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The UK Is GPS-Tagging Thousands of Migrants

By Morgan Meaker
Ankle tags that constantly log a person’s coordinates are part of a growing cadre of experimental surveillance tools that countries around the world are trying out on new arrivals.

Discord: A Playground for Nation-State Hackers Targeting Critical Infrastructure

By Newsroom
In what's the latest evolution of threat actors abusing legitimate infrastructure for nefarious ends, new findings show that nation-state hacking groups have entered the fray in leveraging the social platform for targeting critical infrastructure. Discord, in recent years, has become a lucrative target, acting as a fertile ground for hosting malware using its content delivery network (CDN) as

New Supply Chain Attack Hit Close to 100 Victims—and Clues Point to China

By Andy Greenberg
The hackers, who mostly targeted victims in Hong Kong, also hijacked Microsoft’s trust model to make their malware harder to detect.

‘A woman from Mars’: Life in the pursuit of space exploration

By Alžbeta Kovaľová

An astrobiologist, analog astronaut, author and speaker, Dr. Michaela Musilova shares her experience as a woman at the forefront of space exploration and from her quest for scientific and personal excellence

The post ‘A woman from Mars’: Life in the pursuit of space exploration appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

Threat Actors Adopt Havoc Framework for Post-Exploitation in Targeted Attacks

By Ravie Lakshmanan
An open source command-and-control (C2) framework known as Havoc is being adopted by threat actors as an alternative to other well-known legitimate toolkits like Cobalt Strike, Sliver, and Brute Ratel. Cybersecurity firm Zscaler said it observed a new campaign in the beginning of January 2023 targeting an unnamed government organization that utilized Havoc. "While C2 frameworks are prolific, the

ChatGPT, will you be my Valentine?

By André Lameiras

Spoiler alert: it turned me down. But that’s far from the only thing I learned while playing around with the bot that the world has fallen in love with so badly.

The post ChatGPT, will you be my Valentine? appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

Smart and Frictionless Zero Trust Access for the Workforce

By Ganesh Umapathy

Providing secure access and a frictionless user experience are typically competing initiatives, but they don’t have to be! Read on to learn why.

In our world today, context changes quickly. We work from home, coffee shops and the office. We use multiple devices to do work. And on the flip side, attackers are becoming increasingly savvy, getting around security controls, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), to gain unauthorized access.

To quote Wendy Nather, Cisco’s head of Advisory CISOs, “Trust is neither binary nor permanent.” Therefore, security controls must constantly evaluate for change in trust, but without adding unnecessary friction for end-users.

It’s no surprise that the recently published Cybersecurity Readiness Index, a survey of 6,700 cybersecurity leaders from across the globe, revealed that more progress is needed to protect identity, networks and applications.

To address these challenges and to make zero trust access for the workforce easy and frictionless, Cisco Duo announced the general availability of Risk-Based Authentication and enhancements to our enterprise ready Single Sign-On solution at Cisco Live EMEA 2023 earlier this week.

Risk-Based Authentication

Chart showing how Risk-Based Authentication starts by evaluating the risk signal analysis based off of device trust, location, wi-fi fingerprint, and known attack patterns. Based of off this, it decides what kind of authentication is required - including no authentication, Duo push 2FA, verified Duo push, FIDO2 authenticator - before allowing (or blocking) access to corporate resources.

Risk-Based Authentication fulfills the zero trust philosophy of continuous trust verification by assessing the risk level for each access attempt in a manner that is frictionless to users. A higher level of authentication is required only when there is an increase in assessed risk. Duo dynamically detects risk and automatically steps up authentication with two key policies:

1. Risk-Based Factor Selection

The Risk-Based Factor Selection policy detects and analyzes authentication requests and adaptively enforces the most secure factors. It highlights risk and adapts its understanding of normal user behavior. It does this by looking for known attack patterns and anomalies and then allowing only the more secure authentication methods to gain access.

For example, Duo can detect if an organization or employee is being targeted for a push bombing attack or if the authentication device and access device are in two different countries, and Duo responds by automatically elevating the authentication request to a more secure factor such as phishing resistant FIDO2 security keys or Verified Duo Push.

Chart showing how Risk-Based Authentication, when picking up on known attack patterns, will either request a Verified Duo Push or Block access.

2. Risk-Based Remembered Devices

The Risk-Based Remembered Devices policy establishes a trusted device session (like “remember this computer” check box), automatically without asking the user the check a box, during a successful authentication. Once the session is established, Duo looks for anomalous IP addresses or changes to a device throughout the lifetime of the trusted session and requires re-authentication only if it observes a change from historical baselines.

The policy also incorporates a Wi-Fi Fingerprint provided by Duo Device Health app to ensure that IP address changes reflect actual changes in location and not normal usage scenarios such as a user establishing an organizational VPN (Virtual Private Network) session.

Chart showing how Risk-Based Authentication, when using location and wi-fi fingerprint to determine that risk levels are low, won't require authentication.

Duo uses anonymized Wi-Fi Fingerprint to reliably detect whether the access device is in the same location as it was for previous authentications by comparing the Wi-Fi networks that are “visible” to the access device. Further, Duo preserves user privacy and does not track user location or collect any private information. Wi-Fi Fingerprint only lets Duo know if a user has changed location.

Single Sign-On

A typical organization uses over 250 applications. Single sign-on (SSO) solutions help employees access multiple applications with a single set of credentials and allow administrators to enforce granular policies for application access from a single console. Integrated with MFA or passwordless authentication, SSO serves as a critical access management tool for organizations that want to implement zero trust access to corporate applications.

