Single Security Platform vs. Integrated Best-of-Breed Solutions

/in , /by

 

Comprehensive Malware Protection: The Debate Between Unified Platforms and Best-of-Breed Tools

In the evolving landscape of cybersecurity, organizations must navigate a plethora of threats that can compromise data integrity, steal sensitive information, and disrupt operations. One crucial decision that security teams face is whether to deploy a single security platform or to integrate best-of-breed solutions. Each approach has its own set of risks and benefits, and understanding these can help teams make informed decisions. This blog post will explore the pros and cons of each approach, and provide recommendations for selecting the best solutions to provide comprehensive protection against new and emerging malware threats. 

Read more

Cybersecurity Incident Response: Time is of the Essence

/in , , /by

In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity, the adage “time is of the essence” holds especially true. The speed at which an organization can identify, respond to, and mitigate a cyber attack—known as incident response time—can significantly influence the extent of damage and recovery costs. A rapid response is crucial in minimizing the potential fallout from security breaches. To protect sensitive data, financial assets, and organizational reputation it is essential that the response is not just timely but effective. 

Read more

Reputation Management: Protect Customer Data and Your Image

/in , /by

In today’s interconnected world, where digital presence is as crucial as physical presence, cybersecurity reputation management has emerged as a vital aspect of business strategy. A company’s reputation is not just built on its products or services but also on how well it safeguards its digital assets and customer data. A robust cybersecurity reputation management strategy can protect a business from severe repercussions following a cyber incident. 

Read more

Double Extortion: The Latest Malicious Money Grab

/in , , /by

In recent years, cybersecurity threats have evolved dramatically, with ransomware attacks becoming increasingly sophisticated and damaging. Among the latest trends in this digital arms race is the tactic known as double extortion. This method goes beyond encrypting a victim’s data by also threatening to expose it publicly unless a ransom is paid. Affected organizations thereby suffer double the pressure to comply with the demands. 

Read more

Secure Data Backup: What to Know

/in , /by

Why Backup Your Data? 

In today’s digital age, data is one of the most valuable assets an organization can possess. Compliance fees and reputational damage make the loss of data like financial records, critical business documents, and protected customer information devastating for businesses. This is why data backups are a cornerstone of cybersecurity strategies, ensuring that even in the face of cyber threats, data remains safe and recoverable.  

Read more

Adapting to the Cybersecurity Skills Gap

/in , /by

In today’s digital age, cybersecurity has become paramount for organizations of all sizes. The demand for cybersecurity professionals has surged dramatically due to the growing number and complexity of cyberattacks. But supply has not met demand, as cybersecurity is not a widely popular education choice and is commonly one of the most dropped majors in college. In 2023 there were roughly 4 million cybersecurity professionals needed worldwide. The profession needs to almost double to be at full capacity.  

Read more

Train Employees to Reduce Vulnerability to Phishing

/in , /by

In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity threats, phishing is one of the most pervasive- and successful- attack vectors. This technique preys on human fallibilities rather than exploiting technical vulnerabilities, making it particularly challenging to defend against. According to IBM social engineering, the use of deceptive techniques to trick individuals into divulging sensitive information, accounts for 29% of breaches.   

Read more

Embracing Reality: Managing Cybersecurity Breaches with Resilience

/in , /by

In today’s digital age, the idea of achieving absolute cybersecurity might seem like the Holy Grail. Businesses pour millions into advanced security systems, train employees rigorously, and implement best practices to shield themselves from cyber threats. Yet, the harsh reality persists, cybersecurity breaches are inevitable. Instead of clinging to a zero-tolerance mindset, organizations must pivot towards a strategy focused on resilience and damage control. When a breach happens, and it will, an organization’s ability to restore their mission critical systems and maintain business continuity will be critical to its success. 

Read more

Military OPSEC Strategies to Protect Your Business

/in , /by

 

The military has a vested interest in keeping information secure — and their strategies are worth adopting for private cybersecurity. OPSEC (Operations Security) is an in-depth security and risk management strategy that assesses potential threats and risk to sensitive data and outlines what countermeasures are needed to protect that data and prevent it from getting into the wrong hands. 

Read more

It’s Time to Modernize Your Legacy Applications

/in /by
 

Save time and money — and keep your enterprise systems resilient — with automated testing

Discovering an error in the coding phase of an application costs five times as much to fix versus discovering the same error in the initial planning phase. Leave it till the component testing phase and you’re looking at 10 times the cost.  One of the main threats to businesses and government agencies alike are outdated operating systems. Legacy applications, which make up the majority of business operating systems in the U.S., are chock full of loopholes and vulnerabilities. 10 to 20 twenty years is an eternity in tech time. Catching an error post-release results in a 3,000% increase in cost, so imagine how costly vulnerabilities in dated applications are.

Why It Matters 

Strong cybersecurity platforms protect overall business interests, including critical sales components such as brand and reputation. Security breaches are not only costly, they also damage hard-earned credibility. A single publicized attack — like the recent breach at Ticketmaster [link to social carousel] — can undo a carefully constructed reputation overnight, bringing sales down with it.  76% of consumers are worried about the security of their online data, demonstrating the importance of data privacy in the mind of your customers. 

