Archiv für das Jahr: 2020

By Hazel Burton Welcome to the first ever episode of Security Stories! Security Stories is a brand new podcast from the Cisco Security team in which we discuss the past, present and future of cybersecurity.

The podcast is mainly interview based, and we have some absolutely amazing people lined up to share their security stories over the coming episodes (we’ll have a new one for you every two weeks). From how they lead their teams, to how various experiences have shaped them, our guests don’t hold anything back! So if you want to get the inside track on what it takes to be a security leader today, you’ve come to the right place.

Episode 1: From the battle to the boardroom: Mick Jenkins OBE

Mick Jenkins, CISO for Brunel University London

Our guest interview today is Mick Jenkins, OBE. Mick spent many years in the military in counterterrorism and bomb disposal, he is a published author of several spy novels which touch on his military experiences, and he’s also the CISO of Brunel University London. He faced some tough challenges when he first took on that role, but with strong leadership and a very talented team, he came up with some very innovative and impactful solutions which he talks openly about during our chat.

As you’ll soon learn from the interview, Mick is an incredibly interesting person. We initially talked about his mountaineering adventures and how he got lost in Snowdonia as a teenager, and how this shaped his perceptions of risk and leadership.

On leadership:

“It’s all about providing a vision and a narrative that people can buy into. Whether I was in the military or now as a CISO, I watch leaders, and a common thread amongst the best ones is a real sense of positivity, energy, and a can do attitude: ‘This is going to happen.” But they also have an open sense of honesty, reality and empathy. For example one of the best leaders I ever saw was always honest with his team and would say “You know what guys? This is going to be painful. We’re going to have to hold on to the handle for a bit. But we will come through it, we will succeed, and we will win.” Success for me all comes down to the leadership and the teamwork. And that’s true no matter what industry you’re in.”

On building partnerships:

“I was clear that I couldn’t do it by myself. We needed two or three strategic partners or, as I call them, my critical friends. They’re the ones who sit over my shoulder and tap me from time to time and say, “Well, that can’t actually be done Mick. We need to do it this way”. I think that blend of critical friendship, strategic partnership and building a strong internal team helped me with my vision. Leaders always need to be challenged. I was always encouraged to challenge the boss, to never be afraid to do so, and to offer an option that was different to theirs. That was certainly ingrained into us as military officers and it’s something that I’ve always been careful to make sure the team can feel they can do with me. So it’s an up and down cascade of ideas because I’m high level. I’m strategic. My team are subject matter experts and they’ve been brilliant at engaging me in the conversation so that we get to our goal together.”

About the podcast
Why the title ‘Security Stories‘? Good question! There’s a story behind that…

We’re going to go back to when I was 21 (a long, long time ago…) and, fresh faced out of University, my first job as a graduate was to help establish a new campaign called ‘If we can, you can‘. It was all about encouraging more people who had an idea of a business, to be inspired to take this forward, and become an entrepreneur.

The philosophy behind ‘If we can, you can‘ is that by sharing the stories of existing entrepreneurs, you would feel part of the community. They will take a lot away from learning how others overcame challenges, what mistakes are commonly made, and how it really feels to grow a business from the ground up.

So, I got in my car and drove all around the North East of England (where I still live), with my video camera, and I sat down with hundreds of entrepreneurs. They talked to me about that ‘defining moment‘ that inspired them to bite the bullet, how they balanced risk, how they scaled and grew their idea, how they hired their first employee…and much much more.

The stories were often raw, often emotional, and always honest and open. They shared their stories with me because being an entrepreneur is no walk in the park. There are as many tough times as there are amazing times. So they wanted to share their experiences with me because those stories and insights might help someone who is going through the exact same challenges.

I started working in the Security industry about 10 years ago, and what has struck me most is how tough an industry this can be. We have one of the highest rates of burnout and fatigue, and people’s jobs are constantly on the line. However, it’s also one of the most fun and interesting industries to be part of, where innovations and new ideas can make a huge amount of difference to the world we live in.

Therefore the principle of ‘If we can, you can‘ very much applies to this podcast. If other security leaders can do it, so can you. And Security Stories is about sharing exactly how they’re doing it…

What’s in each episode?

As well as interviews, we have some regular features as well. ‘Threat of the month‘ is where we discuss a growing cyber threat and what organizations can do about it. In the first episode, we talk about Industrial IoT and this discussion is led by my co-host and Cisco security intelligence expert, Ben Nahorney.

And we also have a little bit of cybersecurity trivia for you in our ‘On this day‘ feature. This is where we talk about significant events in cybersecurity history which will guarantee that you will win any pub quiz out there, as long as it’s very niche.