Chart showing how Duo SSO integrates with SAML 2.0 and OIDC applications

Duo SSO is already popular among Duo’s customers. Now, we are adding two new capabilities that cater to modern enterprises:

1. Support for OpenID Connect (OIDC)

An increasing number of applications use OIDC for authentication. It is a modern authentication protocol that lets application and website developers authenticate users without storing and managing other people’s passwords, which is both difficult and risky. To date, Duo SSO has supported SAML web applications. Supporting OIDC allows us to protect more of the applications that our customers are adopting as we all move towards a mobile-first world and integrate stronger and modern authentication methods.

2. On-Demand Password Resets

Password resets are expensive for organizations. It is estimated that 20-50% of IT helpdesk tickets are for password resets. And according to a report by Ponemon Institute, large enterprises experience an average loss of $5.2 million a year in user productivity due to password resets.

When logging into browser-based applications, Duo SSO already allows users to reset passwords when they have expired in the same login workflow. And we heard from our customers that users want the option to proactively reset passwords. Now, Duo SSO offers the convenience to reset their Active Directly passwords before they expire. This capability further increases user productivity and reduces IT helpdesk tickets.

Screenshot of Duo's self-service password reset prompt

Risk-Based Authentication and enhancements to Duo SSO are available now to all paying customers based on their Duo Edition. If you are not yet a Duo customer, sign up for a free 30-day trial and try out these new capabilities today!


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Hackers Exploit Vulnerabilities in Sunlogin to Deploy Sliver C2 Framework

By Ravie Lakshmanan
Threat actors are leveraging known flaws in Sunlogin software to deploy the Sliver command-and-control (C2) framework for carrying out post-exploitation activities. The findings come from AhnLab Security Emergency response Center (ASEC), which found that security vulnerabilities in Sunlogin, a remote desktop program developed in China, are being abused to deploy a wide range of payloads. "Not

All in for Security: Cisco Secure at Cisco Live EMEA 2023

By Tom Gillis

Cisco Live is the premier destination for Cisco customers and partners to gain knowledge and build community. Our teams work hard to deliver education and inspiration, ignite creativity, deliver practical know-how, and accelerate the connections that fuel your digital future.

The Cisco Secure team is excited to share our expertise to help power the strategies – and safety – of your organization.

If it’s connected, it’s protected

Executive Q&A Panel at Cisco Live EMEA

In 2023, the threat landscape will evolve to one that sees attacks on every surface, from criminals who are opportunistic, yet laser-focused on their goal. The attacks themselves could be email-borne, directly targeted, socially based, or a mix of all three.

Criminals will target vulnerabilities, operational deficiencies, suppliers, and business partners, as a means of accomplishing their goals. They will use the target’s own environment and take advantage of existing people and technology problems, including alert fatigue and staffing shortages.

To face this reality and address the needs of organizations both large and small, Cisco will continue to focus on education and innovation in the areas of preventing insider threats, providing consistent and informed alerts, enabling actionable intelligence, and delivering solutions to implement a zero-trust security framework.

As the organization that pioneered networking, we are driven to secure every connection, providing end-to-end protection for users and devices across multiple clouds and networks with a seamless experience.

Innovating to enable a more resilient organization

As our vision for the integrated Cisco Security Cloud evolves, we’re continuing to challenge existing models and unify security and networking, with foundational elements that execute on this vision. From verified push – which protects organizations from MFA-focused phishing attacks – to Wi-Fi Fingerprint, and Remembered Devices, the performance enhancements with Enterprise Single Sign-on and Cisco+ Secure Connect, we continue to meet our customers where they are, offering true zero trust, with frictionless experiences for the hybrid workforce.

We’re excited to celebrate the following innovations and updates announced at Cisco Live EMEA:

Risk-Based Authentication

Finding the balance between usability and security is now easier than ever. With Risk-Based Authentication, users have the access they need, secured by real-time contextual signals. Organizations can increase security efficacy by dynamically adjusting authentication ​requirements based on risk levels and by enabling safer end-user behavior. Risk-based authentication now includes wi-fi fingerprint, remembered device, and verified push features, which work together to reduce risk while preserving user experience ​by only requesting additional interaction for suspicious logins or a change in risk.

Single Sign-On

Our Enterprise Ready Single Sign-on expands Duo SSO with three new capabilities to easily connect single sign-on to modern apps and empower end users. By adding major protocol support, improved admin tooling, and SSO on demand password resets, organizations enable easier and more secure access from anywhere.

Cisco+ Secure Connect

Cisco SD-WAN customers can now enjoy all the benefits of a turnkey, single-vendor SASE solution that brings together industry-leading networking with security:​ Cisco+ Secure Connect. This new integration gives Cisco SD-WAN (powered by Viptela) customers fast, secure private application and internet access, enabling them to deliver a secure experience, anywhere work happens.

Application Security

We are also announcing the introduction of industry-first Business Risk Observability, an enhancement of our Full-Stack Observability application security solution. Available through Cisco Secure Application, which is integrated into Cisco AppDynamics, it provides a business risk scoring solution which brings together Kenna Risk Meter score distribution and Business Transactions from Cisco AppDynamics and integrates with Panoptica for API security and Talos for threat intelligence.

Cybersecurity Readiness Index report

The initial findings from our first Cybersecurity Readiness Index reveal that while technology to devices is widely adopted, more progress is needed to protect identity, networks and applications. The report assessed the preparedness of companies around the world to safeguard against cyber threats in the current environment. See our key findings and security readiness trends, with the full report launching in the coming weeks.

As we navigate 2023, we will continue to face uncertainties and challenges. We are fully committed to our customers and partners in the journey to provide security resilience, supporting a frictionless user experience, and solutions threat intelligence that work to continually minimize risk.

