application security

Report: DHS and FBI Briefing Grid Operators on Sophisticated Cyber Attacks

A spate of reports in recent days has put the media’s attention back on the security of the energy sector and critical infrastructure more broadly. Notably: this CNN report that cites NSA director Admiral Mike Rogers telling the audience at a power grid security conference in San Antonio, Texas in October that “power… is one of the segments that concerns me the most.”   What’s changed? For one: the uptick in ICS-specific malware like BlackEnergy. A spate of attacks based on that malware and others have targeted critical infrastructure players in recent months. According to a confidential memo obtained by CNN, the FBI and DHS are now traveling the country to warn utilities and other critical infrastructure owners about targeted attacks on industrial control systems. Some of those attacks are exploiting previously unknown (or “zero day”)  vulnerabilities in ICS systems, CNN reported. The U.S. Government has been warning about the threat of cyber attacks on […]

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Strategies for Securing Agile Development: An Online Conversation

There’s no question that agile development methods, which emphasize collaboration and shorter, iterative development cycles, are ascendant. Many factors contribute to agile’s growing popularity, from constrained budgets to increased user demands for features and accountability. Though traditionally associated with small and nimble software and services startups, agile methodology has been embraced by organizations across industry verticals – many (like John Deere) whose name doesn’t scream “app store” or “Silicon Valley Startup.” But if agile is here to stay, a nagging question is how to pivot to agile’s fast-paced and iterative release schedules without skimping on important areas like code security. After all, the conventional wisdom is that security slows things down: imposing time- and labor intensive code audits and testing on the otherwise results-driven development cycle. Fortunately, agile and secure development aren’t mutually exclusive. Tomorrow (Thursday), the Security Ledger and Veracode will collaborate on a Hangout and discussion of how to build, automate and deliver secure software using the agile […]

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Automakers Issue Privacy Guidelines For Connected Cars

A group representing some of the leading foreign automakers who sell in the U.S. released guidelines to protect consumer data collected by in-vehicle technologies and make sure that car owners consent to the collection of everything from geolocation data to biometric identifiers. The group, Global Automakers, represents foreign auto manufacturers and original equipment makers (OEMs). The Privacy Principles document (PDF here) include guidance on issues like transparency, anonymity and security and are intended to set ground rules for the collection and use of driver or owner information by increasingly sensor-rich vehicles. “As modern cars not only share the road but will in the not too distant future communicate with one another, vigilance over the privacy of our customers and the security of vehicle systems is an imperative,” said Global Automakers President and CEO John Bozzella in a published statement.  The Privacy Principles are voluntary are are based on the U.S. Federal Trade […]

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Supply Chain Risk Escapes Notice At Many Firms

Online attacks that come by way of suppliers and other third party business partners are one of the biggest threats that modern organizations face. But too few firms are giving supply chain security the attention it deserves, a panel of legal and information security experts told attendees at a cyber security forum in Boston on Wednesday. Companies need to protect their exposure through third parties better, according to the panel: beefing up auditing of internal- and partner assets and including contractual protections that will indemnify them in the event that a breach at a supplier or business partner exposes data that materially affects their firm. The panel, “Fortifying the Supply Chain,” was part of a day long event at The Federal Reserve in Boston and sponsored by the Advanced Cyber Security Center, a technology industry consortium. It brought together top legal and information security experts, including FireEye researcher Alex Lanstein and Jim Halpert, the […]

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Essentials for Visibility-Driven Security

Visibility is surprisingly tricky. The security industry offers many disparate tools to provide customers “visibility” into what is happening on their networks. Among them are tools that track what applications are on the network, tools for enumerating and tracking software vulnerabilities, tools for determining when sensitive data has left a network, tools that indicate when attacks are underway and tools that identify and analyze network data flows – to name just a few. Of course, layered on top of all this “visibility” are further systems that correlate and analyze what the mission-specific tools are seeing. Promises of a “single pane of glass” aside, the result is often a mishmash of data and events that require skilled security practitioners to analyze and interpret. The mishmash, in turn, leads to errors in analysis and prioritization. Albert Einstein famously said  “Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” So it is in the information security industry, where a common refrain is “you can’t protect […]

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