And the 16th March just so happens to be a very significant date in security history, but you’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out what we’re talking about!

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher. Or you can listen right now!

After you’ve listened to the first episode (and hopefully you enjoyed it!) please do subscribe. We are releasing new episodes every two weeks, and our next guest will be Wendy Nather, Head of Advisory CISOs at Cisco Duo.

Just to give you a preview of that interview, I asked her what is the one thing she wishes could change in Security. Her response starts with ‘I’m going to come up something really radical, are you holding onto your seat?”

Thanks for listening, we’ll see you next time on the Security Stories podcast.

The post Launching today: Security Stories podcast appeared first on Cisco Blogs.

Source:: Cisco Security Notice

By Sana Yousuf Your network is increasingly targeted by cybercriminals. One of the most clever and damaging way they strike is through command and control attacks – a technique often executed over DNS. A command-and-control (also referred to as C&C or C2) server is an endpoint compromised and controlled by an attacker. Devices on your network can be commandeered by a cybercriminal to become a command center or a bonet (a term coined by a combination of the words “robot” and “network”) with the intention of obtaining full network control. Establishing C&C communications via a Trojan horse is an important step for them to move laterally inside your network, infecting machines with the intent to exfiltrate data.
Going After the Command-and-Control Servers
What does your new investigation workflow look like? Today we take a closer look at how a C&C server attack can gain a foothold into your network, and how Cisco can identify, detect and block this type of threat using an integrated approach to security.
Imagine a security analyst whose enterprise has invested in network traffic analysis. Let’s call him Sam. He works for large financial services organization with over 10,000 employees and more than 80,000 user accounts. It’s 6:00 PM on a Friday evening and Sam is getting ready to catch the latest Zombie apocalypse movie with his buddies. A notification pops up on his Cisco Umbrella console telling him that Umbrella has blocked malware from communicating with a C&C channel.
Sam investigates this threat using the Cisco Security
Sam is tired. He spends copious amounts of time running down rabbit holes every time his SIEM registers an alert as suspicious. He is ready for a faster, more effective way to block threats and protect his environment. He is excited to see if Cisco Umbrella, a secure internet gateway, will make his life easier. Cisco Umbrella offers both real-time threat Intelligence, as well as the capabilities to mitigate attacks across an organization in a split second. It acts as the first line of defense against internet-borne threats like C&C communications attempting to exfiltrate data. Sam knows a DNS block on the Umbrella can simply be a symptom of persistent malware on your endpoints. He investigates further.
Sam identifies the malicious domain that is the epicenter of a C&C activity using Umbrella. Umbrella automatically proxies, decrypts, and inspects all subsequent requests with AMP for Endpoint to make a determination about the threat. Sam can also choose to block newly seen domains outright on the console. Now, while Sam knows that not all newly seen domains are bad, he knows this could be part of an emerging malware campaign or associated with another threat. In this case, Sam sees that Umbrella is working and has successfully blocked the threat.
Figure1: Identify the C&C Domain in UmbrellaBut Sam is curious. He wants to know more. Sam decides to analyze the malicious code and try to identify samples in Threat Grid, Cisco’s dynamic file analysis solution that referenced this domain. Umbrella Investigate shows him samples in Threat Grid that referenced this domain. He drills down deeper.
Figure 2: Sightings in Threat Grid that referenced this domainUsing the Threat Grid console, Sam quickly realizes the file is malicious. He sees two internal targets that can be potentially compromised with this attack. If successful, this infected server could connect to another server, ready to receive commands and do the botnet owner’s bidding by compromising systems and exfiltrating your data.
Figure 3: The Aha! moment: The Malicious VerdictSam is close to the Aha moment! He drills down to understand the behavioral indicators in Threat Grid. He gets every scrap of detail about this threat artifact. And sure enough, there’s our C&C connection. Victory!