 


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5 valuable skills your children can learn by playing video games

By André Lameiras

Gaming can help your children build and sharpen a range of life skills that will stand them in good stead in the future

The post 5 valuable skills your children can learn by playing video games appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

Hybrid play: Leveling the playing field in online video gaming and beyond

By Rene Holt

Does VALORANT’s approach to cheating signal a turning point in how we deal with the continued hacks afflicting our hybrid world of work and play?

The post Hybrid play: Leveling the playing field in online video gaming and beyond appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

Hybrid work: Turning business platforms into preferred social spaces

By Alžbeta Kovaľová

Hybrid work and hybrid play now merge into hybrid living, but where is the line between the two? Is there one?

The post Hybrid work: Turning business platforms into preferred social spaces appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

The doctor will see you now … virtually: Tips for a safe telehealth visit

By Phil Muncaster

Are your virtual doctor visits private and secure? Here’s what to know about, and how to prepare for, connecting with a doctor from the comfort of your home.

The post The doctor will see you now … virtually: Tips for a safe telehealth visit appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

Cybersecurity Trends 2023: Securing our hybrid lives

By Editor

ESET experts offer their reflections on what the continued blurring of boundaries between different spheres of life means for our human and social experience – and especially our cybersecurity and privacy

The post Cybersecurity Trends 2023: Securing our hybrid lives appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

Top tips to save energy used by your electronic devices

By Phil Muncaster

With the rapidly rising energy prices putting a strain on many households, what are some quick wins to help reduce the power consumption of your gadgets?

The post Top tips to save energy used by your electronic devices appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

What Are Tailgating Attacks and How to Protect Yourself From Them

By McAfee

Whether you’re spending time on the web or working in the office, you want peace of mind knowing that you are in a safe environment. While most of us know to take precautions when online — protecting ourselves from things like phishing attacks and other cyber threats — we should also attend to our physical security. 

One concern is tailgating — a social engineering attack where someone gets physical access to a business to take confidential information or do other harm. 

Here are some ways to protect yourself from tailgating attacks, such as an unauthorized person following you into a restricted area while on the job. 

What is a tailgating attack?

Tailgating is a type of social engineering attack where an unauthorized person gains physical access to an off-limits location — perhaps a password-protected area — where they might steal sensitive information, damage property, compromise user credentials or even install malware on computers. 

Piggybacking” is closely related to tailgating, but it involves consent from the duped employee. So, while a worker might be unaware that someone has tailgated them into a restricted area with piggybacking, the hacker might convince a worker to provide access because they are posing as, say, a delivery driver. 

Who’s at risk of tailgating attacks?

Companies, particularly at risk of being targeted by tailgating scams, include those: 

  • With many employees, often moving inside and out of the premises 
  • With multiple entrance points into a building 
  • That receive deliveries of food, packages, documents, and other things regularly 
  • That have many subcontractors working for them 
  • Where employees aren’t thoroughly trained in physical and cybersecurity protocols 

Generally speaking, companies with robust security systems in place — including using biometrics, badges, or other identity and information security measures — are better protected from tailgating and piggybacking attacks.  

But that’s not to say that some smooth-talking fraudster can’t talk someone into letting them in or finding some way around those protections. 

What are common tailgating methods?

Common types of tailgating attacks that you should be aware of on the job include:  

  • Someone walking behind you into a secure area, depending on your common courtesy to keep the door open for them 
  • A courier or delivery driver who aren’t what they seem 
  • Someone with their hands full of items to trick you into opening the door for them 
  • A person who claims they’ve lost their work ID or forgotten it at home, so that you grant them admittance 

How to protect yourself from tailgating attacks 

Protecting yourself from tailgating attacks is partly a matter of learning about the issue, raising your level of awareness on the job, and depending on your employer, putting in place more effective security systems.  

Some solutions include: 

Increased security training

Many companies know how to train employees to recognize, avoid, and cope with online security issues but may forget to provide the same diligence to physical security. How to spot and deal with threats should be part of this training, plus cultivating an awareness of surroundings and people who might be out of place.   

Management should offer a clearly stated security policy taught to everyone, which might insist that no one be allowed into a secure area without the proper pass or identification. As the security policy is updated, all employees should be aware of changes and additions. 

These security measures should be part of an overall protection program, like McAfee+, which includes antivirus software, a firewall, identity monitoring, password management, web protection, and more. 

Smart badges and cards

If you have a large business spread over several floors, it can be hard for employees to know who works there and who doesn’t, leaving them susceptible to tailgating and piggybacking attacks. Requiring smart badges and cards to access restricted areas can help cut back on unauthorized intrusions and provide better access control. 

Building fully staffed reception areas with dedicated security personnel could also be part of a larger security system. 

Biometric scanners

Biometric scanners are an even more advanced way to provide proper authentication for a worker’s identity. They scan a unique physical or audible feature of a person and compare it to a database for approved personnel.  

Examples of biometric security include: 

  • Voice recognition 
  • Iris recognition 
  • Fingerprint scans 
  • Facial recognition 
  • Heart-rate sensors 

Understanding social engineering

One reason people are vulnerable to physical and cyberattacks is that they lack education on social engineering and the kinds of threats it poses.  

Workers need to understand the full range of social engineering techniques and know-how to protect themselves, whether in their social media accounts or physical work environment.  

For their part, companies can use simulated phishing emails and tailgating attacks to raise awareness and underline how to follow protocols in dealing with them. 

Video surveillance

If there are many ways to enter a business, it may make sense to put video surveillance on all entrances. Advanced video surveillance systems can use artificial intelligence (AI) and video analytics to scan the faces of people entering and compare them to a database of employee features. 

Discover how McAfee can help keep devices secure from hacking

Whether at work or at home, people want to be secure from attacks by cybercriminals who seek to take personal information. 

