incident. Most incidents only require a local review to manage them, some incidents are more complex and require an investigation known as a formal review which involves at least two members of staff from different disciplines, who have not been directly involved in the incident, (for example a senior nurse and a senior doctor) to review the incident, draw conclusions and decide if any action is required.
Sometimes an incident is classed as a Serious Incident which we have to report to our Clinical Commissioners. If a Serious Incident is declared then a detailed investigation called a "Root Cause Analysis" (RCA) is conducted and a report is drawn up of the findings and the actions required to address the issue.
An important part of any investigation is to ensure that the staff and patients, or their relatives / carers, are given feedback on the incident and the findings so that as an organisation we can learn lessons to improve safety for patients, the public and our staff.
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https://www.liverpoolwomens.nhs.uk/health-professionals/risk-management/
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Graduating will mark a significant turning point for your life and career.
It’s the point that you finally move on from years of studying, and look to mix up your key priorities to make way for a new career.
So what are the key things to remember during this time of transition? Start with the below.
The adventures don’t stop with your first full-time career role.
If you’ve had a great time at university, there’s no need for the fun to stop. Starting a career does not signal the end of great adventures, it merely adjusts the opportunities on offer.
But you need to proactively seek such adventures, and look for employers that can offer more than just a desk job from Monday to Friday. Find employers with international opportunities, as well as those that provide avenues for you to continually grow and develop a wide range of skills. Aim to build professional relationships with a diverse range of colleagues, contacts and clients – the wider the range of individuals you bring into your network, the more interesting and fulfilling your career will be. Plan holidays and weekend activities that ensure you’re staying active and continually experiencing new things.
Start collecting mentors and sponsors.
Great careers need an excellent group of advisors. So you need to start building a great network – both online and off – while also seeking out specific individuals who can share their wisdom, knowledge and contacts with you.
Find trusted mentors who can offer guidance on your work and the career choices you make. From there, find sponsors who can directly advocate for you to get a particular promotion, new opportunities or new clients.
You probably won’t get the job you want; it’s not the end of the world.
Competition for the graduate positions being offered by the best companies is fierce. Such companies usually receive thousands of applications for every handful of offers they make, meaning most people end up disappointed.
But landing one particular graduate position will not make or break your career. Indeed, there will be opportunities to enter great companies in different positions later on. Aim to get good, transferable experience in whatever job you find, and to keep learning and talking with mentors and sponsors regarding your career goals.
See the value in diverse relationships
It may be tempting, especially when starting a new job or career, to seek out like-minded individuals who’re similar to you. This may feel safe, but it’s also a trap that’ll be detrimental to your career in the long run.
Make diversity a key career value – that is to actively seek out a range of professional relationships who are from all walks of life. A diverse network will open more doors for your career, will see you develop a wider range of skills and experiences, and will ultimately make your life more interesting.
Manage your wellbeing.
Graduating is the time to consider how you’ll manage your wellbeing – before it’s too late. Now’s the time to set the boundaries regarding what you will and will not sacrifice when it comes to your lifestyle outside of work.
Start making exercise a regular part of your working week (if it’s not already) and make a commitment to hold on to hobbies or other activities that give you some ‘me time’ away from work. Commit yourself to good sleeping and eating habits, and aim to have a ‘sustainable career’ rather than to simply work yourself to the point of burnout.
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https://www.accenture.com/au-en/blogs/blogs-nicola-five-things-every-graduate-should-know
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Google owns about 66 percent of the U.S. search market, according to the latest numbers from comScore. But Google has moved beyond search to become a dominant player in mobile phones with the Android operating system. The company is also hoping to create the largest digitized library of the world's books that is completely searchable with Google Books. Google is also working on a music retail service to compete with Apple's iTunes, and a recent report by the Guardian said Google's YouTube is hoping to become "the home of live sports broadcasting online" for major North American sports leagues such as the NBA and NHL.
Add to all that the massive amounts of user data Google has on its servers, and it's no surprise that regulators want to consider reigning in the company.
But does Google's dominance in search and its growing database of information and content warrant the same kind of treatment Microsoft received in the 1990s? As Bloomberg News contributor Paul Kedrosky recently pointed out, Google's search business does not lock in customers the same way that a desktop operating system from Microsoft does. If you choose to install Windows, you can only use products designed for that system. Microsoft was able to use its massive market power to pressure competitors such as RealNetworks and IBM's OS/2 operating system.
Google, on the other hand, can't lock in users, since search engines such as Bing, Blekko and DuckDuckGo are available to anyone with just a few mouse clicks. But for whatever reason, most users are sticking with Google for search rather than trying something else. Nevertheless, Google's massive search user base, critics say, gives it the ability to affect a site's popularity by moving the site off Google's first page of search results. This is part of the reason some European sites filed antitrust arguments against the search giant.
It's not yet clear if Google would face a massive antitrust investigation, but the search giant is no stranger to casting accusations of monopolistic behavior either. In March 2009, Google joined with other Web browser makers in a complaint to the European Commission that Microsoft was shielding Internet Explorer from competition by bundling the browser with every copy of Windows. Microsoft responded by giving European users the option to dump IE from Windows.
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https://www.pcworld.com/article/224291/Is_Google_Headed_for_a_Microsoft_Size_Anti_Trust_Headache.html
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This offer reduces the Summit registration fee from $1,595 to $1,095 when purchased in conjunction with a full price 4-6 day course a savings of $500! The discount is automatically applied when the Summit and a qualifying course are both selected during registration.
Note – Early bird course discounts do not apply with this bundle offer.
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https://www.esecpro.com/pen-test-hackfest-summit-training/
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Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2012 provides silent security against viruses, spyware and phishing attempts. It also includes innovative social networking safeguards.
BitDefender scanning engines will scan and disinfect infected files on access, minimizing data loss. Infected documents can now be recovered instead of being deleted.
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https://en.freedownloadmanager.org/Windows-PC/BitDefender-Antivirus.html
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Twitter Spam Letters Tatyana Kulikova On the eve of Easter, we noticed an unusual chain of spam messages. The spammers offered various services: from reducing mortgage costs and helping repay a loan, to enhancing male sexual performance. Neither the subject nor the text of the message had any allusions to the approaching holiday; however, the links leading to the sites advertised by the slogans included Easter-themed keywords: eastertime, easterbunnies, greateastern.
The detected domains were created recently and had a short lifespan. All the pages the spam recipient was prompted to visit to solve their financial and, well, other problems were empty. However, the sites contained folders from which pictures on various topics were downloaded to the spam messages: from dentist ads to “make fast money at home” offers. Each time, the contents of the picture fully matched that of the message.
For spammers, every holiday is another opportunity to improve the efficiency of their spam messages and increase the number of users who respond to them. Even if the message topic does not relate to the holiday in any way, the spammers still try to find some type of relationship by calling a domain after the Easter bunny or using other holiday-related templates.
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https://securelist.com/blog/spam-test/59390/easter-bunnies-for-all-occasions/
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Just wanted to check that you all had conducted an authorized phishing test from JIRA File Shares, which if you did I full admit to failing.
Can you send me the screen shot that appeared after the link was clicked? I didn’t want to re-click in case this wasn’t a legit test.
Of course you failed. The only correct response was to delete the email.
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https://phasorburn.com/2015/04/02/authorized-phishing-test/
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Cyberbullying awareness month ...
February is, apparently, cyberbullying awareness month.
In support, the Province of BC has put up a cyberbullying awareness quiz that you might want to make available ...
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https://community.isc2.org/t5/Industry-News/Cyberbullying-awareness-month/td-p/18726
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Meta has updated its bug bounty program to offer up to $300,000 to security researchers who report vulnerabilities allowing attackers to remotely execute code on its mobile apps, the company said on Thursday.
In a newsroom post accompanying reports about the threats facing Facebook and Instagram users from spyware and covert information operations, Meta said it had so far this year paid out $2 million in rewards to researchers from more than 45 countries. Out of about 10,000 reports made to the company, Meta offered rewards to more than 750 submissions.
Researchers in India, Nepal and Tunisia received the most bounties this year, said the company, although it was not clear whether this was in terms of volume or the value of the payout. The company has paid more than $16 million for more than 8,500 reports since 2011.
By comparison, Google said earlier this year that it awarded $8.7 million to security researchers in 2021 through its vulnerability rewards program. Microsoft reported in July 2021 that it paid bug hunters $13.6 million for reports between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021.
Alongside updating its payout guidelines for mobile remote code execution (RCE) bugs, Meta has introduced new guidelines to cap payments for account takeover (ATO) and two-factor authentication (2FA) bypass vulnerabilities.
ATO reports can net researchers up to $130,000 for a zero-click attack, but that drops to a maximum of $50,000 and then lower depending on how much user interaction is needed to exploit the vulnerability. The maximum payout for 2FA bypass is $20,000.
These maximums set the bar before the company makes deductions "based on required user interaction, prerequisites, and any other mitigating factors."
However Meta also says “each report is evaluated on a case-by-case basis and could, in some cases, be awarded higher than the cap depending on the internally assessed impact.”
The company said these bounties make its program "one of the highest paying in the industry." In contrast, Apple offers researchers up to $2 million for reporting bugs that allow attackers to bypass its Lockdown Mode protections.
Account Takeover and Two-Factor Authentication Bypass Chain: We received a report from Yaala Abdellah, who identified a bug in Facebook’s phone number-based account recovery flow that could have allowed an attacker to reset passwords and take over an account if it wasn’t protected by 2FA. We’ve fixed this bug and found no evidence of abuse. We rewarded the researcher our highest bounty at $163,000, which reflects its maximum potential impact and program bonuses. While we were investigating, the researcher was able to build on an earlier find to chain it to a separate 2FA bypass bug. We’ve fixed this issue and rewarded the researcher an additional bounty of $24,700, including program bonuses.
2FA Bypass: We also fixed a bug reported by Gtm Mänôz of Nepal, which could have allowed an attacker to bypass SMS-based 2FA by exploiting a rate-limiting issue to brute force the verification pin required to confirm someone’s phone number. We awarded a $27,200 bounty for this report.
Account security across Meta’s apps has also received a blog post which notes the challenges facing online companies when adversaries have access to a legitimate user’s contact point — whether an email or a phone number — that they abuse to reset the victim’s password and gain access to their other accounts.
The company warned that one in four compromised Facebook accounts are being taken over in this fashion, although it did not provide figures on the volume of the issue.
With an ever-growing amount of password and email dumps available online, the threat posed by contact point compromises is affecting every part of the online industry, including online banking customers.
While most banks should attempt to reach out to customers if they detect suspicious activity, there are numerous examples of retail banks refusing to cover the losses after a user’s account was compromised.
Meta said the approach was "tricky" because "if we tighten account security controls too much, innocent people will have a harder time using and recovering their accounts. If we are too loose with controls, bad actors will have an easier time abusing our systems to compromise people."
The company, like the industry in general, uses a variety of tools and techniques to identify suspicious activity and authenticate legitimate users, from requesting a copy of their ID documents through to sending a confirmation code to another device that had previously logged in to the account.
Alongside the new bug bounty guidelines, the company introduced a small test of a live chat support feature on Facebook for users who are having account access issues. It said that during October “we offered our live chat support option to over a million people in nine countries and we’re now planning to expand this test to more than 30 countries around the world,” although it is not clear how effectively this program will scale to cover 3.6 billion monthly users.
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https://therecord.media/facebook-to-pay-hackers-up-to-300000-to-uncover-remote-code-execution-bugs
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Currently the “microcode explorations” are still in progress, and there are still a lot the command set left to discover.
So, it could will be developed a nearly completely undetectable trojans that runs in the microcode, between the compiled code and the CPU.
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https://andreafortuna.org/cybersecurity/some-interesting-facts-about-reverse-engineering-of-x86-microcode-from-a-research-of-ruhr-university-bochum/
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Beginning Sept. 30, Visa will require merchants and related businesses to conduct wireless security scans to prove compliance with version 1.2 of the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) which is designed to safeguard cardholder data from wireless threats.
Since the PCI DSS Wireless Guidelines were published in July 2009, vendors have been trotting out tools to prove compliance with the PCI wireless requirements. Here are a handful of issues merchants should consider as they review PCI wireless scanning tools trying to find the best match for their requirements.
* Requirements to meet. Certain PCI wireless requirements are universal regardless of whether a WLAN is deployed and whether or not a WLAN is inside or outside the cardholder data environment (CDE). However, a few other additional PCI wireless requirements need to be met if a WLAN is deployed inside the CDE for purposes such as use of wireless POS terminals, inventory management, etc. During selection of a particular PCI wireless solution, merchants should be careful to ascertain if the solution is capable of satisfying all wireless requirements applicable to the site(s) in consideration.
* Automated or manual. PCI wireless compliance solutions can be automated or manual. An automated solution, generally referred to as WIPS (Wireless Intrusion Prevention Systems), consists of wireless sensors deployed at a merchant’s site. These sensors sniff the surrounding airspace for available wireless information, and send it to a central server over the network. The central server, in turn, has an engine to correlate and mine the obtained information to dig out relevant data required for PCI requirements.
Manual solutions involve use of handheld analyzers which need to be carried around the merchant’s site to collect data, which is then interpreted manually or fed to an engine to dig out relevant data. Naturally, a manual approach of achieving PCI wireless compliance is slow, tedious and can be error-prone compared to an automated one. Also, a manual approach cannot achieve 24x7 detection of wireless threats, which is a significant advantage of an automated solution. PCI wireless guidelines also recommend the use of WIPS/WIDS systems as an effective method to achieve wireless PCI compliance for organizations with large number of distributed sites because manual wireless scanning does not scale and can prove costly.
