Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

November 2018

Cybercrime: There Is No End in Sight

Whoever said “crime doesn’t pay” hasn’t been following the growth of cybercrime across the globe. A thriving underground economy has evolved over the past decade to become a massive industry. Estimates in the Web of Profit research paper show cybercriminal revenues worldwide of at least $1.5 trillion – equal to the GDP of Russia. If cybercrime was a country, it would have the 13th highest GDP in the world…

Tripwire Products: Quick Reference Guide

Here at The State of Security, we cover everything from breaking stories about new cyberthreats to step-by-step guides on passing your next compliance audit. But today, we’d like to offer a straight-forward roundup of the Tripwire product suite. Get to know the basics of Tripwire’s core solutions for FIM, SCM, VM and more. Without further ado…

Catching Configuration Changes that Can Lead to Data Exposure

Amazon’s new security issue, which came to light just days before one of its biggest sale events of the year, is making recent headlines. And whilst it probably won’t stop the online retail giant from achieving a profitable Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year, it certainly will make many users stop and think.

Rooted in Security Basics: The Four Pillars of Cyber Hygiene

The term “cyber hygiene” pops up frequently in articles, blogs and discussions about cybersecurity. But what does it really mean? Some say it is an ill-defined set of practices for individuals to follow (or ignore). Others say it is a measure of an organization’s overall commitment to security. Still others – and I am among them – think of “cyber hygiene” as simple, readily available technologies and practices for cybersecurity.

5 Reasons Why Your Business Needs Penetration Testing

Nowadays, high-profile security breaches continue to dominate the media headlines. This trend places an increasing number of businesses at risk. They are growing in amount and complexity while malicious hackers are actively developing new and more sophisticated forms of attacks every single day.

5 Digital Threats to Watch Out for on Black Friday

The end of November is a busy time in the United States. On Thanksgiving, friends and family gather together to give thanks for good food, good company and good fortune. Once they’ve put away the leftovers, many Americans don their coats, head to the malls and wait in line all night. For what? Black Friday, the commencement of the Christmas shopping season.

Cybersecurity Is (Still) Everyone's Job

As noted previously—and as we all know—an organization cannot be secure until the entire workforce is engaged in reducing cyber risks. Each member of the group has the power to harm or to help, since each one has access to information systems, handles sensitive data and makes decisions every day which maintain, erode or strengthen the human “attack surface” of the organization.

The Art and Science of Secure Coding: Key Practices that Stand Out

Flaws in code lines, file system and data input methods make up the core security vulnerability of any application. This is what we address through secure coding practices. Secure coding guidelines stand out as the last battling army before the enemy line of security risks and threats.

How UK Public Sector Organizations Can Craft an Effective Cyber Security Strategy

Organizations in the United Kingdom’s public sector face several challenges in terms of their digital security. Today, these companies must meet an increasing number of regulatory compliance obligations. GDPR likely sits near the top of UK public sector organizations’ list of responsibilities given the penalties they could incur should they fail to adequately protect EU citizens’ personal data.

Achieve CIS Compliance in Cloud, Container and DevOps Environments

If you are embracing DevOps, cloud and containers, you may be at risk if you’re not keeping your security methodologies up to date with these new technologies. New security techniques are required in order to keep up with current technology trends, and the Center for Internet Security (CIS) provides free cybersecurity best practices for many newer platforms.

Infosec Problems For 2019 and Beyond: Patching, Bug Bounties and Hype

Details of a Virtual Box 0-day privilege escalation bug were disclosed on GitHub earlier this week. This was the work of independent Russian security researcher Sergey Zelenyuk, who revealed the vulnerability without any vendor coordination as a form of protest against the current state of security research and bug bounty programs.

Big Data is Big Business: A Growing Trend of User Data Abuse and How to Protect Yourself

May 25, 2018 was the deadline for GDPR compliance. The media was abuzz. Businesses were rushing to update their privacy policy page. Companies were emailing newsletter subscribers to approve updated privacy policies. Everybody seemed to be paying attention to this new law, which appeared to be the beginning of a new dawn in data privacy. Or was it?