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VERT Threat Alert: October 2020 Patch Tuesday Analysis

Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s October 2020 Security Updates. VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-909 on Wednesday, October 14th. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs (October 2020 Patch Tuesday Analysis) CVE-2020-16938 This CVE describes an information disclosure in the Windows kernel that could...
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VERT Threat Alert: September 2020 Patch Tuesday Analysis

Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s September 2020 Security Updates. VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-903 on Wednesday, September 9th. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs There were no in-the-wild or disclosed CVEs included in this month’s security guidance. CVE Breakdown by Tag While historical...
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VERT Threat Alert: August 2020 Patch Tuesday Analysis

Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s August 2020 Security Updates. VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-899 on Wednesday, August 12th. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs CVE-2020-1464 A vulnerability exists in the way that Windows validates file signatures. An attacker could load improperly signed...
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VERT Threat Alert: July 2020 Patch Tuesday Analysis

Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s July 2020 Security Updates. VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-895 on Wednesday, July 15th. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs  CVE-2020-1463 A vulnerability in the SharedStream Library could allow a locally authenticated attacker to run a malicious application in...
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Design & Implementation of OEM ICS Cybersecurity Frameworks: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The cyber threat landscape today continues to pose a myriad of unique challenges. This is especially the case for industrial organizations due to factors such as aging equipment, poor design or implementation, skills gaps and a lack of visibility. These shortcomings are exacerbated by the mean time to breach detection, which continues to hover above 150...
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A Checklist for Preparing for Your Organization's Next PCI Audit

Organizations cannot afford to neglect their PCI compliance obligations. According to its website, PCI could punish offending organizations with a monetary penalty ranging in value from $5,000 to $100,000 per month. These fines could spell the end for a small business. Acknowledging those consequences, organizations need to make sure they’re PCI...
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VERT Threat Alert: June 2020 Patch Tuesday Analysis

Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s June 2020 Security Updates. VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-888 on Wednesday, June 10th. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs None of the vulnerabilities resolved this month have been publicly disclosed or exploited according to Microsoft. CVE Breakdown by Tag ...
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Climbing the Vulnerability Management Mountain: Reaching the Summit (VM Maturity Level 5)

Only the truly committed ever reach the summit of anything. This sentiment holds true for vulnerability management. An organization cannot reach the summit without a serious commitment to fund and staff the program appropriately across the organization. Reaching ML:5 means tying the program to the business. Everyone must be aligned with the metrics and...
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VERT Threat Alert: May 2020 Patch Tuesday Analysis

Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s May 2020 Security Updates. VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-884 on Wednesday, May 13th. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs None of the vulnerabilities resolved this month have been publicly disclosed or exploited according to Microsoft. CVE Breakdown by Tag ...
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VERT Threat Alert: April 2020 Patch Tuesday Analysis

Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s April 2020 Security Updates. VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-880 on Wednesday, April 15th. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs CVE-2020-0935 A vulnerability in the OneDrive for Windows desktop application could allow an attacker to overwrite a targeted file and...
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Cybersecurity in Education (K-12) with the CIS Controls

Why is cybersecurity important to Education? Acknowledging recent reports of ransomware targeting educational institutions, it is no wonder that there have also been articles that attempt to lure in readers with “free” tools. What is disappointing is that these “free” tools are little more than marketing pieces that direct you to click on readily...
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Climbing the Vulnerability Management Mountain: Reaching Maturity Level 4

The climb is getting steeper, but thanks to hard work, vision and insight are much keener. At ML:4, all assets are scanned by a combination of agent and remote scans on a normal cadence. This will generate a lot of data dictated by threat and patch priority. Thousands of new vulnerabilities are released each year, and no company or product can detect...
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Climbing the Vulnerability Management Mountain: Reaching Maturity Level 3 – Base Camp

ML:3 is base camp, and getting here means you have reached a level that others have only dreamed about. At this level, the VM program is very good, and your visibility into threats to the environment is much better than it has ever been. Prioritizing Asset Assessment The biggest change at this level is the focus on the breadth of assessment going on...
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Verizon’s 2019 Payment Security Report – Not Just for PCI

If you are responsible for cybersecurity or data protection in your organization, stop what you are doing and read this report. Actually, first, go patch your servers and applications and then read this report. Much like Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), the Payment Security Report (PSR) is a must-read for security professionals. While it focuses on the PCI DSS standard and...
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Climbing the Vulnerability Management Mountain: Reaching Maturity Level 2

The path is starting to get steeper now as we climb to ML2. It is time to start defining a vulnerability management program with objectives and goals. This program is expected to grow and evolve over time as the organization grows and evolves. Document the requirements Start by documenting what is in place now and what objections the organization is...
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Five “W’s” for Vulnerability Management

As we wind down 2019, it is a great time to think about your vulnerability management plans for the coming year. The five W’s can help guide our efforts as we resolve to improve our digital security for the coming new year. What Is Vulnerability Management? Vulnerability assessments are useful for detecting security issues within your environment. By...
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Strong Customer Authentication: A Vehicle for PCI-DSS Compliance

Payment services that operate electronically should adopt technologies that guarantees the safe authentication of the user and reduces, to the maximum extent possible, the risk of fraud. In order to achieve this, the European Union in 2007 passed the Payment Services Directive (PSD). The aim of this legislation is to regulate payment services and...
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Forensics in the Cloud: What You Need to Know

Cloud computing has transformed the IT industry, as services can now be deployed in a fraction of the time that it used to take. Scalable computing solutions have spawned large cloud computing companies such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. With a click of a button, personnel can create or reset entire infrastructure for...
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Climbing the Vulnerability Management Mountain: Taking the First Steps Towards Enlightenment

Just as you would map a hike or climb by creating waypoints you plan to hit each day, you must plan your vulnerability management process by creating similar goals. We call these goals Maturity Levels, from ML0 to ML5, as we defined them in the last blog. You have your asset inventory from an open-source tool, asset tracking database or maybe your...