Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

August 2020

Aviation cybersecurity: Hurdles of staying secure on the ground and at 36,000 feet

Digitization has made its way into every industry. With this shift comes many benefits as well as the risk of a cyber attack. This is especially true in aviation. No matter how securely companies can build networks to ward off cyber attacks, the risk is never absent. With planes operating thousands of feet off the ground — often full of commercial passengers — a digital attack can potentially cost lives as well as millions in damages.

IoT security explained

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a term used to describe a system of interconnected computing devices that use the internet to send and receive data without requiring human to computer or human to human coordination. The world of IoT encompasses a wide variety of technologies, vendors, and connectivity methods. While cameras, smart kitchen appliances and smart locks often come to mind, IoT devices are prevalent in all industries.

Amazon scammers are becoming oddly specific

A friend contacted me the other day about a scam call purporting to come from Amazon’s customer support department. She wasn’t home at the time, so the scammer left a message stating that a charge of $749 appeared on her account. Of course, she didn’t actually order anything for that price, and, although she suspected it was a scam, something about it caught her attention, so she called the phone number displayed on her caller I.D.

Security risk assessments explained

This blog was written by a third party author. A security risk assessment is a formal method for evaluating an organization's cybersecurity risk posture. Comprehensive security risk assessments take stock in business objectives, existing security controls, and the risk environment in which the business operates. When done well, the assessment identifies security gaps in existing controls as compared with industry best practices.

2020: the year cybersecurity went from a technology problem to a business issue

In March when businesses enforced a work-from-home policy because of the pandemic, many probably thought the move would last a few weeks or so. Well, here we are, in the heat of the summer or depth of winter, depending on your hemisphere, and some businesses are still working remotely, while others have made the return to the office.

Security policies for your remote workforce

Current events are driving dramatic changes to many business industries around the planet. One of the most notable shifts is how the office-based framework for employees transformed to a remote workforce environment. Remote working has now become the norm for many enterprises and organizations worldwide. While the remote working environment is not new in the market, it has gained momentum because of the current pandemic. Many people are now turning their home to be their extended office.

Work from home cybersecurity explained: should your business have a WFH policy?

Global organizations are sharpening their strategies that enable their employees to work from virtually any location at any time. But working in different types of remote settings brings with it the potential for significant cybersecurity threats that must be anticipated, defended against, and quickly remediated. Working outside the traditional office setting has accelerated during the past decade.

How to check the effectiveness of phishing

You can install the latest generation of security software to protect against evil hackers, but what is the use of it if your employees continue to follow phishing links? Several security companies conduct social and technical research of real-life phishing attacks aimed at different businesses and are impressed with the scale of the problem.

User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) explained

User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) is an area of cybersecurity that focuses on analyzing activity – specifically user behavior, device usage, and security events ­– within your network environment to help companies detect potential insider threats and compromised accounts. While the concept has been around for some time, it was first defined in detail by Gartner in 2015 in its Market Guide for User and Entity Analytics.

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) explained

This blog was written by a third party author In today’s ever-changing cybersecurity landscape, Zero Trust is here to stay. Before the concept of Zero Trust was well known, organizations followed the belief that anything within the network is trusted, and anything outside of it is untrusted. Zero trust is built on the idea that all traffic, whether incoming or outgoing, should be inspected, regardless of the source.

Security concerns and solutions regarding blockchain use in healthcare

The healthcare industry is transforming with the integration of ground-breaking technologies capable of storing patient records electronically. The shift to the digitization of systems makes a variety of healthcare solutions possible that never could have been imagined — but it also puts healthcare data at risk to hackers and cyber attacks. In answer to this problem, blockchain technologies are emerging as a viable option for the storage and updating of electronic health records (EHRs).

Cloud security

There’s no doubt that the adoption of public cloud deployments has accelerated for most organizations recently. In fact, according to metrics released by Oracle recently, nearly half (49%) of all respondents to the Oracle and KPMG Cloud Threat Report expect to store most of their data in a public cloud by the end of 2020. Effectively managing the security and compliance of public cloud deployments can be tricky for many organizations.

