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The Reasons Why Cyberattack Surfaces Are Rising

Aashish Yadav | July 8, 2022 | 1066 views | Read Time : 2 min

The Reasons Why Cyberattack Surfaces Are Rising
Increased cyber assets result in growing attack surfaces. So much so that, according to a recent Gartner analysis, the number one security and risk management trend today is attack surface growth.

Businesses and security executives must update security policies and processes to prevent growing dangers when new technologies and cyber environments are adopted. Let's discuss the reasons for attack surface growth and how to rethink cyber asset protection in light of them.


Reasons Behind Attack Surface Expansion


The Multi-Cloud Trend Is Rapidly Expanding

Modern businesses are using the cloud to stay up with digital innovation and meet market expectations. For organizations in many locations, a single public cloud provider is no longer appropriate.

Choosing one that satisfies organizational demands is difficult. This simple problem-solution gave many organizations the multi-cloud trend.

Gartner found that 81% of respondents use two or more cloud services.

Multi-cloud is also used to maintain a vendor-agnostic approach and prevent vendor lock-in. To remain ahead of the competition, numerous vendors provide best-of-breed solutions. This is a huge benefit for multi-cloud adopters.


For Ever-Growing SaaS Toolchains, Visibility Is an Issue

More than 150 SaaS apps are used by companies with 1,000+ employees.

Modern businesses embrace more SaaS apps to speed up their workflows. However, as SaaS adoption expands, so do businesses' attack surfaces. The following are the key reasons for SaaS security:

  • Misconfigurations
  • The absence of robust identity and access management system
  • Inadequate disaster recovery planning
  • Problems with data retention
  • Breach of privacy and data security
  • Inability to satisfy regulatory compliance

To keep up with SaaS platforms, businesses must have scalable security and compliance policies.


CAASM Automates Security Gap Identification

According to Gartner, Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM), Digital Risk Protection Services (DRPS), and External Attack Surface Management (EASM) will enable CISOs to safeguard environments against expanding attack surfaces.

CAASM will help security teams in particular to:

  • Gain insight over the cloud and SaaS cyber assets
  • Automatically fill security loopholes.
  • Accelerate incident reaction and clean-up


Closing Lines

As the attack surface rises, so does the amount of cybercrime that occurs. According to the FBI, cyberattacks have risen 400% since the pandemic began, making it essential to detect and minimize cyberthreats for business's health and future. To defend your company from rising dangers, you must detect gaps in time and adapt to the digital world. There are more targets for attackers to strike since organizational attack surfaces are constantly growing.

Spotlight

Network Intelligence (I) Pvt. Ltd.

Network Intelligence, incorporated in 2001, is ISO 27001, PCI-QSA company a committed and well-recognized provider of services, solutions and products in the IT Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance space. Our professionals have made a mark for themselves with highly satisfied clients all across the globe supported by our offices in India and the Middle East. As an ISO 27001-certified company ourselves, we are strongly positioned to understand your needs and deliver the right answers to your security and compliance requirements. We have won accolades at numerous national and international forums and conferences. Our work truly speaks for itself and our clients are the strongest testimony to the quality of our services!

OTHER ARTICLES
DATA SECURITY, PLATFORM SECURITY, SOFTWARE SECURITY

The Great CISO Resignation

Article | August 20, 2022

CISOs Are Leaving in Droves The Great Resignation has been front-page news since Covid lockdowns, with many employees looking for the work-life balance they enjoyed at the time. Now, the phenomenon has spread to the role of Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and shows no signs of letting up. In fact, industry experts predict that it is likely to worsen. A recent study from cybersecurity company BlackFog found that 32% of CISOs in the U.K. and U.S. have considered leaving and many planned to do so in just six months. The majority noted that the top reason for leaving was a lack of work-life balance. The CISO role is demanding, with firefighting and frequent changes in regulations and customer expectations taking up significant time both on and off the job. In another recent study in which 581 CISOs were surveyed, the IANS Research and Artico Search explored CISO compensation and job satisfaction. Three-fourths of CISOs are satisfied with their job, which is 7% higher than in the 2021 sample and more than double that of the 2020 sample. The main drivers of satisfaction are compensation, budget, executive visibility, and organizational support. However, despite high satisfaction numbers, the study found that as many as 44% of respondents are considering a job change. CISO Challenges LIABILITY AND EXPOSURE OF THE CISO There is a perception that CISOs face heightened liability for cyber intrusions and the response to cyber events. One extraordinary example is the recent conviction of Uber’s former security officer, which represents the first time a security executive has faced federal crime prosecution over a data security response. In this case the finding was that he obstructed justice by concealing information about a breach, destroying data, and covering up the incident. CISOs are often in the hot seat when it comes to cyber-intrusions and how they are handled. The Board of Directors (possibly including named corporate officers) in most cases are protected by being diligent about the Business Judgement Rule (BJR). Heavily adopted in Delaware case law and since adopted in various forms in many states, this “rule” stipulates that proper oversight includes demonstrating the duty of loyalty (no conflicting interests) and duty of care (make informed decisions) to be protected from liability. There are few cases (although Enron being one) where liability was found but it was for illegalities and poor business judgment. Since CISOs are not named corporate officers in most cases, BJR does not provide comfort. Similarly, liability insurance which covers legal defense fees and cash judgments often covers only directors and named corporate officers unless the CISO has been specifically included in the policy. DUTY TO REPORT Improving Board-CISO Transparency There is a mechanism found in corporate governance best-practices for ensuring that the most senior people in an organization get direct, unfiltered input from a key executive, regardless of reporting structure. It is called the executive session. This is in common use by Boards of Directors who meet individually with the Chief Financial Officer, Controller, and other key executives, notably without other management in the room. Questions are intended to be penetrating and the respondent is expected to respond openly. Now that cybersecurity has risen to a top risk for the enterprise, the CISO position should be among those who appear individually in an executive session with the highest governing body of an enterprise at least annually. This addition to governance best-practices would give Board members and State governors unfiltered information on cybersecurity matters, thereby helping to fulfil their oversight responsibility. Bob Zukis, founder and CEO of the Digital Directors Network, reports that a survey of its membership of more than 900 IT, cyber, and boardroom leaders shows nearly half of the respondents already have some form of this policy in practice. However, this is still a minority of the overall CISO population, signaling more transparency between the CISO and Board is needed. CISOs in State Governments Government organizations also face many of these issues. Evidence shows that CISOs in state governments are as vulnerable to other job offers as CISOs in the private sector. In the span of eight days in October 2022, there were several reports of state CISOs resigning, including Oklahoma, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and North Dakota. [1] Legal liability is not an issue the government CISO needs to be worried about since governments and their employees are immune from legal suits. However, government CISOs are highly concerned about shouldering blame, especially in the press, for security intrusions or their coverup. As with private industry, state governments should also institute this recommended practice. NCC recommends CISOs be called upon to appear in an executive session with agency heads and even the governor at least once a year. The State of Texas, for example, already has a version of this policy implemented in a statute and in practice. Texas Administrative Code includes provisions for: Reporting, at least annually, directly to the agency head the status and effectiveness of the security program and its controls. Informing any relevant parties in the event of noncompliance with the state agency’s information security policies Resolving the Great CISO Resignation For organizations across the public and private sectors, cybersecurity has risen to one of the top risks and has increased the importance of the role of the CISO. Most are looking to improve their work-life balance and reduce some of the stressors of the job. While many CISOs are also concerned about trends in liability and becoming headline news for decisions made on the job, requiring CISOs to appear in executive sessions with board members or state governors can help to alleviate these concerns and improve CISO job satisfaction while at the same time improving how the most senior levels of organizations fulfil their responsibilities for oversight of top risks.