Figure 4: Discovery: There’s our C&C connection.But Sam wants more. Threat Grid also shows him the internal target that might need further analysis. It analyzes the files and suspicious behavior across his environment to deliver context-rich malware analytics and threat intelligence. Now that he is armed with insights into what the file is doing, he is ready to explore how this threat has impacted the network. Sam kick starts a threat investigation for observed internal targets in Cisco Threat Response using the Browser Plugin. The Plugin enables Sam to research any observable (e.g. Domain, IP-address, File-Hash, URL, etc.), on any HTML-based webpage, in Chrome. Interested in what Sam is doing? See how you can configure the plugin, here.
Sam now knows which systems inside our network have seen the malicious file. This information is provided by AMP for Endpoint, our cloud-delivered endpoint protection, detection and response solution, that helps you simplify this investigations with a broader context from endpoint, web, email, and network data.
Figure 5: The Pivot to Threat Response
Figure 6: Getting the Full Picture – the Relations Graph in Threat ResponseUpon investigation, Sam confirms that the malware is already correctly identified and blocked. With Cisco Threat Response, Sam can now achieve faster detections, simpler investigations, and immediate responses.
Figure 7: Malware Identified and BlockedFor all the Sam’s of the world, this analysis can be at your fingertips too. With Threat Grid, you can easily construct a query using the Orbital Advanced Search feature, a new advanced capability in Cisco AMP for Endpoints based on the behavior observed when the sample executed. This feature accelerates your hunt for threats and enables you to shrink the lifecycle of an incident– mitigating any or further damaging cost of the breach to your business.
Figure 8: Orbital Advanced Search Query in Threat GridThis Orbital query enables you to gain deeper visibility so you may discern whether this is an isolated incident in your network, or there are other devices that may have seen this in your network. Additionally, Threat Grid can shine a light on other techniques like code injection that attackers might be using based on key behavioral indicators of malware. Security teams can save time by quickly prioritizing attacks with the biggest potential impact. In our investigation, we have discovered important details about this attack, as well as the malicious, forged documents that the attackers are using.
Figure 9: Orbital Query, Figure 10: Potential Code Injection DetectedCisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) for Endpoints Prevents Fileless Attacks
AMP for Endpoints‘ Exploit Prevention engine prevents all variants of fileless malware without needing any prior knowledge of the attacks. There are thousands of threats attempting to embed malicious code that can take over your workflows. Sam makes sure that the Exploit Prevention engine is enabled in AMP to catch any such activity.
Sounds too good to be true. No way?
Figure 11: File is quarantinedAMP’s Exploit Prevention Engine remaps the runtime environment and its components (such as libraries and DLL entry and exit points) and places a decoy or a facade of these resources in their original locations. It then only let’s legitimate applications know their newly randomized address spaces. The end result is that legitimate processes continue to run seamlessly without experiencing any performance penalty, but anything else that attempts to execute in-memory can’t find its target, and therefore, cannot execute. Exploit Prevention’s remapping of the runtime environment effectively protects you against all variants of in-memory attacks, whether they are pre-existing or undiscovered zero-days deterministically. With that done, Sam is on his way to the movies.
Cisco’s Security Platform
Can you imagine flying an Airbus A380 without an air traffic controller? Cisco’s vision for a security platform is built from a simple idea that security solutions should act as a team, learning from each other, listening and responding as a coordinated unit. Our platform, Cisco SecureX,connects the breadth of Cisco’s integrated security portfolio and your entire security infrastructure for a consistent experience that unifies visibility, enables automation, and strengthens your security across your network, endpoints, cloud, and applications.
Try AMP for Endpoint
You could test out AMP for Endpoints and decide whether it’s right for you in under an hour. Don’t let C&C servers sit dormant in your environment and turn your computers become someone else’s malicious botnet!

