The CIS Critical Security Controls (CIS Controls) are a set of best practices designed to help organizations protect themselves from the most common cyber attacks. First developed in 2008, the controls define the minimum level of cybersecurity any organization that collects or maintains personal information should meet.CIS released version 8.1 of the CIS Critical Security Controls on June 25th,...

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) most recent Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) has revealed that computer misuse cases rose 37% in the year ending March 2024, bucking a general trend of decline.The CSEW first started tracking computer misuse in the year ending (YE) March 2017, which saw roughly 1.8 million incidents. By March 2023, this number had fallen to 745,000. In March 2024,...

Security Operations Teams (SOCs) today are under attack by the very mechanisms meant to help them. A recent industry study revealed a few startling facts:SOCs spend a third of their workday hunting down false positives.Even then, SOCs only get to half of the alerts they need to every day.Out of all the teams currently using automation, only half apply it to threat hunting and incident enrichment...

Misconfigurations (when cloud computing assets are set up incorrectly, leaving them vulnerable to unauthorized access, data breaches, and operational disruptions) and inadequate change control top the list of cloud security threats in 2024, rising from third place the year before. It's clear that the transition to cloud computing has amplified the challenges of configuration management, making it...

Developers of plugins and themes for WordPress.org have been told they are required to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) from October 1st.The move is intended to enhance security, helping prevent hackers from gaining access to accounts through which malicious code could be injected into code used by millions of websites running the self-hosted version of WordPress.The threat posed by supply...

Phishing is a malicious attempt to deceive individuals into divulging sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, or other personal data. These attacks are typically carried out by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in electronic communications. Phishing can take many forms and has evolved to become more sophisticated, making it imperative for individuals and...

The upcoming election has brought up conversations about the security of our voting infrastructure. While recent developments have somewhat shifted attention toward more visceral threats such as "death threats against county clerks, polling-place violence, and AI-fueled disinformation," the protection of voting machine security is still a pressing concern.Securing electronic voting infrastructure...

Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s September 2024 Security Updates. VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-1123 as soon as coverage is completed. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs CVE-2024-38217Windows uses the Mark of the Web (MoTW) to identify files downloaded from the Internet. This is done by setting the NTFS Zone.Identifier alternate Data...

Achieving Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act compliance is becoming more difficult. While the Act is primarily a financial reporting regulation, it requires all publicly traded companies operating in the United States to maintain the integrity, accuracy, and reliability of financial reporting, which those organizations can only achieve through robust cybersecurity measures. As such, an effective...

I worry that a lot of my blog posts reveal that I’m getting older and older as the days go by, but I wanted to talk about teasmades and security automation.For those of you outside of the UK, and even those born in the UK within the past 30 years, there’s a distinct possibility you may read this and consider it to be a made-up word, but there is indeed such a thing as a teasmade – effectively a...

Traditional cybersecurity solutions are constantly being supplemented and enhanced by new technology and practices. Industry leaders know that keeping up with digital security advancements is the best way to ensure the success of every company and that customers rely on them.Understanding how experts merge cybersecurity and automation in different industries is an excellent way to embrace this...

What is the Cicada ransomware?Cicada (also known as Cicada3301) is sophisticated ransomware written in Rust that has claimed more than 20 victims since its discovery in June 2024.Why is the ransomware called Cicada?The criminals behind Cicada appear to have named it after the mysterious Cicada 3301 puzzles posted on the internet between 2012 and 2014, seemingly to recruit highly intelligent...

I know when to log outKnow when to log inGet things done In the spirit of David Bowie, let's explore how to navigate the labyrinth of privileged access management without getting "Under Pressure."No one wants to mistype a common command, copy their proprietary data to a public location, or delete their operating system. Having multiple accounts—one for regular activities and specific privileged...

With the adoption of AI in almost every sphere of our lives and its unending advancement, cyberattacks are rapidly increasing. Threat actors with malicious intent use AI tools to create phishing emails and other AI-generated content to bypass traditional security measures. On the bright side, the security capabilities of AI are limitless.AI-enhanced attacks refer to cybersecurity events that use...

Change is relentless. Technology evolves at breakneck speed, and security practitioners face a constant barrage of updates, system tweaks, and new tools. This relentless stream of modifications can create a clutter of information, making it challenging to pinpoint what is truly important.Effectively filtering through this noise through effective change management is critical for maintaining...

There are many good business, security, and compliance reasons for leveraging the extensive rule and policy engines of Fortra’s Tripwire Enterprise (TE) to implement Security Configuration Management (SCM) capabilities, which have been documented very well in other blogs. In contrast, this article deals more with “how can we fully leverage this capability” technically instead of “why” we use them...

Tripwire's August 2024 Patch Priority Index (PPI) brings together important vulnerabilities for Microsoft, Adobe and Google.First on the list are patches for Microsoft Edge and Google Chromium that resolve 12 vulnerabilities, including information disclosure, remote code execution, and memory corruption vulnerabilities.Up next are patches for Microsoft Outlook, PowerPoint, Visio, Excel, Project,...

File Integrity Monitoring (FIM) is a cybersecurity process that involves continuously monitoring files and systems to identify any unauthorized changes. FIM solutions maintain file integrity by comparing a file or system's current state to a known, trusted baseline and flagging any discrepancies. It is key for identifying security breaches, preventing data tampering, and maintaining compliance...