For a while, privacy in Q2 was looking like it would follow the season’s idiomatic rule: in like a lion, out like a lamb. But it came roaring back in June with a new U.S. state law, EU adequacy decisions, a new EU data transfer mechanism, and more. As we look back over the second quarter of 2021, several important developments are worth noting. U.S...

Today’s enterprise operations involve the coordination of several different digital ecosystems but none quite so inflamed as the cybersecurity ecosystem. Technology has been evolving at a rapid pace, and attackers are armed with advanced tactics to steal data and expose secure information. In response, cybersecurity teams deploy numerous tools and...

Back in June, I wrote about the Transportation Security Agency’s (TSA) new security directive concerning pipeline owners and operators. The order mandated those entities to disclose security incidents such as the ransomware attack that affected the Colonial Pipeline Company back in May to the TSA and the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security...

As businesses emerge from the pandemic, many are making strategic decisions about their long-term work arrangements. While there is a substantial debate about remaining remote or bringing people back to the office, many companies are choosing to meet in the middle, embracing a hybrid work arrangement that allows people to work both on-site and...

OT networks often rely on Windows systems for various ICS applications including HMIs, historians, and data gateways. Beyond that, they also commonly rely on Windows systems to run associated IT-networks. A successful ransomware deployment into either of these networks may prevent engineers from controlling plant operations and lead to an unplanned...

Most discussions around cybersecurity understandably focus on information technology (IT). Assets like cloud services and data centers are typically what companies spend the most time and effort securing. Recently, though, operational technology (OT) has come under increasing scrutiny from leading security experts in both the private and public...

Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s August 2021 Security Updates. VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-959 on Wednesday, August 11th. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs CVE-2021-36948 This privilege escalation vulnerability that affects the Windows Update Medic Service (WaasMedic) has been...

In its Interagency Report 7695, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defined an application as “a system for collecting, saving, processing, and presenting data by means of a computer.” This broad term covers enterprise applications, consumer applications, and even phone apps. Security is important in all these types of...

Are you an organization that operates a Bulk Power System (BPS) in the United States? If so, you understand the need to comply with the Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) standards. Developed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), CIP is a set of requirements through which in-scope entities can protect themselves...

We're going to talk about state versus change. For the purposes of our discussion, you need to know that Tripwire Enterprise offers something called TE Commander. Many enterprise applications lack a native command line interface. This can be a challenge if you want to automate and integrate basic operations, which is a necessary function in most...

Social media platforms are excellent hunting grounds for scammers. This is where we connect with our friends or people who we have something in common with. This is precisely what scammers exploit—our connections and the trust that is afforded between friends or acquaintances. From an early age, we are taught to be kind and compassionate as well as...

Often, the most critical threats come from within an organization itself. This is true for all sectors, but it is especially true for industrial control systems (ICS). Technicians in these environments already have access to plant controls and may have the deep knowledge of industrial processes needed to achieve specific goals. The damage caused by...

Attacks targeting critical infrastructure have been on the rise in recent years. Back in 2019, for instance, 56% of utility professionals responsible for overseeing risk in their organizations’ operational technology (OT) assets told Siemens and the Ponemon Institute that they experience at least one shutdown or operational data loss event a year....

People make up an important part of an organization’s security posture. That’s because some employees have the rights necessary for accessing sensitive data as well as the privileges for viewing and/or editing critical systems. If those individuals have the right focus and training, they can play a crucial part in keeping those assets safe against...

Tripwire's July 2021 Patch Priority Index (PPI) brings together important vulnerabilities from VMware, Adobe, Oracle, and Microsoft. First on the patch priority list this month are patches for Microsoft Print Spooler (CVE-2021-34527, CVE-2021-1675) and vSphere Client (CVE-2021-21985). Exploits for these vulnerabilities have been recently added to...

More and more companies understand the benefits of cloud computing, which is making their migration to the cloud more rapid. Per IDG’s 2020 Cloud Computing Study, 81% of organizations said that they’ve migrated either one application or a portion of their infrastructure to the cloud. The reasons why a company would shift its services towards the...

A new ransomware gang that calls itself BlackMatter has launched itself on the dark web, and is actively attempting to recruit criminal partners and affiliates to attack large organisations in the United States, UK, Canada, and Australia. As experts at Recorded Future describe, the BlackMatter gang is advertising for "initial access brokers" -...

Scammers target businesses with phishing emails all the time, pretending to be legitimate customers or vendors asking for payment. While any company can be vulnerable to this type of attack, small- to medium-size companies are particularly vulnerable because it is easier for a scammer to do a bit of research online and identify the right people to...

Cloud compliance is more important than ever, especially as businesses and organizations continue to engage in remote and digital work practices due to COVID-19. Even before the pandemic, more and more companies were migrating to the cloud. But what exactly is cloud compliance, and what are some best practices you should keep in mind if you’re...