* Cost and SaaS options. Prices of the tools vary greatly. A few vendors have introduced SaaS offerings for PCI wireless solutions. These are typically low cost when compared to independent solutions and can be helpful for merchants looking for cost-effective solutions or shops that don’t have dedicated IT support.
* Reporting capabilities. Collating proof of compliance across all sites is a challenge. PCI wireless solutions which do not provide a clear and detailed PCI compliance report for any given site and across multiple sites are incapable of establishing in an audit whether the CDE met the applicable wireless requirements. A comprehensive report also helps in speeding of an audit process as all the required information will be readily available in report.
* Configuration and management. Many retail chains often lack dedicated IT support at remote sites, hence the PCI wireless solution should be easy to configure and maintain, even without trained IT staff. Also, from management point of view, the solution should accurately detect wireless threats because generation of false alerts can cause considerable problems. False alerts also crop up in the audit process because merchants have to segregate and account for each one. In fact, false alerts can make a merchant’s site non compliant. Thus, ideally, the solution should be plug-and-play and require minimal human intervention for day-to-day operation.
* Scalability. A merchant with multiple, geographically distributed sites should also consider the scalability of PCI wireless solution. A scalable tool can be easily deployed at multiple sites and be easily extended to new sites. Also, a merchant who is planning to deploy WiFi for its CDE operations in the future should consider a solution which can be easily scaled to a version suitable for wireless requirements applicable to the case where WiFi is deployed as the part of CDE.
* Cover the common vulnerabilities/threats. There are number of known wireless threats and vulnerabilities. Thus, the compliance solution should cover all of them or at least the most important ones, such as Rogue AP, HoneyPot AP, Mis-configured AP, Mis-associations, Unauthorized associations, etc. When solutions claim detection of a particular threat, merchants need to make sure all aspects/possibilities of that threat are covered. For example, all forms of rogue access points should be covered, including rogues configured in software or rogues configured using a commercially available AP. Further, the solution should be easily upgradeable to cover newly discovered vulnerabilities/threats.
* Robust device classification. PCI wireless solutions that have comprehensive classification engine require fewer inputs from the merchants about the inventory. Classification policies provided in the engine should automatically classify various devices scanned over the air into various categories, such as Rogue Devices, External Devices, etc., thus providing complete visibility of wireless devices using the air space of the merchant’s site. PCI wireless guidelines also recommend evaluation of automatic device classification capabilities when evaluating options for PCI wireless compliance solutions. * Automatic prevention. Merchants should also consider automatic prevention capabilities for detected threats. Incident response to a wireless security incident is one of the requirements in the PCI DSS, and having sound automatic prevention enables merchants to quickly and easily respond to detected threats and prevent considerable damage.
* Location tracking. Location tracking of capabilities helps identify the location of wireless devices and facilitate removal. Also, location tracking helps tracking inventory of wireless devices.
With a number of options available for PCI wireless compliance available today, merchants should ensure they do not get trapped by an inexpensive but ineffective solution. The trap can eventually lead to the merchant bearing the cost of non-compliance, which is large.
Ajay Kumar Gupta is Team Lead for Product Development at AirTight Networks. AirTight Networks specializes in wireless security and performance management. It provides customers cutting-edge Wireless Intrusion detection and Prevention (WIPS) solutions to automatically detect, classify, block and locate current and emerging wireless threats.
In pictures: Deploying cloud in regulated markets: What are you waiting for? ...
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https://www.cio.com.au/article/362122/meeting_new_pci_wireless_requirements/
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This article reflects the authors own views and not that of MLI.
October is European Cyber Security Month (ECSM). ECSM is coordinated by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and takes place each year during the month of October. The campaign is supported across Europe by Member States who organise numerous activities including conferences, workshops and webinars. They also disseminate appropriate awareness-raising material and good practices to promote cybersecurity and cyber hygiene. This year the ECSM themes will focus on Cyber Scams and Digital Skills which address the need for behavioural change and identifying opportunities to help users recognise the risks of new technologies. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in cooperation with An Garda Síochána will be running a cyber security awareness campaign during the month of October to include appropriate awareness raising material to convey the importance of cyber hygiene and establishing good practices online. The NCSC will also take part in a webinar on 5G Deployment and Security in Ireland hosted by Cyber Ireland on the 14th of October.
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https://www.medialiteracyireland.ie/news/october-is-european-cyber-security-month
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As Microsoft looks to slim down with layoffs and restructuring, Nokia is spinning MixRadio into a separate steaming music company.
While the app will still come preloaded on Windows Phones, it will also come to Android and iOS, according to The Guardian. There's no word on when the spin-off will be finalized, or when the apps will become available on other platforms.
It's also unclear whether MixRadio will look to include ads in its app now that it's no longer an exclusive perk for Nokia phone owners. Currently, the app is ad-free, but users can get higher audio quality, offline listening and unlimited song skipping for $4 per month.
MixRadio is an Internet radio service that competes with Pandora, Slacker Radio, and Songza, among others. It lets users create "mixes" with up to three artists at a time, but instead of being fully automated, the playlists are powered by human curation.
The idea of adding a human touch to Internet radio isn't unique to MixRadio, however, as both Songza and Beats Music offer playlists put together by people. Incidentally, those services have been recently acquired by Google and Apple, respectively. MixRadio is going in the opposite direction and spinning out on its own. (Slacker also hangs its hat on curation from professional DJs.)
On an interesting side note, MixRadio head Jykri Rosenberg told The Guardian that it's spinning off because Microsoft is looking more to partner with other media services, rather than running its own. That'd make sense in light of Microsoft's new focus on productivity, and it could mean that floundering services like Xbox Music and Xbox Video could be next on the chopping block.
This story, "Downsizing Microsoft to spin off Nokia's MixRadio music service" was originally published by TechHive.
To comment on this article and other PCWorld content, visit our Facebook page or our Twitter feed.
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https://www.pcworld.com/article/2455962/downsizing-microsoft-to-spin-off-nokias-mixradio-music-service.html
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https://careers-draper.icims.com/jobs/2164/embedded-cybersecurity-research-%26-development-engineer/job
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Ciena Corporation (CIEN) has recently announced that its 10G wire-speed encryption solution is now Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 Level 2-compliant, and it was validated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSE).
According to the company, the 10G wire-speed encryption solution is the first integrated transport encryption solution that has completed the FIPS 140-2 Level 2 certification process. It was awarded certificate #1773 by the NIST and CSE and is currently available on the 565 and 5100/5200 Advanced Services Platforms.
10G encryption can be utilized by U.S. and Canadian government agencies, enterprises globally, for fully encrypted 10G data service delivery at wire-speed rates. This solution also integrates with other Ciena platforms such as 4200 Advanced Services Platform, 6500 Packet-Optical Transport Platform, CoreDirector FS Multiservice Optical Switch and 5430 Reconfigurable Switching System.
In addition, this works fine with Ciena’s existing FIPS-certified Optical Metro 5130 platform, which offers a 1G encryption and data compression solution.
“U.S. and Canadian government agencies, along with many enterprises worldwide, rely on FIPS validation as an independent endorsement of the security strength of the products they need,” said David Peed, vice president and general manager, Ciena Government Solutions, Inc., said in a statement. “While many providers of encryption solutions only offer standalone services, we are offering a protocol agnostic solution integrated with ultra-low latency transport. Government departments and enterprises where network security is of optimum importance, such as healthcare and finance, will be able to take advantage of the only all-in-one solution that has withstood the toughest security standards for a simplified deployment and management of its encryption solution.”
Ciena utilizes its deep expertise in packet and optical networking and distributed software automation to deliver solutions in alignment with OPn, its approach for building open next-generation networks. Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO Miami 2013, Jan 29- Feb. 1 in Miami, Florida. Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO (News - Alert). Follow us on Twitter. Edited by Rachel Ramsey More Dark Fiber Community Stories
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http://dark-fiber.tmcnet.com/topics/dark-fiber/articles/316930-cienas-10g-encryption-solution-wins-fips-140-2.htm
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NEVER share your passwords and select a complex password of letters, numbers and symbols.
Beware of internet promotions that ask for personal information. Identity thieves may use false offers to get you to give them your information.
After completing any type of financial transaction online, make sure you sign out of the website and clear you internet file/cache.
Before giving your credit card number or other financial information to a business, make sure that their website is protected and secured. Look for a lock symbol located somewhere on the browser or make sure the URL begins with https://.
A lot of people use FaceBook and other social media accounts. Identity thieves can take simple information such as your birth date and pets names as clues to common passwords and steal your identity. Make sure to keep you privacy settings set high when using social media accounts.
Install anti-virus, fire-wall, anti-spyware and keep it up to date.
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https://www.owensoundpolice.com/stop-fraud/internet-security-tips
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Encryption of personal data wherever it resides – including file systems databases, web repositories, cloud environments, big data environments and virtualization implementations.
Policy-based access controls to assure that only authorized accounts and processes can see the data.
Monitoring of authorized accounts accessing data, to ensure that these accounts have not been compromised.
Thales e-Security Provides Key Components of the Solution
Thales e-Security's Vormetric Data Security Platform provides key components of the solution to implementing data-centric security. These include security controls that enable organizations to safeguard and audit the integrity of customer records and information against a broad range of threats against data. Thales e-Security data breach protection solutions are transparent to existing operating processes and applications for rapid implementation of protection from data breaches.
This single platform solution to multiple data breach protection needs helps organizations meet compliance requirements with low TCO and an easy-to-deploy, centrally managed infrastructure and solution set.
Vormetric Tokenization with Dynamic Data Masking from Thales e-Security helps your security team address its compliance objectives while gaining breakthroughs in operational efficiency.
Learn More It’s very apparent that Vormetric is major steps in front of the competition.
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https://www.thalesesecurity.ru/solutions/compliance/data-breach-notification-laws
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Zintel PR clients have been acquired for more than $1 billion.
Zintel PR is led by a cybersecurity and B2B tech public relations expert who leads a team consisting of a powerful mixture of former journalists and media relations specialists. Services include media relations programs that harness relationships with relevant reporters, as well as editorial services that consistently provide clients with clear, concise tools for success.
On average, Zintel Public Relations retains its clients for four or more years -- usually ending in an acquisition or other historical event for the client. Based in Houston, Texas, the agency is a proven partner in growing awareness as well as revenues. Zintel PR has continuously represented publicly-held companies in the security industry since 2003.
In less than 300 words, summarize the achievements of the company in the nominated category
With a focus on cybersecurity and B2B technology clients, Zintel Public Relations has served large, small, startup and non-profit clients for 15 years. The agency and its team have repeatedly received industry recognition for its technology and security expertise.
Zintel Public Relations has represented numerous innovators in cybersecurity, including leaders in anti-malware, anti-piracy, anti-spam, strong authentication, data protection, IoT, mobile security, and network security, among others.
Zintel PR shares client messages with target audiences by using the latest PR analysis technologies and developing a strategic communications plan that utilizes services such as powerful media relations, thought leadership initiatives, analyst relations programs and editorial craftsmanship. The agency’s customized approach has helped numerous clients increase their footprint as well as their revenues.
With Zintel PR’s guidance, companies have become market leaders, outpaced competitors, transformed executives into thought leaders, expanded internationally, experienced successful IPOs, and have been collectively acquired for more than $1 billion.
Zintel PR transforms its clients’ stories into global news articles that reach key audiences. Matthew Zintel and his team are proud to have earned the reputation as a true marketing partner that delivers uniquely effective PR programs designed to bring products, services and executives the increased visibility they deserve.
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https://cybersecurity-excellence-awards.com/candidates/zintel-public-relations-3
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As more employees connect their personal devices to the corporate network, organizations need to modify their acceptable usage policies to accommodate both corporate-owned and personally-owned devices. Management and security levers will need to differ based on ownership of the device and the associated controls that the organization requires. Employees will continue to add devices to the corporate network to make their jobs more efficient and enjoyable so organizations must plan for this legally, operationally and culturally.
Secure comprehensively: Look beyond basic password, wipe and application blocking policies. Focus on the information and where it is viewed, transmitted and stored. Integrating with existing data loss prevention, encryption and authentication policies will ensure consistent corporate and regulatory compliance.
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http://technology-news-hub.com/network-security/featured-infographic-global-state-of-mobility-enterprises-at-the-tipping-point-in-mobility-adoption/
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Electricity, our financial institutions, and our transportation infrastructure, are things that permeate our lives each day, and are all dependent on the internet. Having a resilient infrastructure in critical areas is not only crucial to the everyday lives of citizens, but our national security. The theme of Week 5 looks at the role of cybersecurity in keeping our phone lines, running water, traffic lights, and other critical infrastructure secure.
What is critical infrastructure exactly? The DHS defines critical infrastructure as “sectors whose assets, systems and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety or any combination thereof.”
Basically, critical infrastructure either: (1) supports some basic necessity of modern life, like electricity or (2) it is a big organization that would impact a lot of people.
There are 16 critical infrastructure sectors
Chemical. Basic chemicals, specialty chemicals, agricultural chemicals, pharmaceuticals and consumer products.
Commercial Facilities. Entertainment, gaming, lodging, events, public assembly, real estate and sports leagues.
Communications. Internet, telephone and cable wired lines, wireless frequencies (cellphones) and satellites (GPS, DirecTV, satellite phones).
Critical Manufacturing. Primary metals, machinery, electrical equipment and transportation equipment.
Dams. Hydroelectric power, water supplies, irrigation, flood control, river control and recreation.
Defense Industrial Base. Design and production of military weapon systems.
Emergency Services. Police and fire departments, medical services and public works.
Energy. Electricity, oil and natural gas.
Financial Services. Banking, credit, investment and insurance.
Food and Agriculture. Farms, livestock, restaurants, food manufacturing, processing and storage.
