At the outset of the global coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many organizations decided to enforce social distancing by requiring that their employees begin working from home. This decision changed the fundamental way in which many employees were accustomed to working. It also created new security challenges for organizations that had larger remote workforces.
Digital attackers can compromise a system in a matter of minutes. But it generally takes organizations much longer to figure out that anything has happened. In its 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), for instance, Verizon Enterprise found that more than half of large organizations took days or even months to detect a security incident. Such dwell time gave attackers all they needed to move throughout an infected network and exfiltrate sensitive data.
Information security should be at the heart of every system launched. In accordance with the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), an information technology system is granted an Authority to Operate (ATO) after passing a risk-based cybersecurity assessment.
Cloud misconfigurations are no laughing matter. In its “2020 Cloud Misconfigurations Report,” DivvyCloud revealed that 196 separate data breaches involving cloud misconfigurations had cost companies a combined total of approximately $5 trillion between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2019. The problem is that those costs could be even higher; as reported by ZDNet, 99% of IaaS issues go unreported.
A phishing campaign abused both the Google App Engine and the Azure App Service to steal victims’ Microsoft Outlook credentials. Netskope observed that the attack campaign started with a shortened link distributed by a phishing email. This link redirected a recipient of the email to a Google App Engine domain.
It would be heartening to think that cybersecurity has advanced since the 1990s, but some things never change. Vulnerabilities that some of us first saw in 1996 are still with us. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at the news. Last month, Virginia-based cybersecurity firm GRIMM announced that they had found a vulnerability that affects many Netgear home WiFi routers. The cause? Outdated firmware that allows remote users to access the administrative systems in these routers.
Some new variants of the Agent Tesla infostealer family are capable of stealing data from multiple VPN clients and web browsers. SentinelOne observed that attackers continue to deploy Agent Tesla across various stages of their operations, as this malware enables criminals with even low levels of technical expertise to manipulate and manage their victims’ infected devices.
Have you ever stood in the airport security line when the agents bring the dog out to inspect everyone’s luggage? I’m always so fascinated watching the dog go down the line and do her work. Wow she’s so smart! How does she know what to look for? My own dog has talents of her own, but she would not get hired for this job. She has a good functioning nose, but she’s not trained to detect these things and wouldn’t be able to tell me when she finds something troublesome.
Technology and cyber systems have become essential components of modern society. Despite the benefit of cyber technologies, insecurities arise. These could affect all systems and infrastructures. More than that, the threat of a cyberattack could very well have a transnational component and effect as worldwide systems become increasingly interconnected.
Vince Lombardi, the famous football coach, used to start his training camp each season with a talk about doing the basics. He’d tell the players that they start with the basics, then he’d take a football and hold it up and tell them, “This is a football.” In football, as in life and IT Security, starting with the basics is the most important step you can take. Don’t assume anything. So, let us begin with the basics. CIS is the Center for Internet Security.