To Upgrade Or Migrate? 

With all the security challenges presented by legacy systems, it may seem like a no-brainer to simply upgrade and rebuild from the ground up — but legacy software can function as a mainframe application or operating system. Rebuilding requires downtime and pausing business as usual, which can range from highly inconvenient to potentially implausible, depending on the scope of the software’s involvement in routine company functions. Beyond the challenge of overhauling complex systems to an entirely new platform, modern applications are expensive. 

Far more expensive, however, is the fallout from a security breach. The problem with legacy applications is far riskier than a user-experience inconvenience – a single human error can lead to a malware attack more costly than the upkeep of the system. Without a doubt, investing in a new system will offer more holistic protection by safeguarding customer records, critical infrastructure, and IP firewalls. Considering all of the risks of legacy systems, the cost-benefit analysis still tends to lean heavily towards modernizing and migrating legacy applications.  

Modernizing legacy applications preserves the integrity of the original code and critical data points, ultimately re-designing the architecture of the applications to improve functionality and align with modern computing principles. The re-architecting of legacy code resolves many technical limitations, but some challenges still exist. Data interfaces and dependencies, batch schedulers, custom programs, and cybersecurity integration must ensure dependable future functionality and security. 

 Accenture’s latest State of Cyber Resilience report reveals that 18% of companies still only deploy cybersecurity controls as a reactive measure, once vulnerabilities have been flagged. The same report indicates that companies that require cybersecurity controls before new solutions are deployed, apply cybersecurity incrementally as transformation milestones are achieved, and assign cybersecurity representatives to the core transformation team are more resilient and likely to achieve long-term profit growth. As critical as modernization is, the prohibitive cost of replacing a system entirely leads businesses to prefer migration over updating their legacy applications. Modernization serves as the solution to best protect company data given the time and cost constraints that arise. 

The Solution: An Automated Testing Framework 

Many of our cybersecurity experts have walked in your shoes at various points in their careers — eager to rebuild the whole system but stuck in the ongoing process of modernizing and migrating legacy applications. CodeHunter’s automated malware hunting solution prevents the loss of both time and money commonly attributed to manual testing and human error.  Our automated solution outperforms manual testing on all fronts — including accuracy, human resources, and time — and functions with unprecedented accuracy. This allows companies to test their modernization coding for vulnerabilities before it is implemented, drastically reducing the risk of vulnerabilities when the revised system is deployed. In addition, it supports collaboration across team members with a single, integrated platform, and reduces time spent hunting and resolving malware from weeks to mere hours, or even minutes. 

5 HIPAA Cybersecurity Requirements for CISOs

/in , /by

HIPAA Compliance Pays Off

 

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) established privacy standards in the U.S. to protect sensitive data, from your social security number to the exact date and time of your tonsillectomy. Today, lawmakers have developed new HIPAA cybersecurity requirements to protect patients from the ongoing threat of cyberattacks and curb the steep rise in information theft — and non-compliance comes with a hefty price tag.

What CISOs Need to Know about HIPAA Cybersecurity Requirements

A record-setting 1,862 data breaches were reported worldwide last year, up 68% from the previous year. So it’s no wonder companies are being held accountable for the data they collect and store. HIPAA compliance requires hospitals and healthcare organizations to adhere to a handful of different rules to protect sensitive patient information.

1. Privacy

Patients have the right to keep their protected health information (PHI) private. PHI can encompass a variety of information on sensitive topics like diagnoses, appointments, and procedures.

2. Security

Organizations must secure PHI from unauthorized use and distribution. Think insurance information, names, addresses, and the like.

3. Enforcement

Entities protecting PHI must enforce security protocols at all times and initiate investigations in the event of a data breach. The best way to demonstrate this is to create and follow data protection protocols — and keep impeccable records in the event of an attack.

4. Breach Notification

Entities must inform appropriate local and national authorities should a breach occur. Data breach reports must note who contacted whom and what information was shared.

5. Omnibus

The Omnibus Rule updated HIPAA with cybersecurity in mind (thanks to the HITECH Act). The rule clearly states that organizations are liable for their compliance with HIPAA (more below).

 

How to Meet HIPAA Compliance Requirements

With the addition of the HITECH Act to HIPAA, healthcare organizations need to be much more vigilant about maintaining their HIPAA compliance. There are several ways healthcare cybersecurity professionals can stay on top of meeting HIPAA requirements.

Compile a Comprehensive Risk Assessment

It pays to be prepared. Get started by combing through your company’s data collection, processing, and storage methods with your IT team to identify risk factors and exploitable gaps. Use the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) Audit Protocol designed for HIPAA compliance as your road map.

 

Address Risk Factors, and Amend Compliance Gaps

Having completed an audit, prioritize meeting HIPAA’s compliance criteria. Keep updated records on the measures you’re taking and the lengths you’re going to for improvement. In the event of a future cybersecurity breach, you may need to prove in writing that you made every effort possible to protect your data.

