Collaboration among various sectors is must for protection against cyber-attacks

Information sharing can facilitate, the more effective fighting efforts against cyber-attacks

Sharing information about cyber-attacks is making a difference in the banking sector, helping bring criminals to justice and curbing fraud losses. And other sectors should learn from banking's example.

It's important for information security professionals to continue their efforts to get senior executives to buy in to the need for cross-industry collaboration. Informal sharing of cyber-intelligence has for years been a common practice among cybersecurity warriors in the trenches.

This type of information sharing, however, often has gone on in the background without the knowledge of upper management. That's because many executives are fearful of revealing too much or sharing with competitors their security vulnerabilities. But that attitude is, slowing but surely, changing.

What's more, the intelligence the financial industry has gathered over the last 12 months about al-Qassam and other attackers was shared with law enforcement, government and others. In fact, much of the information federal investigators gather about cyber-espionage and cyber-attacks comes from the financial sector first.

Those kind of partnerships are needed in other industry sectors as well. Cyber-attacks affect numerous industries, from hospitality and retail to healthcare and government. The more information sharing these sectors can facilitate, the more effective fraud-fighting efforts will be.

Aligning Security with GRC

How to Leverage GRC for Security?

Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) has long been viewed as a framework for tracking compliance requirements and developing business processes aligned with best practices and standards. It plays a strong role in helping security teams understand the business and to protect the organization from threats

But now, more security professionals are turning to data collected by GRC tools for insights into the organization's processes and technologies. The insights gained can help them to develop better controls to protect the organization from cyber-attacks and insider threats.

As part of GRC programs, organizations document processes, specify who owns which assets and define how various business operations align with technology. Security professionals can use this information to gain visibility into the organization's risks, such as determining what servers are running outdated software.

GRC programs collect a wealth of information and insights that can be valuable to security professionals as they manage risk and evaluate the organization's overall security posture. It provides the business context necessary to improve areas such as asset and patch management, incident response and assessing the impact of changes in technical controls on business processes.

Asset Inventory

Many compliance programs, including those for PCI-DSS [Payment Card Industry-Data Security Standard], require organizations to extensively document each asset and identify who uses it for what purpose. The documentation includes information about which business processes rely on which hardware and software. Mapping a piece of technology to a particular business function makes it possible to better identify the risks and the impact on operations if that technology is compromised.

The inventory process may identify equipment that the IT department was previously unaware of. By understanding the business processes that rely on that equipment, security teams can decide what kind of firewall rules to apply, better manage user accounts and learn what software needs to be updated. Understanding who the end-users are and how the asset is being used helps security teams assess how to prioritize the risks and plan how to reduce them.

Security professionals can use GRC programs to understand how technology maps to certain business processes and functions, says Mike Lloyd, CTO of Red Seal Networks, a network security management company. This information can help them figure out what the key threats are and identify ways to mitigate that risk, he says.

Incident Response, Controls

Security professionals can also use GRC to improve information sharing across the organization and streamline incident response. For example, because GRC makes it clear what kind of business processes depend on which assets, security teams have a clear path of who should be notified when there is a security event. Incident response teams can also look at all related processes and be able to identify other assets they should investigate to assess the magnitude of a breach.

Summary

Security professionals must understand the need to move away from a technical view of risk to a more strategic one when evaluating and deploying controls. They should evaluate how certain technical controls, while improving security, can impact business functions, and make necessary adjustments.

GRC enables security professionals to "draw a line between what security tasks are necessary and what business is concerned about.

How Would People React and Deal with an Attack on the Electrical Grid?

Could a cyber attack destroy the electrical grid and leave the nation powerless and in the dark for days, weeks or even months? Would we be prepared, or would chaos ensue?

On Oct. 27, National Geographic will premiere “American Blackout,” a movie that tells the story of a national power failure in the U.S. caused by a cyber attack. The film is told in real time, over the span of 10 days, by the characters depicted in the film who kept filming on their cameras and phones. It will air on the National Geographic Channel.