Read More
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Top 5 Application Security Trends Businesses Must Be Aware of in 2023

Article | June 24, 2022

Introduction Top 5 Trends for Businesses to Improve Their Existing Application Security 1.AppSec and Convergence 2.Adoption of Automated AI Security Capabilities 3.Emphasis on Securing the Software Supply Chain 4.Extreme 'Shift Left' 5.Upsurge in Demand for Vulnerability Prioritization Moving Forward with Application Security Introduction The proliferation of applications and their usage across the business landscape has made application security a strategic initiative that spans departments rather than an activity. Several factors are driving the rethinking of application security as a broader strategic program, including the evolving threat landscape, more incremental software development frameworks, and the adoption of nimbler. With the acceleration of software development and the greater-than-ever role of code in current business infrastructure, application security is shifting left in the process and infusing every step to ensure that the applications reaching customers' hands are secure and reliable. Top 5 Trends for Businesses to Improve Their Existing Application Security Applications serve as a doorway to servers and networks, making them an excellent target for malicious actors. Since cyber attackers constantly improve their techniques for breaking into software, it is becoming essential for businesses to gain insights into ever-evolving trends in the AppSec space. Here are some of the prominent trends that businesses should aware of to improve their existing application security. Trend 1: AppSec and CloudSec Convergence To accurately estimate attack surface and overall security posture, both application code vulnerabilities and cloud service hosting misconfigurations must be examined. The convergence of AppSec and CloudSec is becoming a critical component of modern security operations. It allows organizations to gain a comprehensive view of the attack surface and better understand the risks posed by application code and cloud service providers. By looking at these two areas cohesively, organizations can identify business-critical vulnerabilities and prioritize their remediation efforts. Trend 2: Adoption of Automated AI Security Capabilities The increasing volume and complexity of security threats pose significant challenges for organizations, causing strain on their threat detection and response capabilities. This leads to slower response times, higher costs, and a greater impact on security incidents. To address this issue, many companies are turning to security automation as a potential solution. One of such approaches involves the use of artificial intelligence (AI), which can automate data gathering, threat identification, and incident response processes. By adopting security automation, companies can optimize the use of limited security personnel and resources, enabling them to focus on high-value activities that provide maximum benefit to the organization. Trend 3: Emphasis on Securing the Software Supply Chain The software supply chain is emerging as a primary area of focus due to the heightened risks associated with software development. This urgency has been further compounded by the recent attack, such as Solarwind data breach and the Log4j attack on Apache, increasing the significance of software security measures. Companies are taking a more proactive approach for making enhancements in the software supply chain to protect their applications, including conducting Static Application Security Testing (SAST) to identify and address vulnerabilities before malicious actors can exploit them. Trend 4: Extreme 'Shift Left' The ‘shift left’ in software development has gained significant momentum in recent years. The idea behind this approach is to prioritize security and other critical aspects of software development at the earliest possible stage in the development process. By doing so, organizations can make more informed security decisions and identify and address security vulnerabilities before they cause any damage. As the pace of development continues to increase, organizations are increasingly adopting this approach in their software development processes to protect their systems and data from security risks. Trend 5: Upsurge in Demand for Vulnerability Prioritization Managing vulnerabilities in a software system requires analyzing vast amounts of data to determine issues that require immediate attention and prioritization. However, the growing presence of false positives is negatively impacting this process, resulting in decreased efficiency and wasted resources. Organizations are increasingly looking for vendors to provide vulnerability management tools that can reduce false positives, differentiate between low-priority issues and severe security threats, and offer actionable insights to mitigate them. Moving Forward with Application Security Applications security has become more critical than ever before for businesses in the current digital scape. With the attack surface constantly expanding and the frequency of threats on the rise, organizations must remain agile and employ the best effective strategies to protect their applications from potential cyberattacks. The significance of application security has not gone unnoticed. As organizations continue to invest in security measures, they are increasingly upgrading themselves as per emerging security trends to protect themselves against evolving cyber threats. This includes adopting the ‘shift left’ approach, tightening controls, and having a clear definition of remediation processes.

