Breach Force: Leveraging Speed & Connectivity for Defense + Digital Guardrails for Safe Travel

NEW YORK - EntSun -- Improving an organization's ability to not only defend against current attacks, but also prepare for the evolution and automation of aggression over time requires threat intelligence that is dynamic and proactive.

But the amount of data that needs to be wrangled is daunting. A typical enterprise deals with on average 17,000 alerts per week, of which 96% go uninvestigated due largely to staffing limitations. Moreover, 14% of breaches do not elicit any alert, meaning intruders are discovered long after the initial breach.

In this episode of "Breach Force", we hear how our cyber adversaries are flocking to popular apps at peak traffic, see how some companies are experimenting with "data-analytics meshes" to boost threat detection, plus we get some safety tips for safe holiday traveling. (spoiler alert: turn off auto-connect)

In our top story, new research reveals that cybercriminals continue to evolve the sophistication of their attack methods, from tailored ransomware and custom coding for some attacks, to living-off-the-land or sharing infrastructure to maximize their opportunities.

Here some proof: 60% of threats (investigated by cybersecurity experts at Fortinet) shared at least one domain, indicating the majority of botnets leverage established infrastructure.

Check out a new episode of "Breach Force" on YouTube (https://youtu.be/WA6sGk-S-aQ)



"Unfortunately, we continue to see the cybercriminal community mirror the strategies and methodologies of nation-state actors, and the evolving devices and networks they are targeting" said Phil Quade, CISO at Fortinet. "Organizations need to rethink their strategy to better future proof and manage cyber risks."

The company says an important first step involves treating cybersecurity more like a science – doing the fundamentals really well –  which requires leveraging the cyberspace fundamentals of speed and connectivity for defense.

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"Embracing a fabric approach to security, micro and macro segmentation, and leveraging machine learning and automation as the building blocks of AI, can provide tremendous opportunity to force our adversaries back to square one" adds Quade.

Meanwhile, enterprises today wrestle with a sprawl of security appliances and agents. They  generate an inordinate amount of security data that has to be sifted through manually for anomalies, breaches and inside threats.

Sadly, the bad stuff is often found well after the fact.

That's why we were interested to hear more about MistNet's multi-entity threat detection and response platform that could increases visibility into threats and vulnerabilities.

Unlike systems that focus only on network or endpoint detection, CyberMist provides full 360-degree visibility by applying advanced threat modeling techniques end-to-end across end user, host, OS, network, and cloud resources. The company says this can dramatically reduce the number of false-positives.

"We're very excited to announce the availability of our CyberMist threat detection and response platform, combining geo-distributed edge AI with mist computing technologies," said Geoffrey Mattson, CEO at MistNet.

There's a really good chance you are one of the 43 million Americans hitting the road this weekend to kick off the summer season.  Everybody loves to get away. But unfortunately, it appears that nefarious hackers love the summer travel season too.

Let's get real. Criminals are dying to get at the personal info of travelers who can't seem to shed their bad habits on the road. A new survey circulated by IBM Security found that 70% of travelers are engaging in "high-risk" behaviors while on the road. And we aren't talking about too much sun or Thrasher french fries.

What are the risky behaviors? Connecting to public Wi-Fi, charging a device using a public USB station, or enabling auto-connect on devices, to name a few.

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Some digital safety tips for travelers include:
• Monitor Loyalty Rewards: Your loyalty information and rewards are as good as cash to cybercriminals. Monitor accounts for unusual activity, use strong passwords, set up multifactor authentication where possible.
• Choose Your Wi-Fi With Care: It's easy for cybercriminals to host Wi-Fi networks in public places to collect data such as credit card information and more.
• Bring A Backup Battery: Free USB power charging stations may come with a cost you can't see.
• Turn Off Unneeded Connectivity: If you don't need it, turn it off. This includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and auto-connecting to networks.
• Shred Your Tickets: Savvy criminals can gather a lot of information about your loyalty rewards program from them.
• Be Smart When Paying: Don't use your debit card at stores or restaurants that may not have the security to protect their point-of-sale systems.

"People who are traveling carry a goldmine of data when traveling including passports, payment information and detailed travel itineraries" said Caleb Barlow, VP at IBM Security.

In other news, Hunters.AI won $5.4M in seed funding for its mission to accelerate cyber threat response and fight cybercrime by helping organizations detect, identify and remediate sophisticated cyberattacks targeting their cloud, hybrid and enterprise environments. The round was led by YL Ventures and Blumberg Capital.

Attivo Networks announced that Brian Finch, a leading cybersecurity regulation and government affairs advocate, has joined its Advisory Board.

And Exabeam announced a partnership with Deakin University in Australia to strengthen its security management approach and bolster its already distinguished cybersecurity degree program, delivered through the School of IT.

"Breach Force" is produced by TVP, and sponsored by RestonLogic, cloud wizards leveraging over 10 years experience helping companies automate, transform and build highly-secure and stable systems. Click over to RestonLogic dot com to book a strategy session today.

Disclaimer: The blurbs highlighted on "Breach Force" are available for information purposes only, and don't necessarily reflect opinions of our editors.