October 23, 2017
Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities Database
And the longer we take to publish the vulnerabilities with the patch/fix, the more time the hackers have to exploit it!
Generally, the U.S. is lagging China in publishing the vulnerabilities by a whopping 20-days!
Additionally, China's database has thousands of vulnerabilities identified that don't appear in the U.S. version.
Hence, hackers can find the vulnerabilities on the Chinese database and then have almost three weeks or more to target our unpatched systems before we can potentially catch up in not only publishing but also remediating them.
Why the lag and disparity in reporting between their systems and ours?
China uses a "wider variety of sources and methods" for reporting, while the U.S. process focuses more on ensuring the reliability of reporting sources--hence, it's a "trade-off between speed and accuracy."
For reference:
The Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology publishes the vulnerabilities in the National Vulnerability Database (NVD).
And the NCD is built off of a "catalog of Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) maintained by the nonprofit Mitre Corp."
Unfortunately, when it comes to cybersecurity, speed is critical.
If we don't do vastly better, we can be cyber "dead right" before we even get the information that we were vulnerable and wrong in our cyber posture to begin with. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
October 19, 2017
Never Ever More Vulnerable
As we all know, our cybersecurity have not kept near pace with our ever growing reliance on everything technology.
There is virtually nothing we do now-a-days that does not involve networks, chips, and bits and bytes.
Energy
Transportation
Agriculture
Banking
Commerce
Health
Defense
Manufacturing
Telecommunications
If ANYTHING serious happens to cripple our technology base, we are toast!
From a crippling cyberattack that disables or hijacks our systems, steals or locks down our data, or creates massive chaotic misinformation flow to a EMP blast that simply fries all our electronic circuitry--we are at the mercy of our technology underpinnings.
Don't think it cannot happen!
Whether it's Wannacry ransonware or the Equifax breach of our privacy data or the Kaspersky Labs hidden backdoor to our top secret files or North Korea threatening to hit us with an EMP--these are just a few of the recent cyber events of 2017!
Technology is both a blessing and a curse--we have more capability, more speed, more convenience, more cost-effectiveness than ever before, but also there is greater vulnerability to complete and utter death and destruction!
This is not just a risk that life could become more difficult or inconvenient--it is literally an existential threat, but who wants to think of it that way?
People, property, and our very society is at risk when our cybersecurity is not what it must be.
It's a race of defensive against offensive capability.
And we can't just play defense, we had better actually win at this! ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Never Ever More Vulnerable
April 12, 2016
Turn, Press, Pull -- Gonna Get Ya
Turn, Press, Pull -- Gonna Get Ya
June 10, 2014
I Like That Technology
It's cheaper, it's faster, "every employee is a technologist," and those organizations "concerned about the security issues of shadow IT are missing the point; the bigger risk is not embracing it in the first place."
How very bold or stupid?
Let everyone buy whatever they want when they want--behavior akin to little children running wild in a candy store.
So I guess that means...
- Enterprise architecture planning...not important.
- Sound IT governance...hogwash.
- A good business case...na, money's no object.
- Enterprise solutions...what for?
- Technical standards...a joke.
- Interoperability...who cares?
- Security...ah, it just happens!
Well, Mims just got rids of decades of IT best practices, because he puts all his faith in the cloud.
It's not that there isn't a special place for cloud computing, BYOD, and end-user innovation, it's just that creating enterprise IT chaos and security cockiness will most-assuredly backfire.
From my experience, a hybrid governance model works best--where the CIO provides for the IT infrastructure, enterprise solutions, and architecture and governance, while the business units identify their specific requirements on the front line and ensure these are met timely and flexibly.
The CIO can ensure a balance between disciplined IT decision-making with agility on day-to-day needs.
Yes, the heavens will not fall down when the business units and IT work together collaboratively.
While it may be chic to do what you want when you want with IT, there will come a time, when people like Mims will be crying for the CIO to come save them from their freewheeling, silly little indiscretions.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
I Like That Technology
May 6, 2013
Learning IT Security By Consequences
This is a brilliant little video on IT Security.