According to Richard Andres, a consultant for the film, the threat isn’t all that far-fetched. “This was a dramatization of something that is not unrealistic. We don’t need to be this vulnerable. But the first step is people need to be aware that this is a problem”.

The film depicts a nationwide power outage caused by a cyber attack. It takes a point-of-view look by different characters affected by the blackout. Some of the characters depicted include a doomsday prepper family, a family awaiting the birth of their second child, and a group of college students stranded in an elevator.

As depicted in the movie, ATMs would not work and neither would credit cards. Andres said that 20 years ago people were more reliant on cash, which would be able to keep commerce going. But now people are more reliant on virtual money, which would stop commerce.

Andres consulted the film and reviewed the script for elements of realism. He told the creators what scenarios he believed were realistic and said he thought that the movie put the experience into terms that the average viewer could relate to. Although many families are not prepared for an event like this, the doomsday preppers in the film had enough food to last them two years. And although he wouldn’t say if that was extreme or not, Andres said food and water are essential and he would advise people to have more than three days worth on hand at any given time.

Basic Tips To Protect Mobile Device

Mobile owners should pay attention to mobile device safety!

Mobile communication has never been this cool, from the traditional SMS and call features, we can now enjoy desktop experience via smartphones and tablets. However, aside from the health risks associated with excessive use of cell phones, the advent of mobile internet has raised the risks too.

It is common that most of us protect the hardware and exterior of our phones, but do not exert enough effort to protect the OS and contents of our phone from hackers, and strangers who can get hold of our misplaced or stolen smartphones.

Allow me to share with you some tips I thought will give basic protection so private photos or videos, debit/credit card credentials, and other private information will not be at the mercy of other people.

• Use password to open your phone, make a purchase and open a file (if available). The inconvenience it’ll bring is nothing compared to the risk involved.
• If available, activate the “find my phone feature” of your phone.
• If available, activate the feature that can remotely erase contents, or reset of your phone.
• If available, activate a “kids safety feature” of your phone- this will prevent your kids from accessing apps that are not kid appropriate, or accidentally altering the configuration of your phone or erase some data.
• If available, use an anti-virus solution for your phone
• Take precaution when connecting to public hotspots.
• Do not click links attached to an email, direct messages, or status updates in your timeline. Verify first w/ the sender. These links normally downloads a malware or give permission to hackers.

As a general safety reminder, do remember that the currency we use to pay for the “free” apps and games we download are the information associated w/ our account- these may include our location and contacts. Please read carefully the privacy policy and terms of service for each app.

Creepy Way Facebook Advertisers Use You!

How Facebook Is Using Your Photos in Ads?

Gmail isn't the only online platform guilty of repurposing your photos. Facebook and its advertisers, too, have become really good at using your image to inspire your friends' confidence in the products they are pushing.

A friend who recently experienced this said, "I did not realize that 'friending' [a company on Facebook] to get coupons probably means I've agreed to be used in their ads. Seeing a friend's picture [used this way] makes me suspicious my picture is doing the same thing on other people's Facebook pages."

What I find particularly interesting is the way Facebook explains away its practices with this statement, (which you can see for yourself if you follow the prevention steps below): "Everyone wants to know what their friends like. That's why we pair ads and friends."

Fortunately, there is a way to stop Facebook from using your profile picture in advertisements.

1) Go to "Privacy Settings"

2) Click on the "Ads" tab on the left hand side.

3) In the Third Party Sites section click on "Edit"

4) In the drop down menu, click "No one" and then "Save Changes"

5) In the Ads & Friends section click "Edit"

6) In the drop down menu, click "No one" and then "Save Changes"

NOTE: You cannot opt out of receiving Sponsored Stories, which are essentially another type of ad. If you like a story on a brand page or share that you engaged with a brand, that brand can pay Facebook to ensure that it shows up in yours and your friends' timeline feeds.

How Much Information You Are Leaving Online?

Do you ever feel like you're being followed?