To add a layer of security to all their connected devices — including computers, smartphones, and tablets — an increasing number of people are turning to the comprehensive coverage of McAfee+ 

Features range from advanced monitoring of possible threats to your identity, automatic implementation of virtual private networks (VPNs) to deal with unsafe networks, and personal data clean-up, removing your information from high-risk data broker sites. 

McAfee protection allows you to work and play online with greater peace of mind. 

The post What Are Tailgating Attacks and How to Protect Yourself From Them appeared first on McAfee Blog.

ALL IN at Cisco Live 2022 Melbourne: Building Security Resilience for the Modern Enterprise

By Yoshiyuki Hamada

After a three-year hiatus, Cisco Live 2022 Melbourne is back! Personally, it will be a special experience, attending with my team and leaders for the first time as the Asia Pacific Cybersecurity Lead.

I will be speaking on the “Top Priorities for IT and Security Leaders in 2023” on 7 December at the Cisco Secure Insights Live, covering key priorities for security leaders as we enter the new year. Please join me at the Security Experience Hub at the World of Solutions. You can also participate virtually.

Experts’ Insights on Enabling a Strong Security Culture and Resilience 

Today’s businesses require a strong culture of security and resilience that is pervasive throughout the organization to withstand uncertainty and emerge stronger. Hear from our Cisco security leaders on powering resilience across the enterprise in the following presentations:

Dive into 80+ security sessions by experts to uncover best practices to address key challenges, and maximize your technology investments.

Security Experience at the World of Solutions 

Explore the Security Experience Hub and Demo Stand at the World of Solutions Zone for exciting security activities:

  • Cybersecurity Operations Center – features demos on how to optimize security operations and empower your SecOps team with deep visibility and automation to enable them to effectively secure the business.
  • Cisco Secure Insights Live – 30+ bite-sized sharing sessions by industry experts and leaders on trends, innovations and the current threat landscape.
  • Security Demo Stand – end-to-end solution portfolio showcase, including Application Security, Extended Detection and Response (XDR), Network Security, Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) and Cloud Security, Secure Analytics, Secure Email, SecureX, Services and Zero Trust Security.
  • Security Resilience Pod – evaluate and benchmark your security posture , and get recommendations on how to improve existing security programs.

For those joining us online, we have the Cisco Secure Insights Live broadcast on all things security, and Cisco Live broadcast covering keynote presentations by industry leaders.

I’m excited for you to see how we can help you achieve security resilience and look forward to meeting you at Cisco Live 2022 Melbourne. I’m ALL IN, are you?

 


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Life in pursuit of answers: In the words of Ada Yonath

By Alžbeta Kovaľová

From a little girl financially helping her family in Jerusalem to a Nobel Prize laureate. That is the exceptional life of Ada Yonath in a nutshell.

The post Life in pursuit of answers: In the words of Ada Yonath appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

Integrating Live Patching in SecDevOps Workflows

By The Hacker News
SecDevOps is, just like DevOps, a transformational change that organizations undergo at some point during their lifetime. Just like many other big changes, SecDevOps is commonly adopted after a reality check of some kind: a big damaging cybersecurity incident, for example. A major security breach or, say, consistent problems in achieving development goals signals to organizations that the

Resolving Availability vs. Security, a Constant Conflict in IT

By The Hacker News
Conflicting business requirements is a common problem – and you find it in every corner of an organization, including in information technology. Resolving these conflicts is a must, but it isn’t always easy – though sometimes there is a novel solution that helps. In IT management there is a constant struggle between security and operations teams. Yes, both teams ultimately want to have secure

NFT: A new‑fangled trend or also a new‑found treasure?

By Jake Moore

I’ve created an NFT so you don’t have to – here's the good, the bad and the intangible of the hot-ticket tokens

The post NFT: A new‑fangled trend or also a new‑found treasure? appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

Collaboration and knowledge sharing key to progress in cybersecurity

By Juan Manuel Harán

In a world of ever-evolving cyberthreats, collaboration and knowledge exchange are vital for keeping an edge on attackers

The post Collaboration and knowledge sharing key to progress in cybersecurity appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

Top of Mind Security Insights from In-Person Interactions

By Shailaja Shankar

The past few months have been chockfull of conversations with security customers, partners, and industry leaders. After two years of virtual engagements, in-person events like our CISO Forum and Cisco Live as well as the industry’s RSA Conference underscore the power of face-to-face interactions. It’s a reminder of just how enriching conversations are and how incredibly interconnected the world is. And it’s only made closer by the security experiences that impact us all.  

I had the pleasure of engaging with some of the industry’s best and brightest, sharing ideas, insights, and what keeps us up at night. The conversations offered more than an opportunity to reconnect and put faces with names. It was a chance to discuss some of the most critical cybersecurity issues and implications that are top of mind for organizations.  

The collective sentiments are clear. The need for better security has never been so strong. Securing the future is good business. Disruptions are happening faster than ever before, making our interconnected world more unpredictable.  Hybrid work is here to stay, hybrid and complex architectures will continue to be a reality for most organizations and that has dramatically expanded the threat surface. More and more businesses are operating as ecosystems—attacks have profound ripple effects across value chains. Attacks are becoming more bespoke, government-sponsored threat actors and ransomware as a service, continue to unravel challenging businesses to minimize the time from initial breach to complete compromise, in the event of a compromise.  

Digital transformation and Zero Trust 

Regardless of where organizations are on their digital transformations, they are progressively embarking upon journeys to unify networking and secure connectivity needs. Mobility, BYOD (bring your own device), cloud, increased collaboration, and the consumerization of IT have necessitated a new type of access control security–zero trust security. Supporting a modern enterprise across a distributed network and infrastructure involves the ability to validate user IDs, continuously verify authentication and device trust, and protect every application— 

without compromising user experience. Zero trust offers organizations a simpler approach to securing access for everyone, from any device, anywhere—all the while, making it harder for attackers.  