What I like about it is that it doesn't just tell you what not to do to stay safe, but rather it shows you the consequences of not doing the right things.
Whether you are letting someone into your office, allowing them borrow your badge, leaving your computer unsecured, posting your passwords, and more--this short animated video shows you how these vulnerabilities will be exploited.
It is also effective how they show "Larry" doing these security no-no's with signs everywhere saying don't do this.
Finally, the video does a nice job summing up key points at the end to reinforce what you learned.
I think that while this is simpler than many longer and more detailed security videos that I have seen, in a way it is more successful delivering the message in a practical, down-to-earth approach that anyone can quickly learn core basic practices from.
Moreover, this video could be expanded to teach additional useful IT security tips, such as password strengthening, social engineering, and much more.
I believe that even Larry, the unsuspecting office guy, can learn his lesson here. ;-)
(Note: This is not an endorsement of any product or service.)
Learning IT Security By Consequences
October 12, 2012
Cloud $ Confusion
No, I am not talking about the definition of cloud (which dogged many for quite some time), but the cost-savings or the elusiveness of them related to cloud computing.
On one hand, we have the Federal Cloud Computing Strategy, which estimated that 25% of the Federal IT Budget of $80 billion could move to the cloud and NextGov (Sept 2012) reported that the Federal CIO told a senate panel in May 2011 that with Cloud, the government would save a minimum of $5 billion annually.
Next we have bombastic estimates of cost savings from the likes of the MeriTalk Cloud Computing Exchange that estimates about $5.5 billion in savings so far annually (7% of the Federal IT budget) and that this could grow to $12 billion (or 15% of the IT budget) within 3 years, as quoted in an article in Forbes (April 2012) or as much as $16.6 billion annually as quoted in the NextGov article--more than triple the estimated savings that even OMB put out.
On the other hand, we have a raft of recent articles questioning the ability to get to these savings, federal managers and the private sector's belief in them, and even the ability to accurately calculate and report on them.
- Federal Computer Week (1 Feb 2012)--"Federal managers doubt cloud computing's cost-savings claims" and that "most respondents were also not sold on the promises of cloud computing as a long-term money saver."
- Federal Times (8 October 2012)--"Is the cloud overhyped? predicted savings hard to verify" and a table included show projected cloud-saving goals of only about $16 million per year across 9 Federal agencies.
- CIO Magazine (15 March 2012)--"Despite Predictions to the Contrary, Exchange Holds Off Gmail in D.C." cites how with a pilot of 300 users, they found Gmail didn't even pass the "as good or better" test.
- ComputerWorld (7 September 2012)--"GM to hire 10,000 IT pros as it 'insources' work" so majority of work is done by GM employees and enables the business.
Aside from the cost-savings and mission satisfaction with cloud services, there is still the issue of security, where according to the article in Forbes from this year, still "A majority of IT managers, 85%, say they are worried about the security implications of moving to their operations to the cloud," with most applications being moved being things like collaboration and conferencing tools, email, and administrative applications--this is not primarily the high value mission-driven systems of the organization.
Evidently, there continues to be a huge disconnect being the hype and the reality of cloud computing.
One thing is for sure--it's time to stop making up cost-saving numbers to score points inside one's agency or outside.
One way to promote more accurate reporting is to require documentation substantiating the cost-savings by showing the before and after costs, and oh yeah including the migration costs too and all the planning that goes into it.
Another more drastic way is to take the claimed savings back to the Treasury and the taxpayer.
Only with accurate reporting and transparency can we make good business decisions about what the real cost-benefits are of moving to the cloud and therefore, what actually should be moved there.
While there is an intuitiveness that we will reduce costs and achieve efficiencies by using shared services, leveraging service providers with core IT expertise, and by paying for only what we use, we still need to know the accurate numbers and risks to gauge the true net benefits of cloud.