Government Facilities. Federal, state, local and tribal government buildings.
Health Care and Public Health. Hospitals, clinics, mental health, youth care and family services.
Information Technology. Hardware, software, systems and services.
Nuclear Reactors, Materials and Waste. Reactors, enrichment and nuclear medicine.
Water and Wastewater Systems. Water treatment, storage, drainage and sewage.
If you work in any industrial setting — whether it is a farm, doing facilities work on buildings, working in a factory or in other skilled labor jobs like plumbers, electricians or HVAC specialists — pay attention to any devices you interact with, especially if they are internet-enabled.
Why would someone want to target a HVAC system? In 2013, Target was actually compromised through their HVAC system, exposing 110 million people while using a third-party company to manage their HVAC systems that were not properly protected from the rest of their network. Hackers were then able to break into the network using malware, exposing the card processing system.
While Target is an example of someone using an ICS as a pivot point to reach other critical infrastructure, what about someone using a primary network? In March of 2016, hackers took control of hundreds of PLCs that governed the flow of toxic chemicals that were used to treat water at a regional water utility. The cyber thieves took advantage of the water company’s poor security architecture that had multiple internet-facing systems with high-risk vulnerabilities on the same network as their SCADA platform. The actors were actually able to change flow rates of the toxic chemicals.
Luckily, the alert system provided the water treatment facility enough time to reverse the chemical flow changes, minimizing the impact on the facilities customers and saving hundreds of thousands of lives from danger.
Because the energy grid is so complex, managing it requires constant planning and coordination. Complicating matters, cyber threats to the grid are not static. They evolve — and so must the industry’s efforts to prepare.
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https://1path.com/blog/cybersecurity/cyber-security-awareness-week-5-protecting-critical-infrastructure-cyber-threats/
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AltaMed Health Services Corp. has sent letters to 5,500 patients about a security breach that may have impacted their personal health information.
The company's business associate Sharecare Health Data Services reported on Dec. 31, 2018, that a security incident occurred on a network that held the information of some AltaMed patients. Sharecare Health Data Services began noticing abnormal activity within its network in June 2018.
Upon investigation, Sharecare Health Data Services determined an unauthorized third-party gained access to its network in May 2018. AltaMed began notifying patients in February.
The third-party had access to patient names, addresses, dates of birth and unique identification numbers. Some names and addresses of facilities that provider health services and some medical record numbers may have also been affected.
"This incident was not the result of any action or inaction by AltaMed and did not affect the integrity or security of AltaMed's digital environment. AltaMed takes the security of information belonging to its patients very seriously and, since learning of this incident, has worked diligently to identify those AltaMed patients whose information may have been affected for purposes of notification," AltaMed said in a release.
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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/cybersecurity/altamed-alerts-5-500-patients-of-data-breach.html
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Aquatic systems, both marine and freshwater, have been recognised as vital in provisioning, regulating and supporting a wide range of services for humankind. However, climate change is a growing threat to the continuous provision of these services.
The implications of this global challenge to the sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture and the livelihoods and economies that depend on them have been receiving increasing attention.
It is now recognised that sea-level rise, ocean acidification and changes in salinity, precipitation, groundwater and river flows, water stresses and extreme weather events are changing the productivity of aquatic habitats, modifying the distribution of both marine and freshwater fish species, and affecting the seasonality of biological and biophysical processes.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changedefines “vulnerability” as “the degree to which a system is susceptible to, and unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change”.
Using this framework of analysis, global studies have highlighted the relative vulnerability of national economies to any potential change in their fisheries from climate change, and found that the most vulnerable tended to be least-developed countries, where the capacity to adapt may be most limited.
This finding emphasises the fact that not only will livelihoods and national economies need to cope with immediate changes and trade-offs imposed by climate change, but they will also need to evolve in a way that allows them to develop positive adaptation mechanisms and seize the opportunities that may arise from climate change impacts in the medium to longer term.
In the last few years, much conceptual and applied work has contributed to increasing the understanding of the characteristics of “vulnerability” in fisheries and aquaculture systems, as well as in a range of other contexts.
The IPCC definition of vulnerability – decomposed as a function of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity – tends to be used as a starting point for most analyses, either in its original form or specifically tailored to fisheries and aquaculture (Figure 1).
However, assessments can be divided into two broad categories: those that focus on predicting biophysical risks and hazards created by climate change and the responses of systems, usually relying on quantitative, top-down investigative methods (e.g. modelling); and those that focus on understanding the impacts of climate change on human systems, usually examining what is referred to as “contextual vulnerability” and relying on bottom-up, stakeholder-based investigative approaches (Brugère and De Young, forthcoming).
FAO regional case studies
Global reviews of the impacts of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture systems carried out in 2009 revealed a paucity and patchiness of information concerning climate impacts on the sector.
Six follow-up regional case studies were then launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in an attempt to start filling the gaps and to provide direction and initial steps in adaptation planning.
Fisheries and aquaculture systems were selected across the globe to allow for diversity. The approach of the case studies followed a template allowing them to:
(iv) provide policy guidance in reducing system vulnerability.
However, authors were allowed flexibility in defining the system, issues and options, according to the prevailing conditions of the area or system under study.
The case studies were desk-based and relied mainly on available secondary information. Each case was subsequently discussed with a range of stakeholders in six regional follow-up workshops.
Synthesis of the case studies
Preparation of this synthesis relied on the proceedings of six regional workshops on climate change vulnerability and adaptation in fisheries and aquaculture (Box 1), held in Barbados, Chad, Chile, Namibia, New Caledonia and Viet Nam in 2011 and 2012.
The in-depth regional analyses prepared for each workshop – of the vulnerability of fisheries and aquaculture systems and the livelihoods and economies they support – were extensively reviewed and used as the main sources of information for this synthesis.
Moreover, the analytical process that underpinned the synthesis was guided by the outcomes of two recent FAO workshops on climate-change vulnerability assessment for the fisheries and aquaculture sectors.
Synthesis goal and objective
The goal of this synthesis is to raise awareness of the need for vulnerability assessment work in fisheries and aquaculture.
In addition, it is hoped that it will help share what issues were raised in these case studies and what adaptation options were proposed in order to support interregional learning.
On this basis, the specific objective of this publication is to consolidate, further interpret, refine and draw conclusions from the information gathered on climate change impacts, sensitivity and adaptive capacity of fish production systems in the diverse and geographically distinct social-ecological systems covered by the six case studies.
Diverse components of the fisheries and aquaculture systems (human and/or environmental) are vulnerable to different climate-related threats, as well as to anthropologically driven ones (e.g. overfishing).
The need for context-specificity precludes any generic statement about the vulnerability status of fisheries and aquaculture systems, and of their associated human systems. Despite this, the case studies confirmed that ecosystem resilience and human adaptive capacity were the two major determinants of vulnerability, and that governance was itself a determinant of adaptive capacity.
More context-specific vulnerability assessments of fisheries and aquaculture are needed, in particular in areas where such studies have not been carried out.
However, in areas where vulnerability information is already available, as in the six areas covered here, this information could be used, first, as a baseline, and second, as a stepping stone to move on from vulnerability characterisation to decisions on adaptation actions.
“Good” adaptation decisions may be perilous to make. However, considering what lies behind them appears to be a conducive strategy to ultimately understanding and addressing those barriers that can “stop, delay or divert the adaptation decision-making process” at any stage.
Documenting determinants of and barriers to adaptation, and in particular the governance and institutional issues that tend to underpin them, will aid progress towards a better understanding of vulnerability, ecosystem resilience and human adaptive capacity, and will support the design of effective, efficient, legitimate and equitable adaptation actions.
Finally, concerns about climate change impacts on fisheries and aquaculture systems, and a focus on the need for these to adapt, should not move attention away from their management.
Indeed, the case studies highlighted that, in some cases, it is overfishing that is threatening the fishery, not climate change or even other environmental factors. Unless urgently addressed, this could weaken the very basis on which future adaptation will rely.
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https://thefishsite.com/articles/climate-change-vulnerability-in-fisheries-and-aquaculture
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Although Windows Defender[1] is an in-built Windows 10 antivirus utility, which is supported by Microsoft and receives updates regularly, it doesn’t mean that Windows 10 device’s users should stop caring if it's updated with the latest security definitions.
Windows 10 OS has an automatic system update feature,[2] which should automatically install Windows 10 patches, regular updates, and security updates. However, the automatic update quite frequently fails to work. On top of that, the PC’s owner is not informed about the missing updates and malfunctioning update service as long as he or she does not check for updates manually.
It means that people can be using an outdated Windows Defender or third-party antivirus utility without suspecting that, thus pushing the system into a high-risk of malware infection. To prevent this from happening, we would recommend installing Windows Defender definitions manually.
To restore your computer's peak performance, you have to purchase licensed version of Reimage repair software.
Even if it turns out that your anti-virus is fully up-to-date, you should be aware of the methods that can be applied for installing Windows Defender security definitions.
Open Windows Defender Security Center and click Virus & Threat Protection.
Scroll down until you find Protection updates and click it.
Click Check for Updates and wait while the scan is being executed.
NOTE: Sometimes the installation of Windows Defender definition updates end up with an error, for example, “Virus and spyware definitions couldn’t be updated” with a code 0x8024402c, 0x80240022, 0x80004002, etc. If you got such a notification when trying to update your antivirus, please refer to this post for help.
Method 3. Install Windows Defender definitions from the catalog
If you can’t update Windows Defender via Windows Update or through Windows Defender Security Center due to one or another reason, you can do that on the official Microsoft’s website. There’s a section called “Definition updates for Windows Defender Antivirus and other Microsoft antimalware, ” which you can access by clicking on this link.
NOTE: before updating, check whether your Windows PC is 32-bit or 64-bit. Besides, check the version of your antivirus tool. You can do that by following these steps:
Method 4. Install PC Optimization Utility
The last option that you have is to install a professional optimization utility, for example, Reimage. This particular program is not capable of installing missing updates forcefully as it does not have a Windows Update database.
Nevertheless, Reimage will let you know as soon as the antivirus tool gets out of date or starts malfunctioning, thus preventing the system loosing protection.
On top of that, this program will fix issues with Windows Registry, Windows files, and will work as a second hand antivirus as it has an inbuilt Avira-Antivir anti-malware engine.
IMPORTANT: Except the first method, all the other three methods for updating antivirus software can be applied for third-party anti-virus, so if you are using Kaspersky, Avast,[3] Norton or another utility, you can update it from within the application or the manufacturer's website. Finally, Reimage tool can identify the problems with third-party antivirus and report them to the device's user, except that it won't fix them.
If you are not satisfied with Reimage and think that it failed to improve your computer, feel free to contact us! Please, give us all details related to your issue.
Reimage - a patented specialized Windows repair program. It will diagnose your damaged PC. It will scan all System Files, DLLs and Registry Keys that have been damaged by security threats. Reimage - a patented specialized Mac OS X repair program. This patented repair process uses a database of 25 million components that can replace any damaged or missing file on user's computer.
To repair damaged system, you have to purchase the licensed version of Reimage malware removal tool.
^ Brandon Vigliarolo. How to protect your Windows 10 PC from ransomware with the Fall Creators Update. TechRepublic. Blogs, community forums, vendor white papers, software downloads, Webcasts, and research.
^ Mauro Huculac. How to stop Windows 10 auto updates. WindowsCentral. Featuring news, reviews, help & tips, buyer guides.
^ Natasha Lomas. Avast reckons CCleaner malware infected 2.27M users. TechCrunch. The leading technology media property.
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https://ugetfix.com/ask/4-ways-to-update-antivirus-software-on-windows-10/
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You’ve probably heard a bit about encryption, but it sounds like something too complex, too specialist, to consider using yourself.
But encryption is simply a means of scrambling your data into seemingly-random characters, called ciphertext, which can only be unscrambled into meaningful information when an authorized user enters the correct decryption key. The key is just a passphrase, password, or PIN Why Passphrases Are Still Better than Passwords & Fingerprints Why Passphrases Are Still Better than Passwords & Fingerprints Remember when passwords didn't have to be complicated? When PINs were easy to remember? Those days are gone, and cybercrime risks mean fingerprint scanners are next to useless. It's time to start using passcodes... It’s a lot more straightforward than most think. Nonetheless, you might feel a little too in-the-dark to make use of encryption, so let’s bust some encryption myths!
1. Only Big Corporations Use Encryption
The root of this myth likely stems from the idea that only international organisations are worth targeting, but that’s simply not true. If it were, there’d be little need for security suites protecting your own PCs.
Your data, even the basic information, is worth stealing Here's How Much Your Identity Could Be Worth on the Dark Web Here's How Much Your Identity Could Be Worth on the Dark Web It's uncomfortable to think of yourself as a commodity, but all of your personal details, from name and address to bank account details, are worth something to online criminals. How much are you worth? Read More because it can all be sold on by scammers. Breaching your home security is one way to achieve identity theft. In order to keep your personal information private, it needs to be scrambled. Data you enter online is even encrypted (on sites using HTTPS What Is HTTPS & How To Enable Secure Connections Per Default What Is HTTPS & How To Enable Secure Connections Per Default Security concerns are spreading far and wide and have reached the forefront of most everybody's mind. Terms like antivirus or firewall are no longer strange vocabulary and are not only understood, but also used by... Read More , at least) and ensured using SSL/TSL certificates How Web Browsing Is Becoming Even More Secure How Web Browsing Is Becoming Even More Secure We have SSL certificates to thank for our security and privacy. But recent breaches and flaws may have dented your trust in the cryptographic protocol. Fortunately, SSL is adapting, being upgraded - here's how. Actually, encryption is used more often than you think. As of last year, Apple claims to have sold 700 million iPhones, with an estimated 101 million users in the USA alone. And if those people are security-conscious, they’ll have activated passcode locks. That’s a form of encryption because if an unauthorized user tried to scroll through their contacts, peruse their photos, or traverse Twitter, they wouldn’t be able to without the correct passcode.