Read More
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Security by Sector: Improving Quality of Data and Decision-Making a Priority for Credit Industry

Article | March 17, 2022

The subject of how information security impacts different industry sectors is an intriguing one. For example, how does the finance industry fare in terms of information security compared to the health sector, or the entertainment business? Are there some sectors that face greater cyber-threats and risks than others? Do some do a better job of keeping data secure, and if so, how and why?A new study of credit management professionals has revealed that improving the quality of data and decision-making will be a top priority for the credit industry in the next three years. The research, from Equifax Ingnite in collaboration with Coleman Parkes, takes a deep dive into the views of credit management pros across retail, banking, finance and debt management/recovery sectors.

Read More

3 Trends in Data Privacy Breach Laws That Will Carry Over to 2020

Article | February 12, 2020

During 2019, new privacy laws were introduced, and many current laws evolved in the United States and across the global landscape. With the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in full effect, we saw expensive fines levied upon companies that fell victim to data privacy breaches. As we move into a new year, probably the biggest takeaway from 2019 is that being proactive and having a data privacy strategy in place is important to help mitigate the risk of a data privacy breach. The regulatory landscape continues to evolve as states and countries actively pass new expanded requirements for privacy and cybersecurity regulations. While laws in the U.S., like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), are getting significant attention, many other states and countries are actively amending their breach notification laws to include tighter restrictions.

Read More
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Cloud Security: The Next-generation Security Framework

Article | August 20, 2022

CISOs Are Leaving in Droves The Great Resignation has been front-page news since Covid lockdowns, with many employees looking for the work-life balance they enjoyed at the time. Now, the phenomenon has spread to the role of Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and shows no signs of letting up. In fact, industry experts predict that it is likely to worsen. A recent study from cybersecurity company BlackFog found that 32% of CISOs in the U.K. and U.S. have considered leaving and many planned to do so in just six months. The majority noted that the top reason for leaving was a lack of work-life balance. The CISO role is demanding, with firefighting and frequent changes in regulations and customer expectations taking up significant time both on and off the job. In another recent study in which 581 CISOs were surveyed, the IANS Research and Artico Search explored CISO compensation and job satisfaction. Three-fourths of CISOs are satisfied with their job, which is 7% higher than in the 2021 sample and more than double that of the 2020 sample. The main drivers of satisfaction are compensation, budget, executive visibility, and organizational support. However, despite high satisfaction numbers, the study found that as many as 44% of respondents are considering a job change. CISO Challenges LIABILITY AND EXPOSURE OF THE CISO There is a perception that CISOs face heightened liability for cyber intrusions and the response to cyber events. One extraordinary example is the recent conviction of Uber’s former security officer, which represents the first time a security executive has faced federal crime prosecution over a data security response. In this case the finding was that he obstructed justice by concealing information about a breach, destroying data, and covering up the incident. CISOs are often in the hot seat when it comes to cyber-intrusions and how they are handled. The Board of Directors (possibly including named corporate officers) in most cases are protected by being diligent about the Business Judgement Rule (BJR). Heavily adopted in Delaware case law and since adopted in various forms in many states, this “rule” stipulates that proper oversight includes demonstrating the duty of loyalty (no conflicting interests) and duty of care (make informed decisions) to be protected from liability. There are few cases (although Enron being one) where liability was found but it was for illegalities and poor business judgment. Since CISOs are not named corporate officers in most cases, BJR does not provide comfort. Similarly, liability insurance which covers legal defense fees and cash judgments often covers only directors and named corporate officers unless the CISO has been specifically included in the policy. DUTY TO REPORT Improving Board-CISO Transparency There is a mechanism found in corporate governance best-practices for ensuring that the most senior people in an organization get direct, unfiltered input from a key executive, regardless of reporting structure. It is called the executive session. This is in common use by Boards of Directors who meet individually with the Chief Financial Officer, Controller, and other key executives, notably without other management in the room. Questions are intended to be penetrating and the respondent is expected to respond openly. Now that cybersecurity has risen to a top risk for the enterprise, the CISO position should be among those who appear individually in an executive session with the highest governing body of an enterprise at least annually. This addition to governance best-practices would give Board members and State governors unfiltered information on cybersecurity matters, thereby helping to fulfil their oversight responsibility. Bob Zukis, founder and CEO of the Digital Directors Network, reports that a survey of its membership of more than 900 IT, cyber, and boardroom leaders shows nearly half of the respondents already have some form of this policy in practice. However, this is still a minority of the overall CISO population, signaling more transparency between the CISO and Board is needed. CISOs in State Governments Government organizations also face many of these issues. Evidence shows that CISOs in state governments are as vulnerable to other job offers as CISOs in the private sector. In the span of eight days in October 2022, there were several reports of state CISOs resigning, including Oklahoma, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and North Dakota. [1] Legal liability is not an issue the government CISO needs to be worried about since governments and their employees are immune from legal suits. However, government CISOs are highly concerned about shouldering blame, especially in the press, for security intrusions or their coverup. As with private industry, state governments should also institute this recommended practice. NCC recommends CISOs be called upon to appear in an executive session with agency heads and even the governor at least once a year. The State of Texas, for example, already has a version of this policy implemented in a statute and in practice. Texas Administrative Code includes provisions for: Reporting, at least annually, directly to the agency head the status and effectiveness of the security program and its controls. Informing any relevant parties in the event of noncompliance with the state agency’s information security policies Resolving the Great CISO Resignation For organizations across the public and private sectors, cybersecurity has risen to one of the top risks and has increased the importance of the role of the CISO. Most are looking to improve their work-life balance and reduce some of the stressors of the job. While many CISOs are also concerned about trends in liability and becoming headline news for decisions made on the job, requiring CISOs to appear in executive sessions with board members or state governors can help to alleviate these concerns and improve CISO job satisfaction while at the same time improving how the most senior levels of organizations fulfil their responsibilities for oversight of top risks.