The Forrester Wave: Global Managed Security Services Providers, Q3 2020

AT&T Cybersecurity is ranked among the top managed security service providers in The Forrester WAVE™: Global Managed Security Services Providers, Q3 2020. Among the findings, Forrester recommends customers look for MSSPs that can offer remediation support across hybrid environments and help create efficiencies within your environment. AT&T Cybersecurity managed security services offers: The report notes key differentiators as: native cloud support, automation, and remediation.

AlienApps and plug-ins combined into one framework

The heart of any detection and response solution is the ability to collect events from the environment, perform corrective response actions, and integrate with customer workflows. Today, we’re proud to announce the launch of a complete redesign of the user interface for these third party integrations.

Being onsite for an assessment is better, but a lot of it is possible remotely

The way we shop for groceries has changed because of the unusual circumstances the world is in today. Instead of spending as much time physically in the store selecting our own items, we now have the option to order online and arrange for a time to pick them up, or better yet, have them delivered. Of course, there may be a few items you’d prefer to go in and see in person, like fresh produce.

What is endpoint protection? Endpoint security explained

5G is here and changing the way business is done. With this comes an increase of devices to take advantage of low latency and high bandwidth that will allow businesses to truly transform. Because of those devices, the attack surface is also rapidly expanding and will increase opportunities for bad actors. This new wave of endpoints presents both a business opportunity and a business risk. The need for proper endpoint protection is more important today than ever before!

Don't call it a SIEM - How USM Anywhere does threat detection and response differently

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions have been the foundation of enterprises’ security operations and threat detection & response. Even though USM Anywhere has many key SIEM features, it is much more than a SIEM. Why? To perform threat detection, SIEMs and purpose-built threat consoles collect data from security devices. These include network firewalls, endpoint devices, & vulnerability managers to directly from the cloud.

Cybersecurity risk management explained

Cybersecurity risk management is the practice of prioritizing cybersecurity defensive measures based on the potential adverse impact of the threats they're designed to address. Establishing a risk management approach to cybersecurity investment acknowledges that no organization can completely eliminate every system vulnerability or block every cyber-attack.

Cyber threat intelligence explained

The cybersecurity industry is increasingly producing enormous amounts of raw threat data. The sheer volume of information threat researchers must sift through makes it difficult to collect, analyze, and research that data in a timely manner. This in turn limits their ability to understand what data is valid and useful and whether threat artifacts will result in legitimate threat indicators.

How to secure Syslog with USM Anywhere

One of the requests we often get is how to securely forward logs to the USM sensor. To forward logs securely, the one component that is required is an SSL certificate. By default, USM has a self-signed certificate that will allow sending secure logs over port 6514. Some platforms, such as Palo Alto Networks, require publicly signed certificates by default. In this blog, we will walk through the process of generating a publicly signed certificate for use with USM.

Combat mobile phishing attacks targeting Financial Services with AI

Phishing attacks are a common attack vector for financial services organizations. Effective and simple to launch, phishing attacks challenge financial firms to protect their mobile workforce and harden their customer-facing apps. Mobile phishing, in particular, bypasses traditional perimeter defenses such as secure email gateways by targeting users via personal email, SMS and social messaging apps.

Stories from the SOC: Compromised account detected

The Managed Threat Detection and Response (MTDR) analyst team was notified of multiple logins from different countries. With the shift to a more remote workforce, multiple logins from different locations is not uncommon, but the team discovered the potentially compromised account belonged to a third-party and immediately took action. Every year businesses lose millions due to data breaches caused by third parties.

Digital signatures security explained

Digital signatures have been around for decades, but recent events have put them back in the spotlight. They were heralded as the future of cybersecurity as far back as 1999, but in the intervening years came to be somewhat taken for granted by security engineers. Not any longer: the massive move to home working precipitated by the Covid-19 pandemic have forced many to take a fresh look at the value of digital signatures, why they matter, and their relationship to encryption.