In the cybersecurity world, there are acronyms for everything from certifications, tools, compliance requirements, and agencies. Today, we continue exploring the various agencies that exist and what they offer to the cybersecurity world with a deep dive on the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council or “FFIEC“. FFIEC History The FFIEC was established on March 10, […]
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act or GLBA is also known as the Financial Modernization Act of 1999. The GLBA requires companies defined under the law as “financial institutions” to ensure the security and confidentiality of consumer’s financial information. As part of its implementation of the GLBA, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued the Safeguards Rule, which requires […]
Today, we look at 2 dangers of shared accounts. Many compliance requirements, for example PCI DSS, require users to have unique accounts and prohibits the use of shared accounts. However, rather than blindly complying with the requirement, let’s take a look at why this is important. First, shared accounts have shared passwords. In other words, […]
In today’s blog, we are going to take a look at a key concept in information security: nonrepudiation. Simply put, nonrepudiation is the assurance that someone cannot deny an action they took. This can apply to an email, for example. If the sender sends the message with a digital signature, this proves that the sender […]
Measuring the effectiveness of a penetration test is tough. Everyone has a different method to determine if a penetration test was “effective”. We recently completed an assessment for a client that came back with over 100 vulnerabilities. They had the exact same penetration test performed the prior year by a different firm and had less […]
The users who are in your domain administrators group have the keys to the kingdom. With few exceptions (non-Windows systems), they can access any system and any file in your network. This includes the privacy information, HR information, and intellectual property that you are trying to protect. As such, the domain administrators group must be […]
Ever wonder how companies get away with selling dirt cheap penetration tests? Odds are they are outsourcing the work to offshore engineers in other countries. I’m sure there are some great penetration testing companies that are using offshore resources and I know there are great companies that are headquartered in places besides the United States, […]
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) is a not-for-profit international regulatory authority whose mission is to assure the effective and efficient reduction of risks to the reliability and security of the grid. NERC develops and enforces Reliability Standards; annually assesses seasonal and long‐term reliability; monitors the bulk power system through system awareness; and educates, […]
One of the questions we get most when at hiring events, conferences, trade shows, etc. is how can someone get into penetration testing or break into the industry as a penetration tester? There are many avenues to becoming a penetration tester, but today we will touch on a few strategies to help get your foot […]
We have clients reaching out for a penetration test with a myriad of different drivers for needing to complete the assessment. Sometimes, clients know what they need and why they need it. Other times, they are looking for coaching as to what they should get done and what that particular test will achieve. Today, we […]