You might be thinking, “Sure, it’s easy to turn encryption on when you’ve got an iPhone, but I bet it’s more difficult on Android. And what about my PC? I bet that’s near impossible to encrypt!”
Encryption softwares should be easy to use and hassle-free for the final users. Otherwise they are useless. #gtkcrypto #github
— Paolo Stivanin (@polslinux) June 29, 2016
Admittedly, difficulties vary depending on the mobile OS, but not that greatly. Windows 10 Mobile just requires you to go on Settings > System > Device encryption. Since Android Lollipop 8 Ways Upgrading to Android Lollipop Makes Your Phone More Secure 8 Ways Upgrading to Android Lollipop Makes Your Phone More Secure Our smartphones are full of sensitive information, so how can we keep ourselves safe? With Android Lollipop, which packs a big punch in the security arena, bringing in features that improve security across the board. Read More , encryption comes as default (unless you’re getting a low-end model). Smartphone manufacturers have realized the need for this added layer of security.
But it’s pretty simple on PCs and laptops as well. Device encryption was first introduced for Windows 8.1, and any PCs with Windows 10 are supposed to use it as default — on the condition that you sign in using a Microsoft account. To check whether you’re using encryption (and to enable it), go on Settings > System > About. If the device encryption option isn’t there, you won’t be able to protect your files without something like BitLocker or these alternatives TrueCrypt Is Dead: 4 Disk Encryption Alternatives For Windows TrueCrypt Is Dead: 4 Disk Encryption Alternatives For Windows TrueCrypt is no more, but fortunately there are other useful encryption programs. While they may not be exact replacements, they should suit your needs. Read More — some of which also apply to Macs What Is Mac OS X FileVault & How Do I Use It? Only by manually encrypting the files on your hard drive can you truly keep your files safe. That's where the Mac OS X FileVault comes in. Read More and Linux. Explore other routes for protecting your data How to Hide & Protect Your Data in Windows How to Hide & Protect Your Data in Windows Nothing is private, unless you make it so. You can just hide your data from plain view, or you can apply passwords or encryption techniques for more serious protection. Let us show you how. Read More , sure, but don’t be put off encryption: it’ll be worth it in the long run!
The level of control you can have over encryption is astonishing too. You can actually encrypt individual files. How? On Windows, you right click on a file or folder and go Properties > Advanced > Encrypt contents to secure data; when you close the Advanced tab, click Apply.
Linux makes it quite easy to encrypt personal information How To Encrypt Your Home Folder After Ubuntu Installation [Linux] How To Encrypt Your Home Folder After Ubuntu Installation [Linux] Imagine this: it's a great day, you're busy working on your computer at some event, and everything seems fine. After a while you get tired and decide to get something to eat and shut down... Read More (and if you’re au fait with open-source software, it’s unlikely you’d be put off the hassle of encryption anyway)… but make sure you know the downsides of it 4 Reasons to Encrypt Your Linux Partitions 4 Reasons to Encrypt Your Linux Partitions Thinking about encrypting your Linux disk? It's a wise move, but wait until you've considered arguments for and against. Read More .
3. You Don’t Need to Encrypt Data if You Use Factory Resets
Selling your mobile How to Get the Most Cash From Selling Your Old Smartphone How to Get the Most Cash From Selling Your Old Smartphone Selling your old smartphone is a great way to raise funds. That is, as long as you do it right Read More , device, or laptop using an online auction site Fed Up With eBay? Here Are Some Worthy (And Cheaper) Alternatives For Sellers Fed Up With eBay? Here Are Some Worthy (And Cheaper) Alternatives For Sellers When you want to sell your excess junk online, where do you go? For most people, the one and only answer is eBay. With millions of daily users, it only seems logical to use the... Read More ? You can fetch big bucks for your old hardware, getting a vital boost to your bank balance by sacrificing something you don’t even use anymore. But if thieves got hold of your items Five Ways a Thief Can Profit From Your Stolen Hardware Five Ways a Thief Can Profit From Your Stolen Hardware Criminals steal your PC, your laptop, your smartphone, either by burglarising your house, or by snatching them from you. But then what happens? What can thieves do with your stolen tech? Read More , they can glean a lot about you. This is a problem if you’re recycling your hardware Beware These 8 Security Issues When Recycling Hardware Beware These 8 Security Issues When Recycling Hardware Recycling old hardware is a good idea, but you don't want to give away personal data. Consider these security concerns before getting rid of your hardware, and see what you can do about them. Read More too.
Likely perpetuated by the Factory Resets on smartphones, most people think these will wipe your device completely clean. You’re passing on a clean slate, right? Not at all. While in most cases, the eventual recipient of your hardware won’t have the abilities or inclination to restore data about you, a determined criminal generally can.
If you do plan on getting rid of a device, either encrypt all its data then do a Factory Reset, or destroy it completely. Take a hammer to it or burn it.
The exception is the Factory Reset option on iPhones: that really does wipe the slate clean.
4. Encryption Always Affects Performance
This is true in rare cases, but for the most part, you don’t need to worry about performance lag. It’ll be negligible, and for the most part, unnoticeable.
The reason this myth does the rounds is because your PC or smartphone has to decrypt all its contents before you get access to its databases. It stands to reason that it’ll take a while. Can you be bothered to wait each time you try to get onto your files?
@empiricalerror There's "encryption", and then there's "encryption". pic.twitter.com/SN2xTrKAel
— 0xdeadb?be (@0xdeadbabe) June 29, 2016
Fortunately, manufacturers know their audience expects this level of security and that many would be put off if it’s at the expense of functionality. If your device is pretty new, you shouldn’t have a problem with performance. Just think of how quickly an iPhone starts up after a passcode is entered. Barely any time at all.
Disk-level encryption generally impacts performance less than application-level; even then, drives with medium- to high-end processors support Intel Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions (AES-NI), which is designed to improve the speed of applications using encryption keys. Some people claim that encryption speeds things up!
There are, of course, exceptions. Aged PCs won’t be able to cope that quickly, but if they’re that old, the system in general will be slower than recent versions regardless.
Recently, we’ve heard a lot about data breaches: the so-called Celebgate How A "Minor" Data Breach Made Headline News & Ruined Reputations How A "Minor" Data Breach Made Headline News & Ruined Reputations Read More was one of the most high-profile leaks, but further notable password breaches have happened in just the past couple of months, including 32 million Twitter How to Check If Your Twitter Password Has Leaked & What to Do Next How to Check If Your Twitter Password Has Leaked & What to Do Next Apparently over 32 million Twitter accounts and passwords have been leaked, according to TechCrunch. Learn how to see if your account is affected, and secure your account before it's too late. Read More accounts, 42 million Gmail credentials Is Your Gmail Account Among 42 Million Leaked Credentials? Is Your Gmail Account Among 42 Million Leaked Credentials? Read More , and 360 million emails and passwords from MySpace Facebook Tracks Everybody, MySpace Got Hacked... [Tech News Digest] Facebook Tracks Everybody, MySpace Got Hacked... [Tech News Digest] Facebook is tracking everybody across the Web, millions of MySpace credentials are up for sale, Amazon brings Alexa to your browser, No Man's Sky suffers a delay, and Pong Project takes shape. That’s an astonishing amount of hacks.
Encryption keys aren’t unbreakable. iPhones were purported to be the most secure mobile OS What Is The Most Secure Mobile Operating System? What Is The Most Secure Mobile Operating System? Battling for the title of Most Secure Mobile OS, we have: Android, BlackBerry, Ubuntu, Windows Phone, and iOS. Which operating system is the best at holding its own against online attacks? Read More , mostly thanks to their supposedly-impregnable encryption; if you don’t want anyone getting in, you set up a passcode and not even Apple can get into it. But earlier this year, that was proved false when a hacker, paid by the CIA, got into the smartphone of an alleged terrorist.
Probably the main weakness in encryption is storage of the keys. Whistleblower, Edward Snowden says:
“Properly implemented encryption does work… If you have a centralized database of keys, that is a massive target. We’ve got to focus on end points, we’ve got to focus on the keys, [make them] more defensible.”
So you have to take basic security precautions Change Your Bad Habits & Your Data Will Be More Secure Change Your Bad Habits & Your Data Will Be More Secure Read More aside from encryption: create strong passwords 6 Tips For Creating An Unbreakable Password That You Can Remember 6 Tips For Creating An Unbreakable Password That You Can Remember If your passwords are not unique and unbreakable, you might as well open the front door and invite the robbers in for lunch. Read More at least, and keep them safe Password Leaks Are Happening Now: Here's How to Protect Yourself Password Leaks Are Happening Now: Here's How to Protect Yourself Password leaks happen all the time, and there's a chance one of your accounts will be involved, if it hasn't happened already. So what can you do to keep your accounts safe? Definitely. It’s certainly not absolute, but it’s a simple and, in the majority of cases, effective way of keeping your personal information private.
Do you encrypt your devices or is something putting you off? Let us know in the comments below.
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https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/dont-believe-5-myths-encryption/
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A recently patched Oracle 12 database vulnerability, which exposed a flaw in the authentication process, allowed...
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By submitting my Email address I confirm that I have read and accepted the Terms of Use and Declaration of Consent. By submitting your email address, you agree to receive emails regarding relevant topic offers from TechTarget and its partners. You can withdraw your consent at any time. Contact TechTarget at 275 Grove Street, Newton, MA. You also agree that your personal information may be transferred and processed in the United States, and that you have read and agree to the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy. hackers to link a particular password hash with a session key. Oracle didn't patch the issue in version 11.1, which is the version in use at my organization. How much danger does this pose for enterprises? Do you have any tips for dealing with this vulnerability for version 11.1 users?
Ask the Expert Have questions about enterprise information security threats for expert Nick Lewis? Send them via email today! (All questions are anonymous.) This vulnerability was identified by Application Security Inc.'s TeamSHATTER Researcher Esteban Martinez Fayo. The vulnerability, which exists in the Oracle database authentication protocol, allows an attacker to capture a hashed password so it can be cracked to gain access to the database. Oracle fixed this vulnerability by changing the authentication protocol, but decided to not backport the fix and protocol update to earlier versions. This is fairly common when a fix makes major changes to a protocol, because the fix could break backward compatibility. As mentioned in its patch announcement, Oracle, like any major software vendor, has a technical support lifecycle, where older versions cease to receive support so that they can focus their resources on newer products. Even after applying the update, database administrators (DBAs) still need to change the authentication protocol version in use, because the vulnerable protocol is set as the default. The first step to protecting the Oracle database authentication process from this vulnerability is to not directly place a database on the internet or allow direct external access to any database, thereby limiting where an attack can originate. DBAs should also stay as close to the most recent database version as possible, because that is where most of the database provider's resources are devoted. There are database firewalls that could protect against attacks trying to lower the protocol to a vulnerable version, but the vulnerability is part of a core component of the authentication protocol, so stopping an attack may be difficult. DBAs could also change the database to use external authentication to prevent the vulnerable protocol from being used. Another option could be for enterprises to require VPN connections to their Oracle databases when client systems are on networks where their network traffic might be captured. The VPN would prevent an attacker from capturing the password hash.
Enterprises should consider a cloud security policy in the wake of more services moving to the cloud. Expert Mike Chapple ...
Microsoft wins email privacy court battle with U.S. government
The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Microsoft regarding a controversial email privacy case with the U.S. government that ...
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Microsoft stopped supporting Internet Explorer prior to version 11, but the web browser is still present in many organizations. ...
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http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/answer/Mitigations-for-an-Oracle-database-authentication-vulnerability
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The summer solstice has passed, and DBAs are still asking how to get up to speed with Azure. I’m even speaking at events on how to take advantage of Azure to do migrations to the cloud! Many I’ve spoken to are wondering what skills they need to add to their already impressive arsenal of technology. Some are hoping what they learn from videos and blog posts will be enough. Others are wondering if there are any existing skills that are of value while so many tell them that the role of the Database Administrator is part of the past and not the future.
The truth is, there’s no need to leave all of your skills behind as you embark on your new Azure adventure. You just need to enhance the skills you already have with new and exciting ones. Much of our value around automation, understanding mission critical systems and development, and optimization is just as needed in the new world of the cloud as it was in the world of on-premises data centers. Those Powershell and other scripting skills can make you an asset when it comes to performing tasks and deploying fast into the cloud.
To help you on your way to mastering the cloud, we’re offering a free eBook from Packt, Professional Azure SQL Administration, second edition, which will get you up to speed on the Azure cloud quicker than you ever could on your own. This eBook is chock full of all of the technical knowledge you’ll need, no matter if you are a novice or have been working in Azure extensively and just want a reference containing valuable tips and best practices.
One of the focuses I really appreciate in this edition is the fine detail on Azure security, which is a common hot topic for the business when it’s considering the cloud. The book also goes over all of those cool new features that are available first in the cloud, so you won’t have to wait to learn about data synchronization between Azure databases, machine learning in Azure Database, or sharing data from the sidelines.
There are over 500 pages in this eBook that will educate you on the service and pricing tiers in Azure, offer guidance on how to build out a successful migration project, and once you’ve migrated to Azure, how to get the most out of your cloud investment.
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https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2019/07/22/dbas-its-time-to-get-up-to-speed-with-azure/
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An exploitable code execution vulnerability exists in the QR code scanning functionality of Yi Home Camera 27US 1.8.7.0D. A specially crafted QR Code can cause a buffer overflow, resulting in code execution. The trans_info call can overwrite a buffer of size 0x104, which is more than enough to overflow the return address from the ssid_dst field.