It's either know what you are actually getting or just go with what sounds good and try to pull out a cookie--how would you proceed?
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Cloud $ Confusion
June 5, 2012
SDLC On Target
The paper describes and nicely diagrams out the various SDLC frameworks:
- Waterfall
- Incremental
- Iterative
- Spiral
- RAD
- Agile
It also provides a chart of the advantages and disadvantages of each framework.
Finally, there is a simple decision cube (D3) based on time horizon, budget, and functionality for selecting an SDLC framework.
This is a very useful and practical analysis for implementing SDLC, and it aligns closely with the guidance from the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-64, "Security Considerations in the Systems Development Life Cycle" Appendix E that states:
"The expected size and complexity of the system, the development schedule, and the anticipated length of a system's life may affect the choice of which SDLC model to use."
While NIST focuses on the time horizon and complexity versus the PM Solutions Decision Cube that uses time horizon, budget, and functionality, the notion of tailoring SDLC to the project is both consistent and valuable.
Just one more resource that I found particularly good is the Department of Labor IT Project Management guidance (2002)--it is a best practice from the Federal CIO website.
I like how it integrates SDLC, IT Project Management, IT Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC), and security and privacy into a cohesive guide.
It also establishes project "thresholds" to differentiate larger or more significant projects with greater impact from others and calls these out for "more intensive review."
Even though these these resources are around a decade old, to me they are classic (in a good sense) and remain relevant and useful to developing systems that are on target.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
SDLC On Target
November 27, 2011
Running IT as an Ecosystem
Running IT as an Ecosystem
November 3, 2011
Cloud, Not A Slam Dunk
Cloud, Not A Slam Dunk
October 20, 2011
Be Careful What You Point That At
By reading the QR code, you don't have to remember or type any information into your smartphone--your just zipped right off to wherever the QR points you (usually after you confirm on the screen that you are okay with going to the URL).
Be Careful What You Point That At
October 14, 2011
EMP Cybergeddon
The Economist (15 October 2011) in an article called Frying Tonight describes how "warfare is changing as weapons that destroy electronics, not people, are deployed on the field of battle."
Here a brief summary:
During the Cold War, the notion was to explode an atom bomb high in the atmosphere (i.e. a High-Altitude EMP or HEMP) "to burn out an enemies electrical grid, telephone network, and possibly even the wiring of his motor vehicles."
Today, that principle is being applied in smaller weapons using microwaves---from powerful batteries or reactive chemicals that generate high-energy radio frequencies.
By zapping electronics, EMPs can take down enemy missiles, destroy command, control, and communications capability, and stop in their tracks everything from enemy tanks to planes and speed boats.
EMP weapons are already being deployed:
- Fighter planes are being developed with EMP capabilities using the active electronically scanned array (AESA) as defensive weapons against air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, while other planes (like the "Growler") are being outfitted with offensive EMP capabilities.
- Ships too are being armed with EMP guns to defend against high-speed boat "swarms" or to defend against pirates.
- Land vehicles will be armed with EMP cannons such as the Radio-Frequency Vehicle Stopper that can stall enemy vehicles' engines or the Active Denial System used as a heat-ray to disperse crowds.
At the same time, defenses against EMPs are being deployed, such as Faradays cages--which are enclosures of conducting material often in a mesh pattern that protects electrical equipment from getting fried.
What is important to note though is that EMPs are not just battlefield weapons--they can take out our everyday electrical and cyber systems.
A Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report to Congress (21 July 2008) called High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) and High Power Microwave (HPM) Devices: Threat Assessments states "Several nations, including sponsors of terrorism, may currently have a capability to use EMP as a weapon for cyber warfare or cyber terrorism to disrupt communications and other parts of the U.S. critical infrastructure."
The EMP Commission reported that EMP "creates the possibility of long-term, catastrophic consequences for national security."
One of the major concerns is the "cascading effects" that a loss of electrical infrastructure would cause in terms of people being unable to obtain basic life necessities and thereby resulting in that "many people may ultimately die."