Seeking a simpler, smarter ecosystem 

Simplicity continues to be a hot topic, and in the context of its functionality. In addition to a frictionless user experience, the real value to customers is improving operational challenges. Security practitioners want an easier way to secure the edge, access, and operations—including threat intelligence and response. Key to this simplified experience is connecting and managing business-critical control points and vulnerabilities, exchanging data, and contextualizing threat intelligence. And it requires a smarter ecosystem that brings together capabilities, unifying admin, policy, visibility, and control. Simplicity that works hard and smart—and enhances their security posture. The ultimate simplicity is improved efficacy for the organization. 

Everyone is an insider  

Insider cyber-attacks are among the fastest growing threats in the modern security network, an increasingly common cause of data breaches. Using their authorized access, employees are intentionally or inadvertently causing harm by stealing, exposing, or destroying sensitive company data. Regardless, the consequences are the same—costing companies big bucks and massive disruption. It’s also one of the reasons why “identity as the new perimeter” is trending, as the primary objective of all advanced attacks is to gain privileged credentials. Insider attack attempts are not slowing down. However, advanced telemetry, threat detection and protection, and continuous trusted access all help decelerate the trend. Organizations are better able to expose suspicious or malicious activities caused by insider threats. Innovations are enabling business to analyze all network traffic and historical patterns of employee access and determine whether to let an employee continue uninterrupted or prompt to authenticate again.  

The interconnection conundrum and the ransomware ruse   

Supply chain attacks have become one of the biggest security worries for businesses. Not only are disruptions debilitating, but no one knew the impacts or perceived outcomes. Attackers are highly aware that supply chains are comprised of larger entities often tightly connected to a broad array of smaller and less cyber-savvy organizations. Lured by lucrative payouts, attackers seek the weakest supply chain link for a successful breach. In fact, two of the four biggest cyber-attacks that the Cisco Talos team saw in the field last year were supply chain attacks that deployed ransomware on their targets’ networks: SolarWinds and REvil’s attack exploiting the Kaseya managed service provider. While there’s no perfect way to absolutely protect from ransomware, businesses are taking steps to bolster their defenses and protect against disaster. 

Data privacy is getting personal 

Security incidents targeting personal information are on the rise. In fact, 86 percent of global consumers were victims of identity theft, credit/debit card fraud, or a data breach in 2020. In a recent engagement discovered by the Cisco Talos team, the API on a customer’s website could have been exploited by an attacker to steal sensitive personal information. The good news is governments and businesses alike are leaning into Data Privacy and Protection, adhering to global regulations​ that enforce high standards for collecting, using, disclosing, storing, securing, accessing, transferring, and processing personal data.​ Within the past year, the U.S. government implemented new rules to ensure companies and federal agencies follow required cybersecurity standards. As long as cyber criminals continue seeking to breach our privacy and data, these rules help hold us accountable.  

Through all the insightful discussions with customers, partners, and industry leaders, a theme emerged. When it comes to cybersecurity, preparation is key and the cost of being wrong is extraordinary. By acknowledging there will continue to be disruptions, business can prepare for whatever comes next. And when it comes, they’ll not only weather the storm, but they will also come out of it stronger. And the good news is that Cisco Security Business Group is already on the journey actively addressing these headlines, and empowering our customers to reach their full potential, securely. 


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What do customers really want (and need) from security?

By Neville Letzerich

Insights from the RSA Conference and Cisco Live

What is it that customers truly want from their security? Is it simplicity? Robust protection? Agility and flexibility? Yes! In today’s uncertain world where new challenges are being thrown at IT teams each day, security must meet many diverse needs. At the end of the day, it’s about keeping the entire business resilient despite the chaos of the cyber world.  

As hybrid work, the move to the cloud, and increasingly insidious threats all converge to create layers of complexity, security teams must be extra vigilant and ready for what’s next. They need a comprehensive, integrated security system whose various components share information and work together to pinpoint attacks and minimize organizational impact — without introducing undue friction.

With businesses, networks, clouds and devices becoming so interconnected, delivering next-level security to match the future of work is a formidable undertaking — one that few vendors are positioned to tackle. But thanks to our nearly 40-year heritage of providing and protecting a vast amount of the world’s networking infrastructure, Cisco is up for the challenge.

“At a moment’s notice, we were able to transition 80 percent of our workforce to be remote — and our company was never remote before. Because of our Cisco solutions, we were able to deploy everything and have people work well remotely with very minimal issues.”

— Joseph Rodriguez, Assistant Director of IT, Allied Beverage Group  

How Cisco secures your resilience  

Delivering security that is simple, powerful and resilient is something we’ve been executing on for years, yet it’s never been more critical than it is at this very moment. The month of June has afforded us the perfect opportunity to showcase exactly how we plan to keep our customers cyber resilient both now and in the future.

Read about the five dimensions of security resilience.

During the RSA Conference and Cisco Live, we announced our strategic plan for the Cisco Security Cloud, a global, cloud-delivered, integrated platform that secures and connects organizations of any shape and size. As we continue to move towards the Cisco Security Cloud vision, we recently unveiled several advancements in our portfolio across SASE, XDR and zero trust.

You can read our news announcement to learn more about security resilience and how we’re delivering it. But more important than the ‘how’ is the ‘why.’ Why Cisco? What makes us uniquely positioned to secure your resilience?

Why Cisco?  

As I mentioned, our customers have trusted us with their networks for nearly four decades. Currently, 80 percent of the world’s internet traffic travels through Cisco infrastructure — so we have a pretty good handle on what’s going on out there. From a security standpoint alone, we have over 300,000 customers around the globe, including 100% of the Fortune 100.

