STE WILLIAMS

A few years ago, many people didn’t talk about cybersecurity or even pay much attention to it. These days, it’s a growing source of stress among consumers, who rely on several devices and businesses to protect their data and regularly read reports about major companies getting breached.

More than 80% of Americans, and 72% of Canadians, admit they’ve experienced stress due to news of data breaches, according to a new report on consumer levels of “cyber stress” conducted by Opinion Matters and sponsored by Kaspersky Labs. Researchers polled 2,515 Internet users over the age of 16 to gauge the effects of digital security on their stress levels.

It’s the first time this study has been conducted; however, it follows a gradual and definitive shift in consumer awareness driven by more-frequent reports of cybercrime. The Identity Theft Resource Center says 1,579 data breaches were reported in 2017, marking a 45% increase from the previous year and the highest number since it started tracking this information.

People are thinking more critically about their data and what they can do to protect it. Three-quarters say protecting their devices from cybercrime has caused them stress.

“When cyberattacks and breaches started becoming a regular occurrence in the news, it seemed to be a wake-up call for many consumers to realize that a cybersecurity issue could personally impact them,” says Brian Anderson, vice president at Kaspersky Lab North America.

The turning point, he notes, was the spike in attacks hitting companies people knew and frequented. When large breaches hit Target, Home Depot, and eBay in 2013 and 2014, it made the consequences of poor data security more tangible for consumers affected.

However, the most common sources of stress are not massive one-time breaches, says Anderson. It’s the idea that people have to protect their information all the time because these events could happen at any moment. They understand the real-life effects of a data breach, such as identity theft and monetary loss, and have to protect more devices and accounts.

Respondents ages 25 to 34 were most likely to have had a security issue — virus, ransomware, malicious links, or emails — in the last five years. Nearly 60% of this age group reported one of these problems, compared with 46% of respondents overall. Nearly half of those ages 16 to 24 feel stress over password management, compared with one-quarter of participants older than 55.

“These [younger] age groups faced a comparable amount of cybersecurity issues, but because young people are often managing more passwords and more devices than older generations, cybersecurity is causing them a greater amount of stress,” Anderson explains.

Consumers who have experienced cyberattacks are more likely to worry about them. Of those who reported an issue, one-third agreed they find it stressful to protect all of their devices.

There is a silver lining to the stress. As people become more aware of the need for security, they’re adopting tools like password management software to keep track of their data. Anderson says consumers are becoming more aware of where they share their data, as well as the applications and services that may have more access than is necessary.

Respondents are least willing to share information with social networks (33%), mobile payment services (29%), banking apps (25%), and messaging apps (17%), but they’re also hesitant to share with friends and family. Nearly half (49%) would trust a partner with a username and password; the same amount would share answers for security questions.

That said, greater stress doesn’t necessarily mean people are taking more precautions. Fourteen percent of Americans and 6% of Canadians admit they have experienced four or more cybersecurity issues in the last five years. While they could blame bad luck, researchers say this level of frequency may also indicate failure to adopt security measures.

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• Inside the Two Types of Account Takeover Attacks
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Kelly Sheridan is the Staff Editor at Dark Reading, where she focuses on cybersecurity news and analysis. She is a business technology journalist who previously reported for InformationWeek, where she covered Microsoft, and Insurance Technology, where she covered financial … View Full Bio

Article source: https://www.darkreading.com/endpoint/breaches-drive-consumer-stress-over-cybersecurity/d/d-id/1331693?_mc=rss_x_drr_edt_aud_dr_x_x-rss-simple

While most people traditionally spend the spring deep-scrubbing their bathrooms, cleaning out their garage, and dumping their hoarded detritus, the melodious chirps of colorful birds and a touch of vitamin D shining down on our pale faces are also good signals for security pros to update and renew their company’s information security systems. Here are six places to start:

1. Problematic Patching
If I have to remind you to use spring cleaning for your normal patching, you’re doing it wrong. Most infosec professionals already have a regular monthly patch cycle for normal desktops and servers, but every network has a few problematic servers or devices that do not get patched regularly. Perhaps these are one-off legacy servers running old operating systems for a custom application or a collection of set-and-forget Internet of Things (IoT) devices that aren’t updated regularly.

Whatever they are, now is a time to take care of them. Check the firmware updates on all hardware devices and bring them up to date. If you have any embarrassingly old servers hanging around, take the time to consider a plan to remove them and replace the old custom apps on them. As always, vulnerability and patch management software make this job easier, but don’t forget that these tools don’t always know about your IoT devices.

2. Password Pruning
If you follow password best practices — long random passwords, with different passwords for each application or system — you probably don’t have to change your passwords all that often. On the other hand, digital spring cleaning is still a good time to consider your passwords and those of other users at your company.

Most security pros probably already have a password manager because there is no other good way for a human to remember hundreds of long, complex passwords. If that’s the case, good news! Changing your passwords is simple. Most of these managers have an automated feature that will automatically change all the passwords it can at once. If you still use a single password for all of your logins, or rotate between a few different ones, you should change them and consider setting up a new password manager. Now that you’ve cleaned up your act, consider spearheading an annual company-wide password update initiative or some form of regular password training at your organization each spring.