MISC: https://www.talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2018-0571
CVE: https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2018-3898
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https://www.cctvcalculator.net/en/knowledges/vulnerability-database/cve-2018-3898/
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Factory reset is not a proper way to make your phone fast and clean, you can lose your phones personalization and much data. There are large number of utilities are available in Google Playstore , these clean your files stored internally in your phone , clean and delete junk files . Clean Master the application I found a best for enhance your phone speed. This utility also includes many other features like Junk files cleaning, Memory Boost, Antivirus and App manager.
The world most downloaded utility tool for android, it protects your phone with malicious apps and vulnerabilities. It enhances your phone’s performance and speed by optimizing your device memory.
Memory Boost: Delete temporary files that slow down your phone performance.
Antivirus: Simply protect your phone for infected files, bugs. It runs in background and keep notifying you for viruses.
App manager: App manager helps you to remove application properly and you can also backup your apps
Auto cleaning: You can also set a scheduled reminder for auto cleaner.
The new features involves many other features like duplicate photo detection, simple delete the duplicated photo from gallery.
Weather update, a widget is available.
ESET Mobile Security & Antivirus 100% Recommended ESET is a highly reputed security software tool. It manufactures […]
Best Memory Cleaner App for Android The Android device is more like a computer or laptop which has got […]
1The great chinese firewall and wto policies clashing (5.00 out of 5) 2How to protect your personal web space? (5.00 out of 5) 3Best 5 firewall for windows pc 2014 (5.00 out of 5)
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https://www.securityantivirus.org/clean-master-app-for-android
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text/xml attachment: enc-element-aes128-ka-dh.xml application/pkix-cert attachment: dh-priv-key.der
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http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/xml-encryption/2002Mar/0041.html
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our profits, minimize our losses and avoid credit approval delays. First, we want to make sure that we maximize our rewards when using our credit cards. Many credit cards offer substantial rewards whether it is rebates on gas purchases, travel and all other transactions. Depending on
fraud. Every time, we use our credit cards for small transactions such as when buying coffee, we unnecessarily increase our identity theft risks, therefore using credit cards strategically is very important for reducing identity theft risks.
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http://www.identity-theft-awareness.com/using-credit-cards-strategically.html
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The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) replaced the Data Protection Act and applies from 25 May 2018.
Whilst there are similarities between the Data Protection Act and the GDPR, there are some new elements and significant enhancements.
The GDPR requires all organisations that deal with individuals living in an EU member state to protect the personal information belonging to those individuals and to have verified proof of such protection. Failure to comply with the regulation will result in significant fines.
Here we look at the scope and some of the key principles of the GDPR.
processed securely and protected from unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, or destruction or damage.
Finally, the GDPR requires that the controller shall be responsible for, and be able to demonstrate, compliance with these principles.
Individuals have the right to obtain confirmation that their data is being processed, access to their personal data, and other information, such as that provided in a privacy notice.
The maximum amount of time allowed to deal with a subject access request has been reduced from 40 to 30 days under the GDPR, and the right to charge a subject access fee has been removed, unless the request is unfounded, excessive or repetitive.
Individuals have the right to request the deletion or removal of personal data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing. Again, this must also include personal data which is shared or given to third parties.
Note that there are extra requirements when the request relates to a child.
There are some exceptions to the right to erasure, such as where data is held to comply with a legal obligation.
Breaches must be notified to the relevant supervisory authority where 'it is likely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals'.
A notifiable breach must be reported within 72 hours.
“John and his team have looked after my financial affairs for a number of years now and, from the outset, I have always found them to be of the highest integrity, their advice to be sound, current and well considered and their manner to be approachable and personable.
I have always felt that they care about me as an individual, and this has reflected in their understanding of my affairs and how to manage them to my best advantage. I would have no hesitation in recommending them highly to you in every respect.”
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https://www.jcwallace.co.uk/resources/factsheets/ict/data-security-general-data-protection-regulation
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The majority of security challenges associated with cloud computing are beginning to be addressed.
Last time we looked at emerging technologies, we addressed virtual system security. This time we are discussing cloud security. The cloud is enabled by virtual systems so why would cloud security be any different from virtual system security? Really, it's a matter of perception. If you are the cloud provider, your focus is on your virtual infrastructure. You see things the way we did last time. And, you may recall, some of the products we examined were notably suited to cloud providers.
Now, our perspective has shifted a bit. We are seeing the virtual environment from the customer perspective. While we certainly care about the ins and outs of the virtual systems our provider uses to create its cloud, we are primarily focused on our data. After all, the promise of the cloud is that it will replace our expensive, bloated physical data centers. The cloud is the extension of the virtual world, which is going to, you guessed it, replace our expensive, bloated physical data centers.
What does not change is that our data - whether it is on a physical or virtual server or a cloud - still needs protecting. It would be nice if that protection, regardless of what is under the covers, look pretty much the same to us no matter what the environment. Last time we visited these pages, we saw that working out pretty well - for virtual data centers, anyway, that is. Several, if not all of the vendors I spoke with last time, told me that an important design goal was to look, act, behave and protect in the virtual, just as we have been used to seeing and using for many years in the physical.
So, this time the question is: Do the vendors for cloud security do the same thing? The answer is, pretty much, yes. The goals of these products are the same, to be sure. The next question is, how well do they do it and how close does it mimic the old ways of security in the physical realm. There are a few interesting challenges to answering that one. First, for example, one of the things that we have come to expect in the physical is end-to-end security within the enterprise. That means that we need to secure everything - from the endpoints to the perimeter gateway. Additionally, we need to look at email, web, malware, etc.
Over time, the notion of defense-in-depth has matured in the physical world and, to some degree, in the virtual world as well. As long as everything is "on-prem," the task of end-to-end security is pretty straightforward. But, when we move out into the cloud, it is not quite such a walk in the park. The big reason is that we no longer control our environment. We cannot, for both technical and contractual reasons, manage the configuration of the cloud. We may have some control over our individual virtual servers, but, overall, there is nowhere near as much control as we are used to having.
So, the answer may be wrapping our data in security and not particularly caring what happens in the cloud infrastructure itself. After all, we can't control that, so let's look after what we can control. That is the premise behind most, if not all, of the products we are looking at in this section this month.
These products assume that the user cannot control anything, wants a completely transparent experience, and just needs to get their job done, conveniently and safely from anywhere in the world. There actually is, conceptually anyway, a pretty simple way to do that. Encrypt everything on the cloud, give an encrypted tunnel to the users, and don't allow them to connect to anything but the cloud. That way the cloud actually protects the user, sometimes from themself. It's actually pretty cool and, as we found this month, it works.
The vendors we looked at address the problem in a variety of ways. Some are specific, while others are much broader. That, of course, mimics the physical world almost exactly. So, if your big problem is email, and you don't put a lot of data in the cloud, there is a product for you, especially if you outsource your email to a cloud vendor, such as Microsoft.
If you have a broader issue and you are sending everything to the cloud and turning your data center into one big comms shack, you need a different solution to your security problems, and there is one of those here too. Really, the majority of challenges associated with cloud computing are beginning to be addressed - smartly, economically and, best of all, by employing good security practice. I guess this cloud thing is coming of age faster than we thought.... Who knew?
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http://www.scmagazine.com/emerging-products-cloud-security/grouptest/290/
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This is scary. The level of "service" that Valid Shop is offering is a bit disturbing. I guess that even illegal marketplaces need to serve their customers well, or else people will not pay them.
This is another unfortunate example of people using bitcoin for nefarious purposes. Bitcoin has many positive aspects, but its pseudononymous nature is causing it to be used as a tool for criminality.
I wonder if it's the same "Microsoft Windows software" guy who called me twice last month.
"Hackers are trying to hack into your PC, really bad," he said. I proceeded to ask him which PC, which seemed to really confuse him. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I have more than one," I replied, at which point he hung up.
The next time, I decided to tell him he was full of BS, at which point he told me that if I wanted to let hackers take over my computer, it was on me. He hung up again.
If I weren't certain some people have fallen for it, the calls would have been pretty funny.
Yes. If I'd shopped at Target during the breach window -- which I didn't -- and used a credit/debit card, I'd call the card issuer and demand a new card number. Failing that, I'd threaten to cancel the account, or change banks.
However long that new-card process takes, it's a good bet it will equal a lot less time than dealing with the mess caused by any resulting ID theft.
I got my first direct communication from Target about this situation only this week! That is remarkably bad.
Given I used only my Target card at the store during the affected time frame--not a general credit card--I can pretty easly keep tabs on how the card is being used, so I'm not terribly concerned. But I am surprised Target hasn't canceled its cards and issued new ones.
That's an excellent question: upgrade to what? Some of the most secure forms of transfer payments that I have heard about concerns NFC and mobile wallets -- card security has a lot of limitations. I think cards can be utilized by the average consumers for another good decade or so, if somehow payments required the users to enter a pin, so in the event that 40 million card information has been stolen then all a user would have to do to make their card secure again is to assign a new pin.
Upgrade is a process that we should not be overlooked, I have heard that some small retailers have been issued to upgrade their OS from XP (not because of the Target Breach, but because XP won't we officially supported) by their payment solution providers.
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Our decision to choose Crystal Technologies team to install access control system was based on the competence and professionalism of the company. Excellent company and great staff.
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Brighter Monday
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https://crystaltech.co.ke/our-solutions/cyber-security/kaspersky/home-security/
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Kelly Jackson Higgins May 07, 2013 Hacktivist groups under the Anonymous umbrella had warned they would take down major U.S. government and financial websites today in what they dubbed the OpUSA hacking campaign. But in the end, it was just a few defacements of lesser-known websites and seemingly random dumps of personal information online. As of this posting, there were no reports of any major site disruptions or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. According to Radware's Emergency Response Team, which kept a running report on the attacks updated on its website today there were at least a handful of victims, including the website of a small community bank in Arkansas, which got defaced by the attackers, and a database dump of users of the Bloodbanker.com website. Yesterday, the Embassy of Cape Verde in the U.S. suffered a defaced website, plus a few other isolated incidents occurred today in the name of OpUSA, including a dump of 10,000 alleged stolen Visa card accounts. More Security Insights
White Papers Forrester Study: The Total Economic Impact of VMware View Securing Executives and Highly Sensitive Documents of Corporations Globally More >Reports State of Cloud 2011: Time for Process Maturation Will IPv6 Make Us Unsafe? More >Webcasts Top Big Data Security Tips and Ultimate Protection for Enterprise Data Client Windows Migration: Expert Tips for Application Readiness More > [Hacktivist groups plan denial-of-service attacks on banks, government sites. See Anonymous, LulzSec, OpUSA Plan Broad Attacks On Government Agencies, Banks On Tuesday.]
The seemingly disjointed campaign was a reflection of the evolving state of hacktivism and Anonymous, which is not one group with a common agenda, security experts say -- and possibly a lack of resources to pull off the effort. What was most striking about the lack of shock and awe of today's campaign was that it actually registered less hacktivist activity than when the hacktivist group Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters were actively and successfully waging DDoS attacks on major financial institutions, notes Carl Herberger, vice president of security solutions for Radware. The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters went dark for a few days in deference to OpUSA and in order to avoid any confusion about their different motivations.
"When the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters decided to take a pass this week ... the level of attack activity dropped," Herberger says. "Our devices are under less load today than when [the Cyber Fighters were in action] last week." The Cyber Fighters have more firepower and are more organized than the groups behind OpUSA appear to have, he says.
"There were some [OpUSA] attacks, and they were pedestrian in nature relative to what we've become used to and humbled with operations by [the Cyber Fighters]," he says. "The tools and techniques here were reminiscent of attacks 18 to 24 months ago."
Anonymous, under the guise of N4m3le55 Cr3w, AnonGhost and other groups, said May 7 would represent day one of the operation, which is in apparent protest to U.S. policies on Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. "You can not stop the internet hate machine from doxes, DNS attacks, defaces, redirects, ddos attacks, database leaks, and admin take overs. Greetings to Anonghost, Mauritania hackers, Ajax team, Muslim liberation army, ZHC, antisec, lulzsec, Redhat, team poison reborn and any other hackers joining operation USA," the attackers said in a post.
Among the list of U.S. government takedown targets were the websites of the Defense Department, NSA, the FBI, and the White House. Some 130 banks and credit unions were also listed, including Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, SunTrust, Wells Fargo, and nearly all major banks. None of the targets reported a DDoS attack as of this posting.
In a new Pastebin post this afternoon, the AnonGhost team listed successful OpUSA hacks today, including more than 100,000 email accounts, 60 U.S websites, 5,000 U.S. Facebook accounts, and an "agent from the U.S. House of Representatives," but it was unclear whether these were all confirmed attacks.
So why did the OpUSA DDoS operation fizzle? Sorin Mustaca, a security expert for Avira, says the attackers would need heavy botnet backing to wage the massive DDoS attacks they had promised. "You would have to have a very serious botnet at your disposal, which is not that complicated these days. If you don't own it, you have to pay for it," he says. "Then who is going to pay for those expenses? Why I don't really think anything is going to happen [today] is I'm not aware of any major botnets being online and used remotely" for this, he says.
Mustaca says one explanation could be that the hacktivists ultimately were looking to get hired for their services. "They might create the market so they could get paid," he says. "Somebody has to pay for" the botnet and other resources, he says, so they were attempting to demonstrate their capabilities.
Radware's Herberger says it's more of an indication of how different the OpUSA hacktivists are from the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters. OpUSA was only successful thus far at defacing a few small banks, he says. "The Cyber Fighters have the attribute of offensive cyberwar," he says. "These guys here are not clearly organized or skilled and don't have the choreography."
