Today, almost every organization is engaged with a third-party vendor at some level when offering products or services. Take, for instance, an e-commerce business that may not be able to function properly unless multiple third-party integrations are involved, such as CRMs, payment gateways, live chat APIs, or a shipping gateway, to name a few. Though third-party vendors are a necessary cog in the...

The emergence of innovative Financial Technology (FinTech) has spearheaded rapid growth in the digital payments sector. In recent years, global payment revenues exceeded valuations of $2.2 trillion , with a steady Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) expected in the next five years. There is no denying the convenience benefits that the digital transformation of payments has brought consumers and...

At Tripwire's recent Energy and NERC Compliance Working Group, we had the opportunity to speak with the Manager of Gas Measurement, Controls, & Cybersecurity at a large energy company. More specifically, we focused on SCADA and field assets of gas Operational Technology. The experience at the management level of such an organization provided a wealth of knowledge for the attendees. SCADA...

The payment industry is bracing for the transition to Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) 4.0 , heralding significant changes in cybersecurity practices. As we approach the implementation of this revised standard, a critical focal point emerges: the role and new mandate of web application firewalls (WAFs) in ensuring compliance. The shift from a best practice to a prescribed...

Electrical utilities are responsible for just about everything we do. This presents a tremendous burden on those who operate those utilities. One way these organizations offer assurance is through the audit process. While audits can generate tremendous anxiety, good planning, and tools can help make the entire process go smoothly. Moreover, these can also help to achieve positive results. At the...

Tripwire recently held its annual Energy and NERC Compliance Working Group. This year's attendees included more than 200 Tripwire customer utility personnel representing over 80 different registered entities from all across the US and Canada. The company sizes ranged from public utility districts and city municipalities to medium and larger-sized investor-owned utilities, including many of the...

Electric grids are part of every nation’s critical infrastructure. Every societal activity and business depends on reliable and safe electricity distribution. The US electric grid is a huge network of powerlines, distribution hubs, and renewable and non-renewable energy generators that is increasingly exposed to cyber-physical risks due to the accelerated reliance on cyber-enabled systems and IoT...

What is File Integrity Monitoring? The IT ecosystems of enterprises are highly dynamic. Typically, organizations react to this volatility by investing in asset discovery and Security Configuration Management (SCM). These core controls enable businesses to compile an inventory of authorized devices and monitor the configurations of those assets. In addition to managing changes to their...

The increasing popularity of online payment systems results from the world’s gradual transition to a cashless and contactless digital economy — an economy, projected in a recent Huawei white paper, to be worth $23 trillion by 2025. With digital commerce emerging as the largest segment in the projected $8.49 trillion global digital payments market in 2022, it’s not surprising that businesses are...

In March 2022, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was updated with a number of new and modified requirements . Since their last update in 2018, there has been a rapid increase in the use of cloud technologies, contactless payments have become the norm, and the COVID-19 pandemic spurred a massive growth in e-commerce and online payments. At the same time, cybercriminals have...

The new PCI DSS Standard, version 4.0 , contains all the steps, best practices, and explanations required for full compliance. In fact, even an organization that does not process cardholder data could follow the PCI Standard to implement a robust cybersecurity program for any of its important data. In our series about how the new standard differs from the previous version, we examined some of the...

As we continue our review of the 12 Requirements of PCI DSS version 4.0 , one has to stop and consider, is it possible to have a favorite section of a standard? After all, most guidance documents, as well as regulations are seen as tedious distractions from the importance of getting the job done. However, depending on a person’s position and function in an organization, it is possible to “geek out...

In Part 1 of this series , we reviewed the first four sections of the new PCI standards. As we continue our examination of PCI DSS version 4.0, we will consider what organizations will need to do in order to successfully transition and satisfy this update. Requirements 5 through 9 are organized under two categories: Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program Requirement 5: Protect All Systems and...

The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council has released its first update to their Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) since 2018. The new standard, version 4.0, is set to generally go into effect by 2024, but there are suggested updates that are not going to be required until a year after that. This, of course, creates a couple of problems for those who want to phase in the new standard...

It’s not often we can say this, but 2022 is shaping up to be an exciting time in information governance, especially for those interested in compliance and compliance frameworks. We started the year in eager anticipation of the new version of the international standard for information security management systems, ISO 27001:2022, soon to be followed by version 4.0 of the PCI DSS standard. Although...