Read More
SOFTWARE SECURITY

Cryptographic Management Trends Around the Globe

Article | June 24, 2022

Introduction Top 5 Trends for Businesses to Improve Their Existing Application Security 1.AppSec and Convergence 2.Adoption of Automated AI Security Capabilities 3.Emphasis on Securing the Software Supply Chain 4.Extreme 'Shift Left' 5.Upsurge in Demand for Vulnerability Prioritization Moving Forward with Application Security Introduction The proliferation of applications and their usage across the business landscape has made application security a strategic initiative that spans departments rather than an activity. Several factors are driving the rethinking of application security as a broader strategic program, including the evolving threat landscape, more incremental software development frameworks, and the adoption of nimbler. With the acceleration of software development and the greater-than-ever role of code in current business infrastructure, application security is shifting left in the process and infusing every step to ensure that the applications reaching customers' hands are secure and reliable. Top 5 Trends for Businesses to Improve Their Existing Application Security Applications serve as a doorway to servers and networks, making them an excellent target for malicious actors. Since cyber attackers constantly improve their techniques for breaking into software, it is becoming essential for businesses to gain insights into ever-evolving trends in the AppSec space. Here are some of the prominent trends that businesses should aware of to improve their existing application security. Trend 1: AppSec and CloudSec Convergence To accurately estimate attack surface and overall security posture, both application code vulnerabilities and cloud service hosting misconfigurations must be examined. The convergence of AppSec and CloudSec is becoming a critical component of modern security operations. It allows organizations to gain a comprehensive view of the attack surface and better understand the risks posed by application code and cloud service providers. By looking at these two areas cohesively, organizations can identify business-critical vulnerabilities and prioritize their remediation efforts. Trend 2: Adoption of Automated AI Security Capabilities The increasing volume and complexity of security threats pose significant challenges for organizations, causing strain on their threat detection and response capabilities. This leads to slower response times, higher costs, and a greater impact on security incidents. To address this issue, many companies are turning to security automation as a potential solution. One of such approaches involves the use of artificial intelligence (AI), which can automate data gathering, threat identification, and incident response processes. By adopting security automation, companies can optimize the use of limited security personnel and resources, enabling them to focus on high-value activities that provide maximum benefit to the organization. Trend 3: Emphasis on Securing the Software Supply Chain The software supply chain is emerging as a primary area of focus due to the heightened risks associated with software development. This urgency has been further compounded by the recent attack, such as Solarwind data breach and the Log4j attack on Apache, increasing the significance of software security measures. Companies are taking a more proactive approach for making enhancements in the software supply chain to protect their applications, including conducting Static Application Security Testing (SAST) to identify and address vulnerabilities before malicious actors can exploit them. Trend 4: Extreme 'Shift Left' The ‘shift left’ in software development has gained significant momentum in recent years. The idea behind this approach is to prioritize security and other critical aspects of software development at the earliest possible stage in the development process. By doing so, organizations can make more informed security decisions and identify and address security vulnerabilities before they cause any damage. As the pace of development continues to increase, organizations are increasingly adopting this approach in their software development processes to protect their systems and data from security risks. Trend 5: Upsurge in Demand for Vulnerability Prioritization Managing vulnerabilities in a software system requires analyzing vast amounts of data to determine issues that require immediate attention and prioritization. However, the growing presence of false positives is negatively impacting this process, resulting in decreased efficiency and wasted resources. Organizations are increasingly looking for vendors to provide vulnerability management tools that can reduce false positives, differentiate between low-priority issues and severe security threats, and offer actionable insights to mitigate them. Moving Forward with Application Security Applications security has become more critical than ever before for businesses in the current digital scape. With the attack surface constantly expanding and the frequency of threats on the rise, organizations must remain agile and employ the best effective strategies to protect their applications from potential cyberattacks. The significance of application security has not gone unnoticed. As organizations continue to invest in security measures, they are increasingly upgrading themselves as per emerging security trends to protect themselves against evolving cyber threats. This includes adopting the ‘shift left’ approach, tightening controls, and having a clear definition of remediation processes.

Read More
SOFTWARE SECURITY

Know the Effective Use of Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity

Article | March 17, 2022

The subject of how information security impacts different industry sectors is an intriguing one. For example, how does the finance industry fare in terms of information security compared to the health sector, or the entertainment business? Are there some sectors that face greater cyber-threats and risks than others? Do some do a better job of keeping data secure, and if so, how and why?A new study of credit management professionals has revealed that improving the quality of data and decision-making will be a top priority for the credit industry in the next three years. The research, from Equifax Ingnite in collaboration with Coleman Parkes, takes a deep dive into the views of credit management pros across retail, banking, finance and debt management/recovery sectors.

Read More

3 Trends in Data Privacy Breach Laws That Will Carry Over to 2020

Article | February 12, 2020

During 2019, new privacy laws were introduced, and many current laws evolved in the United States and across the global landscape. With the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in full effect, we saw expensive fines levied upon companies that fell victim to data privacy breaches. As we move into a new year, probably the biggest takeaway from 2019 is that being proactive and having a data privacy strategy in place is important to help mitigate the risk of a data privacy breach. The regulatory landscape continues to evolve as states and countries actively pass new expanded requirements for privacy and cybersecurity regulations. While laws in the U.S., like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), are getting significant attention, many other states and countries are actively amending their breach notification laws to include tighter restrictions.

Read More
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Spotlight

Network Intelligence (I) Pvt. Ltd.