Perhaps that's because you are. While it may not be the boogeyman who's hot on your trail, there are many groups of watchers who have made it their business to know as much about you as possible.

Each day, we are tracked by the 'smart' systems, mobile apps, personal communication devices and other surveillance platforms that have become commonplace in our daily lives. In an effort to educate more people about the data trails they are leaving behind (and the companies, data bureaus and marketers who are sniffing out that trail).

How comprehensive profiles Google is capable of building based on all the information we voluntarily share?

How valuable your online information is to burglars?

Notice all they can get off of *your* social network sites...and those of your friends, family and co-workers. Be aware of what you put out there!

For those of you in charge of or influencing your company privacy policies, consider how you are gathering and sharing your customers' data. Are you doing so in a manner that is transparent and compliant?

Beta Bot: A New Trend in Cyber-Attacks

Beta Bot Malware Blocks Users Anti-Virus Programs

A new warning about malware designed to target payment platforms highlights why anti-virus software is increasingly ineffective at preventing account compromises. And while this new Trojan is not yet targeting online-banking accounts, financial institutions should be aware of the threat. The malware is another example of how fraudsters are increasingly getting around standard modes of authentication, such as usernames and passwords.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center and the Federal Bureau of Investigation recently issued an advisory about Beta Bot, the new malware that targets e-commerce sites, online payment platforms and even social networking sites to compromise log-in credentials and financial information.

When Beta Bot infects a system, an illegitimate but official-looking Microsoft Windows message box named "User Account Control" pops up, asking the user to approve modifications to the computer's settings. "If the user complies with the request, the hackers are able to exfiltrate data from the computer," the advisory states. "Beta Bot is also spread via USB thumb drives or online via Skype, where it redirects the user to compromised websites."

Beta Bot defeats malware detection programs because it blocks access to security websites and disables anti-virus programs, according to IC3. "This is a good demonstration of how fraudsters' methods are evolving constantly. They are coming up with sophisticated methods that appear so convincing, even people who typically would not fall for their schemes may do so.

Beta Bot's attacks also resemble the ransomware attacks that coupled the banking Trojan known as Citadel with the drive-by virus known as Reveton, which seized consumers' computers and demanded ransom, purporting to be from the FBI.

IC3 and the FBI warn that if consumers see what appears to be an alert from Microsoft but have not requested computer setting modifications from the company, they have likely been targeted for a Beta Bot attack. If infected, running a full system scan with up-to-date anti-virus software is recommended. And if access to security sites has been blocked, then downloading anti-virus updates or a new anti-virus program is advised.

How To Reduce Application Security Risk?

Survey shows serious misalignment between IT Executives & Engineers

Ponemon Institute independently surveyed 642 IT professionals in both executive and engineering positions. The majority of the respondents were at a supervisory level or higher. Over half of the respondents are employed by organizations of more than 5,000 employees.

Based on the responses, the primary finding is that a much higher percentage of executive-level respondents believe their organizations are following security procedures through the lifecycle of application development than do the engineers who are closest to executing the security processes.

This is a serious and potentially dangerous misalignment. Another troubling conclusion is that most organizations are only taking minimal steps to address application security throughout their development process.

The most effective way to reduce application security risk is to implement a formal, repeatable development process that includes secure coding standards to enable the early detection and remediation of vulnerabilities.

Mature organizations tend to have highly effective application security programs that include the three pillars of a secure SDLC:

• Application Security Standards
• Regular Security Assessments for measurement
• Training for each role in the SDLC

The mature organizations share common characteristics by:

• Writing and adopting security architecture and development standards.
• Training their development teams on application security topics based on role, platform, and technology used.
• Conducting regular assessments on their applications and processes to make sure the implementation of standards is effective.
• Ensuring that their executives, technicians and staff understand the importance of application security as part of the organizations’ overall risk management strategy and collaborate on ensuring the practices described above are in place.

iPhone 5S: A Biometrics Turning Point?