As a leader in both networking and security, the breadth and depth of our solutions is unmatched. While other vendors are just beginning to join networking with security, we’ve been doing it for years. And yet, we’re continually finding ways to simplify our robust solutions for a streamlined user experience — no matter the size of your organization, where your employees work, or whether your applications are on-premises, in the cloud, or both.

Learn more about security resilience for the hybrid work era.

In addition to unparalleled infrastructure and expertise, our open, cloud-native architecture allows you to integrate with a wide range of third-party security and technology solutions for more seamless threat defense. This includes the major cloud vendors, enabling you to secure a multi-cloud environment without getting locked in with just one public cloud provider.

Additionally, all of our solutions are backed by Cisco Talos, one of the largest commercial threat intelligence teams in the world. Combined with in-depth visibility from our Cisco Secure technologies, Talos’ extensive insight into the threat landscape leads to rapid, highly effective detection and response.

Customer insights into the “new normal”  

Even more crucial than what we have to say is what we have heard from our customers surrounding the “new normal” for security. “I think what the security industry could use right now is a real business outcome-oriented viewpoint,” said Tom Doughty, vice president and CISO at Prudential Financial. “Meaning, what are the strategic business outcomes you’re trying to enable? Cisco can help security teams be more aligned to our business and more resilient by allowing us to see at a granular level what’s happening in our environment, especially in an extended network.”

For the law firm of George Sink, P.A., the demands of supporting hybrid work accelerated the company’s move to the cloud. The firm is now using Cisco’s new, turnkey SASE solution to securely serve its clients under any circumstance — be it a pandemic or a hurricane. According to the firm’s CIO, Timothy Mullen, “The ability to…re-establish connectivity in another region almost immediately, with my small IT team, is unheard of and a game-changing experience.”

From financial to legal transactions, and much more, we can secure it all with our open, integrated protection platform and unwavering focus on resilience. We even had the honor of securing the Super Bowl earlier this year, helping to safeguard mission-critical gameday operations. 

“The Super Bowl and events of that magnitude require a humongous orchestration of interconnectedness, not only from a technology perspective but also a people standpoint,” said NFL Chief Information Security Officer, Tomás Maldonado. “What we’re trying to do is slow down the bad actors and make it more difficult for them to attack us and impact what’s happening on the field. But at the same time, we also have to look beyond the field and think about all the various parts of our business that could be affected by an attack — recognizing that our risk factors are always changing.”

Safeguard your future with Cisco  

To learn more about how to keep your business strong in the face of adversity, visit our resilience web page and check out the blog from Cisco’s Jeetu Patel, “Security Resilience for a Hybrid, Multi-Cloud Future.”

Watch video: Voice of the Customer – Security Resilience


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Cloudflare Saw Record-Breaking DDoS Attack Peaking at 26 Million Request Per Second

By Ravie Lakshmanan
Cloudflare on Tuesday disclosed that it had acted to prevent a record-setting 26 million request per second (RPS) distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack last week, making it the largest HTTPS DDoS attack detected to date. The web performance and security company said the attack was directed against an unnamed customer website using its Free plan and emanated from a "powerful" botnet of

Chinese Hackers Distribute Backdoored Web3 Wallets for iOS and Android Users

By Ravie Lakshmanan
A technically sophisticated threat actor known as SeaFlower has been targeting Android and iOS users as part of an extensive campaign that mimics official cryptocurrency wallet websites intending to distribute backdoored apps that drain victims' funds. Said to be first discovered in March 2022, the cluster of activity "hint[s] to a strong relationship with a Chinese-speaking entity yet to be

Talking to children about the internet: A kid’s perspective

By André Lameiras

A 14-year-old shares his thoughts about technology and the potential privacy and security implications of the internet

The post Talking to children about the internet: A kid’s perspective appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

It’s a party! Cisco SecureX at RSAC and Cisco Live US 2022

By Sana Yousuf

We have come a long way from making our first sourdough starter batch to exploring new hobbies — or in my case exhausting the Netflix library! We have craved human connection and insightful conversations. It was just over two years ago that we were together at the RSA Conference in San Francisco promising the next leap in cybersecurity with Cisco’s introduction of SecureX.

And soon, the cybersecurity world finally comes together again at two mega-events this year: RSA Conference and Cisco Live 2022. As you start planning your RSAC and Cisco Live 2022 experiences, we invite you to explore the progress we have made in offering radically simple security with a platform approach that is transformative to the industry and for our customers. Since it became generally available in June 2020, we have continued to add both capabilities and out-of-box integrations that unlock the full potential of our security portfolio. At both events, you’ll find Cisco SecureX is front and center again with exciting innovations built on our initial promise of providing simplicity and automation without compromising visibility and security efficacy.

Where is the party? Cisco at RSAC 2022

Join us on Monday, June 6, to hear Jeetu Patel, EVP, and GM of Cisco Security and Collaboration, and Shailaja Shankar, Senior Vice President, and General Manager of Cisco Security Business Group speak on the topic of “What Do We Owe One Another in the Cybersecurity Ecosystem?”