Network Intelligence, incorporated in 2001, is ISO 27001, PCI-QSA company a committed and well-recognized provider of services, solutions and products in the IT Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance space. Our professionals have made a mark for themselves with highly satisfied clients all across the globe supported by our offices in India and the Middle East. As an ISO 27001-certified company ourselves, we are strongly positioned to understand your needs and deliver the right answers to your security and compliance requirements. We have won accolades at numerous national and international forums and conferences. Our work truly speaks for itself and our clients are the strongest testimony to the quality of our services!

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Lookout Announces the Successful Divestiture of Its Consumer Mobile Security Business Segment

Businesswire | June 05, 2023

Lookout, Inc., the endpoint-to-cloud security company, today announced it has closed the previously announced sale of its consumer mobile security business to F-Secure, a global provider of consumer security products and services. With this strategic divestiture Lookout will focus on expanding its core enterprise business, built around the Lookout Cloud Security Platform. The sale of Lookout’s consumer mobile security business represents a deliberate and strategic decision to optimize its enterprise product portfolio and concentrate its product innovation and go-to-market on the expansion of these core competencies. The divestiture sets Lookout up for long-term growth and further positions the Company to address the security transformation impacting organizations today, including the increase in remote work, the shift to cloud-based delivery models and the transition to zero trust architectures. “We are pleased to announce the successful divestiture of our mobile consumer security business, which represents a significant milestone in our strategic transformation to become a pure-play enterprise cybersecurity company,” Jim Dolce, CEO at Lookout. “With this refined focus, we will continue to drive innovation, invest in the development of cutting-edge solutions and drive greater value for our customers.” Lookout’s core enterprise business includes Lookout Mobile Endpoint Security and its security services edge (SSE) cloud-native solution, the Lookout Cloud Security Platform. The Company entered the cloud security market through its acquisition of CipherCloud in March 2021. Its Cloud Security Platform was recently scored among the highest three vendors in the 2023 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Security Service Edge (SSE)1 report in each of the four use cases. The Gartner Critical Capabilities for SSE – an essential companion to the Gartner Magic Quadrant™ for SSE2 in which Lookout was named a Visionary for the second year in a row – is a comparative analysis that scores products or services against a set of critical differentiators that every business needs, as identified by Gartner. These four use cases include Secure Web and Cloud Usage, Detect and Mitigate Threats, Connect and Secure Remote Workers and Identify and Protect Sensitive Information. As part of the sale agreement, F-Secure acquires all of the Lookout consumer mobile security products and technology and assumes all responsibility for ongoing operations and customer relationships. Additionally, the Company’s consumer employees will become part of F-Secure. About Lookout Lookout, Inc. is the endpoint-to-cloud cybersecurity company that delivers zero trust security by reducing risk and protecting data wherever it goes, without boundaries or limits. Our unified, cloud-native platform safeguards digital information across devices, apps, networks and clouds and is as fluid and flexible as the modern digital world. Lookout is trusted by enterprises and government agencies of all sizes to protect the sensitive data they care about most, enabling them to work and connect freely and safely. To learn more about the Lookout Cloud Security Platform, visit www.lookout.com and follow Lookout on our blog, LinkedIn and Twitter. © 2023 Lookout, Inc. LOOKOUT®, the Lookout Shield Design®, LOOKOUT with Shield Design®, and SIGNAL FLARE® are registered trademarks of Lookout, Inc. in the United States and other countries. DAY OF SHECURITY®, LOOKOUT MOBILE SECURITY®, and POWERED BY LOOKOUT® are registered trademarks of Lookout, Inc. in the United States. Lookout, Inc. maintains common law trademark rights in EVERYTHING IS OK, PROTECTED BY LOOKOUT, CIPHERCLOUD, SCREAM, the 4 Bar Shield Design, and the Lookout multi-color/multi-shaded Wingspan design.

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Lacework Unifies Entitlements Management and Threat Detection for Simplified Cloud Security

Prnewswire | June 07, 2023

Lacework, the data-driven security platform, today announced new CIEM functionality that empowers teams to gain observability of all cloud identities, know precisely who can perform what actions, and easily identify which identities pose the greatest risk. Furthermore, Lacework's actionable approach to CIEM provides customers with recommendations on how to reduce their identity risk. By combining these new capabilities with cloud security posture management, attack path analysis, and threat detection into a single platform, Lacework gives customers a clear understanding of their cloud identity landscape, visibility into cloud identity and access management (IAM) misconfigurations and exposed secrets, and continuous discovery of identity threats. The benefits of public cloud come with complex challenges in managing identity risk. With over 35,000 granular permissions across hyperscale cloud providers, organizations struggle to limit unnecessary access. Most cloud users and instances are granted far more permissions than they actually need, leaving organizations highly exposed to cloud breach, account takeover, and data exfiltration. And the fact that machine identities in the cloud typically outnumber humans by an order of magnitude intensifies the issue. "Enforcing least privilege and having visibility of identities and entitlements is a top cloud security challenge for IDC clients. With this innovation from Lacework, security teams can automatically see which identities are overly-permissive, and zero in on the ones that pose the greatest risk," said Philip Bues, Research Manager for Cloud Security, at IDC. "Beyond prioritizing risks, this will also allow teams to confidently suggest policy changes and reduce their overall attack surface risk." Preventing Cloud Identity Risk with New Entitlement Management Technology Lacework dynamically discovers cloud user, resource, group and role identities and their net-effective permissions and then automatically correlates granted versus used permissions to determine identities with excessive privileges. The platform calculates a risk score for each identity, determines the riskiest identities based on attack path analysis, and auto-generates high-confidence recommendations for right-sizing permissions based on historical observations. This means Lacework not only informs customers of risky identities and entitlements, but also shows those identities that are hardly used or even need entitlements to begin with. "CIEM is a vital facet of a comprehensive cloud security strategy," said Paolo del Mundo, Director of Application Security, The Motley Fool. "It's encouraging to see Lacework incorporating this into their well-rounded CNAPP solution, potentially providing a robust response to the challenge of managing cloud access permissions effectively." Combined with Lacework's ability to prioritize risks from an attack path context, as well as detect user and entity behavior anomalies, customers are able to: Continuously comply with IAM security and regulatory compliance requirements. Identify cloud user, application and service identities, know exactly what actions each can take, and prioritize the identities that pose the greatest risk. Limit the blast radius of compromised cloud accounts, achieve least privilege, and establish trust with engineering teams. Continuously discover risky behavior, including lateral movement and privilege escalation, without needing to write rules or stitching together disparate alerts. Rapidly detect insider threats associated with malicious or accidental abuse of permissions. "Our customers need to know what entities are actually doing in their cloud and whether it's malicious or inappropriate, and it can't get in the way of their ability to move fast," said Adam Leftik, Vice President, Product, Lacework. "Now Lacework customers can address both sides of the identity security issue with a single platform that prevents identity risk exposure and detects identity threats at scale, with the context to quickly investigate, prioritize, and respond to identity alerts. It's the latest step in our mission to give enterprises the confidence to rapidly innovate in the cloud and drive their business forward." About Lacework Lacework offers the data-driven security platform for the cloud and is the leading cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) solution. Only Lacework can collect, analyze, and accurately correlate data — without requiring manually written rules — across an organization's AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Kubernetes environments, and narrow it down to the handful of security events that matter. Security and DevOps teams around the world trust Lacework to secure cloud-native applications across the full lifecycle from code to cloud. Get started at www.lacework.com.