The report finds EMP weapons to be an "attractive asymmetric option" for our adversaries, and that analysts find that "it could possibly take years for the United States to recover fully from the resulting widespread damage."
Therefore, it is critical that we increase our cyber security capabilities not only in terms of fighting conventional malware attacks from within the cyber realm, but we must be thinking in ernest about energy weapons directed at us from without.
We must continue to harden our defenses, invest in new technologies and countermeasures to thwart the enemy, develop punishing offensive capabilities, as well as prepare for the possibility of a strike against our homeland.
Although called "human-safe" (and aside from the traditional weapons of mass destruction), EMPs may be actually one of the most devastating weapons of all to a society dependent of technology.
(Source Photo: here)
EMP Cybergeddon
October 13, 2011
Increase Security On Your Google Account
After reading the article Hacked! in The Atlantic (November 2011), I looked into Google's new security feature called 2-Step Verification (a.k.a. Two Factor Authentication).
Increase Security On Your Google Account
September 9, 2011
Visualizing IT Security
Visualizing IT Security
August 20, 2011
Cloud Second, Security First
Cloud Second, Security First
July 30, 2011
Sensors, Sensors Everywhere
Sensors will soon be everywhere--waiting, watching, and working to capture information about you and the environment we inhabit.
Sensors, Sensors Everywhere
July 23, 2011
Getting To Swift Cyber Justice
The first Department of Defense Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace is out (July 2011).
- "DoD is particularly concerned with three areas of potential adversarial activity: theft or exploitation of data; disruption or denial or service of access or service..., and the destructive action--including corruption, manipulation, or direct activity that threatens to destroy or degrade network or connected systems."
- "Cyber threats to U.S. national security go well beyond military targets and affects all aspects of society. Hackers and foreign governments are increasingly able to launch sophisticated intrusions into the networks and systems that control civilian infrastructure."
- "Every year, an amount of intellectual property larger than that contained in the Library of Congress is stolen from networks maintained by U.S. businesses, universities, and government departments and agencies."
Getting To Swift Cyber Justice
June 19, 2011
Crashing The Internet--Are We Prepared?
Almost week after week, I read and hear about the dangers of cyber attacks and whether "the big one" is coming.
Just last week, the Federal Times (13 June 2011) wrote that the "U.S. government computer networks are attacked about 1.8 billion times per month."
Crashing The Internet--Are We Prepared?
January 22, 2011
When My Friend Got Hacked
True story.
So an old friend of mine had his account hacked on Facebook.
And the hacker is sending chat messages to my friend’s Facebook contacts—like me—pretending to be him—with his picture and name and all his online information.
He says that he is stuck in London, just got mugged—at gunpoint—losing his money and phone and needs my help.
At first, I’m thinking oh crap; my friend is in trouble and needs me. Then, I’m like wait a second, he’s pulling my leg. So I ask “are you joking?”
The hacker—pretending to be my friend—continues how it was such a terrible experience, but thank G-d they are still alive.
I’m on the other end of this chat—and questioning now if this person is really who they say they are—despite the REAL picture and profile.
I ask who are you with?
The hacker replies with the name of my friend’s wife. Her real name!
And the hacker continues with the mugging story and how they are leaving in a few hours for their return flight to the States, but need help.
Ok, I am happy to help my friends, but I want to know this is really my friend. Behind the scenes, I am contacting other mutual friends, family and so on to verify this story and resolve this.
On the chat, I ask—can you tell me something that only the two of us would know?
The hacker starts flipping out and gives me "?!?!?!...."
I repeat my question and ask if the hacker understands.
The hacker responds that they do.
And then ignoring my questioning, proceeds with the storyline asking me to wire money and that it will be okay, because they will need identification to retrieve the wire.
Now I ignore the hacker’s request and go back to my question about who this person on the other end of the chat really is?
No response.
"U there?"
Hacker is offline...for now.
When My Friend Got Hacked