It seems like we’re seeing report after report in the news about so-called ‘cyber attacks’ in organizations that, it seems, should have known better or done a better job at protecting themselves (and our data). What didn’t they know that led to the attack (and subsequent breach)? What could they have done to have prevented […]
How the Wannacry, Petya and ransomeware attacks underscore the need for offensive security
Organizations across the Internet are falling victim to cyber attacks costing not only time, productivity and revenue but also immeasurable damage to reputation and client / vendor / public trust. In some cases, the attacks constitute a failure to maintain regulatory compliance (HIPAA, GLBA, FIRPA, etc.) and in all cases, the attacks confirm that the […]
Even after WannaCry, 5.5 million devices still exposed (up from 4.6 million in 2016).
Rapid7 conducts an annual scan of the Internet (about 3 billion IP Addressable devices) and found about 160 million devices with open ports that should not be exposed to the Internet. Among the ports that were scanned (a total of 30 ports according to the article) was SMB, which is the port that was [ab]used […]
New malware currently targeting restaurants. What you need to know before it targets your industry.
According to this article from Threatpost, a new malware nicknamed FIN7 is using a new technique to spread and avoid detection. The malware is reportedly associated with the Carbanak group and is targeting the restaurant industry. Considering it’s effectiveness though, it’s safe to assume that either this attacker will move to other industry verticals or […]
What can I learn from the recent NSA breach to better protect my organization?
You have probably heard by now that NSA Contractor Reality Leigh Winner used her access to leak classified information to The Intercept. The news media is covering the political angles here but there’s an excellent story on Operational and Information Security (OPSec and InfoSec respectively) that’s being largely ignored and some valuable lessons to learn […]
Why would I hire someone to ‘hack my stuff’, why are vulnerability assessments important?
Why would I want to hire you someone to “hack my stuff”? The technology infrastructure of most organizations, even smaller ones, can be extensive with a mix of employees, vendors and third party contractors all having varying levels of access to everything from the website to the firewall to leased printers and more. It can […]
The Cyber Defense Certainty Act, Active Defense or Hacking Back?
The Active Cyber Defense Certainty Act seeks to “…provide a defense to prosecution for fraud and related activity in connection with computers for persons defending against unauthorized intrusions into their computers, and for other purposes“. The [draft] bill seems well intentioned but overly ambiguous, leaving a lot of room for abuse (and for other purposes […]
Don’t forget the doors, physical controls are important too!
We talk a lot about technical controls but a recent engagement reminded me that physical controls are just as important and, if the physical controls fail or aren’t implemented, technical controls generally fall easily (if an attacker has physical access to an asset, most bets are off). The Gig: The engagement was a penetration test […]
Breach confirmed by InterContinental Hotels affecting 12 of it’s properties
According to articles from ThreatPost and DataBreachToday, InterContinental Hotels has confirmed a breach in systems used at 12 of it’s properties and notes that the systems were infected between August and December of 2016. According to both reports, cards used at the front desk of the properties were not affected but that the malware searched […]
A top-down approach to cyber security will not work, and here’s why
Recent computer / network security breaches combined with the fact that it’s an election year in the US has led to asignificant amount of focus on [information] security and technology and interesting responses from [mostly] politicians on what the appropriate solution should be. One of the solutions that I have heard tossed about in the […]