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Traceable AI Announces the Industry’s First API Security Reference Architecture for a Zero Trust World

Businesswire | June 06, 2023

Traceable AI, the industry's leading API security company, today announced the release of the industry's first API Security Reference Architecture for Zero Trust. This groundbreaking reference architecture serves as a guide for security leaders as the industry addresses the urgency of integrating API Security into Zero Trust Security initiatives. Zero Trust, a cybersecurity framework that emphasizes continuous verification and helps to minimize the attack surface, has proven effective in enhancing security for many organizations, from large enterprises, to the US Government. However, traditional Zero Trust approaches have primarily focused on network-level controls and identity access management, neglecting the critical API layer. Traceable’s API Security Reference Architecture is aligned with the NIST Zero Trust Architecture, a publicly available, vendor-neutral framework widely adopted by government entities such as CISA, DoD, DISA, NSA, GSA and NCCoE, as well as by many leading cybersecurity vendors. By leveraging the NIST framework, Traceable ensures compatibility, interoperability, and adherence to industry standards, making it a reliable and trusted guide for organizations implementing Zero Trust for their APIs. The extensive reference architecture provides organizations with a prescriptive methodology to operationalize Zero Trust for APIs: Advanced API Security: The reference architecture gives organizations a way to implement robust security measures specifically designed for APIs, including eliminating implied or persistent trust for APIs, thereby minimizing the risk of API-related vulnerabilities, attacks, and data breaches. Comprehensive Risk Management: The reference architecture recommends incorporating automatic user authentication and authorization, granular data access policies, and asset risk assessments, can organizations can effectively manage and mitigate risks associated with API access and usage. Increased Visibility and Control: The architecture explains why organizations should obtain granular visibility, which allows organizations to monitor and record all API transactions, enabling better analysis, threat detection, and incident response capabilities. Improved Compliance and Data Protection: The automatic identification and classification of sensitive data sets ensure compliance with data protection regulations such as HIPAA, GDPR, and PCI-DSS, reducing the risk of regulatory penalties and reputational damage. Seamless Automation and Orchestration: The reference architecture recommends integration with XDR, SIEM, and SOAR solutions, so organizations can enhance their overall security posture, automate response actions, and streamline security operations. Scalability and Flexibility: The architecture offers a flexible distribution model for PEPs and data collection points, allowing organizations to scale their API security infrastructure based on their unique requirements and architecture. Future-Proofing: By aligning with the NIST Zero Trust Architecture and industry standards, organizations adopting the API Security Reference Architecture can ensure compatibility, interoperability, and the ability to evolve alongside emerging technologies and security best practices. Traceable’s API Security Reference Architecture for Zero Trust introduces a new approach to secure APIs using Zero Trust concepts, acknowledging their unique security requirements. It provides organizations with a comprehensive framework to implement Zero Trust controls specifically tailored to APIs, ensuring the protection of digital assets and mitigating the risk of data breaches. Dr. Chase Cunningham weighs in on Traceable’s approach: "APIs provide a new means of applying controls across enterprise applications, " says Dr. Cunningham, “However, the security practices for APIs have not yet matured, leaving a significant gap in the overall attack surface. Traceable has developed their own API Security Reference Architecture to help fill this gap by providing organizations with a methodical way to secure their APIs with Zero Trust principles. By combining Zero Trust strategic concepts with API-specific security measures, Traceable can help organizations protect their digital assets effectively." Throughout the past year, Traceable has continued to reaffirm its commitment to extending Zero Trust methodologies to API Security. With the addition of Zero Trust creator John Kindervag and Dr. Zero Trust, Chase Cunningham as Traceable advisors, Traceable continues to strengthen its expertise in this space. To date, Traceable has become a valuable partner to a number of large enterprises as the industry turns its eyes toward the importance of API security. With the rollout of their Zero Trust API Access solution alongside this reference architecture, Traceable continues to lead the industry toward the advancement of API security. This reference architecture is now available for organizations to explore and implement, empowering them to achieve complete API security in a Zero Trust world. About Traceable Traceable is the industry’s leading API Security company that helps organizations achieve API protection in a cloud-first, API-driven world. With an API Data Lake at the core of the platform, Traceable is the only intelligent and context-aware solution that powers complete API security – security posture management, threat protection and threat management across the entire Software Development Lifecycle – enabling organizations to minimize risk and maximize the value that APIs bring to their customers. To learn more about how API security can help your business, book a demo with a security expert.