Once Everything is in Order, Develop a Process to Keep it That Way

Automated reporting will alert you to any deviations in compliance. Schedule regular training sessions with employees to keep everyone in the know about the latest requirements. Make it a habit to look for ways to improve your defenses, whether that means overhauling your process or just trying out new software. Stagnation is your enemy.

 

HIPAA Violations Levy Heavy Penalties

We know protecting your clients’ information is motivation enough to take cybersecurity seriously, but take a moment to consider how a data breach will affect your organization’s bottom line, especially if you’re out of compliance. Violations are broken down into tiers and, depending on how many records are at risk, the costs are staggering.

Below is a summary of what it could cost a business per record affected if found non-compliant.

Tier 1 Violation — Lack of Knowledge 

An entity is reasonably HIPAA compliant. However, it was unaware of the violation and could not have easily avoided it.

Penalty: $100 – $50,000 per record

 

Tier 2 Violation — Reasonable Cause

An entity is not quite considered neglectful of HIPAA compliance.

Penalty: $1,000 – $50,000 per record

 

Tier 3 — Willful Neglect

An entity is found neglectful of HIPAA compliance; however, it corrects the violations within a stated time period.

Penalty: $10,000 – $50,000 per record.

 

Tier 4 — Willful Neglect (Not Corrected)

An entity is neglectful of HIPAA compliance and does not correct its violations.

Penalty: $50,000 per record, up to an annual maximum of $1.5 million.

 

Get to Work

Follow cutting-edge cybersecurity best practices to prevent data breaches and prepare for the worst-case scenarios. Not only does protecting your data pay off in reputation and preserve trust from your customers — it saves a bundle in legal expenses. If all of that has you sweating, make sure your organization is prepared with cyberattack simulations and cyber wargames to gain some peace of mind.

Want more information on healthcare cybersecurity? Check out these other helpful resources:

Post-Pandemic Banks Should Be Ready to Dump Two-Factor Authentication

/in , /by

What’s the Next Best Cybersecurity Innovation For Banks?

 

Use of TFA (two-factor authentication) goes back to the 1980s, when a key fob generated a numerical code for users to append to their passwords. The evolution of this method worked well for the better part of four decades — outlasting other ’80s innovations like two-pound cellular phones and Members Only jackets — but it’s past time to change the locks on digital defenses, particularly for banks.

This is not to say that all 2FAs are useless — and, since banks are required to use 2FA technology, we’re not suggesting they go completely rogue. The idea behind 2FA isn’t bad — the problem is in its execution. As there’s no digital leash tying the authenticator to the device, hardware tokens are still a viable way to protect access to critical data and systems. The problem is that many 2FAs aren’t using hardware. Even using an authentication app on a phone creates potential avenues for vulnerability, from email phishing to flaws in software features.

Cybersecurity has become too complex since the days of Walkmans and leg warmers for a security system to run on a “set it and forget it” mentality. Constant innovation is a must. The hard truth is SMS-based 2FAs are increasingly easier to hack, leaving millions of bank accounts vulnerable to cybercriminals waiting to pluck their PII — personally identifiable information.

Post-Pandemic Banks CodeHunter | Blog | Should Be Ready to Dump Two-Factor Authentication
 

The Nokia 2021 Threat Intelligence Report notes the increased risk of banking malware threats. Cyber criminals often start with a trojan to snatch one-time passwords with captured keystrokes or overlaying bank login screens. From there, they let themselves into the victim’s mobile bank account. These kinds of malware attacks have been most successful on Android devices because of their open-source code and ubiquity. That’s not to say that Apple’s iOS is fundamentally more secure — if there’s a weakness in any OS, persistent black hats will find it.

Even if a bank account owner is vigilant — protective software, regular OS updates, and a keen eye for phishing emails — there’s the matter of information in transit. Cybercriminals exploited a weakness in Signalling System No. 7 (also known as SS7), a telephony signaling language that allows text messages and phone calls to travel across the globe uninterrupted. Using SS7 to redirect text messages containing one-time passwords from their banks in order to access the accounts, hackers were able to bypass mobile bank 2FAs meant to protect users against unauthorized withdrawals. They then used mobile transaction authentication numbers (mTANs) to drain them. It’s shockingly easy to steal money these days.

While 2FA has its benefits — and it’s certainly better than no protection at all — the inherent problem is that it adds layers of security that can be circumvented once a device is compromised. Banks are under pressure to replace 2FAs with other methods such as adaptive authentication. This method evaluates a user’s login attempt and assigns a risk score based on the device, its location, the user’s role, or any other parameters security personnel set. If the attempt is considered medium risk, the user might be asked to verify certain credentials. If considered high risk, their access can be blocked. Because this process requires machine learning, its algorithms are never static; each user’s behavior, location, IP address, and more are monitored and recorded to proactively detect fraudulent access before it even shows up at the door.

Protecting the assets of a bank’s account holders should be a financial institution’s top priority, and in today’s digital frontier, that means staying multiple steps ahead of cybercriminals.