Even so, Herberger says he knows of at least two major U.S. investment banks that had not yet been attacked that experienced attack attempts last week. "It looked like they were testing [attack] tools and techniques" on the banks, he says.
Either way, you always take any attack threats seriously, experts say. "We should take all of these things very seriously and be glad when nothing happens," Herberger says.
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Who's Who In Your Cloud: Managing and securing user identity in the cloud is complicated. Here's how to keep it under control.
Security's Pain The Neck: Evolving Users: Enterprises need to build access management strategies that recognize changing user roles.
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http://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/opusa-hacktivist-attacks-fall-short/240154389
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In Lesson 7 we taught you about the different kinds of cyber attacks and how to avoid them. This lesson deals with how to cope with a cyber attack.
If you’ve suffered a cyber attack, and you already have a backup routine, you’ll be able to restore your data pretty quickly.
If your backup routine is 1) automatic, 2) stores incremental versions of your data and 3) is scheduled daily, then you’ll never lose more data than what was generated since your last backup.
Without a backup plan in place, you’ll have to pick up the pieces and then put a backup routine in place.
If you’ve been hit by a ransomware attack, you’ll have to decide whether to pay the ransom or not.
Experts in cyber security warn that paying ransom is not only unsafe – you have no guarantee that the attacker will return your data and leave you alone – but it encourages cyber criminals to continue doing it. It is safer in the long term to use these eight steps to handle a ransomware attack:
This will be far more effective than traditional antivirus technology.
You can read more about handling a ransomware attack here.
Just click the chat icon in the right-hand corner.
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https://irontree.co.za/cyber-security-101-lesson-8/
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True or false. the manner in which you maintain documentation of each and every patient encounter is key to how you may fare if you are one day sued for malpractice?The answer to this all important question can be heard in this video, which stars Skip Simpson, a nationally recognized attorney who has spent his career litigating medical malpractice cases. Mr Simpson, is one of the nation's leading plaintiff attorneys who focuses on suicide as a cause of psychiatric malpractice. In this video, Mr. Simpson stresses the importance of meticulous documentation—and he provides rich details and insights that could help you in a court of law. (MORE: Malpractice Pitfalls: Tips To Help You Manage Risk)This video was recorded at a CME conference on August 2, 2012, at the 4th Annual SUNY Upstate Forensic Psychiatry Conference. This year, the conference focused exclusively on various topics related to psychiatric malpractice and its prevention. (See attached flier) Now in private practice, Mr Simpson has been most active in cases where psychiatry and mental health questions have arisen. Join the Conversation
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http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/risk-assessment/content/article/10168/2115193
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A 28-year-old delivery man from the UK who bought a Nikon Coolpix camera for about $31 on eBay got more than he bargained for when the camera arrived with top secret information from the UK's MI6 organization.
Allegedly sold by one of the clandestine organization's agents, the camera contained named al-Qaeda cells, names, images of suspected terrorists and weapons, fingerprint information, and log-in details for the Secret Service's computer network, containing a "Top Secret" marking.
He turned the camera in to the police.
I am not sure that the police response can be commended.
First they treat it as a joke. Then they raid his home and seize his computer. I can understand that might need to image his hard drive to investigate the origin of the camera and to determine if he had copied the sensitive data, but that could be done at his home, with his permission and without removing or seizing the computer. What kind of treatment is that for a citizen who has come forward and is trying to do his patriotic duty?
If ever I were in this situation, this heavy handed response might make me think twice before going to the police and perhaps more likely to turn to the media.
You know, it's basically impossible to determine if someone has made a copy of this sort of data unless you have your hands on every computer they possibly could have used to make a copy. Which means, in practice, that it's impossible to determine if the guy has made a copy of the data.
Seizing his computer and raiding his house is probably not the best way to get his cooperation. HumHo • October 1, 2008 4:25 PM
Apalling, stupid and counter-productive, but historically common.
Taking something marked "Top Secret" to the media is NOT a good way to stay out of trouble. But you're right, if this is the way the authorities treat those who try to help them, then the next person in this position is likely to say "I saw that it had some boring pictures of a cluttered desk, so I deleted them." Heavy-handed officials generally never realize how much they damage real security this way.
They (MI6? Police?) replaced his computer at a cost of £1000. They know he *has* copied the data onto his computer. It was reported he only discovered what was on the camara after he downloaded all the pics (including his newly taken holidays ones) onto his camara. Presumingly they don't want to let him keep the computer in case he run some file recovery tools to retrieve any deleted files. But I thought running file shedder a large number of times would had been enough...
The officer taking the report initially could well have taken it as a joke, but presumingly he or she had taken it seriously enough to have open the file leading to Special Branch going round to his house.
Beta, yes, handing it to other people and not reporting it to the police when you know what is on it is an offence under the Official Secret Act. spy vs spy • October 1, 2008 6:44 PM
Whom ever previously used the camera moved data files from his computer onto the camera's memory chip as a file transfer. Nothing difficult to understand here. How about scanning the chip for previously deleted files/photos and any other reformat attempts?
Although this is just another trivial example of secure data leakage... it is yet another trivial example of secure data leakage. Those of you outside the UK will probably be unaware of the number and extent of data leakage from UK government organisations over just the past 12 months. It appears that no data, no matter how sensitive, is safe from government incompetence.
We view the proposed government ID card scheme with vast concern.
Concerned • October 2, 2008 2:37 AM
"They (MI6? Did they also replace all his personal data, digital downloads, software tied to his particular computer, etc.? moz • October 2, 2008 4:01 AM
Err assuming this is actual valuable, up to date, military intelligence as reported then what do you expect the police to do? Leave a copy lying around? Trust him to safe erase the data himself? This data is specifically the kind of thing that people kill for and probably already had. That the police have already spent £1000 replacing his equipment is almost unheard of. Mostly they say something like "Evidence in a crime; maybe you'll get it back after a year. If we feel nice.". I looked at the articles and can't even see that he's complaining about this himself. I'm sure morally he should be compensated more; even rewarded, but this doesn't come out anywhere noticeable on the scale of police stupidity.
I agree that this story sounds odd. But then the Register just copied it from the Sun. I don't think the Sun is either reliable or precise on security matters. The online version includes a ridiculous "Slideshow" - "Click on the slideshow below to see some of the items on the memory". The 4 images are a random fingerprint, a random terrorist with RPG, a random stack of "terrorist" files, and a random (rather old) desktop PC. In other words, they are certainly not images from the camera memory.
That makes me distrust all the Sun's details.
I remember that on an earlier blog post, some commenter wondered why people tend to hand these things to the newspapers instead of going to the police.
Or if you must hand such things over to the police then do so in a public place and make sure the press turn up before the police do.
Not apologizing for the authorities, but I think they pretty much had to confiscate the machine. They don't know whether it's infected with malware, rootkitted, etc., and allowing it to continue to operate in this guy's home, connected to a commercial ISP, would be a huge liability. I'm glad they at least compensated him.
Of course, you could pretty well argue that they had already let the cat pretty far out of the bag... I mean, how many other memory cards have this kind of data on them, and how many have also been stuck into digital cameras, picture frames, etc. (which also have a nasty habit of containing malware).
Zaphod • October 2, 2008 7:25 AM
What strikes me as odd is the fact that the images where not discovered until after a holiday until the downloading of the memory card to a PC.
At the very least one would expect to see the images when reviewing on the back of the camera, after having taken a shot. Or indeed, upon receiving the camera/card testing they operate correctly.
For me, the first thing I do with a memory card is to scan it for deleted images of a, ahem, amorous nature. But that's just me.........
-remove my hard drive and swap it with one of the 20 older ones I have laying around. -Take MY hard drive to work and hide it in a pile of hard drives (a la "Raiders of the lost Ark") -Download the images to that "new" (probably smaller) drive. -"Touch" a bunch of files so the drive looked continuously used.
-THEN tell the cops I had their info and cooperate fully (without mentioning the above steps).
Michael G.R. • October 5, 2008 12:20 AM
"Something about this story just doesn't add up - the list of stuff that was on there sounds like a shopping list of things people would expect to see in a leak from MI6. Login credentials stored on a camera? This story just doesn't make sense."
You are grossly underestimating the incompetence of government agencies.
Thankfully, those who would do indiscriminate harm to us are also often incompetent.
I'm surprised at the unquestioning acceptance of this ‘news story’ it doesn’t scan and has many hallmarks of a Hoax.
It lacks detail or who or where so is difficult or impossible to verify. The details included are actually wrong. MI6 are the Secret Intelligence Service and operate outside of the UK; MI5 have the mandate for domestic counter terrorism; and each vigorously guards their turf from the other. How was a member of the public able to identify the terrorist by name from the photo. The published example image appears at the top of search engine results when searching the net.
Occams Razor suggest this is more likely to be a Hoax than a convoluted events described.
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https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/10/mi6_camera_--_i.html
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There has been a great deal of conversation around the similarities between the spread of the Covid-19 virus and that of computer viruses. And indeed, as the first global pandemic to occur during the age of connectivity, this comparison is valid. But while most focus on how we can leverage the knowledge gained in the “real world” in identifying and stopping the spread of plagues in the virtual world, I would like to offer another perspective.
Perhaps we in cybersecurity can return the favor. Perhaps the medical world can take the lessons learned in three decades of fighting “cyber viruses” and implement these in their fight to mitigate the Coronavirus?
More variants: 439,000 new malware variants were detected in 2019. That’s a 12.3% increase over the previous year.
More capable: Modern malware threats are far more capable than the old viruses spreading through illegal copies of software distributed via floppy-disks. Today’s malware can steal passwords, exfiltrate sensitive data, encrypt and delete data, and much more.
Harder to detect: Malware authors work hard to make their software difficult to detect. This includes hiding it in legitimate documents (aka “weaponizing” Word, PDF and Excel documents), utilizing detection-evasion mechanisms (like avoiding execution in sandboxed environments), and using legitimate software update mechanisms, all to make the work of the defenders harder.
More aggressive: Some malware types are extremely aggressive; they scan for open RDP ports, brute-force their way onto a device, and then move laterally within the organization’s network, abusing password-protected servers and seeking sensitive data, all without the knowledge of the victim.
Fast: contemporary malware is extremely fast and works at machine-speed to bypass protection mechanisms and achieve its goals—ransomware like “WannaCry” disabled entire organizations in minutes.
Adopting Cybersecurity Response to Fight Covid-19
To mitigate today’s plethora of rapidly evolving cyber threats, the cybersecurity industry has developed several methodologies. These (after adaptation) could be used to reduce the spread of malicious software and to mitigate its effects. I will refrain from discussing the obvious virus/Anti-virus analogy. Obviously, a vaccine for a computer “virus” would be the answer, but estimates suggest that such a vaccine would not be available in the next 12-18 months, and there’s a lot we can do until then:
Zero trust policy- A methodology that defies the traditional security assumption that everything inside the perimeter (protected by the firewall) is trusted. The main principle of Zero Trus is “never trust, always verify”. This means that every user is asked to verify their credentials every time they wish to “enter” the organization and that every file and process are being constantly monitored – even if they have been “authorized” to run on the computer.
In a similar manner, humans should consider that other humans are carriers, and only “trust” them after they have been tested negative (or at the minimum, have had their temperature taken).
Detection beats prevention: following a similar line of thought, most organizations today operate under the “Assume a Breach” paradigm. Instead of striving to identify and mitigate 100% of threats 100% of the time, they assume that some threats would be able to infect them and concentrate their efforts on quickly finding these and stopping them before they could do more harm.
Similarly, it is prudent to assume that humanity would not be able to vanquish this virus, and we will be playing “whack-a-mole” with it for the foreseeable time. Given that this is the case, it’s prudent to invest in rapid detection of the infection (quick detection kits, even home detection kits), ensure those that are sick are given quick treatment and continue to monitor the entire population for outbreaks.
Segmentation; an important principle that limits the “movement” within the organization, so that intruders cannot move freely and infect other parts of the organization.
The real-life manifestation would be to identify infection “hot-spots”, lock these down and they tend to these infected rather than to lock-down entire countries.
Risk modeling: it might be possible, perhaps, to provide 100% security, 100% of the time, but the cost to the organization would be detrimental; either the security costs would be through the roof, or the security restrictions imposed to maintain 100% security would cause the business to stand still. Instead, a CISO conducts risk assessments and prioritizes security spending to mitigate the most acute threats and secure the most valuable assets.
Healthcare officials should do the same and ensure that the most sensitive segments of the population (elderly, sick) are being shielded from the disease and if need be, are provided with better care.
Intelligence intake: fighting a stealthy enemy is hard because you don’t know what to expect. Security professionals, governments, and those in the security industry have been formally and informally sharing information about malware, cybercrime groups, and data leaks for a long time. This has proved to be immensely helpful in fighting and defeating cybercrime rings.
Such collaboration should also be adopted by global scientific, medical communities, governments, and healthcare organizations. As this threat is new to humanity, we should all share information about detection and treatment mechanisms and notify others when we think we’ve made breakthroughs in finding a cure or a vaccine.
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https://www.cyberdefensemagazine.com/how-to-fight-a-virus/
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In light of Olivia Newton John's passing from breast cancer, doctors are urging women, to get screened for breast cancer.
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The American College of Radiology says all women over 40 should get a yearly mammogram.
Doctor Sonya Bhole with Northwestern Medicine joined ABC7 to talk about screenings and when someone younger than 40 might need to be screened.
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https://abc7chicago.com/breast-cancer-risk-assessment-olivia-newton-john-symptoms-awareness/12114961/
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The BBC has published an article titled “How Putin’s Russia turned humour into a weapon” about the Kremlin’s latest addition to its horrifying deadly hybrid warfare arsenal: comedy.
