Software Security
Palo Alto | September 22, 2023
Palo Alto Networks has announced a strategic partnership with the largest telecommunications company in Australia, Telstra.
This signifies Palo Alto Networks' commitment to delivering an expanded portfolio of cybersecurity solutions and services to meet the needs of Telstra's extensive business clientele.
The partnership strengthens the existing 10-year relationship between Palo Alto Networks and Telstra.
Palo Alto Networks, a global cybersecurity company, has announced teaming up with Telstra, Australia's largest telecommunications company, to offer an enhanced range of cybersecurity solutions and services to Telstra's business clients both in Australia and around the world.
This collaboration marks a significant milestone, as Palo Alto Networks becomes the first dedicated cybersecurity company to be recognized as a technology alliance partner for Telstra's enterprise customer segment. Telstra serves customers in over 200 countries and territories.
Telstra's technology alliance partners collaborate to create and provide comprehensive services encompassing connectivity, voice, and professional services. These services are designed to assist businesses of all sizes in addressing their challenges and capitalizing on opportunities.
Regional Vice President for Australia and New Zealand of Palo Alto Networks, Steve Manley, stated,
This new alliance with Telstra reinforces Palo Alto Networks’ position in the Australian market as the leading cyber security vendor to leading telecommunications carrier in Australia. It also reinforces our increased commitment to offering industry-leading joint solutions with one of the country’s most trusted managed service providers. Together, Palo Alto Networks and Telstra will collaborate to offer businesses with best-of-breed cyber security solutions to help keep them safe in a rapidly changing market landscape.
[Source – Web Wire]
This new partnership further solidifies the long-standing 10-year relationship between Palo Alto Networks and Telstra. It also builds upon previous agreements that expanded Telstra's SecureEdge portfolio with offerings like SecureEdge Cloud for business clients and Sovereign SecureEdge for the Australian government and agencies, both powered by Palo Alto Networks' advanced cloud-based security services.
David Burns, Enterprise Group Executive at Telstra, said,
Cyber security has become one of the top concerns among businesses worldwide, including here in Australia, and especially in the wake of a no. of high-profile cyber breaches. We’re now seeing the industrialization of cybercrime and the scale of threat continues to evolve and grow. As a result, we all need to be constantly changing, adapting, and looking at new technologies that can assist protect us and our customers’ data. As a leading provider of network, managed, and professional services, this new alliance between Telstra and Palo Alto Networks further boosts our capabilities to help customers protect their organizations and data from evolving cyber threats.
[Source – Web Wire]
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Network Threat Detection
Fortinet | November 06, 2023
Fortinet prioritizes secure networking, universal SASE, and security operations to expand globally and innovate in cybersecurity.
Secure networking is estimated to reach $86 billion by 2027 and universal SASE $36 billion, aligning with the strategic change.
Focusing on cybersecurity growth strengthens Fortinet's commitment to customer value and innovation.
Fortinet, a global leader in cybersecurity, is focusing its business strategy on high-growth markets, emphasizing secure networking, universal secure access service edge (SASE), and security operations. This shift will drive innovation and reinforce its commitment to customers. Fortinet is reorganizing its research & development (R&D) and go-to-market (GTM) strategies around the three markets mentioned. They will develop integrated and advanced products to cater to these areas.
Fortinet operates globally, serving hyperscale customers and promoting cybersecurity technologies. The three core markets Fortinet is concentrating on are secure networking, universal SASE, and security operations. These markets are expected to experience substantial growth, and Fortinet has a competitive advantage in them. This strategy aims to expand Fortinet's global business and provide value to its customers. The company is aligning with areas of high demand in the cybersecurity sector. Its current collection of organically developed and integrated products and services enjoys a notable competitive edge in the aforementioned three crucial markets:
The market for secure networking is anticipated to reach $86 billion by 2027, expanding at a rate of nearly nine percent per year. 5G gateways, network firewalls, secure switches, and access points comprise the majority of its composition. With the expansion of its firewall business, Fortinet anticipates a corresponding increase in revenue for its FortiGuard Security Services, which are propelled by artificial intelligence (AI). Secure networking remains an integral component of Fortinet's strategy, given that it dominates both firewall revenues and units shipped in its greatest addressable market.