3. Pare Down Privileges
Network admins and IT workers should already have a formal system in place for adding accounts and privileges for new employees and, more importantly, a formal HR process for removing all those accounts when they leave. Nonetheless, spring cleaning is a great time to audit these accounts and remove any that are unnecessary.

For example, perhaps you set up a temporary account giving a consultant some privileged access but forgot to remove it. Perhaps an employee with job-related privileges on one set of systems moved to a new role and doesn’t need those privileges any longer. These represent potential weak spots in your organization’s security posture if left unaddressed. Whatever the case, use this time to examine your accounts and individual privileges to make sure you adhere to the principle of least privilege.

4. Dispensable Data
In the buzzword age of big data, businesses feel a need to gather and store every piece of data that could possibly be important, hoping that a data scientist might find a way to correlate it and extract value. But data can also be a liability, especially when it technically belongs to someone else.

Every security-conscious company should have gone through at least one data audit to identify the most important data they need to secure. Spring cleaning is a great opportunity to refresh that audit, with an eye focused on dumping any extraneous junk you don’t really need and that could expose you to extra liability.

5. Awareness
When was your last phishing training? If it’s been more than a year, that’s too long. Maybe it’s time for a refresher course focusing on the latest threat trends. While your employees know about phishing, do they know all the subtleties to modern spearphishing emails? Maybe they know file attachments are bad, but do they still trust Word documents too much? Spring is a perfect time for a quick corporate security awareness session.

6. Perished Policies
Many organizations treat firewalls, next-generation firewalls, and unified threat management (UTM) tools like set-and-forget devices. They establish enough policies to get their business working, and then they don’t look at the systems again for months or years. This can cause problems because your network is more dynamic than you suspect and because the threat landscape constantly evolves. As attack methods change, you can and should tweak your security policies in new ways to increase protections.

Besides that, many administrators add temporary policies for legitimate reasons but then forget to remove them. For instance, a contractor needs to transfer files regularly with a remote cohort at his headquarters. To make things easy, IT spins up a temporary FTP server and punches a hole in their firewall to let the contractors reach it remotely. A month later, when the job is done, the administrator has forgotten about the FTP server and policy. Six months later, the forgotten server hasn’t been patched and a hacker leverages a new exploit on it to gain remote access to the entire virtual infrastructure. Not good.

These human errors are why you should add policy purging to your digital spring cleaning task list. The good news is many firewalls and UTMs have features that will show you which policies you use the most and which have remained unused for weeks or months. These sorts of features can help you quickly eradicate any unnecessary gaps in your security.

In short, the sun’s shining and giving you an extra spring in your step. Use that newfound energy to perform these six tasks, and any other small security chores you’ve put off for too long. By next winter, I’m certain you’ll be happy you did!

Related Content:

• 12 Trends Shaping Identity Management
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• Despite Risks, Nearly Half of IT Execs Don’t Rethink Cybersecurity after an Attack

Corey Nachreiner regularly contributes to security publications and speaks internationally at leading industry trade shows like RSA. He has written thousands of security alerts and educational articles and is the primary contributor to the WatchGuard Security Center blog, … View Full Bio

Article source: https://www.darkreading.com/endpoint/spring-clean-your-security-systems-6-places-to-start/a/d-id/1331663?_mc=rss_x_drr_edt_aud_dr_x_x-rss-simple

As the security industry grapples with the consequences of a constrained supply of experienced cybersecurity talent, many pundits have lauded automation as a way out. But a new survey out today shows that many security professionals are experiencing the opposite effect. The more artificial intelligence (AI)- and machine learning-powered tools they bring in, the more they need experienced staff to deal with those tools. 

Conducted by Ponemon Institute on behalf of DomainTools, the study queried over 600 US cybersecurity professionals on the effects of automation on their staffing situations. The results offered up are counterintuitive to general belief that automation will ameliorate the cybersecurity skills gap.

According to the study, 75% of organizations report that their security team is currently understaffed and the same proportion say they have difficulty attracting qualified candidates. Over four in 10 organizations report that the difficulties they’ve faced with recruiting and retaining employees has led to increased investment in cybersecurity automation tools. However, 76% of respondents report that machine learning and AI tools and services aggravate the problem because they increase the need for more highly skilled IT security staff. And only 15% of organizations report that AI is a dependable and trusted security tool for their organization.

This jibes with what a lot of experienced security practitioners have to say about automation. 

“It is very tempting to think that automation will fix a lot of cybersecurity issues. However, automation mechanisms are worthless without a staff which can smartly leverage them and implement them,” says Frank Downs, senior manager of Cyber Information Security Practices at ISACA. “An organization can purchase the most incredible intrusion detection/prevention system in the world. However, if they don’t have the staff to configure, implement, and manage it — it might as well stay uninstalled.” 

That’s not to say that there’s no value in automation, it’s just that the same principle of “GIGO” applies for cybersecurity automation as it does for any other technical system.  

