Software Security
Lacework | September 15, 2023
Lacework, a company specializing in data-driven cloud security, and Snowflake, a prominent Data Cloud company, have jointly announced an expanded partnership. This partnership aims to propel the evolution of cloud infrastructure while enhancing cloud security automation at scale. Through this extended collaboration, security teams gain direct access to their Lacework cloud security data using Snowflake's secure data sharing, thus enabling unified visibility and tailored automation.
Ulfar Erlingsson, Chief Architect, Lacework, said,
Snowflake has been a dedicated platform partner as Lacework has scaled our business to support over 900 customers — ranging from small, early-stage startups to some of the most sophisticated enterprises running in the cloud space today — whose operations result in tremendous volume, variety, and velocity of security-relevant data.
[Source – Cision PR Newswire]
Erlingsson mentioned that, over the past seven years, Lacework had successfully conducted timely and efficient data processing by utilizing the Snowflake Data Cloud, even among a highly skewed set of customers. He further explained that their extended partnership with Snowflake would enhance their ability to serve joint customers at a cloud scale. This would apply whether customers needed them to handle only a small amount of security data or data processing at rates as high as 10s of gigabytes per second.
As generative AI advances and becomes more accessible across various industries, the frequency and severity of cybersecurity threats are on the rise. This trend is driven by businesses accelerating their development processes and increasing cloud data generation. Addressing this new era of cloud security necessitates a fundamentally fresh approach, and Lacework's platform is designed to efficiently manage the substantial volume of data within an organization's cloud ecosystem. This includes data related to code, identities, containers, and multi-cloud infrastructure, with Snowflake serving as a critical platform partner.
Through the combined capabilities of Lacework's security platform and Snowflake's Data Cloud, customers gain the ability to extend the value of cloud security data throughout their organization. This enables organizations to thoroughly assess their security and compliance status.
Head of Cybersecurity Strategy at Snowflake, Omer Singer, said,
Among the many potential advantages of generative AI is the ability for enterprises to deploy new applications faster, which places even more emphasis on the need to have scalable infrastructure and solutions. The combination of Snowflake and Lacework will continue to assist organizations scale their cloud businesses securely in the new era.
[Source – Cision PR Newswire]
About Lacework
Lacework protects organizations in the cloud, enabling them to innovate with greater speed and assurance. Lacework's platform is designed to scale with the variety, volume, and velocity of cloud data across an organization's cloud environment, including code, containers, identities, and multi-cloud infrastructure. Only Lacework provides Security and Development teams with a connected and prioritized end-to-end view that identifies the most significant hazards and security events.
About Snowflake
The Snowflake enables all organizations to mobilize their data with its Data Cloud. Customers utilize the Data Cloud to integrate disparate data sources, power data applications, discover and securely share data, and implement a variety of AI/ML and analytic workloads. Snowflake provides a singular data experience that transcends multiple clouds and geographies, regardless of where data or users reside. Snowflake Data Cloud is used by thousands of customers across numerous industries, including 639 of the 2023 Forbes Global 2000 as of July 31, 2023.
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Data Security
Oracle | September 20, 2023
Oracle to participate in an industry-wide initiative to design a new open network and data security standard.
Oracle and Applied Invention are assisting to developing and promoting a novel network and data-centric security standard to tackle distributed cloud deployment challenges.
This standard will enable organizations to protect their data throughout its entire lifecycle without requiring modifications to their distributed cloud environments' underlying architecture.
Oracle, one of the world's largest database management companies, announced that it will participate in an industry-wide initiative to design a new open network and data security standards that will assist organizations in protecting their data in distributed IT environments. Oracle will collaborate with Applied Invention, a significant technology provider, and other industry leaders, including Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. (NRI), a global leader in consulting and system solutions. This new standard will enable networks to enforce shared security policies collectively, thereby augmenting the security architecture organizations already employ without requiring modifications to existing applications and networks.
Oracle plans to launch the Oracle Zero-Trust Packet Routing Platform, based on the new standard, to support this new initiative. This platform will assist organizations in preventing illegal access or use of their data without imposing additional obstacles on legitimate activities.
Executive Vice President of Security and Developer Platforms at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Mahesh Thiagarajan, said,
Over the last 20 years, the cybersecurity industry has produced many incremental changes, but we need a fundamentally novel approach to protect our data in the increasingly complex cloud era. Organizations require a way to describe their data security policies in one place where they can be easily understood and audited, and they need a way to make sure those policies are enforced across their entire computing infrastructure, including their clouds.
[Source – Cision PR Newswire]
As the adoption of cloud technology rises and IT landscapes become more intricate with distributed cloud deployments, organizations face escalating challenges in safeguarding their data using conventional methods and tools. For example, many existing systems necessitate security teams to orchestrate disparate solutions across various facets, including database, application, network, and identity security.
