Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Credible Sources CYBR650 Week 2

These first two weeks in the ‘Current Trends in Cybersecurity’ class has made me think beyond my comfort zone, as I have never been involved in any threat modeling during my 25 year plus career in IT. As I delve more into the class and its reading assignments, and look online for related information, I see a rise in cyber threats, even as corporations and organizations continue to spend millions trying to ensure they implement the best security measures.

Looking back at 2017, there was a rapid onslaught of cyber threats. The SC Magazine published a good article on some of the top cybersecurity threats of 2017 https://www.scmagazine.com/the-top-cybersecurity-threats-for-2017/article/720097/ which included the exploit called KRACK (Key Reinstallation AttaCKs). KRACK empowered attackers to access any Wi-Fi device using WPA2 and remotely read and steal sensitive personal information. What was even more troubling, was the DDoS-for-Hire Services being offered online, publicly! Tech Republic published an article on ‘The top 5 cybersecurity threats of 2017’ https://www.techrepublic.com/article/report-the-top-5-cybersecurity-threats-of-2017/ and listed DDoS-for-Hire Services being offered by attackers as a major threat during 2017.

It is not very difficult to identify sources of information for threats, vulnerabilities, updates, and security news; the important thing is to make sure these sources are credible. Several sources I consider to be credible are:

  • https://www.securityweek.com/. This organization provides an all-encompassing set of security news on malware and threats, cybercrime, risk and compliance, and the list goes on. It is a source that I review every week, just so I can stay on top of the latest data breaches and the latest on cybercrime happening around the world.  There is a very interesting article on “the other side of terrorism” https://www.securityweek.com/online-other-side-terrorism which details how terrorism groups are using the latest technology to wage war beyond our physical and geographical barriers.
  • https://www.ftc.gov/. The purpose of the Federal Trade Commission collaborates with law enforcement partners in the United States and around the world to protect consumers and promote competition. They have a very helpful Tips & Advice section for consumers and businesses, and their News & Events section has the latest information on fighting attackers and cyber threats.
  • https://www.fbi.gov/ is probably my favorite place to look for information on threats, vulnerabilities, updates, and the latest security news. The News section on their homepage gives information on their top stories and latest busts, and it brings some idea of comfort, knowing that the government is actively going after attackers. Currently the FBI investigates computer and network intrusions, ransomware, identity theft, etc.: information that is very relevant to companies and consumers.
  • https://csrc.nist.gov/ Computer Resource Security Center contains great publications on threats and vulnerabilities. Their Security and Privacy section contains papers on cryptography, privacy, and risk management among others. The Laws and Regulations identify many federal laws that are applicable to the Information technology industry. NIST also has an Information Technology Lab with monthly newsletters on its projects and activities I particularly enjoy reading their News and Updates section. Their latest article “NIST Releases Report on Fog Computing for Internet of Things Devices” https://csrc.nist.gov/News/2018/Fog-Computing-for-Internet-of-Things-Devices discusses fog computing as an alternative to cloud computing. This is a new concept for me, and it describes fog computing as providing a significant reduction in the amount of time it takes to access data locally.
Stay tuned for more blogs next week!

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