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ENTERPRISE IDENTITY, SOFTWARE SECURITY, CLOUD SECURITY

Lookout Announces the Successful Divestiture of Its Consumer Mobile Security Business Segment

Businesswire | June 05, 2023

Lookout, Inc., the endpoint-to-cloud security company, today announced it has closed the previously announced sale of its consumer mobile security business to F-Secure, a global provider of consumer security products and services. With this strategic divestiture Lookout will focus on expanding its core enterprise business, built around the Lookout Cloud Security Platform. The sale of Lookout’s consumer mobile security business represents a deliberate and strategic decision to optimize its enterprise product portfolio and concentrate its product innovation and go-to-market on the expansion of these core competencies. The divestiture sets Lookout up for long-term growth and further positions the Company to address the security transformation impacting organizations today, including the increase in remote work, the shift to cloud-based delivery models and the transition to zero trust architectures. “We are pleased to announce the successful divestiture of our mobile consumer security business, which represents a significant milestone in our strategic transformation to become a pure-play enterprise cybersecurity company,” Jim Dolce, CEO at Lookout. “With this refined focus, we will continue to drive innovation, invest in the development of cutting-edge solutions and drive greater value for our customers.” Lookout’s core enterprise business includes Lookout Mobile Endpoint Security and its security services edge (SSE) cloud-native solution, the Lookout Cloud Security Platform. The Company entered the cloud security market through its acquisition of CipherCloud in March 2021. Its Cloud Security Platform was recently scored among the highest three vendors in the 2023 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Security Service Edge (SSE)1 report in each of the four use cases. The Gartner Critical Capabilities for SSE – an essential companion to the Gartner Magic Quadrant™ for SSE2 in which Lookout was named a Visionary for the second year in a row – is a comparative analysis that scores products or services against a set of critical differentiators that every business needs, as identified by Gartner. These four use cases include Secure Web and Cloud Usage, Detect and Mitigate Threats, Connect and Secure Remote Workers and Identify and Protect Sensitive Information. As part of the sale agreement, F-Secure acquires all of the Lookout consumer mobile security products and technology and assumes all responsibility for ongoing operations and customer relationships. Additionally, the Company’s consumer employees will become part of F-Secure. About Lookout Lookout, Inc. is the endpoint-to-cloud cybersecurity company that delivers zero trust security by reducing risk and protecting data wherever it goes, without boundaries or limits. Our unified, cloud-native platform safeguards digital information across devices, apps, networks and clouds and is as fluid and flexible as the modern digital world. Lookout is trusted by enterprises and government agencies of all sizes to protect the sensitive data they care about most, enabling them to work and connect freely and safely. To learn more about the Lookout Cloud Security Platform, visit www.lookout.com and follow Lookout on our blog, LinkedIn and Twitter. © 2023 Lookout, Inc. LOOKOUT®, the Lookout Shield Design®, LOOKOUT with Shield Design®, and SIGNAL FLARE® are registered trademarks of Lookout, Inc. in the United States and other countries. DAY OF SHECURITY®, LOOKOUT MOBILE SECURITY®, and POWERED BY LOOKOUT® are registered trademarks of Lookout, Inc. in the United States. Lookout, Inc. maintains common law trademark rights in EVERYTHING IS OK, PROTECTED BY LOOKOUT, CIPHERCLOUD, SCREAM, the 4 Bar Shield Design, and the Lookout multi-color/multi-shaded Wingspan design.

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PLATFORM SECURITY, SOFTWARE SECURITY, CLOUD SECURITY

Lacework Unifies Entitlements Management and Threat Detection for Simplified Cloud Security

Prnewswire | June 07, 2023

Lacework, the data-driven security platform, today announced new CIEM functionality that empowers teams to gain observability of all cloud identities, know precisely who can perform what actions, and easily identify which identities pose the greatest risk. Furthermore, Lacework's actionable approach to CIEM provides customers with recommendations on how to reduce their identity risk. By combining these new capabilities with cloud security posture management, attack path analysis, and threat detection into a single platform, Lacework gives customers a clear understanding of their cloud identity landscape, visibility into cloud identity and access management (IAM) misconfigurations and exposed secrets, and continuous discovery of identity threats. The benefits of public cloud come with complex challenges in managing identity risk. With over 35,000 granular permissions across hyperscale cloud providers, organizations struggle to limit unnecessary access. Most cloud users and instances are granted far more permissions than they actually need, leaving organizations highly exposed to cloud breach, account takeover, and data exfiltration. And the fact that machine identities in the cloud typically outnumber humans by an order of magnitude intensifies the issue. "Enforcing least privilege and having visibility of identities and entitlements is a top cloud security challenge for IDC clients. With this innovation from Lacework, security teams can automatically see which identities are overly-permissive, and zero in on the ones that pose the greatest risk," said Philip Bues, Research Manager for Cloud Security, at IDC. "Beyond prioritizing risks, this will also allow teams to confidently suggest policy changes and reduce their overall attack surface risk." Preventing Cloud Identity Risk with New Entitlement Management Technology Lacework dynamically discovers cloud user, resource, group and role identities and their net-effective permissions and then automatically correlates granted versus used permissions to determine identities with excessive privileges. The platform calculates a risk score for each identity, determines the riskiest identities based on attack path analysis, and auto-generates high-confidence recommendations for right-sizing permissions based on historical observations. This means Lacework not only informs customers of risky identities and entitlements, but also shows those identities that are hardly used or even need entitlements to begin with. "CIEM is a vital facet of a comprehensive cloud security strategy," said Paolo del Mundo, Director of Application Security, The Motley Fool. "It's encouraging to see Lacework incorporating this into their well-rounded CNAPP solution, potentially providing a robust response to the challenge of managing cloud access permissions effectively." Combined with Lacework's ability to prioritize risks from an attack path context, as well as detect user and entity behavior anomalies, customers are able to: Continuously comply with IAM security and regulatory compliance requirements. Identify cloud user, application and service identities, know exactly what actions each can take, and prioritize the identities that pose the greatest risk. Limit the blast radius of compromised cloud accounts, achieve least privilege, and establish trust with engineering teams. Continuously discover risky behavior, including lateral movement and privilege escalation, without needing to write rules or stitching together disparate alerts. Rapidly detect insider threats associated with malicious or accidental abuse of permissions. "Our customers need to know what entities are actually doing in their cloud and whether it's malicious or inappropriate, and it can't get in the way of their ability to move fast," said Adam Leftik, Vice President, Product, Lacework. "Now Lacework customers can address both sides of the identity security issue with a single platform that prevents identity risk exposure and detects identity threats at scale, with the context to quickly investigate, prioritize, and respond to identity alerts. It's the latest step in our mission to give enterprises the confidence to rapidly innovate in the cloud and drive their business forward." About Lacework Lacework offers the data-driven security platform for the cloud and is the leading cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) solution. Only Lacework can collect, analyze, and accurately correlate data — without requiring manually written rules — across an organization's AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Kubernetes environments, and narrow it down to the handful of security events that matter. Security and DevOps teams around the world trust Lacework to secure cloud-native applications across the full lifecycle from code to cloud. Get started at www.lacework.com.