This complexity is further compounded when applied across diverse environments. Ensuring seamless collaboration among these solutions becomes a formidable task due to the dynamic and independent changes in applications, environments, and user profiles. Additionally, current security systems demand extensive configurations to accurately distinguish between different user categories, such as full-time employees and contractors, without compromising security or restricting access.
Research Vice President of Cloud and Edge Infrastructure Services at IDC, Dave McCarthy, said,
The new standard Oracle develop has the potential to change all of that by adding a unified layer of security on top of existing solutions. Building data protection policies into the network itself will assist users get the access they require while ensuring the data remains secure behind the scenes.
[Source – Cision PR Newswire]
Oracle and Applied Invention are assisting in designing and promoting a novel security standard, focusing on network and data-centric security, which aims to tackle these challenges. This innovative standard will empower organizations to safeguard their data across its entire lifecycle, including distributed cloud environments. To accomplish this, the standard will implement an intent-based security policy that is designed to be understandable, auditable, and interpretable by humans. This intent-driven approach will be put into practice at the network layer, ensuring that every data transmission contains authenticated attributes concerning the sender, receiver, and the nature of the data in transit.
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Cloud Security
Google | September 18, 2023
Google reveals its pioneering approach to applying generative AI in cybersecurity at the Google Cloud Next conference in San Francisco.
Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai's keynote emphasizes Google's AI-first approach and the transformative impact of AI across industries.
Google introduces innovative security updates and trends, highlighting its commitment to enhancing cybersecurity capabilities.
Google Cloud extends Duet AI to three key products in preview mode, empowering security teams to address complex cybersecurity challenges more efficiently.
Google unveiled its pioneering approach to applying generative AI in cybersecurity at the Google Cloud Next conference in San Francisco. This significant revelation follows the broader accessibility of generative AI, made possible earlier this year by technologies like ChatGPT. Google's strategic endeavor aims to harness the potential of AI to combat cybersecurity challenges. Additionally, the event featured a keynote address by Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who underscored the transformative influence of AI across sectors and emphasized Google's extensive history of adopting an AI-first approach.
During the conference, Google seized the opportunity to introduce innovative security updates and trends, signifying its commitment to enhancing cybersecurity capabilities for its customers. These developments come at a time when the integration of AI technologies in addressing cybersecurity concerns has gained substantial attention and recognition. Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, a prominent figure in the technology industry, initiated the conference, reiterating the profound influence of AI across various sectors, industries, and business functions. His emphasis on Google's decade-long dedication to an AI-first approach solidified the company's leadership position in this transformative era.
Furthermore, Google unveiled significant developments in the conference, including expanding Vertex AI with over 100 foundation models and introducing enhancements like PaLM 2, supercomputing capabilities, and the fifth-gen Tensor Processing Units. However, their commitment to democratizing AI was highlighted, demonstrated through customer stories and live demos. Google Cloud's developer advocate, Priyanka Vergadia, showcased Duet AI, an intelligent chatbot assistant that streamlines developers' tasks, saving time and enhancing security. Duet AI automates deployments, configures applications correctly, aids in debugging, and strengthens security. Its preview release marks a step towards achieving shift-left and DevSecOps goals, empowering developers to secure their code effectively and allowing security teams to scale their efforts.
The research conducted by ESG and ISSA highlights the challenges faced by cybersecurity professionals. A significant majority (63%) have found their roles increasingly complex over the past two years. A closer look reveals that the surge in complexity (81%), rising workloads, and growing cyberthreats (59%), as well as understaffing issues (46%), are the primary factors contributing to this challenge. In response to these evolving demands, Google Cloud has taken a proactive step by extending the application of Duet AI to three key products, now available in preview mode. These applications empower security teams with Mandiant Threat Intelligence for threat analysis, Google Chronicle for accelerated SecOps processes, and Google Security Command Center for risk mitigation. A live demonstration showcased how Duet AI streamlines security analysts' workflows, making threat detection and response more efficient and enhancing overall security posture management.
Google Cloud announced Mandiant Hunt for Chronicle Security Ops in preview, boosting threat hunting with expert Mandiant insights. Agentless vulnerability scanning (powered by Tenable) in preview detects OS, software, and network vulnerabilities on Google Compute Engine VMs. Custom posture findings and threat detectors are now available in the Security Command Center. Cloud Firewall Plus, in preview, enhances firewall service with advanced threat protection (Palo Alto Networks). These updates, utilizing Duet AI in preview, demonstrate Google Cloud's dedication to cybersecurity innovation, with specific availability details to come. The conference also highlighted partner offerings in the ever-evolving cloud security landscape.
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