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Navigating ICS Security: The Threat Landscape

Whilst working for a management consultancy, I learned a lot more about industrial control systems (ICS) than I ever imagined I would. In many cases, this wasn’t from working on them directly; it was from simply speaking to the technicians and reading documentation. Oftentimes, we have the false belief that our systems are safe from compromise...
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Navigating ICS Security: Knowing the Basics

As we begin our new decade of the 2020s, we can look back at the last 30 odd years and examine the collaboration between technology and our daily lives. If you think of your day-to-day, it’s easy to see how much our society relies on technology. Consider our smart devices such as mobile phones, watches, even homes. However, what about the technology...
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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...
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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....
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Lacking Direction to Address your ICS Cybersecurity Issues? Here’s What You Can Do

With more and more automation systems and industrial devices being connected to networks, raw data from every device can be transformed into a treasure chest of valuable information. Granted, this data can help to optimize the process, but with connectivity comes new ICS cybersecurity concerns. Connectivity opens previously air-gapped or physically isolated control networks to the world of cyber...
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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...
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How to Build a Mature Vulnerability Management Program

The evolution of the cyber threat landscape highlights the emerging need for organizations to strengthen their ability to identify, analyze and evaluate cyber risks before they evolve into full-fledged security incidents. When it comes to cyber risk mitigation, the terms “patch management” and “vulnerability management” are used as if they are...
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Ask the Experts: How IT and OT Can Collaborate in the Name of ICS Security

In a recent blog post for the State of Security, we asked security experts what they thought would make the biggest impact on the security of industrial control systems (ICS) in the next 5-10 years. They gave numerous answers, but perhaps the most frequent response was the ongoing IT-OT convergence in industrial organizations. Our experts felt that...
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NCSC Active Cyber Defence Report 2019: Evidence Based Vulnerability Management

On 16 July 2019, UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) released the second annual report of the Active Cyber Defence (ACD) program. The report seeks to show the effects that the program has on the security of the UK public sector and the wider UK cyber ecosystem. The Active Cyber Defence Program NCSC was set up in 2016 to be the single...
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Ask the Experts: What Will Have the Greatest Impact on ICS Security in the Next 5-10 Years?

As we noted in August 2018, industrial control system (ICS) security has become more complicated since the introduction of the web. Organizations are now bringing together the logical and physical resources of both information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT). This creates various ICS security challenges, including how each team must...
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Climbing the Vulnerability Management Mountain: Gearing Up and Taking Step One

As I discussed in the first blog in this series, the purpose of this series is to guide you on your journey up the Vulnerability Management Mountain (VMM). Like climbing a mountain, there is a lot of planning and work required, but when you get to the top, the view is amazing and well worth the journey. For the first phase, let's start by planning...
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4 Fundamentals That Make Your Vulnerability Management (VM) Program Less Effective

If you are a security practitioner, then you may have noticed that much of the security industry exists because of vulnerabilities. Regardless of what job position you occupy, vulnerabilities are oftentimes the reason why you wake up every morning and ultimately engage infosec from within your cutting-edge working environment. Vulnerabilities will...
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How to Avoid Common Software Vulnerability Management Mistakes

Vulnerability management (VM) is an essential process through which organizations can reduce risk in their environments. But myths and misconceptions surrounding VM abound. For instance, organizations commonly approach vulnerability management in the same way as they do patch management. Others are guilty of believing that all attacks rely on...
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What’s New and Changing in the World of Vulnerability Management?

According to CIS, “Organizations that do not scan for vulnerabilities and proactively address discovered flaws face a significant likelihood of having their computer systems compromised.” While vulnerability management (VM) isn’t new, I’ve seen it evolve a lot over my 22 years in the industry. Here are some big trends: Assets are Diversifying. Fast. The idea of an asset has changed and grown...
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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Vulnerability Management

On the surface, vulnerability management (VM) is nearly ubiquitous. If you ask someone whether their organization has VM, the vast majority will reply in the affirmative. In fact, Tripwire asked that very question in a recent survey on the topic. Eighty-eight percent of respondents said yes. Beneath that surface of ‘yes’ responses, however, lies a...
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Climbing the Vulnerability Management Mountain

The purpose of this series of blogs is to guide you on your journey up the Vulnerability Management Mountain (VMM). Like climbing a mountain, there is a lot of planning and work required, but when you get to the top, the view is amazing and well worth the journey. Your progress will depend on your funding and priorities, but climbing at a quick...
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Steps for Successful Vulnerability Management: Lessons from the Pitch

When I was younger, I played a variety of team sports and enjoyed competing against opponents with my teammates. Winning was always a matter of applying sound tactics and strategy, attacking and defending well and using a blend of skill, talent and luck. Now that I’m older, I watch more than I play, and I’m able to appreciate the many lessons team...
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Using Visibility to Navigate the Evolving Role of ICS Security

The current security state of industrial control systems (ICS) is a perplexing one. On the one hand, Kaspersky Lab found in a recent report that a majority of organizations (75 percent) regard ICS security as a major priority. On the other hand, organizations aren’t implementing the proper safeguards to secure their industrial control systems. The...
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Managed Vulnerability Management? Yes, You Read That Right

The importance of a mature vulnerability management program can’t be overstated. File integrity monitoring (FIM) and security configuration management (SCM) might be the bedrock of a strong cybersecurity program, but they can only go so far. Scanning for vulnerabilities needs to be a foundational part of your program, too. The Center for Internet...