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PLATFORM SECURITY, SOFTWARE SECURITY, API SECURITY

Traceable AI Announces the Industry’s First API Security Reference Architecture for a Zero Trust World

Businesswire | June 06, 2023

Traceable AI, the industry's leading API security company, today announced the release of the industry's first API Security Reference Architecture for Zero Trust. This groundbreaking reference architecture serves as a guide for security leaders as the industry addresses the urgency of integrating API Security into Zero Trust Security initiatives. Zero Trust, a cybersecurity framework that emphasizes continuous verification and helps to minimize the attack surface, has proven effective in enhancing security for many organizations, from large enterprises, to the US Government. However, traditional Zero Trust approaches have primarily focused on network-level controls and identity access management, neglecting the critical API layer. Traceable’s API Security Reference Architecture is aligned with the NIST Zero Trust Architecture, a publicly available, vendor-neutral framework widely adopted by government entities such as CISA, DoD, DISA, NSA, GSA and NCCoE, as well as by many leading cybersecurity vendors. By leveraging the NIST framework, Traceable ensures compatibility, interoperability, and adherence to industry standards, making it a reliable and trusted guide for organizations implementing Zero Trust for their APIs. The extensive reference architecture provides organizations with a prescriptive methodology to operationalize Zero Trust for APIs: Advanced API Security: The reference architecture gives organizations a way to implement robust security measures specifically designed for APIs, including eliminating implied or persistent trust for APIs, thereby minimizing the risk of API-related vulnerabilities, attacks, and data breaches. Comprehensive Risk Management: The reference architecture recommends incorporating automatic user authentication and authorization, granular data access policies, and asset risk assessments, can organizations can effectively manage and mitigate risks associated with API access and usage. Increased Visibility and Control: The architecture explains why organizations should obtain granular visibility, which allows organizations to monitor and record all API transactions, enabling better analysis, threat detection, and incident response capabilities. Improved Compliance and Data Protection: The automatic identification and classification of sensitive data sets ensure compliance with data protection regulations such as HIPAA, GDPR, and PCI-DSS, reducing the risk of regulatory penalties and reputational damage. Seamless Automation and Orchestration: The reference architecture recommends integration with XDR, SIEM, and SOAR solutions, so organizations can enhance their overall security posture, automate response actions, and streamline security operations. Scalability and Flexibility: The architecture offers a flexible distribution model for PEPs and data collection points, allowing organizations to scale their API security infrastructure based on their unique requirements and architecture. Future-Proofing: By aligning with the NIST Zero Trust Architecture and industry standards, organizations adopting the API Security Reference Architecture can ensure compatibility, interoperability, and the ability to evolve alongside emerging technologies and security best practices. Traceable’s API Security Reference Architecture for Zero Trust introduces a new approach to secure APIs using Zero Trust concepts, acknowledging their unique security requirements. It provides organizations with a comprehensive framework to implement Zero Trust controls specifically tailored to APIs, ensuring the protection of digital assets and mitigating the risk of data breaches. Dr. Chase Cunningham weighs in on Traceable’s approach: "APIs provide a new means of applying controls across enterprise applications, " says Dr. Cunningham, “However, the security practices for APIs have not yet matured, leaving a significant gap in the overall attack surface. Traceable has developed their own API Security Reference Architecture to help fill this gap by providing organizations with a methodical way to secure their APIs with Zero Trust principles. By combining Zero Trust strategic concepts with API-specific security measures, Traceable can help organizations protect their digital assets effectively." Throughout the past year, Traceable has continued to reaffirm its commitment to extending Zero Trust methodologies to API Security. With the addition of Zero Trust creator John Kindervag and Dr. Zero Trust, Chase Cunningham as Traceable advisors, Traceable continues to strengthen its expertise in this space. To date, Traceable has become a valuable partner to a number of large enterprises as the industry turns its eyes toward the importance of API security. With the rollout of their Zero Trust API Access solution alongside this reference architecture, Traceable continues to lead the industry toward the advancement of API security. This reference architecture is now available for organizations to explore and implement, empowering them to achieve complete API security in a Zero Trust world. About Traceable Traceable is the industry’s leading API Security company that helps organizations achieve API protection in a cloud-first, API-driven world. With an API Data Lake at the core of the platform, Traceable is the only intelligent and context-aware solution that powers complete API security – security posture management, threat protection and threat management across the entire Software Development Lifecycle – enabling organizations to minimize risk and maximize the value that APIs bring to their customers. To learn more about how API security can help your business, book a demo with a security expert.

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