A recent gathering of global cybersecurity professionals has unearthed the latest attack scenarios that hackers use to infiltrate corporate networks. But contrary to the hopes of misguided potential victims, no silver bullet or software guarantee will completely protect them.
RSA Conference (RSAC) presenters focused on increasing demand for implementing the zero-trust philosophy. Presenters urged network managers to educate their employees about digital identity proofing. This includes securing the data points needed to practically spread digital ID proofing solutions.
Another major cause of network breaches is organizations integrating their on-premises environments into their cloud environments. This makes the cloud prone to various on-premise generated attacks.
“The RSA Conference plays a vital role in bringing the cyber security industry closer together. As cyber attacks grow in frequency and sophistication, it is imperative that public and private sector practitioners and experts are able to address today’s greatest challenges. Be called upon to hear unique perspectives to help,” commented RSA Conference Vice President Linda Gray Martin.
RSAC provides a year-round platform for the community to engage with, learn from and access cyber security content. That process is available online and at in-person events.
According to the RSAC, better cyber security will come only with a greater focus on threat hunting activities along with authentication, identity and access management.
head in charge
RSA Federal President Kevin Orr oversees the deployment of security, specifically identity access management tools, for federal and commercial customers. His company has its roots in the early days of cybersecurity security.
At this year’s RSA conference and related Public Sector Day, he had the opportunity to speak with leaders in the government and enterprise cybersecurity sector. He discussed his comments on the state of cyber security with TechNewsWorld.
RSA Federal is an identity and access management (IAM) solutions firm that began as a cybersecurity section within Dell Computer Company. Today, it has contracts with some of the most security-sensitive organizations in the world.
Important among the tech firm now known as RSA Federal LLC and the name of one of the leading encryption technology algorithms. RSA provides security services and solutions to customers throughout the federal public sector ecosystem.
RSA is a public-key encryption technology developed by RSA Data Security, which was founded in 1982 to commercialize the technology. The acronym Rivest stands for Shamir and Edelman, the three MIT cryptographers who developed RSA public key cryptography.
long-standing convention roots
A series of RSA company sales have positioned it to capitalize on a growing need for cybersecurity specialists. Security Dynamics bought the company in 1982. Dell later acquired RSA from EMC in 2006. A consortium of private equity investors led by Symphony Technology Group bought RSA from Dell in 2020.
The sales reflected both RSA’s and Dell’s corporate strategies. This allowed RSA to focus on security-first organizations, while Dell pursued its product strategy, according to Orr.
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The annual RSAC event is an important gathering for the computer security community. It is considered the world’s leading information security conference and exhibition. Originally scheduled for February 7–10, world events led to it being rescheduled for June 6–9 at The Moscone Center in San Francisco.
RSA Federal is not a conference sponsor. However, its representatives participate in panels, showcases and speeches throughout the event.
This year’s 31st annual conference was the first to be held as a standalone, independent business since the investment from Crosspoint Capital Partners in March. The event was attended by over 26,000 attendees, including over 26,000 speakers, 400 exhibitors and over 400 members of the media.
notable takeaway
According to Orr, the biggest takeaways for cybersecurity were placed in key addresses. Security was impacted by a rapid digital transformation.
This change happened rapidly due to the pandemic. This forced it to accelerate partnerships with people working away from home.
The disruption of change in the physical world is now creating a digital ripple across the entire supply chain. Better supply chain security is needed to prevent tampering within its technology.
“Another major theme was the role played by massive propaganda. We are in a hyper-connected world. The propaganda blurs how people separate fact from fiction,” Orr said. This continues to influence the use of technology.
Perhaps one of the most damaging effects is a lack of deteriorating talent. He said that not enough people are skilled to deal with cyber security threats and what needs to be done within the cyber security domain.
Attacks are on the rise now with many different factors. In a previous world, we were all sitting behind a firewall in a corporation, Orr noted. Security teams can keep tabs on the good guys and the bad guys, except maybe insiders.
“The firewalls disappeared as soon as we went mobile from the pandemic. Your personal limit of security has disappeared. Some of that boundary needs to be built around identity,” he urged.
Identity border protection
From Orr’s catbird seat in the world of cybersecurity, he sees how preventing identity breaches is now necessary. Organizations must know who is connecting to their network. Security teams need to know what the detection does, where they are in the network, and what access they should have to see. In this globalized world, those derailments really changed things.
“The attack vectors also became realised. The attack vectors have really changed,” Orr said.
Network managers must now look at the danger areas and figure out how and where to spend the money. They also need to learn the techniques available and more importantly know that the attack surface is large.
“That means they need additional sets of people or different sets of skills to come across these open issues and address them,” Orr said.
Those decisions also include ROI factors. He further added that what is really driving the security question is that generally a corporate expense should have a return on investment.
Ransomware Gone Rogue
The rise of ransomware attacks sucks money from businesses. Initially the strategy was not to pay the ransom demand. From Orr’s point of view the better strategy now depends on the circumstances.
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Either way, the victims of the ransom pay and hope for the best. Or they refuse to pay and still hope for the best. There must be a plan for the worst in the game.
“I think it is a personal decision depending on the situation. Now one size does not fit all. You have to see what the bad guys have and what they value. The big question is how to stop it from happening all the time,” he said.
lack of software options
The cyber security industry is not only facing a shortage of talent. Advanced equipment may be lacking.
“I think there’s a lot of basic technologies. I’ll start with the stuff first. Take a look at the truth. For some types of organizations cybersecurity products aren’t really something you can buy. First Step Click on Phishing Attempts Have to learn not to do,” Orr advised.
The solution starts with education. Then it continues with placing some parameters. Determine what your most valuable data is. Next research how to keep it safe. How do you monitor it?
“Cyber security is really a layered approach,” Orr warned.
never trust, always challenge
That was a big topic of the security conference, he continued. Part of the big change is not being able to trust network visitors.
“It was the kind of thing that has really changed now, not to be trusted. There is always the essential approach to verify. Now you are looking at things differently,” he observed.
We are making good progress. The difference is that we are now preparing for a cyberattack, he concluded.