Future: Mobile Devices Will Boost Interest in Advanced Authentication

Apple's decision to include a fingerprint scanner in its new iPhone 5S is an important step toward bringing biometrics-based authentication into the mainstream. But there's still a long way to go before biometrics supplant usernames and passwords at the enterprise level.

Owners of the new phone can use a fingerprint to physically unlock their devices instead of using a numeric passcode. Apple will also let users confirm purchases from the iTunes store by swiping a finger on the sensor.

Apple have not yet revealed whether they will allow third-party developers to take advantage of the new TouchID fingerprint technology to build biometrics-based authentication into their apps. While TouchID is an important milestone toward getting users comfortable with using biometrics as an authentication credential, the technology has to expand beyond the Apple universe before it can truly be considered a game-changer or a significant security breakthrough.

Biometrics authentication is not new to the mobile space. Some laptop vendors, including Lenovo, have included fingerprint readers in their devices for several years. Plus, a number of smart phones and tablets already incorporate biometrics to authenticate users. And security vendor McAfee recently introduced an online file storage service that relies on voice recognition to authenticate users. But all of these vendors use closed, proprietary models, which has made it difficult for biometrics to gain traction in the marketplace.

Market penetration for PCs and laptops with fingerprint sensors is about 20 percent, according to the FIDO Alliance, an industry group focused on open standards for authentication. Even if a majority of iPhone users opt for the iPhone 5S, overall smart phone market penetration for fingerprint scanners will remain low, considering that research firm IDC estimates Apple has about 17 percent smart phone market share.

The iPhone's popularity and its reputation as a trendsetter could help more consumers feel comfortable with the idea of using fingerprint scanners on a regular basis. And once they are used to the idea of fingerprint scanners, other types of biometrics won't be far behind. TouchID is the "first example of the potential for large-scale mass-market mobile biometric authentication.

Scam Of The Week: Ransomware Uses Child Porn Threat

Cybercriminals have cooked up a new way to blackmail people!

Getting caught viewing child porn is a huge deal and instantly makes you an outcast in most western countries. Cybercriminals have cooked up a new way to blackmail people out of their money, both inside and outside the office.

The ransomware family is called Revoyem (aka Dirty Decrypt) and uses the worst possible strategy to get people to pay up. It starts at a porn site that you have landed on, either on purpose or by accident. Then you are redirected by a malicious ad to an actual child porn themed page with very disturbing images. But while you are there, your PC gets infected with the Styx malware dropper which downloads ransomware and your computer gets locked.

The lock screen again shows disturbing images and now accuses you of watching child porn and what the penalties are. However, here comes your friendly ransomware to the rescue. Just pay the fine and you will not be prosecuted. They tell you to use either MoneyPak or PaysafeCard.

The attack is seen in the U.S., Canada and several Western European countries, is translated for each territory and uses the correct government law enforcement agency as a threat. This looks very much like an Eastern European Cybermafia operation.

WHAT TO DO: In an office environment, call the helpdesk and they will treat this as malware and remove it. At the house, call the police and file a complaint. It is likely the Police already know about it. 

Also take the PC to an expert and get the malware removed. And stay away from unsafe areas on the Internet like gambling and porn sites! Here is how the lock screen looks:

BYOD, Corporate-Owned or Hybrid Environments?

BYOD: Problem in the reality is smaller than it seems!

Companies nowadays wrestle with the decision of whether to give employees the freedom to use personal mobile devices to access corporate data, or issue secure, mobile devices.

The main issue of the BYOD concept is to deal with corporate control and user privacy and usually at the end of the day this concept can cost to the company more than buying corporate-owned mobile devices. You also have to deal with different OS versions, installed applications, rooted devices, etc. They are some great MDM out there, but no one can deal with the diversity world of mobile devices.

BYOD, Corporate-Owned or Hybrid Environments? That depends of the “type” of business you do, but the best way to start is to limit the access to the resources from mobile devices to those who they really need them. In this way at the end of the day you will find out, that the problem in the reality is smaller than it seem at the moment.

