[From the desk of Paul Davis – his opinions and no-one else’s]
Apart from the reporter’s opinions đ
So onto the news:
Study: CISOs Underappreciated by C-Level Executives
For the second year running, the survey found that CISOs do not garner respect among their peers at the C-level, and are often treated as scapegoats if a breach jeopardizes a companyâs data, according to ThreatTrack. In fact, CISOs have actually lost ground in certain areas, said John Lyons, ThreatTrackâs president.
According to the study, 47 percent of executives agreed that organizations should make it a priority to hire at least one person with a cybersecurity background. However, only 33 percent said they had such an individual at their organization, and only 25 percent said CISOs deserve to be considered a part of an organizationâs senior leadership team. Roughly 19 percent of individuals said they believed CISOs are âprimarily beneficial in that they represent an individual who is accountable for any data breaches.â
Despite the relatively negative outcome of the survey, its not all doom and gloom for CISOs; 62 percent of respondents believed their CISO would be successful in taking on a leadership position outside of IT security, up from 39 percent of respondents last year. While this is a small comfort to those dedicated to helping protect sensitive information within large enterprises, it is heartening to know that executives arenât completely dissuaded with the idea of these security pros taking on additional roles within the company.
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=6d9f9414f3&e=20056c7556
DTCC Appoints Stephen Scharf As Chief Security Officer – Newly Created Role To Align The Firmâs Global Information Security, Physical Security, Employee Safety And Crisis/Incident Management To Ensure A Unified Approach To Risk Management And Resilience
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced the appointment of Stephen Scharf to the newly-created position of Chief Security Officer (CSO). The appointment will centralize and align the firmâs global information security, physical security, employee safety, and crisis/incident management functions, ensuring a comprehensive and holistic approach to risk management and resilience across the organization.
Mr. Scharf joins DTCC from Experian where he served as Global Chief Information Security Officer, accountable for the overall strategy, leadership and governance of Experianâs global information security, physical security and business continuity programs. Experian is a global information services group with operations in 40 countries and 17,000 employees. Principal lines of business include credit services, marketing services, decision analytics and consumer services. Prior to his role with Experian, Mr. Scharf served as the Global Chief Security Officer for Bloomberg LP, and has previously held a number of positions in information security and technology firms.
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=b813487230&e=20056c7556
Heads begin to roll â execs face axe for cyber breaches
US Office of Personnel Management head Katherine Archuleta has been forced to resign following a hack that compromised over 20 million personal records of government employees. Thomas Meston, the Chief Financial Officer of the London-based hedge fund Fortelus, also lost his job this month following a cyber hack that immediately emptied $1.2million from the fundâs bank account.
These are merely the two latest resignations in a trend that began in earnest last year when the chief executive of giant US retailer Target, Gregg Steinhafel, was forced to resign in the wake of a disastrous data breach that compromised 40 million shoppersâ credit cards and 70 million customersâ personal data including addresses. Given a breach of this magnitude, Steinhafel had little alternative but to resign from his position as the head of the $40 billion corporation.
Another mistake many chief executives make is to wrongly imagine that effective safeguarding of the corporate database only relates to cyber security. No matter how effective a firewall a company builds around itself, it must also take full account of the human element. As 80 per cent of cyber breaches can be traced to an internal source, it is crucial that organisations take the time to train their staff properly.
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=87b866e67f&e=20056c7556
Finding The ROI Of Threat Intelligence: 5 Steps
During my time managing a security operations center at one of the largest defense contractors, executives would constantly scrutinize security budgets, focusing on the areas of security architecture that could be streamlined. The process typically would lead to one burning question: how can security teams leverage threat intelligence to increase ROI without adding headcount or doubling the bottom line? My answer involved five key steps:
Step 1. Develop Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
Step 2. Continually evaluate and reassess threat intelligence providers
Step 3. Prioritize alerts to efficiently utilizing security analystsâ time
Step 4. Foster collaboration between ALL analyst teams
Step 5. Pilot threat intelligence providers before buying
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=8bf5a2df69&e=20056c7556
DISA issues new cloud, cyber security guidance
The Defense Information Systems Agency on July 24 issued three new documents targeting cloud security, including two new requirements guides and a new concept of operations.