The article is authored by Olga Robinson, whom the BBC, unhindered by any trace of self-awareness, has titled “Senior Journalist (Disinformation)”. Robinson demonstrates the qualifications and acumen which earned her that title by warning the BBC’s audience that the Kremlin has been using humor to dismiss and ridicule accusations that have been leveled against it by western governments, a “form of trolling” that she reports is designed to “deliberately lower the level of discussion”.
Turns out jokes are a Russian disinformation conspiracy.
Is nothing safe? What will those barbarian Others think of next? Weaponizing our tears? https://t.co/0CFcTL65q0
— Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) December 15, 2018
“Russia’s move towards using humour to influence its campaigns is a relatively recent phenomenon,” Robinson explains, without speculating as to why Russians might have suddenly begun laughing at their western accusers. She gives no consideration to the possibility that the tightly knit alliance of western nations who suddenly began hysterically shrieking about Russia two years ago have simply gotten much more ridiculous and easier to make fun of during that time.
Couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the emergence of a demented media environment wherein everything around the world from French protests to American culture wars to British discontent with the European Union gets blamed on Russia without any facts or evidence. Wherein BBC reporters now correct guests and caution them against voicing skepticism of anti-Russia narratives because the UK is in “an information war” with that nation. Wherein the same cable news Russiagate pundit can claim that both Rex Tillerson’s hiring and his later firing were the result of a Russian conspiracy to benefit the Kremlin. Wherein mainstream outlets can circulate blatantly false information about Julian Assange and unnamed “Russians” and then blame the falseness of that reporting on Russian disinformation. Wherein Pokemon Go, cutesy Facebook memes and $4,700 in Google ads are sincerely cited as methods by which Hillary Clinton’s $1.2 billion presidential campaign was outdone. Wherein conspiracy theories that Putin has infiltrated the highest levels of the US government have been blaring on mainstream headline news for two years with absolutely nothing to show for it to this day.
Nope, the only possibility is that the Kremlin suddenly figured out that humor is a thing.
The fact of the matter is that humorous lampooning of western establishment Russia narratives writes itself. The hypocrisy is so cartoonish, the emotions are so breathlessly over-the-top, the stories so riddled with plot holes and the agendas underlying them so glaringly obvious that they translate very easily into laughs. I myself recently authored a satire piece that a lot of people loved and which got picked up by numerous alternative media outlets, and all I did was write down all the various escalations this administration has made against Russia as though they were commands being given to Trump by Putin. It was extremely easy to write, and it was pretty damn funny if I do say so myself. And it didn’t take any Kremlin rubles or dezinformatsiya from St Petersburg to figure out how to write it.
“Ben Nimmo, an Atlantic Council researcher on Russian disinformation, told the BBC that attempts to create funny memes were part of the strategy as ‘disinformation for the information age’,” the article warns. Nimmo, ironically, is himself intimately involved with the British domestic disinformation firm Integrity Initiative, whose shady government-sponsored psyops against the Labour Party have sparked a national scandal that is likely far from reaching peak intensity.
“Most comedy programmes on Russian state television these days are anodyne affairs which either do not touch on political topics, or direct humour at the Kremlin’s perceived enemies abroad,” Robinson writes, which I found funny since I’d just recently read an excellent essay by Michael Tracey titled “Why has late night swapped laughs for lusting after Mueller?” “If the late night ‘comedy’ of the Trump era has something resembling a ‘message,’ it’s that large segments of the nation’s liberal TV viewership are nervously tracking every Russia development with a passion that cannot be conducive to mental health — or for that matter, political efficacy,” Tracey writes, documenting numerous examples of the ways late night comedy now has audiences cheering for a US intelligence insider and Bush appointee instead of challenging power-serving media orthodoxies as programs like The Daily Show once did.
If you wanted the opposite of “anodyne affairs”, it would be comedians ridiculing the way all the establishment talking heads are manipulating their audiences into supporting the US intelligence community and FBI insiders. It would be excoriating the media environment in which unfathomably powerful world-dominating government agencies are subject to less scrutiny and criticism than a man trapped in an embassy who published inconvenient facts about those agencies. It certainly wouldn’t be the cast of Saturday Night Live singing “All I Want for Christmas Is You” to a framed portrait if Robert Mueller wearing a Santa hat. It doesn’t get much more anodyne than that.
Russia makes fun of western establishment narratives about it because those narratives are so incredibly easy to make fun of that they are essentially asking for it, and the nerdy way empire loyalists are suddenly crying victim about it is itself more comedy. When Guardian writer Carole Cadwalladr began insinuating that RT covering standard newsworthy people like Julian Assange and Nigel Farage was a conspiracy to “boost” those people for the advancement of Russian agendas instead of a news outlet doing the thing that news reporting is, RT rightly made fun of her for it. Cadwalladr reacted to RT’s mockery with a claim that she was a victim of “attacks”, instead of the recipient of perfectly justified ridicule for circulating an intensely moronic conspiracy theory.
Ah well. People are nuts and we’re hurtling toward a direct confrontation with a nuclear superpower. Sometimes there’s nothing else to do but laugh. As Wavy Gravy said, “Keep your sense of humor, my friend; if you don’t have a sense of humor it just isn’t funny anymore.”
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http://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/social-engineering/dont-laugh%E2%80%8A-%E2%80%8Aits-giving-putin-what-he-wants/
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Recently, I was trying to upgrade Twhirl, my favorite Twitter client, to the latest beta version. I was doing this on my laptop which is running Windows 7 Beta. First the upgrade failed, then an install failed after removing Twhirl, I couldn't re-install Air because it said it was already installed, and finally I couldn't uninstall Adobe AIR.
Needless to say, I was a bit frustrated. I posted a query to Twitter to see if anybody else was having this problem. One person responded that they were and knew some other that also had the issue. I poked at it a bit, but didn't make any progress and left it alone for a bit.
Last night I decided to figure this thing out and was successful in being able to manually remove Air. After a re-install of Air and Thwirl, all was right with the world. Below are the steps I took to remove Air.
Install Adobe Air again just like you did the first time.
Hope this helps and let me know if you find a simpler way.
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https://www.infosecramblings.com/tag/thwirl/
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There are a lot of benefits of cyber-security in every business. By knowing the benefits of cyber-security, you can better understand how it can benefit your company. Cyber security helps you safeguard your personal information from unauthorized users, which is very risky.
A few years back, cyber attacks were not that big a deal. Today, they are very common, and there are many ways to hack into your network. With cyber-security, your personal data, such as bank accounts, credit card information, and passwords, are protected.
Another one of the benefits of cyber-security is that it provides an immediate response to any breach, preventing it from becoming more serious. Because of this, businesses are able to work more productively. Also, companies are able to monitor their networks more frequently, which makes them able to make the necessary adjustments in order to increase productivity.
This helps businesses get more out of the investments that they put into their network. Effective cyber security also eliminates the risk of losing any customer’s credit card information, which is very harmful to a company’s credibility.
Companies can protect their networks from malicious software, which can have adverse effects on the productivity of the network. The software that these hackers use to attack companies’ systems can steal information about how they conduct their business. If the hacker is able to identify this information, then they can get hold of a lot of valuable data, which can be used to make the organization bankrupt.
This is what cyber-security is all about – preventing hackers from getting any valuable data that can compromise your company’s security. Another one of the benefits of cyber-security is that it protects your company’s intellectual property from third-party intruders. This kind of crime can involve a person stealing your proprietary information or the design of a particular product.
For example, hackers who want to make illegal copies of your video game can do so by using your video game discs. This would affect your company’s sales and reputation, since it will prevent you from selling your product as it was before it was stolen.
Online security is very important for most companies. It is also important to safeguard your company’s assets and personnel by conducting regular online background checks of new hires. In other words, online screening is essential in conducting any job interview process.
For example, you would not want to hire an employee, whom you can not verify his identity by providing him or her with access to sensitive information, like a social security number or passwords.
Another good way to protect your company is through the use of firewalls and other intrusion detection devices. By installing firewalls, you can avoid any kind of hacking attempts, including intrusion from a third party. It is also a good idea to install anti-virus and anti-spyware programs to prevent intrusions from online criminals.
In conclusion, the benefits of cyber security to include security against unauthorized access and breaches, monitoring of networks, and prevention of theft. By implementing these strategies, you can improve your productivity by ensuring that your company’s confidential information is safe, increasing your business profitability.
There are several companies that offer services that offer benefits of cyber-security. Some of these companies are the ones mentioned above. In conclusion, the benefits of cyber-security cannot be overlooked. Indeed, it can be concluded that there are a lot of benefits of cyber-security companies. These benefits include prevention of cyber breaches, monitoring of networks, protection of assets, prevention of identity theft, and protection of personnel. What are you waiting for? Start working with expert cyber security services today!
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https://www.hants-iow-mason.org/top-notch-cyber-security-today-the-benefits-that-it-offers/
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Sensitive data such as strategy, customer lists and more.
Usernames and passwords to your email, social networking, and bank websites.
Phishing – a criminal posing as a familiar person sends you an email to get you to click on a link. The aim is to steal information which can be used for different purposes, e.g. to gain access to any of your accounts.
Email attachments – these are the most common ways to get viruses or malware. The attachment might be a document, Word file, PDF, etc. but it may have a virus or malware.
Public Wi-Fi – these are networks that are not password protected so users can connect to them for free. They are common in hotels and other public places.
Malware – Malware is the general term for any software designed to damage or gain unauthorized access to a computer.
Ransomware – is a software that encrypts your files and denies access to them. The attacker will ask you to pay a ransom to regain access. This is a serious form of attack that can disrupt your business.
Social Engineering – this attack tricks you to divulge sensitive data. It can come through email, over the phone or in person.
Ways to Avoid Phishing
Click on the email address of the sender to check if the sender is the person or entity it purports to be.
Place mouse over the link to see where it goes. Do not click the link.
Use unique passwords across websites and applications.
Enable and use two-factor authentication on applications and websites that allow it.
If a data breach occurs, change your password immediately.
Ways to Avoid Attacks through Email Attachments
Never open or save attachments from an unknown sender.
If it looks suspicious, don’t open or save the attachment even from a known sender.
Inform your IT department if you receive a suspicious email.
Never open or respond to spam email.
Ways to Stay Safe on Public Wi-Fi
Treat public Wi-Fi connections as unsafe. Avoid it if you can.
Verify the Wi-Fi name with the business owner before connecting.
When using public Wi-Fi do not visit sensitize websites, e.g. email, social media, banking sites.
Ways to Avoid Malware and Ransomware
Install antivirus on every device and always keep it updated.
Be careful about the external drives you connect to any of your devices.
Install original software and update it often.
Be careful when you are downloading free things, they may have a virus.
Always keep the backup of your data offsite or on a cloud storage.
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https://www.scg.com.gh/2020/04/19/cyber-security-tips-for-your-small-business/
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Avast is an antivrus program with an improved performance and interesting new tools. AVG Antivirus, a solid security solution AVG Antivirus is a solid security solution with more than acceptable performance including basic tools as well as teh hub AVG Zen. The best antiviruses of 2016
What are the best antiviruses to protect your Windows machine in 2016? We analyze results from the four of the most prestigious,...
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The MACH37™ Cyber Accelerator announced Monday that it has selected seven cybersecurity startups to participate in the Fall 2015 (F-15) three-month mentorship-driven startup program. With this announcement, MACH37™ will have launched 29 cyber companies in the past two years. The top candidates were selected as a result of a highly competitive selection process from the largest application pool to date.
As a focused business accelerator, MACH37™ brings together domain experts, successful cybersecurity entrepreneurs, and investors familiar to the security market to create a platform for success for innovators and their startups. The MACH37™ program consists of an intense 90-day program in which the selected startups are mentored in all aspects of creating a sustainable and successful business.
Participants receive a $50,000 investment to develop and launch their ideas into emerging, investable companies. By drawing on MACH37™’s large network of successful security professionals, business experts and entrepreneurs, companies involved in the program are guided toward creating successful cybersecurity companies that can establish market leadership positions.
“The MACH37 Cyber Accelerator has grown into a globally recognized brand in cybersecurity innovation. This is shown in the size and strength of the Fall session’s impressive batch of applicants,” said Rick Gordon, Managing Partner of MACH37™. “We have very high aspirations for all of the accepted teams. We are counting on them to work tirelessly, accept coaching and demonstrate impressive execution in the marketplace. With the help of the vast Stars Mentor Network who have volunteered to work with these companies, our goal is to showcase seven remarkable investment opportunities on our December Demo Day.”
Huntress Labs – (huntress.io) – Kyle Hanslovan; Marc Canale; John Ferrell, Chris Bisnett – Co-Founders
The program will conclude on December 8th, 2015 with a Demo Day where teams will have the opportunity to pitch and demo their technology to an audience of external mentors, investors and stakeholders.
Investors, customers, partners, and future applicants are encouraged to visit MACH37 and meet the Fall Class to experience the energy and breadth of ideas that we are honored to nurture and host.
Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, by Jerry Ratcliffe and Chris Graham, is available for $25. The book, with additional reporting by Zach Pereles, Scott Ratcliffe, and Scott German, will take you from the aftermath of the stunning first-round loss to UMBC in 2018 through to the thrilling overtime win over Texas Tech to win the 2019 national title, the first in school history.
Dick Vitale on Team of Destiny: “This is a hoops story you will LOVE! Jerry and Chris capture the sensational and dramatic championship journey by Tony Bennett and his tenacious Cavalier team. UVA was Awesome Baby and so is this book!”