Stop fileless malware attacks dead in their tracks
by test driving a free trial of AMP for Endpoint today.

The post How to Defend Against Command-and-Control attacks: Don’t let your network turn into a Zombie appeared first on Cisco Blogs.

Source:: Cisco Security Notice

By Barry Fisher We all know the stats. The security workforce shortage is impacting two-thirds of organizations, while the gap — currently at 4 million — continues to grow. Security teams are short-staffed, to the point where a 25% say the inability to keep with the workload is a root cause of security incidents.
The conversation typically focuses on challenges like the growing demand outpacing supply. Forrester even goes as far as saying that much of the problem is “self-inflicted” — and one reason is that employers “expect to hire MacGyver but pay like McDonalds.”
We’re looking at the problem wrong.
In the words of MacGyver himself, “there always seems to be a way to fix things.” But this is the wrong fix.
Yes, the talent shortage is real. But there’s another reason why organizations have a shortage of skilled talent. Every new technology added to your security infrastructure not only adds complexity but is resource intensive, not to mention the decreased efficacy in detecting and preventing threats.
So clearly throwing bodies at the problem has not worked here. Talk about a self-inflicted cycle.
The disconnect between technology, ­people, and processes
We could always count on MacGyver to come up with an ingenious way to solve a problem. In one instance, he took out a flashlight spring to fix a compressor, while saying, “When something’s broken, the easiest thing to do is just throw it away and forget about it. But if you step back and take a look at what you’ve got, sometimes you find a totally different way of making it work.”
To apply this idea to security, it’s time to step back and take a look at what you have — not just technology but also people and processes — and find a totally different way to make them work. Together.
The appeal of the move from products to platform has flooded the industry with platform solutions that end up integrating two or more products together. These platforms that simply layer technology to deal with your most pressing security concern aren’t effectively eliminating the complexity that your teams have to deal with. Adding more technologies may seem like the most straightforward approach to reduce alert fatigue but it’s not necessarily the right solution.
You need a platform embedded into your security technologies that empowers your security teams to make decisions based on complete and actionable insights. At the end of the day, the goal needs to be simply to create a seamless, simpler, more consistent experience that allows a threat to be detected in one area of the enterprise and be blocked everywhere else – from the data center, network, and cloud, to email, the web, endpoints, and everywhere in between. We believe that you can do so by leveraging integration, automation, and analytics to ensure that your technologies are working for you.
Making NetOps and ITOps an extension of SecOps
At Cisco, our approach is to bridge technology, people, and processes. We’ve taken the time to build the mortar into your entire security infrastructure—the new security platform called Cisco SecureX. It doesn’t just connect to Cisco products; it transforms your infrastructure from a series of disjointed solutions into a fully integrated environment. This transforms your security teams from business blockers to business enablers empowered to scale and meet the needs of tomorrow.
Instead of telling our customers they need to hire more experts to manage their security solutions, we want to help them mitigate the talent shortage by uniting teams, solutions, and processes into a consistent experience.
To that end, we asked the question: How can we reduce the ITOps and NetOps reliance on SecOps, and stop the bottlenecks these teams create for each other? How can SecOps, ITOps, and NetOps collaborate with unified workflows?
Let’s say the IT help desk receives a ticket about a slow-running computer. In a typical organization, the workflow may look like this:
The technician connects remotely into the server and sees that the process is using up memory, but there’s not enough visibility to identify the root cause of the problem.
Next step is to involve SecOps and NetOps to gain more context. Since those teams don’t share context, they may not be able to pinpoint the exact issue either.
After an hour or more of troubleshooting and working with SecOps and NetOps, the ITOps‘ answer is to reimage the slow computer.
We wanted to break down these kinds of siloes that the teams work in, and at the same time make security more efficient. And Cisco SecureX does just that. At RSA 2020 this year we introduced Cisco SecureX – a new way for users to experience Cisco’s Security portfolio. Cisco SecureX streamlines our customers‘ operations with unified visibility across their security portfolio and provides out-of-box integrations, powerful security analytics, and automated workflows to speed threat detection and response.
With SecureX, this is how the workflow would look like in the same scenario:
The Security Analyst uses the SecureX dashboard — with access to a list of all users, devices, and apps — to investigate a malicious cryptomining attempt that was exploiting vulnerabilities on your endpoint and server-based applications.
After identifying the problem, the analyst uses analytics to uncover where cryptomining activity may be occurring in your organization. Armed with a holistic understanding of the threat, the analyst now proceeds to block network connections to web sites known to participate in mining cryptocurrencies and isolates the endpoint host using SecureX’s threat response application.
Once he accesses the computer remotely to confirm that the cryptomining app connection was terminated, he simply reconnects the endpoint to the network.
https://video.cisco.com/detail/video/6138475364001/cisco-securex-overview?autoStart=true&q=threat
Cisco SecureX unifies visibility, enables automation and strengthens security.
The entire sequence takes just 10 minutes instead of an hour or more, without involving SecOps and NetOps. SecureX provides all of your security teams – SecOps, NetOps, and ITOps personalized views of the same shared context, enabling them to collaborate better than ever before. This means they can more easily harmonize your security policies and drive stronger outcomes.
How SecureX helps mitigate the skills gap
Now, I’m not saying that SecureX solves the talent shortage on a global scale. The reality is that digital transformation, coupled with the growing threat landscape, will continue to place more demand on organizations to hire additional talent.
What SecureX can do, however, is start solving that self-inflicted problem we talked about earlier — the one caused by unnecessary complexities we as an industry have created. With no disrespect to our resourceful hero, we want to stop you from MacGyvering your security with dozens of point tools — and finally close the gap between your technology, people, and processes.
Want to see for yourself how you can do that? Sign up for our SecureX Waitlist and learn more about SecureX here.
The post Are You Going About the Talent Shortage Wrong? It’s Time to Stop MacGyvering appeared first on Cisco Blogs .

Source:: Cisco Security Notice