The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is tracking a known compromise involving SolarWinds Orion products that are currently being exploited by a malicious actor. An advanced persistent threat (APT) actor is responsible for compromising the SolarWinds Orion software supply chain, as well as widespread abuse of commonly used authentication mechanisms. If left unchecked, this threat actor has the resources, patience, and expertise to resist eviction from compromised networks and continue to hold affected organizations at risk, says CISA.
Meet Ali Golshan, CTO and co-founder at StackRox, a Mountain View, Calif.-based leader in security for containers and Kubernetes. Prior to StackRox, he was the Founder & CTO of Cyphort (acquired by Juniper Networks) and led the company's product strategy and research initiatives. Previously, he worked as a security researcher and engineer at Microsoft and PwC. His career started in government, conducting security and vulnerability research for the intelligence community. Here, we talk to Golshan about the benefits of DevOps.
Modern cloud based security systems and surveillance solutions have come a long way. While some companies continue to rely on the older technology they are accustomed to, traditional systems are continually being phased out in favor of the flexibility offered by cloud-based solutions. Cloud-based systems have a myriad of advantages over older, on-premises security systems, and there is rarely an instance where an on-premises system is preferred over a cloud-based framework when installing a new setup.
Relying on outdated fraud prevention and identification measures will no longer cut it, and businesses that don’t adapt will lag. As people continue to work, collaborate and socialize via their mobile devices, businesses must equip themselves with technology and tools that will prioritize fraud prevention. If not, companies risk losing their customers to those who have invested in more robust solutions.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) published the Resilient Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Conformance Framework today. PNT services, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), is a national critical function that enables many applications within the critical infrastructure sectors. This framework will inform the design and adoption of resilient PNT systems and help critical infrastructure become more resilient to PNT disruptions, such as GPS jamming and spoofing.
COVID-19 has accelerated a variety of global trends. Some of these are perhaps ultimately good, for example moves towards more investment in AI and automation, or a growing focus on taking this opportunity to making lasting changes to benefit the environment. Many others are, however, quite concerning. Continued threats to the global order, the likelihood of states testing the resolve of the new U.S. administration, and increasingly polarized populations are all factors that will dominate 2021.
As organizations bring their employees back to the workplace, many are looking to leverage location technology as a means to increase safety. Return-to-work solutions ranging from digital contact tracing and social distancing monitoring to sanitation alerts and occupancy analytics are being explored and embraced in varying degrees around the world. However, it’s imperative that any technology deployed works a double shift to also provide value in the post-pandemic times. The same location technology infrastructure used to address infection prevention and mitigation can be used to complement and enhance traditional security efforts.
As we have done in previous years, the Security magazine team compiled our favorite articles from this year. As we head into 2021, we hope you take a moment to review some of 2020’s top articles about lessons learned, thought leadership, security challenges and good practices.
The rise of high-profile data breaches and the implementation of data privacy laws have raised awareness that businesses and institutions rely on consumer information. While there is no single, comprehensive U.S. federal data privacy law, there are enough industry-specific compliance regulations in force in addition to HIPAA, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, and a growing number of state privacy laws, that every organization needs to step up and recognize how subject rights requests fit into its data protection and cybersecurity policies.
FEMA and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) creating the Job Corps Emergency Management Advance Training Program (EMATP) recently. This program consists of approximately 12 weeks of advanced emergency management training for Job Corps students to become mission-ready emergency management specialists. The MOU establishes a framework for emergency management capacity building between the two agencies.