Also, by 2027, the universal SASE market is anticipated to reach $36 billion, representing an annual expansion of nearly 20%. The system integrates various cloud-native networking and security technologies, including SD-WAN, secure web gateway (SWG), cloud access security broker (CASB), data loss prevention (DLP), zero-trust network access (ZTNA), SASE, and others. Its purpose is to streamline the process of implementing a zero-trust strategy. All functions of the SASE solution developed by Fortinet can be executed either in an appliance or in the cloud. This capability is facilitated by a unified management console, networking and security layer, and operating system. Recently, Fortinet was positioned in the inaugural Gartner Magic Quadrant for Single-Vendor SASE in 2023.
Lastly, the security operations market is anticipated to reach $78 billion by 2027, expanding at slightly more than 14% per year. Fortinet's SecOps platform is the most comprehensive, integrated, and broad in the industry, enabling organizations to gain control and insight into their distributed operations through security orchestration, endpoint detection and response (EDR), automation and response (SOAR), security information and event management (SIEM), network detection and response (NDR), and additional integrated enterprise-grade cybersecurity technologies.
Complementing Fortinet's R&D expenditures are strategic realignments in its GTM investments, concentrating on security operations, universal SASE, and secure networking. With the assistance of marketing support and training, sales will be structured in accordance with these three strategic areas in order to increase market penetration and consumer engagement.
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Platform Security
PR Newswire | October 26, 2023
OpenText (NASDAQ: OTEX), (TSX: OTEX), today announced the Nastiest Malware of 2023, an annual ranking of the year's biggest malware threats. For six consecutive years OpenText Cybersecurity threat intelligence experts have analyzed the threat landscape to determine the most notorious malware trends. Ransomware has been rapidly ascending the ranks, with ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) now the weapon of choice for cybercriminals.
This year four new ransomware gangs, believed to be the next generation of previous big players, topped the list. Newcomer Cl0p takes the prize for this year's nastiest malware after commanding exorbitant ransom demands with its MOVEit campaign. Cl0p's efforts helped skyrocket the average ransom payment which is rapidly approaching three quarters of a million dollars. Black Cat, Akira, Royal, Black Basta also made their debut, joined by the always present, Lockbit.
A key finding this year is the RaaS business model is another win for the bad guys. Profit sharing and risk mitigation are top contributors to RaaS success along with the ability to easily evade authorities, said Muhi Majzoub, EVP and Chief Product Officer, OpenText. There is a silver lining as research shows only 29% of businesses pay ransom, an all-time low. These numbers indicate people are taking threats seriously and investing in security to be in a position where they do not need to pay ransom.
This year's list highlights the tenacity of cybercriminals as they continue to reinvent themselves, coming back stronger each time (often with new names). Their scrappy mentality allows them to go beyond the norm to find new ways to invade their target.
2023 Nastiest Malware
Cl0p, a RaaS platform, became famous following a series of cyberattacks, exploited a zero-day vulnerability in the MOVEit Transfer file software developed by Progress Software. MOVEit victims include such notable organizations as Shell, BBC, and the United States Department of Energy.
Black Cat, recognized in our 2021 Nastiest Malware report, believed to be the successor to REvil ransomware group, has built their RaaS platform on the Rust programming language. They made headlines for taking down MGM Casino Resorts.
Akira, presumed to be a descendant of Conti, primarily targets small to medium sized businesses due to the ease and turnaround time. Most notably, Akira ransomware targeted Cisco VPN products as an attack vector to breach corporate networks, steal, and eventually encrypt data.
Royal, suspected heir to Ryuk, uses Whitehat penetration testing tools to move laterally in an environment to gain control of the entire network. Helping aid in deception is their unique partial encryption approach that allows the threat actor to choose a specific percentage of data in a file to encrypt.
Lockbit 3.0, a main stain on the list and last year's winner, continues to wreak havoc. Now in its third epoch, Lockbit 3.0 is more modular and evasive than its predecessors.
Black Basta is one of the most active RaaS threat actors and is also considered to be yet another descendant of the Conti ransomware group. They have gained a reputation for targeting all types of industries indiscriminately.
To learn more about the findings of this year's Nastiest Malware analysis, visit the OpenText Cybersecurity Community, as well as tune in to our Nastiest Malware Webinar.
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