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Open Invitation to Help Develop Infosec Community Resources

It may be possible to democratize security by making it more accessible to average companies through community resources. We have an idea or two but we would appreciate your thoughts. At the 2019 RSA conference, Matt Chiodi, Chief Security Officer of Palo Alto Networks stated: “… small organizations are using on average between 15 and 20 tools,...
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Free Decryptor Released for Ims00rry Ransomware

Security researchers have released a free decryption utility which victims of Ims00rry ransomware can use to recover their files. On 12 July, anti-virus and anti-malware solutions provider Emsisoft made the decryptor available to the public. The firm published a follow-up post about is tool two days later. ...
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Climbing the Vulnerability Management Mountain: Gearing Up and Taking Step One

As I discussed in the first blog in this series, the purpose of this series is to guide you on your journey up the Vulnerability Management Mountain (VMM). Like climbing a mountain, there is a lot of planning and work required, but when you get to the top, the view is amazing and well worth the journey. For the first phase, let's start by planning...
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Mayors Say They'll No Longer Pay Ransoms Connected to Security Events

Mayors in the United States have collectively declared that they'll no longer meet attackers' ransom demands in connection to a digital security event. At its 87th annual meeting, the U.S. Conference of Mayors approved a resolution entitled, "Opposing Payment To Ransomeware Attack Perpetrators." This decree makes clear that the Conference, the...
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Apple says its Walkie-Talkie app could be exploited to spy on iPhones

Apple has chosen to temporarily disable a key feature of the Apple Watch after a critical vulnerability was discovered that could allow someone to eavesdrop on another person without their knowledge. The Apple Watch feature at the heart of the problem is Apple's Walkie-Talkie app which allows users to "push to talk" with other Apple Watch owners via...
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How Do You Protect Your Children When They Go Online?

When you are thinking about a very special holiday gift for your kid, one of the first things that spring to mind is a smartphone, tablet or laptop. It’s common knowledge that these devices aren’t very useful unless connected to the Internet. But how do you make sure your children are on the safe side when they go online? According to studies, kids...
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Malvertising Campaign Redirects to RIG Exploit Kit, ERIS Ransomware

A malvertising campaign is redirecting users to the RIG exploit kit for the purpose of loading ERIS ransomware onto vulnerable machines. Over the 5-7 July weekend, security researcher nao_sec discovered a malvertising campaign that was abusing the popcash ad network to redirect users to a landing page for the RIG exploit kit. The researcher told...
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VERT Threat Alert: July 2019 Patch Tuesday Analysis

Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s July 2019 Security Updates. VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-839 on Wednesday, July 10th. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs CVE-2019-0865 This vulnerability describes a denial of service that occurs when SymCrypt processes specially crafted digital...
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New York Passes a Law that Further Expands Cyber Protection

The New York State Legislature recently passed a bill that aims to protect New York residents, regardless of the location of the business. The law, known as the Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security (SHIELD) Act is designed to address unauthorized access of data. The bill expands the definition of “Breach of the security of the system” by...
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ATT&CK Structure Part II: From Taxonomy to Ontology

In Part I, I described some structural problems in MITRE’s ATT&CK adversarial behavior framework. We looked at a couple of examples of techniques that vary greatly in terms of abstraction as well as techniques that ought to be classified as parent and sub-technique. Both examples are borne out of the lack of hierarchical structure among techniques...
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British Airways faces record £183 million GDPR fine after data breach

What's happened? British Airways is facing a record fine of £183 million, after its systems were breached by hackers last year and the personal and payment card information of around 500,000 customers were stolen. 183 million quid!? That sounds huge! Yes, it's the biggest fine ever handed out by the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). In...
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How to Leverage DevOps and Automation to Bolster Security

Speed and security. Old-fashioned thinking contended that the two were incompatible; that high-velocity development and deployment of apps and software services invariably introduced higher levels of risk. However, it has become increasingly apparent that speed is a necessary aspect of security. The stakes are sky-high, with some estimates...
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4 Fundamentals That Make Your Vulnerability Management (VM) Program Less Effective

If you are a security practitioner, then you may have noticed that much of the security industry exists because of vulnerabilities. Regardless of what job position you occupy, vulnerabilities are oftentimes the reason why you wake up every morning and ultimately engage infosec from within your cutting-edge working environment. Vulnerabilities will...
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End Users as the Strongest Link

“It’s okay that you don’t understand.” This comment came after I was frustrated with myself for not being born a genius at math. Usually, when you don’t know a subject or you don’t understand it enough, subject matter experts (i.e. your teachers/professors/mentors/etc) put you down for it. But this time was different because I had a real subject...
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Is Poor Security Worse Than No Security?

As Lead Systems Engineer (EMEA) at Tripwire, I’ve had the pleasure of sitting down with and talking to many prospective customers about their security needs. I always ask about their existing digital capabilities during our talks. When I do, I usually get the following response: “We have lots of different tools but these solutions are either...