March 2013 – Page 5 – CyberSecurity Institute

Hot security skills of 2013 – security

Posted on March 6, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

By understanding the needs of the industry and keeping on top of new technologies and threats, good CSOs can identify the special skills and expertise (such as analytics expertise or a specialty in malware) needed in their new hires on both the information- and physical-security fronts, says Young.

Tom Verzuh, president of recruiting firm SCW Consulting, is seeing great demand for physical-security professionals who are fluent in technology, especially digital-video software management and analytics.

“The way to increase your value as a physical security professional is to invest in learning the world of IP networking and Microsoft server technologies and data analytics solutions,” says Charles Foley, chairman and CEO of Watchful Software. “Security pros that know these two areas will be able to spearhead their companies efforts to streamline costs, increase value delivered, and will literally sell information collected to the rest of the organization.”

Information-protection skills are in great demand, according to Foley –in particular, knowledge of data-centric technologies such as enterprise rights management, multilevel security models, data classification techniques and biometrics.

This understanding is also important for recognizing where potential vulnerabilities might lie within the organization, such as with outsourced services or data, or lines of business that are popular targets for cyberattacks.

CSOs that have an advanced business degree such as an MBA are always going to be that much more desirable than those who do not, according to Jerry Irvine, CIO of IT outsourcing company Prescient Solutions and a member of the National Cyber Security Task Force. Not only must CSOs make complex security issues understandable to the enterprise at large, they must also make it clear how important security risk, particularly digital risk management, is to the executive suite’s agenda. David Luzzi, executive director of Northeastern University’s Strategic Security Initiative, adds logical reasoning and the ability to inspect ideas as important skills to build on the foundation of excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Link: http://www.cso.com.au/article/455664/hot_security_skills_2013/

This Research Paper Explains How to Predict the Next Arab Spring and Cyber Attacks

Posted on March 6, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

In a paper (PDF) released late last year, “Proactive Defense for Evolving Cyber Threats,” Sandia researchers Richard Colbaugh and Kristin Glass outline a computer model that they claim can monitor the Internet to identify volatile situations weeks before they go south—with “perfect accuracy.” While that information may be enough for a retailer to bet that the “steampunk” look will be the next hipster fashion, it’s what spymasters call “non-actionable intel.”

They start by tracking how many times a specific phrase turns up, using a website that tracks memes daily—sort of an early early warning system. … Their approach works, Colbaugh says, because it’s a blend of social science (the power people have to influence others) and computer science (the power of Big Data).

Intelligence agencies, embarrassed by the unforeseen events that lead to the Arab Spring and historic changes in the region, have been working on open source tools (PDF) that will make them more prescient about world events.

The research, Colbaugh points out, is in the public domain and it wouldn’t be difficult for a large corporation concerned about cyber attacks, say in financial services, to modify the model for its use. Encouraging as the research appears, it is not designed to replace existing cyber security tools or traditional methods of intelligence gathering. It is best used to zero in on public chatter on the Web—not the modus operandi of your lone cyber criminal or a state-sponsored pro because, as John Pescatore, director of emerging security technologies for SANS Institute, points out: “They’re not going to yak about it on social media.”

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-04/this-research-paper-explains-how-to-predict-the-next-arab-spring-and-cyber-attacks#r=pol-s

Emerging threats include kinetic attack, offensive forensics

Posted on March 4, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

A six-by-eight-foot miniature city, CyberCity features a SCADA-controlled power grid, traffic system, trains, a military base and more, all of which can be hacked and defended in cyberspace similar to a real city. When asked by an audience member whether any significant vulnerabilities were found in the CyberCity hospital, Skoudis offered a stark reminder of the insecure state of the nation’s health care infrastructure.

Attackers, whether they are nation-state actors or run-of-the-mill cybercriminals, are increasingly trying to hide their trails by purposefully inserting code that mimics other attackers.

Or sophisticated malicious hackers may purposefully insert what may be considered rudimentary mistakes into their malcode just so forensics experts won’t think to attribute an attack to them.

Now, Skoudis said, attackers are able to target the exact data they want through the use of forensics tools, with the added benefit that it reduces the noise in the network so they’re less likely to be noticed. “Offensive forensics is taking forensics techniques, analyzing in-depth file systems and memory and combing through it, looking for the needle in the haystack,” he said.

The ultimate point driven home by Skoudis and Ullrich was that defending industrial control systems and financial institutions should be an absolute priority, though the track record of the security industry doesn’t provide much comfort for those concerned about these matters.

Link: http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/2240178966/Emerging-threats-include-kinetic-attack-offensive-forensics-RSA-2013?utm_medium=EM&asrc=EM_ERU_20845656&utm_campaign=20130305_ERU%20Transmission%20for%2003/05/2013%20(UserUniverse:%20635547)_myka-reports@techtarget.com&utm_source=ERU&src=5111753

Bank of America says hackers lifted its data from a partner

Posted on March 4, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

In a statement, Bank of America did not confirm it was working with TEKsystems, an IT consultancy that is part of the Allegis Group. “The source of this release has confirmed that the data was not acquired by a hack but because it was stored on a misconfigured server and basically open for grabs,” the group said.

HB Gary Federal, a California security consultancy, was compromised by Anonymous in 2011 after the company had researched the real identities of some Anonymous members.

Par:AnoIA’s data dump includes a batch of more than 500 emails with brief reports on the Occupy Wall Street movement and hacking groups such as TeaMp0isoN and UGNazi. The data also included a special file listing of four intelligence analysts who authored some of the emails, including three who work for TEKsystems and one who formerly worked for Bank of America. Par:AnoIA said its release also includes the application OneCalais, which collects unstructured information from news stories, blogs and research reports.

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2029981/bank-of-america-says-hackers-lifted-its-data-from-a-partner.html

Blackhole Exploit Kit Run Adopts Controversial Java Flaw

Posted on March 1, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

Using Trend Micro Smart Protection Network™ data, we looked into the most affected countries by this BHEK run and got some interesting results.

For the spam component of this threat, it is also crucial for users and security administrators alike to realize that the usual spam and phishing best practices are not effective to address BHEK spam runs. We previously released our report Blackhole Exploit Kit: A Spam Campaign, Not a Series of Individual Spam Runs, which goes into details about our finding regarding the BHEK runs.

Link: http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/blackhole-exploit-kit-run-adopts-controversial-java-flaw/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Anti-MalwareBlog+%28Trendlabs+Security+Intelligence+Blog%29

Hackers use corporate attacks as staging grounds for other cyber assaults

Posted on March 1, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

For one thing, any counterstrike against what might be thought to be the lair of the attacker may in reality simply be just another corporate network that’s been compromised. An IT manager that wants to take steps to definitely stop certain actions is proceeding into an area that’s immediately dominated by legal and insurance considerations.

It would be a better world if IT managers could reach out across corporate boundaries and one could tell another about what’s perceived to be an attack based on malware coming from the other’s network and quickly snuff it out. … Instead, it’s the company lawyers that will be needed to try and resolve serious problems that seem to emanate from other corporate networks.

Serge Jorgensen, CTO at Sylint Group, the Sarasota, Fla., firm that provides incident response and remediation services, pointed out that one legal option would be seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) from a judge against what is seen as the offending entity where the cyber-attack appears to originate.

Link: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/030113-rsa-cyberattacks-267279.html