Key highlights to explore:

  • Cisco Secure (Booth N6045)
    Experience demos on our latest solutions on Cisco SecureX with a focus on extended detection and response (XDR) capabilities. Stop by our engaging theater sessions:
Topic Date Time (20 mins)
Level up your SOC strategy with security automation 6/6/22 5:30 PM
Operationalizing Network Behavior Analytics 6/7/22 10:30 AM
Extended Detection with Cisco SecureX 3:30 PM
Prioritizing Risk to Maximize Security Resilience 5:30 PM
Level up your SOC strategy with security automation 6/8/22 2:30 PM
Prioritizing Risk to Maximize Security Resilience 3:00 PM
Beyond XDR with Cisco SecureX 6/9/22 11:30 AM
  • Kenna (Booth N6362)
    An important milestone in our security journey has been our acquisition of Kenna Security Inc., a recognized leader in risk-based vulnerability management. The integration of Kenna in the Cisco Secure portfolio will allow customers to address critical challenges around prioritizing vulnerabilities, managing risk smarter, and automating remediation to improve their overall security. One such integration is with SecureX, enabling Kenna.VM users to automatically create ServiceNow tickets for streamlined remediation. Learn more about Kenna Security, now part of Cisco Secure.
  • Stop by the Cisco Threat Wall to see Cisco Secure in action. We’ll have experts on hand to walk you through what we can learn from a feed of RSA Conference traffic throughout the week, using multiple Cisco Secure products, pulled together with the SecureX cross-platform architecture.

Cisco SecureX at Cisco Live 2022

Check out the ‘Cisco Week at a Glance’ to see what we have to offer throughout the week, onsite in Las Vegas. Here are some highlights you won’t want to miss:

Ben Greenbaum, Product manager of Cisco SecureX with over 20 years of experience in SecOps products talks about ‘SecureX All The Things (With Hosted and Remote Relays)-BRKSEC-1483’.

Distinguished Engineer Aaron Woland‘s session lets you in on his secret to saving time with extended visibility ‘Save Countless Hours with SecureX’s Latest Feature: Device Insights- BRKSEC-2754’.

Come geek out with Matt Vander Horst, our resident orchestration and automation expert at the DevNet zone or/and crash his in-depth 4-hour lab session titled ‘SecureX Orchestration hands-on Crash Course- TRSEC-2103’.

In addition, SecureX experts like Aditya Sankar talk about how to unlock value for Firewall customers in his session ‘SecureX and Secure Firewall Better Together-BRKSEC-2201’.

Matthew Robertson, Principal engineer for XDR products discusses cross-product uses cases with ‘Building Network Security Policy Through Data Intelligence- BRKSEC-2267’.

And much more:

Breakout Sessions (45 Minutes) Date Time (EST)
BRKSEC-2834 – Cisco’s Unified Agent: Cisco Secure Client. Bringing AMP, AnyConnect, Orbital & Umbrella together 6/15/22 2:30 PM
BRKSEC-2754 – Save Countless Hours with SecureX’s Latest Feature: Device Insights 6/14/22 10:30 AM
BRKSEC-2201 – SecureX and Secure Firewall Better Together 6/14/22 10:30 AM
BRKSEC-2101 – Malware Execution as A Service: a Deep Dive into CSMA Advanced File Analysis 6/13/22 9:30 AM
BRKSEC-1483 – SecureX All the Things (With Hosted and Remote Relays) 6/16/22 8:00 AM
BRKSEC-2267 – Building Network Security Policy Through Data Intelligence 6/14/22 2:30 PM
BRKSEC-3019 – Visibility, Detection and Response with Cisco Secure Network Analytics 6/15/22 4:00 PM
BRKMER-2003 – Meraki & Secure Network and Cloud Analytics: Threat Detection for the Rest of Us 6/16/22 9:30 AM
Instructor Led Lab (4 Hours)
LTRSEC-2103 – SecureX Orchestration hands-on crash Course 6/15/22 8:00 AM
DevNet
DEVLIT-1553 – Webhooks in SecureX orchestration (Lightning Talk – 15 Minutes) 6/14/22 3:00 PM
DEVWKS-2190 – Getting started with SecureX orchestration workflows and atomics (Workshop – 45 Minutes) 6/14/22 10:00 AM
DEVWKS-2190 – Getting started with SecureX orchestration workflows and atomics (Workshop – 45 Minutes) 6/16/22 10:00 AM
DEVNET-1083 – Security Automation: Developing with SecureX (Theater – 45 Minutes) 6/14/22 1:00 PM
SecureX – DevNet Takeover Booth 6/14/22 All day
Digital
HOLSEC-2001.a – Crash Course: Automating with SecureX Orchestration (4 Hours) 6/23/22 8:00 AM
HOLSEC-2001.b – Crash Course: Automating with SecureX Orchestration (4 Hours) 6/29/22 7:00 AM

 

You are invited

We’re so excited to be on this journey with our customers and partners. For a live demo and exploration of the latest SecureX features, visit us at our booth at RSA Conference 2022 and World of solutions at Cisco Live 2022. We look forward to seeing many of you in person.

 

 


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Opportunity out of crisis: Tapping the Great Resignation to close the cybersecurity skills gap

By Phil Muncaster

What can organizations do to capitalize on the current fluidity in the job market in order to bring fresh cybersecurity talent into the fold?

The post Opportunity out of crisis: Tapping the Great Resignation to close the cybersecurity skills gap appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

F5 Warns of a New Critical BIG-IP Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

By Ravie Lakshmanan
Cloud security and application delivery network (ADN) provider F5 on Wednesday released patches to contain 43 bugs spanning its products. Of the 43 issues addressed, one is rated Critical, 17 are rated High, 24 are rated Medium, and one is rated low in severity. Chief among the flaws is CVE-2022-1388, which carries a CVSS score of 9.8 out of a maximum of 10 and stems from a lack of

McAfee Awarded “Cybersecurity Excellence Awards”

By McAfee
Cybersecurity Excellent Awards

In a year where people relied on their digital lives more than ever before and a dramatic uptick in attacks quickly followed, McAfee’s protection stood strong. 

We’re proud to announce several awards from independent third-party labs, which recognized our products, protection, and the people behind them over the course of last year. 