An interesting article about the cost, efficiency, productivity, risk and security implications of BYOD, Corporate-Owned and Hybrid Environments can be found on the following link http://goo.gl/7g0LL3.

How To Develop Security Awareness?

Six Steps To Successful Security Awareness Training

If you would schedule an event to teach people about Internet Security, and make it optional to attend, only about 5% of your entire office population will show up. And guess what, those 5% are probably the people that need it least.

Here are the six elements of a successful Internet Security Awareness Training Program

• Formulate, and make easily available a written Security Policy.
  
• Each employee needs to read the document and sign it as an acknowledgment they understand the policy and will apply it.
  
• Give all employees a mandatory (online) Security Awareness Course, with a clearly stated deadline. It is highly recommended to explain to them in some detail why this is necessary.
  
• Make this Security Awareness Course part of the onboarding process of each new employee.
  
• Keep all employees on their toes with security top of mind, by continued testing. Sending a simulated phishing attack once a week is extremely effective to keep them alert.
  
• Never publicly identify an employee that fails a simulated attack, let their supervisor or HR take this up privately. Give a quarterly prize for the three employees with the lowest ‘fail-rate’.
  
• If you use posters, stickers and or screensavers, change the pictures or messages monthly. After a few weeks people simple don’t ‘see’ them anymore. It’s more effective to send them regular ‘Security Hints & Tips’ via email.

Five Generations Of Cybercrime

Now that cybercrime is in its fifth generation, prevent a security nightmare from happening on your watch

It helps to understand more about the history of hacking, when you need to defend yourself against cyber criminals. Early hacking started when guys like Kevin Mitnick became ‘digital delinquents’ and broke into the phone company networks.

That was to a large degree to see how far they could get with social engineering, and it got them way further than expected. Actual financial damage to hundreds of thousands of businesses started only in the nineties, but has moved at rocket speed these last 20 years.

Generation ONE

Those were the teenagers in dark, damp cellars writing viruses to gain notoriety, and to show the world they were able to do it. Relatively harmless, no more than a pain in the neck to a large extent. We call them sneaker-net viruses as it usually took a person to walk over from one PC to another with a floppy disk to transfer the virus.

Generation TWO

These early day ‘sneaker-net’ viruses were followed by a much more malicious type of super-fast spreading worms (we are talking a few minutes) like Sasser and NetSky that started to cause multi-million dollar losses. These were still more or less created to get notoriety, and teenagers showing off their “elite skills”.

Generation THREE

Here the motive moved from recognition to remuneration. These guys were in it for easy money. This is where botnets came in, thousands of infected PCs owned and controlled by the cybercriminal that used the botnet to send spam, attack websites, identity theft and other nefarious activities. The malware used was more advanced than the code of the ‘pioneers’ but was still easy to find and easy to disinfect.

Generation FOUR

Here is where cybercrime goes professional. The malware starts to hide itself, and they get better organized. They are mostly in eastern European countries, and use more mature coders which results in much higher quality malware, which is reflected by the first rootkit flavors showing up. They are going for larger targets where more money can be stolen. This is also the time where traditional mafias muscle into the game, and rackets like extortion of online bookmakers starts to show its ugly face.

Generation FIVE

The main event that created the fifth and current generation is that an active underground economy has formed, where stolen goods and illegal services are bought and sold in a ‘professional’ manner, if there is such a thing as honor among thieves. Cybercrime now specializes in different markets (you can call them criminal segments), that taken all together form the full criminal supply-chain. Note that because of this, cybercrime develops at a much faster rate. All the tools are for sale now, and relatively inexperienced criminals can get to work quickly. Some examples of this specialization are:

• Cybercrime has their own social networks with escrow services
• Malware can now be licensed and gets tech support
• You can now rent botnets by the hour, for your own crime spree
• Pay-for-play malware infection services that quickly create botnets
• A lively market for zero-day exploits (unknown vulnerabilities)

The problem with this is that it both increases the malware quality, speeds up the criminal ‘supply chain’ and at the same time spreads the risk among these thieves, meaning it gets harder to catch the culprits. We are in this for the long haul, and we need to step up our game, just like the miscreants have done the last 10 years!