Ralph Sampson on Team of Destiny: “Jerry and Chris have lived and seen it all, even before my time. I highly recommend this book to every basketball fan across the globe. This story translates to all who know defeat and how to overcome it!”
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https://augustafreepress.com/mach37-announces-fall-2015-class-of-cybersecurity-startups/
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Gamarue schools remote learners. Lessons from Solorigate. New Zealand central bank delays …
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand, afflicted by a data breach it suffered by illegal … release of statistical data while it continues to investigate the breach. … New Zealand central bank postpones statistics releases after cyber hack …
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https://www.data-breach-statistics.com/news/gamarue-schools-remote-learners-lessons-from-solorigate-new-zealand-central-bank-delays/
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Scientifically proven to solve precisely 99.3% of all technical problems faced by modern civilisation, your ability to “turn it off and on again” is perhaps the most powerful weapon you have in your arsenal as a seasoned IT professional.
It’s important to be realistic however, and, at some point it is I’m afraid, quite likely you’ll be required to go beyond the call of duty.
Of course you should always try pumping the on/off button of affected hardware hysterically to be absolutely certain the geek magic has transferred but failing that you should ready yourself for tough times ahead. Yes, you may well need to ‘Google’, to diagnose symptoms and worse still, troubleshoot with your brain. In extreme cases, you should be warned, it’s not unheard of that the more demanding customers may ask that you plan to prevent the problem from happening again.
Pooled from thousands of IT professionals around the globe, the following software utlities, web services and how-to guides will help you be prepared should the unthinkable strike.
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https://blog.zensoftware.co.uk/tag/remove-malware/
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Quite often a system can be rendered useless by malware, a recent example of this in Germany being the Bundeskriminalamt virus.
Those who were unlucky enough to get hit were informed that their computer had been traced as being used for illegal purposes and they should transfer €100 to pay the fine and the message would go away and they would be able to resume to normal usage of their computer. This was of course not the case and the system remained unusable as it is not possible to close the window and it always remains on "top".
In such situations I often turn to bootable malware removal tools offered by most of the anti-malware companies and find them to be very effective removing malware and bringing a system back to a state in which further diagnosis / repairs can be carried out.
IMHO, whatever works, use it, as long as you completely understand how the tools work, their limitations, what they can do to the infested system and can provide clear instructions for the tool's use. I regularly use installed tools, tools which do not require installation, online scans, bootable media tools and Linux Live distros. I generally work with the easiest first, and then go to more powerful methods as needed. The more complex the method used, the more difficult it is for the owner of the infected system, and the greater the likelihood that a mistake may be made. So, care is needed as well as being very aware of the technical capability of the victim.
It is worth mentioning that most of the bootable media tools are Linux based due to copyright restrictions that could easily arise from using bootable media based on Windows. There are such tools, but they are always AFAIK paid tools, where part of the cost pays a license fee to Microsoft for using their copyright files for the bootable media.
I guess we need to get you out of the malware removal logs and reading my blog more often. :smileyvery-happy:
I'm teasing, PCBruiser. That worked as an easy segway to my tutorial on setting up Microsoft's Standalone System Sweeper Beta (with almost 11,700 views to date!) and the accompanying article which addresses common error codes and suggested trouble-shooting steps.
The Standalone System Sweeper is designed to help start an infected PC and perform an offline scan to identify and remove rootkits and other advanced malware.
When removing malware while they are not active their loading points is likely to be missed by the scanner and when windows boots it may shoot out some errors caused by the leftover registry loading points still calling for the bad files to launch.
And since Windows File Protection(WPF) is not being used when scanning this way, if any patched/infected system files e.g. userinit.exe, winlogon.exe etc is removed by the scanner these will not be replaced rendering the system unbootable or the user unable to login.
In this example below, if the scanner removes the bad dll and leaving the value in the registry intact, this will definitely render the system unbootable.
"Bootable Media removal tools are good when the PC can no longer boot, but if the system can still boot I would use the removal tools to scan the system within Windows as many scanners these days are optimized to be run while malware processes are active."
I agree! Years ago, when malware was not as complex as it is now, it was the opposite -- boot to Safe Mode in order to remove the malware while the process wasn't active. Today, it is as you indicated -- the programs are optimized to be run while the processes are active.
You may not be aware that the Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper definitions can be updated. Even if the infected computer does not have Internet access, the updates can be manually transported to the infected machine. The definitions are the same for Standalone System Sweeper as used with Microsoft Security Essentials and Microsoft Forefront.
There are going to be times when a PC cannot be rescued from infection no matter what you do. However malware writers gain nothing by destroying a PC. They infect the PC to either use to their advantage (bot nets), to hold your PC hostage and demand a monetary ransom, or to steal your personal information. So they will leave the PC usable. By doing so they leave the user the opportunity to rescue the PC.
"The world is what you make of it."
"My weapon of choice is a USB stick. It can not only give you access to removal tools, it can also give you a back door to windows explorer for manual removal of certain files."
I know bamajim knows this, but for the benefit of readers who do not, be sure Autorun is disabled. See this Microsoft Knowledge Base article: How to disable the Autorun functionality in Windows
Thanks to all for sharing their wisdom and thoughts on this, I've found all the information and opinions offered very enlightening.
I'll now confess to using a Kaspersky Rescue disk on occasions when I feel that the OS has been seriously comprimised to remove that what it can, nothing is 100%. Yes it is Linux based, which I don't see a negative and can, as Corrine mention about the MS System Sweeper, be updated with current definitions.
Many antimalware companies offer some sort of bootable version of their software which can be written to a USB flash drive, CD, DVD and the like and used to scan a computer from outside the infected operating environment on the computer's internal drives in order to detect and remove malware that might otherwise block such attempts had it been running, such as rootkits.
The only issues I can think of off the top of my head with such an approach is if the bootable media did not have the right device drivers to access the computer (wrong or missing device drivers for the hard disk controllers) or had signatures that were out of date. Some bootable AV programs allow the user to download signatures if using a USB flash drive or to a RAM disk if using a CD or DVD, but that requires the bootable media recognize the computer's network adapter and, of course, have access to a working network connection. Typically, it is just easier to download the bootable disc image from the anti-malware vendor or make the bootable media on a clean computer just before cleaning the infected PC to ensure that the latest signatures are available.
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https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Security-Malware/Bootable-Media-Malware-Removal-Tools-Preferable/m-p/605331?page=1
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The University of Nevada-Reno has been recognized as the top school in the nation during the National Cyber League (NCL) Spring 2019 season.
NCL is a biannual cybersecurity competition for high school and college students. The competition consists of a series of challenges that allows students to demonstrate their ability to identify hackers from forensic data, break into vulnerable websites, recover from ransomware attacks, and more. Students compete in the NCL to build their skills, obtain scouting reports of their performance for hiring purposes, and to represent their school.
This is the first season that NCL and Cyber Skyline have designated official college rankings based on a record number of participation in the NCL Spring Season from individual students and schools.
Students participated in a week-long placement game followed by a weekend individual game, and culminated with a weekend team game. At the end of the competition, students received Scouting Reports that identified their strengths and weaknesses within different cybersecurity domains. Students use these reports in their resumes to validate their growth and skills in cybersecurity. The biannual competition is designed to help prepare students for relevant cybersecurity roles by aligning to industry certifications and government standards.
“We’re playing a full-on college cybersecurity sport. We are evidence-based, and we’re finally able to measure talent based on individual, team, and school’s performance,” said Dan Manson, NCL commissioner.
This spring, students from west coast schools topped the leaderboard with the University of Nevada — Reno, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and California State University — Chico placing first, second and third place, respectively. On the east coast, the top performing school was New York University while Wichita State University topped the central region.
“Demand for cybersecurity professionals has skyrocketed in the past several years. Cyber competitions like NCL provide a way for cybersecurity students to demonstrate their skills to employers, especially with many entry-level jobs requiring experience,” said Franz Payer, CEO of Cyber Skyline. “The new Cyber Power Rankings highlight the top schools producing new cybersecurity professionals. We're excited for what competitions can do to help address the cyber talent shortage.”
Registration is open for the Fall 2019 season. Regular registration is $35 per student through Oct. 10. After that, the costs increases to $45 until Oct. 14. To learn more, visit nationalcyberleague.org.
I want to hear from you. Tell me how we can improve.
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https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/90937-national-cyber-league-and-cyber-skyline-announce-top-cybersecurity-school
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https://www.cio.com/page/17/?id=1790816413
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US intelligence agencies won’t harvest US residents’ geolocation data in future investigations, revealed the US government this month. In fact, it hasn’t done so since last summer.
The last 18 months have seen significant changes to the US’s collection of phone location data. Since 1994, law enforcement agencies in the US had been able to access court records thanks to an amendment to the 1996 Stored Communications Act. Under this legislation, a judge could give prosecutors access if they could justify that call records were relevant and material to an ongoing investigation.
That all changed in a lawsuit brought by Tim Carpenter, who was convicted in 2011 after federal prosecutors trawled location cell phone data, tying his phone to the time and location of several robberies. Carpenter sued in appeals court, claiming that the trawling violated his Fourth Amendment rights. He lost on appeal, but then the case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in his favour in a 5-4 vote.
That decision stopped the warrantless collection of phone location data by police and federal law enforcement, but what about for the intelligence community?
In 2001, section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act amended Title V, Section 501 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), allowing intelligence agencies to collect metadata on calls (known as call detail records, or CDRs) which it stores in repositories and secure networks. The NSA can query the metadata when it has reasonable suspicion that the call could be associated with foreign terrorist organizations.
Section 215 is on the Congressional agenda right now because it is set to expire under the 2015 US Freedom Act, which was created to preserve the CDR program in a constrained form. Unless Congress renews Section 215 it will cease to exist on 15 December 2019.
The NSA’s track record on CDRs has been patchy. In 2018, it flushed the CDRs that it had collected since the inception of the 2015 program, admitting that “technical irregularities” meant it had collected the details of calls that it didn’t have the rights to access. Then, this year it asked the White House for permission to terminate the program because it wasn’t worth the effort.
In March this year, Senator Ron Wyden wrote to the Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats asking him about the intelligence community’s intentions following the Supreme Court ruling. Coats reportedly replied that he still hadn’t provided guidance to intelligence agencies on the subject. Wyden wrote again on 30 July 2019, pressing the point:
If Congress is to reauthorize Section 215 before it expires in December, it needs to know how this law is being interpreted now, as well as how it could be interpreted in the future.
Coats has since resigned. Last week, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence wrote back, explaining that it hadn’t reached a position on the status of criminal investigations under Title V.
In the letter, Benjamin T Fallon, assistant director of national intelligence for Legislative Affairs, explained that neither the DOJ or the intelligence community had reached a legal conclusion about Title V phone metadata searches following the Carpenter case, and that the issue was such a constitutional and statutory hot potato that they hadn’t done so since the Supreme Court ruling. Currently, they use Titles I and III of FISA to get access to phone metadata, the letter said.
Things seemed clearer when counterterrorism investigations were involved. The letter added that CDRs don’t legally include phone location data (otherwise known as cell site location information):
Finally, with respect to an application under Title V for the production on an ongoing basis of call detail records relating to an authorized counterterrorism investigation, the statute expressly provides that the term “call detail record” does not include “cell site location or global positioning system information…
Thus the government may not obtain CSLI or GPS-based location information in the case of such applications under Title V of FISA.
Since its request to terminate the CDR program, the NSA has asked that it maintain its right to reintroduce it. The latest word from the Democrats is reportedly that they will drop authorisation for the NSA’s metadata collection program altogether, taking it off the table as of next month.
This article was originally published by Sophos.com. Read the original article here.
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https://cybersecurityreviews.net/2019/11/18/nsa-wont-collect-phone-location-data-promises-us-government/
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The report was released as an exponentially increasing number of consumers embrace the Thanksgiving tradition of hunting for Black Friday bargains online: according to Adobe Digital Index, in 2015, online shoppers filled eCommerce cash registers with more than $5.8 billion in sales over Black Friday and Cyber Monday. But ever the opportunists, threat actors set up their operations where the money is, leveraging top eCommerce brands to exploit user traffic looking for Black Friday deals and coupons.
By setting up fake mobile apps and landing pages with fraudulent branding, they fool consumers into downloading unsafe apps and visiting pages that redirect them to other fraudulent or malicious sites. Nearly 30 percent of this massive influx of spend caused by Black Friday and Cyber Monday will take place on mobile devices, making shoppers increasingly at risk of encountering threats in the mobile space.
The source of RiskIQ’s blacklists is through the collection of internet data, which it gathers by scanning, crawling, and passive-sensing the internet—including web pages, mobile apps and stores, and social websites and apps. RiskIQ’s crawling technology covers more than 300 million mobile devices, 1.8 billion HTTP sessions, 783 global locations across more than 100 countries, 16 million mobile apps, and 300 million domain records.
About RiskIQ
RiskIQ is a cybersecurity company that helps organizations discover and protect their external-facing known, unknown, and third-party web, mobile, and social assets. The company’s External Threat Management platform combines a worldwide proxy and sensor network with synthetic clients that emulate users to monitor, detect, and take actions against threats. RiskIQ is used by thousands of security analysts including many from the Fortune 500 and leading financial institutions to protect their digital assets, users, and customers from external security threats. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and backed by Summit Partners, Battery Ventures, Georgian Partners and MassMutual Ventures. Information security professionals can sign up for a fully functioning trial version of PassiveTotal for free by visiting www.riskiq.com/whats-new-passivetotal.
To learn more about RiskIQ, visit www.riskiq.com.
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https://www.cyberdefensemagazine.com/blacklist-from-riskiq-reveals-hundreds-of-potentially-malicious-black-friday-apps/
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https://www.braindumps.com/Cloud-Security-Knowledge.htm
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