Recognized four times over for our people and products 

The Cybersecurity Excellence Awards is an annual competition honoring individuals and companies that demonstrate excellence, innovation, and leadership in information security. We were honored with four awards: 

  • As a company, we were recognized as the Gold Winner for the Best Cybersecurity Company in North America in a business with 5,000 to 9,999 employees. 
  • For security software, McAfee LiveSafe was presented with the Gold Winner for AntiVirus, which also includes further controls for privacy and identity protection, along with a renewed focus on making it easy for people to protect themselves while learning about security in the process.  
  • McAfee Secure Home Platform, our connected home security that provides built-in security for all the connected devices in your home, was the Gold Winner for Cybersecurity for Connected Homes in North America. 
  • Our leadership was recognized as well, with our SVP of Consumer Marketing, Judith Bitterli being named the Silver Winner for the Cybersecurity Marketer of the Year in North America. This award acknowledges her contributions to McAfee’s marketing strategy and growth, along with her “Safer Together” program that offered support to people as they shifted to schooling, telehealth, dating, and job hunting from home during the pandemic. 

Awards for McAfee product development and product performance 

Further recognition came by way of three independent labs known for their testing and evaluation of security products. Once more, this garnered several honors:  

  • McAfee was named a winner of SE Labs’ second annual Best Product Development award, which evaluates security solutions by “testing like hackers.” More formally, they base their awards on “a combination of continual public testing, private assessments and feedback from corporate clients who use SE Labs to help choose security products and services.” 
  • Germany-based AV-Test named McAfee Total Protection the winner for its Windows Best Performance for Home Users category. Likewise, it also scored a perfect 18 out of 18 in categories spanning, Protection, Performance, and Usability in its most recently published testing (for February 2021). 
  • AV-Comparatives named McAfee Total Protection the Silver Winner for Performance and gave McAfee three Advanced+ and two Advanced Awards in the year’s tests overallstating that, “Its user interface is clean, modern, and touch-friendly. The program’s status alerts are exemplary.” 

Continuous updates keep you protected with the latest advances 

As the threat landscape continues to evolve, our products do as well. We’re continually updating them with new features and enhancements, which our subscribers receive as part of automatic product updates. So, if you bought your product one or two years agoknow that you’re still getting the latest award-winning protection with your subscription. 

We’d like to acknowledge your part in these awards as well. None of this is possible without the trust you place in us and our products. With the changes in our work, lifestyles, and learning that beset millions of us this past year, your protection and your feeling of security remain our top priority. 

With that, as always, thank you for selecting us. 

Stay Updated  

To stay updated on all things McAfee and on top of the latest consumer and mobile security threats, follow @McAfee_Home  on Twitter, subscribe to our email, listen to our podcast Hackable?, and ‘Like’ us on Facebook. 

The post McAfee Awarded “Cybersecurity Excellence Awards” appeared first on McAfee Blogs.

Special Delivery: Don’t Fall for the USPS SMiShing Scam

By Pravat Lall

Special Delivery: Don’t Fall for the USPS SMiShing Scam

According to Statista, 3.5 billion people worldwide are forecasted to own a smartphone by the end of 2020. These connected devices allow us to have a wealth of apps and information constantly at our fingertips – empowering us to remain in constant contact with loved ones, make quick purchases, track our fitness progress, you name it. Hackers are all too familiar with our reliance on our smartphones – and are eager to exploit them with stealthy tricks as a result.

One recent example of these tricks? Suspicious text messages claiming to be from USPS. According to Gizmodo, a recent SMS phishing scam is using the USPS name and fraudulent tracking codes to trick users into clicking on malicious links.

Let’s dive into the details of this scheme, what it means for users, and what you can do to protect yourself from SMS phishing.

Special Delivery: Suspicious Text Messages

To orchestrate this phishing scheme, hackers send out text messages from random numbers claiming that a user’s delivery from USPS, FedEx, or another delivery service is experiencing a transit issue that requires urgent attention. If the user clicks on the link in the text, the link will direct them to a form fill page asking them to fill in their personal and financial information to “verify their purchase delivery.” If the form is completed, the hacker could exploit that information for financial gain.

However, scammers also use this phishing scheme to infect users’ devices with malware. For example, some users received links claiming to provide access to a supposed USPS shipment. Instead, they were led to a domain that did nothing but infect their browser or phone with malware. Regardless of what route the hacker takes, these scams leave the user in a situation that compromises their smartphone and personal data.

USPS Phishing Scam

Don’t Fall for Delivery Scams

While delivery alerts are a convenient way to track packages, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the signs of phishing scams – especially as we approach the holiday shopping season. Doing so will help you safeguard your online security without sacrificing the convenience of your smartphone. To do just that, follow these actionable steps to help secure your devices and data from SMiShing schemes:

Go directly to the source

Be skeptical of text messages claiming to be from companies with peculiar asks or information that seems too good to be true. Instead of clicking on a link within the text, it’s best to go straight to the organization’s website to check on your delivery status or contact customer service.

Enable the feature on your mobile device that blocks certain texts

Many spammers send texts from an internet service in an attempt to hide their identities. Combat this by using the feature on your mobile device that blocks texts sent from the internet or unknown users. For example, you can disable all potential spam messages from the Messages app on an Android device by navigating to Settings, clicking on Spam protection, and turning on the Enable spam protection switch. Learn more about how you can block robotexts and spam messages on your device.

Use mobile security software

Prepare your mobile devices for any threat coming their way. To do just that, cover these devices with an extra layer of protection via a mobile security solution, such as McAfee Mobile Security.

Stay updated

To stay updated on all things McAfee  and on top of the latest consumer and mobile security threats, follow @McAfee_Home  on Twitter, listen to our podcast Hackable?, and ‘Like’ us on Facebook.

The post Special Delivery: Don’t Fall for the USPS SMiShing Scam appeared first on McAfee Blogs.

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