Be organized and efficient. It’s a simple rule of life that makes things run a whole lot smoother. This is something especially important when running your vulnerability management program. There are only so many hours in a day, rather, there are only so many hours in a down cycle where the business will let you scan their environment for...

Vulnerability management (VM) programs are the meat and potatoes of every comprehensive information security program. They are not optional anymore. In fact, many information security compliance, audit and risk management frameworks require organizations to maintain a vulnerability management program. If you don’t have vulnerability management tools, or...

Compliance with version 3.2 of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a must for organizations that handle, process, transmit and store payment card data. But compliance isn’t always easy to establish or maintain. Indeed, there are certain challenges along the way that can make organizations’ compliance with PCI DSS 3.2...

The retail industry saw more than its fair share of data breaches in 2017, with security incidents impacting at American supermarket chain Whole Foods Market and clothing companies Brooks Brothers, The Buckle, and Forever 21, to name a few. At least some of those events likely resulted from retailers' poor data breach preparation. Consider the fact that...

Enterprise networks regularly see change in their devices, software installations and file content. These modifications can create risk for the organization. Fortunately, companies can mitigate this risk by implementing foundational security controls. For example, enterprises can monitor their important files for change using file integrity monitoring ...

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was introduced to provide a minimum degree of security when it comes to handling customer card information. While the Standard has been around for over a decade, penetration testing has only recently been officially incorporated into the process. There’s a lot to cover in a PCI DSS engagement,...

Looking at the cyberthreat landscape, millions of new devices come online every day. But there’s a shortage of qualified cybersecurity workers to protect those devices once they come online. Additionally, in almost every case, it takes minutes or less to compromise them. Simply running more vulnerability scans to collect more data and generating more...

To protect against evolving digital threats, more and more organizations are employing endpoint detection and response (EDR) systems on their computer networks. EDR consists of six crucial security controls. The first two, endpoint discovery and software discovery, facilitate the process of inventorying each device that is connected to the network and...

There is never a dull moment for compliance and security. Case in point, amidst a brewing storm of regulation, version 3.2 of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) announced in late spring articulates good data security intent along with controversy. PCI has been around since 2006, and aims to protect payment data for consumers and...

The recent announcement from the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) that it will be moving the PCI 3.1 deadline to June 2018 – giving an extra 24 months – caught my attention and reminded me of the ongoing dance between compliance and security. From a compliance and operational standpoint, the new deadline gives organizations...

This is the conclusion to a three-part series of building a successful vulnerability management program. The first installment focused on Stage One, the vulnerability scanning progress. Without a foundation of people and process, the remaining stages are prone to failure. The second installment focused on Stage Two and Three, using a vulnerability...

Recently, I introduced a three-part series on how to build a successful vulnerability management program. The first installment examined Stage 1, the vulnerability scanning process. My next article investigates Stages 2 (asset discovery and inventory) and 3 (vulnerability detection), which occur primarily using the organization’s technology of choice...

An enterprise vulnerability management program can reach its full potential when it is built on well-established foundational goals that address the information needs of all stakeholders, its output is tied back to the goals of the enterprise, and there is a reduction in the overall risk of the organization. Such vulnerability management technology can...

Earlier this year, the PCI Security Standards Council officially released PCI DSS 3.1 only months after its predecessor (version 3.0) came into effect. With a typical three-year period between standard revisions, the out-of-band update caught many off guard, especially organizations still in the process of complying with the changes from the previously...