The three new documents more thoroughly define cloud security and the steps to achieving it, outlining the responsibilities of the organizations and managers increasingly capitalizing on commercial cloud offerings. The release underscores the Defense Department’s growing adoption of commercial cloud offerings.
The cloud access point (CAP) security requirements guide (SRG) prescribes a barrier of protection between the Department of Defense Information Network (DoDIN) and Internet-based public cloud service offerings
The cloud SRG specifies DoD’s model for leveraging commercial cloud offerings along with detailing the security controls and requirements necessary for using cloud-based solutions within defense agencies.
DISA’s July 24 release of security guidance documents also includes a DoD concept of operations (CONOPS) for cloud computer network defense, a set of reporting and incident-handling procedures for the organizations that will defend DoD cloud operations and assets.
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=434716182e&e=20056c7556
http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=07eb285086&e=20056c7556 Report Template for Threat Intelligence and Incident Response
When handling a large-scale intrusion, incident responders often struggle with obtaining and organizing the intelligence related to the actions taken by the intruder and the targeted organization. Examining all aspects of the event and communicating with internal and external constituents is quite a challenge in such strenuous circumstances.
The following template for a Threat Intelligence and Incident Response Report aims to ease this burden. It provides a framework for capturing the key details and documenting them in a comprehensive, well-structured manner.
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=5d098d7c0c&e=20056c7556
Web Wars: German Army to Enter Global Cyberwar â German Media
The Bundeswehr is planning to unfold its “offensive capabilities” in cyber warfare. A new strategy paper of the Ministry of Defense considers the Internet as a potential war zone.
The strategy guidelines serve as a basis for the new White Paper of the Bundeswehr, which will be released in 2016 and is designed to define the German security policy orientation.
In order to fulfill this new role, the IT resources should be increased and centralized, German officials argue.
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=047cf6556a&e=20056c7556
Sultanate third best prepared in world to thwart cyber attacks
Oman came in behind the USA, Canada, and shared third place with Australia and Malaysia. Qatar was the next strongest Arab country, with an 8th place ranking. The index was created by International Telecommunication Union and ABI Research.
In the report Oman was cited as a country with some of the best organisational practices thanks to its High Level Cyber Security Strategy and Master Plan, and Comprehensive Roadmap. Its strengths include the organisational structure, legal measures, capacity building, technical and procedural measures, and regional and international cooperation.
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=d13a70279b&e=20056c7556
FireEye: Cyber threat group targets Wall Street
FireEye has recently released an intelligence report that assesses that a financially motivated advanced threat group has been carrying out ongoing attacks against publicly traded companies in an attempt to play the stock market.
The report entitled Hacking The Street? FIN4 Likely Playing the Market, details the work of a team of native English-speaking operators with extensive knowledge of the nuances in industries they targeted as well as financial practices. Designated by FireEye as FIN4, the group has been observed collecting information from nearly 100 publicly traded companies or their advisory firms, all parties who handle insider information that give a clear trading advantage to the attacker.
Unlike the often nation-state backed Advanced Persistent Threat groups originating from China and Eastern Europe tracked by FireEye, FIN4 carries out its attacks in a unique manner never seen before. The group does not utilise malware, instead relying on highly-targeted social engineering tactics and deep subject-matter expertise to deliver weaponised versions of legitimate corporate files. Specifically, FireEye found that since at least mid-2013, FIN4 has made product development, M&A strategies, legal issues, and purchasing processes of companies its target data points.
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=0170d30153&e=20056c7556
============================================================
Feedback, questions? Our mailing address is: ** dailynews@paulgdavis.com (mailto:dailynews@paulgdavis.com)
If someone forwarded this email to you and you want to be added in,
please click this: ** Subscribe to this list (http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=e09452545a)
** Unsubscribe from this list (http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=e09452545a&e=20056c7556&c=2252f686e1)
** Update subscription preferences (http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage.com/profile?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=e09452545a&e=20056c7556)