A Review of the Best News of the Week on Cybersecurity Management & Strategy
Russian Hackers Trying to Steal Coronavirus Vaccine Research, Intelligence Agencies Say (The New York Times, Jul 16 2020)
The hackers have been targeting British, Canadian and American organizations researching vaccines using spear-phishing and malware.
Who’s Behind Wednesday’s Epic Twitter Hack? (Krebs on Security, Jul 16 2020)
“There are strong indications that this attack was perpetrated by individuals who’ve traditionally specialized in hijacking social media accounts via “SIM swapping,” an increasingly rampant form of crime that involves bribing, hacking or coercing employees at mobile phone and social media companies into providing access to a target’s account.”
U.S. Secret Service Creates Cyber Fraud Task Force (SecurityWeek, Jul 13 2020)
The United States Secret Service has announced the launch of a Cyber Fraud Task Force (CFTF), created through the merger of the Electronic Crimes Task Forces (ECTFs) and Financial Crimes Task Forces (FCTFs).
Filter Out the Noise
Since I started this curated newsletter in June 2017, I’ve clipped ~15,000 articles and narrowed them down into the best 20 per day & best 15 per week. This is my favorite way to cut through all the security marketing and hype. If you’re enjoying it, tell a friend. If you hate it, tell an enemy.
Thanks! – Lucas Samaras
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Biden Campaign Hires 2 Top Cybersecurity Executives (Dark Reading, Jul 10 2020)
The campaign has filled the positions of CISO and CTO in the runup to the 2020 presidential election.
Trump Confirms U.S. Launched Cyberattack on Russian Troll Farm in 2018 (SecurityWeek, Jul 13 2020)
U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed that a cyberattack was launched in 2018 against a Russian company believed to be behind some major disinformation campaigns, including ones targeting elections.
U.S. top in significant cyberattacks on CSIS list (SC Media, Jul 14 2020)
The U.S. by far has been hit harder than any other country in the world with 156 “significant” cyberattacks since 2006, according to new data from the U.S.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) that chronicles major hacks up until last month.
Iranian Spies Accidentally Leaked Videos of Themselves Hacking (Wired, Jul 16 2020)
IBM’s X-Force security team obtained five hours of APT35 hacking operations, showing exactly how the group steals data from email accounts—and who it’s targeting.
Israeli Court Rules NSO Group Can Continue Exporting Spyware (VICE, Jul 13 2020)
NSO Group will be allowed to keep exporting its powerful hacking and surveillance tech after what Amnesty Internatioal calls a “disgraceful ruling.”
Breached Data Indexer ‘Data Viper’ Hacked (Krebs on Security, Jul 13 2020)
“Data Viper, a security startup that provides access to some 15 billion usernames, passwords and other information exposed in more than 8,000 website breaches, has itself been hacked and its user database posted online. The hackers also claim they are selling on the dark web roughly 2 billion records Data Viper collated from numerous breaches and data leaks, including data from several companies that likely either do not know they have been hacked or have not yet publicly disclosed an intrusion.”
Security alerts more than doubled in the last 5 years, SecOps teams admit they can’t get to them all (Help Net Security, Jul 12 2020)
The struggle to effectively manage high volumes of security alerts and the complexities associated with traditional SIEMs are driving the demand for a new approach to effectively address challenges in the SOC through cloud-native SIEMs combined with security automation capabilities.
Juniper targets security portfolio at SASE race (Network World Security, Jul 10 2020)
The conga line around secure-access service edge (SASE), continues to grow with Juniper this week becoming the latest to join the dance.
Just as other big networking players with extensive security portfolios including Cisco and VMware have recently done, Juniper says it will build off its offerings to address the SASE blueprint.
How do I select a network detection and response solution for my business? (Help Net Security, Jul 14 2020)
Network detection and response (NDR) solutions enable organizations to improve their threat response, they help protect against a variety of threats, and also provide visibility into what is actually on the network. To select an appropriate network detection and response solution for your business, you need to think about a variety of factors.
Top 5 Questions (and Answers) About GRC Technology (Dark Reading, Jul 15 2020)
For the first time in a long time, we must shift from managing localized risks against a landscape of economic growth to managing those issues under much less certain circumstances.
Is DNS a vital component of your security strategy? (Help Net Security, Jul 14 2020)
Security and risk (S&R) teams often use DNS to detect and block threats early in the kill chain, identify compromised devices, and investigate and respond to malware, an Infoblox survey reveals.
DMARC embraced by government, private industry lags (SC Media, Jul 14 2020)
Even though the adoption of DMARC has grown over the past year, only 21 percent) of Fortune 500 companies are protected from being spoofed with only 13.9 percent of all domains enforcing the standard. Industry sectors lag substantially behind U.S. government entities where three-fourths of U.S. federal domains are safeguarded by DMARC enforcement…
NSA on Securing VPNs (Schneier on Security, Jul 15 2020)
“The NSA’s Central Security Service — that’s the part that’s supposed to work on defense — has released two documents (a full and an abridged version) on securing virtual private networks. Some of it is basic, but it contains good information.”
Puzzles and Riddles Help InfoSec Pros Solve Real-World Problems (Dark Reading, Jul 15 2020)
A researcher shares the unexpected lessons learned in years of creating puzzles and riddles for his cybersecurity colleagues.
How Nanotechnology Will Disrupt Cybersecurity (Dark Reading, Jul 15 2020)
Tangible solutions related to cryptography, intelligent threat detection and consumer security are closer than you think.
Data professionals: Job security and shifting career priorities in the wake of the pandemic (Help Net Security, Jul 15 2020)
Despite the huge drops in employment and the immense worries around job security over the past three months, 81% of data professionals felt as, or more, secure in their role than they did this time a year ago, a Harnham survey reveals.
Counterfeit Cisco switches raise network security alarms (Network World Security, Jul 16 2020)
In a disconcerting event for IT security professionals, counterfeit versions of Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series switches were discovered on an unnamed business network, and the fake gear was found to be designed to circumvent typical authentication procedures, according to a report from F-Secure.