5 Quick Lessons on Privacy

Privacy Matters - How Easily Someone Could Hack Into Your Life?

Being diligent about your personal privacy is a learned behavior. Often the best way to practice is to take a closer look at the every-day activities in which you and your friends, colleagues and family members take part. 

Below are some quick-hit resources that serve as good reminders of the privacy threats we are exposed to each day.

• A Quick Guide to YouTube Privacy 
• The Financial Dangers of Retailer Prepaid Cards
• Why Your WiFi May Be On, Even When It's Off
• Ramifications of Hacking a Friend's Facebook Account (not that you would do that anyway, right?)
• Just How Hackable Your Life Really Is (infographic)

Successful Digital Strategy: Bridge the gap between CIO and CMO

CIO & CMO doesn't trust each other, IT doesn't provide fast turn-around!

Business is largely about competition and, even within organizations, a healthy dose of rivalry between colleagues can be a good thing. However, a survey just conducted by Accenture Interactive (see The CMO-CIO Disconnect) points to a downright unhealthy relationship in many C-Suites which can do nothing but damage to firms. 

At a time when many executives say that improving digital reach will be a significant differentiator for their companies, research shows that two of the most important digital leaders — the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and the Chief Information Officer (CIO) — do not trust each other, understand each other, or collaborate with each other.

That is very bad news for their businesses and, not incidentally, for their own careers. When IT and marketing departments work at cross-purposes, the results are inefficiencies and mishaps and it is customers who suffer. Potential buyers simply don't have the time or energy to do business with a company that makes things harder for them.

To begin to mend the CMO-CIO relationship, it's important to understand the source of each side's frustrations. CMOs' answers to survey questions make it clear that they view IT as an "execution and delivery" provider, instead of as a strategic partner. CMOs do not believe they are getting fast enough turnaround on projects and adequate quality from the IT departments. Because many CMOs do not believe they are getting the service they want from their IT departments, many bypass the IT department and work with outside vendors. Forty-five percent of marketing executives say they would prefer to enable marketing employees to operate data and content without IT intervention.

For their part, IT executives believe marketers make promises they can't keep and do not provide them with adequate information on business requirements. The CIOs believe the marketing teams often do not understand — or appreciate — data integration or IT standards. Nearly half (49 percent) of CIOs say marketing pulls in technologies without consideration for IT standards. Forty-seven percent say the marketing team lacks understanding of data integration.

CEOs and others in the C-suite should not turn a blind eye to this tension, hoping for it to resolve itself. It is crucial for companies to instill more collaboration and understanding across the functions.

Here are five suggestions for supporting a CMO-CIO relationship that will ultimately benefit customer experience and drive sales:

Identify the CMO as the "Chief Experience Officer."

This is more than simply a change in nomenclature It is a constant reminder to the CMO that the job doesn't end with branding and advertising. The CMO must design and drive a customer experience that is consistently first-rate, at every touch point within the company — a goal that lays more emphasis on the role of IT and the need to reach a deeper understanding.

Signal that IT is the strategic partner to marketing

The CIO cannot be viewed as only the chief technology platform provider; the role must be elevated to a strategic member of the C-suite.

Get the two leaders working from the same playbook

Already, CIOs and CMOs spend more than 30 percent of their respective budgets on technology. It is time for them to agree on key business levers for marketing and IT integration, such as access to customer data and speed to market along with security, privacy, and standardization.

Change the skill mixes

Make sure the marketing department becomes more tech savvy and the IT department better understands marketing. Again, coming together around the consumer and customers will help to breakdown internal silos and align agendas. Upgrading their skills will help both departments make better decisions about technology and understand its impact on business outcomes.

Develop trust by trusting

It is time for leaders in organizations to extend their trust to — and accept it from — business units beyond their own.