Resources

Blog

VERT Research Tips: Byting into Python

The past few weeks, I’ve been spending a lot of my free time preparing for the OSCP exam, which means refreshing a lot of skills that I haven’t used in years. A large part of that is rebuilding muscle memory around buffer overflows, so that’s how I spent my four-day weekend. I logged about 70 hours compiling small programs, writing buffer overflows,...
Blog

How Achieving Compliance with PCI DSS Can Help Meet GDPR Mandates

Data security and privacy are today a prime focus for most organizations globally. While there have been several regulations and standards introduced to improve data security, the evolving landscape makes it challenging for organizations to stay compliant. For many organizations, GDPR and PCI DSS are the first topics that come to mind when privacy...
Blog

Recommendations for Fulfilling the Potentials of Cyber Insurance

Cyber insurance has great potentials in improving cybersecurity practices and protecting organizations against the impact of security incidents, but these potentials “have yet to fully materialize.” This is the key highlight of a recent report developed by the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) and the University...
Blog

Invest in Cyber Awareness to Prevent Attacks

Today’s cyber threat landscape is extremely challenging. Ransom this, ransom that, ransom everywhere – information technology (IT) professionals must work to protect organizations against the next big ransomware attack. Over the years, the sophistication of ransomware attacks has increased as well as the amount of money demanded and paid out in...
Blog

What You Need to Remember When Choosing a Managed Service Provider (MSP)

In my previous post, I discussed some of the most common types of services offered by managed service providers (MSPs). This brings us to what organizations need to do to prepare to work with an MSP. Here are some considerations to keep in mind. Have an Idea What You Need Organizations could land themselves in trouble if they end up wasting money...
Blog

8 Best Practices for Data Security in Hybrid Environments

Operating in hybrid environments can get really tricky at times. As more and more organizations are moving their sensitive data to the public cloud, the need to keep this data secure and private has increased significantly over time. While handling their valuable datasets within their respective environments, companies need to ensure utmost data...
Blog

VERT Threat Alert: November 2021 Patch Tuesday Analysis

Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s November 2021 Security Updates. VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-972 on Wednesday, November 10th. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs CVE-2021-42292 Up first this month, we have a 0-day in Microsoft Excel that allows an attacker to bypass security features....
Blog

Comply 2 Connect (C2C) – A Solution to Quell the Rogues in Our Midst

Have you ever taken a personal device to work and connected it to the work network? Maybe you connected to the Wi-Fi with a mobile device. Perhaps you brought in a personal laptop and plugged into an open port to connect to the internet. These may seem like harmless activities, and some companies even allow non-corporate devices on their guest network as a way to enable visitors to operate in...
Blog

Cybersecurity and OWASP in an Increasingly Digital World

As the world increasingly moves to a digital format, cybersecurity is becoming more important than ever. It’s especially significant since, according to a recent survey by Sophos, 51% of businesses in America experienced a ransomware attack in 2020. That’s a staggering number of security vulnerabilities that truly shouldn’t exist in the modern day...
Blog

Preparing for a World Without the Public Services Network (PSN)

Anyone who works in technology in the United Kingdom (UK) is familiar with the Public Services Network (PSN). This organization was established back in 2008 to help public service organizations to work together to share resources and reduce duplication. Over time, the Internet has become suitable for most of the work that was previously managed by...
Blog

"PlugWalkJoe" indicted for $784K SIM swap cryptocurrency theft

The U.S. Department of Justice charged a British man for his alleged role in stealing $784,000 worth of cryptocurrency using SIM swap attacks. According to the unsealed indictment, Joseph James O'Connor – also known as "PlugWalkJoe" – conspired with others to steal approximately $784,000 worth of cryptocurrency from a Manhattan-based cryptocurrency...
Blog

CIS Control 11: Data Recovery

Data loss can be a consequence of a variety of factors from malicious ransomware to hardware failures and even natural disasters. Regardless of the reason for data loss, we need to be able to restore our data. A data recovery plan begins with prioritizing our data, protecting it while it is being stored, and having a plan to recover data. Key...
Blog

Tripwire Patch Priority Index for October 2021

Tripwire's October 2021 Patch Priority Index (PPI) brings together important vulnerabilities from Squid, Microsoft, and Adobe. First on the patch priority list this month are patches for Squid (CVE-2021-31807, CVE-2021-31806). Exploits for these vulnerabilities have been recently added to the Metasploit Exploit Framework. These systems should be...
Blog

CISO Interview Series: Cybersecurity at a Global Scale

What is it like to not only be a CISO but to also be one in a large, global organization? I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Mark Ruchie, CISO of Entrust, a global tech firm securing data, payments and identities. Mark shared his unique journey into cybersecurity, and he went on to offer excellent advice about how companies of any size can...
Blog

FBI warns of Ranzy Locker ransomware threat, as over 30 companies hit

The FBI has warned that over 30 US-based companies had been hit by the Ranzy Locker ransomware by July this year, in a flash alert to other organisations who may be at risk. According to the alert, issued with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), most of the victims were compromised after brute force credential attacks...
Blog

CIS Control 10: Malware Defenses

With the continuing rise of ransomware, malware defenses are more critical than ever before with regard to securing the enterprise. Anti-Malware technologies have become an afterthought in many organizations, a technology that they’ve always had, always used, and never really thought about. This control serves as a reminder that this technology is...
Blog

Hidden Value In Creating Cybersecurity Audit Programs

One of my first tasks after leaving NSA for private industry in the early 90s was to write my new company’s information security policy. I’m not sure my previous job as a cryptanalyst left me qualified for this, but I was viewed as the security guy. So, I attacked the task with vim and vigor. That first information security policy I wrote was a...