“Automation really helps make the people on the team more effective. There’s no substitute for human flexibility and intuition, so automation lets you take repetitive tasks off the table and enables people do more interesting work,” explains Todd Inskeep, principal for Booz Allen Hamilton and advisory board member for RSA Conference. “That’s important, but one of the first things I learned about computers — ‘GIGO,’ or ‘garbage in, garbage out’ — still applies with automation and machine intelligence.” 

The other issue is that automation tends to follow a maturity path where the most automated systems are never fully up to date with the timeliest threat trends. As a result, there always need to be experienced humans who are adaptable enough to deal with the unknown threats of tomorrow, says Lucas Moody, CISO for Palo Alto Networks.

“If you break it down, automation is about taking care of yesterday’s problems. We are automating what we’ve mastered and what we understand well,” says Moody. “In order to tackle tomorrow’s challenges, we need to hire professionals who are strategic, creative, and adaptable. We’re really looking for those individuals who thrive on change and problem-solving.” 

Related Content:

• AI in Cybersecurity: Where We Stand Where We Need to Go
• 77% of Businesses Lack Proper Incident Response Plans
• From DevOps to DevSecOps: Structuring Communication for Better Security

Ericka Chickowski specializes in coverage of information technology and business innovation. She has focused on information security for the better part of a decade and regularly writes about the security industry as a contributor to Dark Reading.  View Full Bio

Article source: https://www.darkreading.com/careers-and-people/automation-exacerbates-cybersecurity-skills-gap/d/d-id/1331697?_mc=rss_x_drr_edt_aud_dr_x_x-rss-simple

If your website has a login page, chances are good that it’s targeted in account takeover attacks. Nearly all (96%) websites with login pages have bad bots and are hit with account takeover attempts, report researchers from the Distil Networks Research Lab.

Login pages are among the most abused Web pages, a finding from the 2017 Bad Bot report that prompted the research team to analyze the anatomy of account takeover attacks in greater depth. They studied data from 600 domains with login pages and pulled a smaller subset of 100 Web pages, which had the largest data sets of bad bot traffic, to study them further.

Account takeover attempts are intended to test credentials for validity. If they’re legitimate, attackers sell the usernames and passwords on the Dark Web or gain account access to pilfer personal or financial information and sell that instead. Alternatively, they could use the account to transfer money, purchase goods or services, or spread disinformation campaigns.

There are two types of account takeover attempts and they occur at about the same frequency, researchers report. Half are volumetric, meaning the bot floods the login page with credentials in an attempt to verify them as soon as possible. These “credential-stuffing” attacks are easy to identify because they’re accompanied by a spike in activity: the average credential stuffing attack will involve 35,000 to 50,000 requests and between 500% and 5,000% increase in login page traffic.

While they’re easier for businesses to detect, volumetric attempts have the benefit of immediate gratification to perpetrators. “If you suddenly see a massive increase in failed logins, it’s indicative of a volumetric attack,” says Edward Roberts, Distil’s director of product marketing. “If they can do that quickly and check with various sites across the Web, there’s a benefit.”

Volumetric attempts increase 300% after data breaches, when large amounts of credentials are made readily available to attackers. Bot operators assume two things: recently stolen credentials will still be active, and that people reuse their credentials across several websites. Researchers detected 17 volumetric credential stuffing attacks per day. The average number of attacks per organization is two to three per month; however, some sites are hit with as many as 10.

The other half of account takeover attempts are “low and slow,” otherwise known as “credential cracking and stuffing” attacks. In these, bad bots consistently deliver login requests 24/7. They’re slower-paced and because of that, it’s tougher for businesses to pick up on them.

Volumetric attacks usually occur within a set time frame. Low and slow attempts rely on an ongoing stream of malicious requests. They have no distinct beginning or end.

Sites with login pages are likely to get hit, says Roberts, who notes airlines, e-commerce sites, and financial companies are often targeted. Attempts range from simple ones, which generate significant traffic per device, to sophisticated attacks with as few as two requests per device.

“In terms of the difference here, it’s about how they are trying to hide themselves and how they’re trying to be evasive,” he explains. As they get more sophisticated, attackers make a greater effort to fly under organizations’ radar.

Businesses can mitigate simple account takeover attempts by blocking IP addresses, IP organizations, or traffic from specific countries. Moderate attempts can be mitigated by blocking the device fingerprint. Sophisticated attacks are best addressed by using deep interrogation to verify the legitimacy of each request, researchers report.

Researchers noticed a few key trends in how attackers plan account takeover attempts. These attacks usually happen at a predetermined frequency; for example, sites hit with attacks on Wednesday will also experience their next attack on a Wednesday. Often, they conduct a “test round” to gauge the effectiveness of their bots ahead of a large attack. Attempts were also more likely to happen on Fridays and Saturdays, when most security teams are offline.

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Kelly Sheridan is the Staff Editor at Dark Reading, where she focuses on cybersecurity news and analysis. She is a business technology journalist who previously reported for InformationWeek, where she covered Microsoft, and Insurance Technology, where she covered financial … View Full Bio

Article source: https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities---threats/inside-the-two-types-of-account-takeover-attacks/d/d-id/1331690?_mc=rss_x_drr_edt_aud_dr_x_x-rss-simple