Cisco to Secure Its Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) Platform for enterprise security

  • Cisco has done some work on its own enterprise blockchain tools, the networking firm is also using blockchain internally.

  • Cisco’s StealthWatch Cloud will be embedded in the enterprise blockchain platform offered by Lambda 256.

  • The StealthWatch solution uses machine learning and behavioral modeling to respond to cybersecurity threats.


South Korea’s Lambda 256 has partnered with Cisco for the security of its Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) platform, Luniverse. Cisco’s StealthWatch Cloud will be embedded in the enterprise blockchain platform offered by Lambda 256. The StealthWatch solution uses machine learning and behavioral modeling to respond to cybersecurity threats. Luniverse supports Hyperledger Fabric in its BaaS hosting offering. Even though this offering is enterprise focused, the company’s heritage is in the cryptocurrency sector.


Lambda 256 is part of Dunamu, which operates the Upbit crypto exchange and also a venture investment fund with ten blockchain investments. While Cisco has done some work on its own enterprise blockchain tools, the networking firm is also using blockchain internally. Four months ago, it partnered with NEC to use blockchain to ensure the authenticity of its networking equipment and make sure software is not tampered with. Cisco is also a participant in the Trust Your Supplier offering from Chainyard to manager supplier qualifications. Other members include IBM, Lenovo and Nokia.



Read more: CISCO'S 6 UNPATCHED INTERNAL SERVERS COMPROMISED

While most technologies aim to improve enterprise and societal problems, blockchain technology could stand out given its transparency and security while remaining decentralized and inclusive.

~ Cisco


Much has been written about blockchain’s potential as well as its unfulfilled promises. While blockchain is distributed and secure, verifying transactions through the network can be slow. As observers have indicated, blockchain could change industries, from finance to healthcare. From its origins as an airtight validation mechanism for bitcoin, a digital currency, enterprise blockchain technology has made its way into a range of industries, as it secures any valued digital asset.


It does so by recording digital asset transactions—payments, medical records, votes, and potentially many other things. Blockchain is seen as immutable and secure because the permanent, append-only ledger is distributed among blocks across many physical storage nodes. Code can be embedded in the blockchain to customize its security and behavior even further.


The result is a network of nodes that can locate relevant data – but that is protected from malicious hackers, because the hack would have to solve every hash solution in the chain–and the hash solutions are all spontaneous.


It's easy to see how the complexity of the security rules outlined above, computationally intensive as they are, would make a blockchain as slow as molasses–and most are. Early blockchains could manage only one or two transactions per second, and even today, five to seven transactions per second is considered blindingly fast. That's a deal breaker in many scenarios. Conceptually, a blockchain is a decentralized, distributed network. In practice, however, since every node in the network is aware of every transaction, a consensus protocol is required–and that forces a tradeoff between decentralization and low transaction throughput.


The methodologies emerging for scenario-specific blockchain implementation inevitably add a layer of complexity to an already complex undertaking. This complexity is the cost of doing business for a technology that swings for the fences quite assertively in an Internet-driven world, rife with security threats and infrastructural compromise. But any enterprise capable of wrestling with the intricate elegance of blockchain in the first place should be up to that task, and should reap game-changing rewards.


Read more: GOOGLE TOP CHOICE FOR CYBERCRIMINALS FOR BRAND-IMPERSONATION SPEAR-PHISHING CAMPAIGNS

Spotlight

Cyber attacks are increasing in volume, sophistication, and severity, and the federal government has taken notice. Now, they’re taking action — most recently in the form of new cybersecurity rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission. In “11 Ways to Streamline SEC Cybersecurity Compliance with Risk Cloud,” we explore a va


Other News
Platform Security

SentinelOne Launches RemoteOps Forensics for Faster Incident Response

SentinelOne | September 18, 2023

SentinelOne, a global leader in autonomous cybersecurity, is addressing the pressing need for rapid and effective responses to the escalating wave of cyber breaches. Today, the company announced the launch of Singularity RemoteOps Forensics, a pioneering digital forensics product designed to streamline and accelerate incident response readiness. This innovative solution promises to empower organizations of all sizes, ushering in a new era of efficient and scalable investigation and response capabilities in the face of evolving cybersecurity challenges. Integrated seamlessly with the SentinelOne Singularity Platform and as an add-on to Sentinel One's Endpoint and Cloud Workload Security solutions, RemoteOps Forensics offers a rapid, adaptable digital forensics and incident response solution. Security teams can leverage this tool to enhance efficiency by optimizing resources and accelerating Mean Time to Resolution. With the capability for targeted investigations on various assets, including endpoints and server workloads, it enables conditional trigger-based evidence collection. This automation efficiently gathers evidence, such as process data, ports, service listings, MFT, Amcache, JumpLists, and memory dumps, orchestrating them in under a minute. Consolidating evidence into the Singularity Security DataLake allows for the correlation of SentinelOne and partner data with forensics data in a unified search, facilitating a comprehensive view of attacks, rapid root cause identification, and risk mitigation. Furthermore, it provides the ability to analyze collected evidence alongside Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) data within a single console, empowering proactive defense against future threats. The integration and analysis of this combined data unveil concealed indicators of compromise, detect advanced attack patterns, and offer insights into threat actors' tactics, techniques, and procedures. RemoteOps Forensics is a cost-effective and resource-efficient solution that seamlessly integrates with the SentinelOne agent. This integration alleviates the necessity of deploying and provisioning multiple tools throughout the investigative process, resulting in significant time and resource savings for organizations. In addition, this innovative solution prioritizes the maintenance of forensic integrity by minimizing changes made to the disk, and it leverages SentinelOne's anti-tampering and metadata collection capabilities to safeguard data integrity. In doing so, it streamlines investigations and upholds the highest standards of forensic rigor, reinforcing organizations' cybersecurity defenses with a comprehensive and efficient approach. Jane Wong, Senior Vice President of Products and Strategy at SentinelOne, said, As timelines for reporting and responding to breaches shrink, it is imperative that the security teams have advanced forensics capabilities that can make investigations faster and more efficient, and with Singularity RemoteOps Forensics, the team is delivering them. [Source – Business Wire] SentinelOne's new forensic capabilities help develop incident response by enabling security teams to conduct thorough investigations more quickly, Jane also mentioned eliminating the requirement for specialized expertise or additional tools. About SentinelOne SentinelOne is a leading provider of autonomous cybersecurity solutions. With its identified Singularity Platform, the company excels at detecting, preventing, and responding swiftly to cyber threats. SentinelOne enables businesses to protect their endpoints, cloud workloads, containers, and identities, as well as their mobile and network-connected devices, with unparalleled speed, accuracy, and ease of use. With a formidable clientele comprising over 11,000 customers, SentinelOne has proven itself as the trusted guardian of a secure digital future.

Read More

Platform Security

BLOKWORX Selects Stellar Cyber Open XDR Platform to Bolster its Managed Security Offering

Business Wire | October 31, 2023

Stellar Cyber, the innovator of Open XDR, announced today that a top 200 managed security service provider (MSSP), BLOKWORX, has added Stellar Cyber Open XDR Platform to its security stack to enhance context and increase the differentiation of its security offerings. Stellar Cyber’s Network Detection and Response (NDR) capabilities and unique ability to identify threats at the network layer played a pivotal role in BLOKWORX’s ultimate decision. The Stellar Cyber Open XDR Platform enables MSSPs to produce consistent security outcomes with existing staff. In addition, Stellar Cyber complements security teams’ human expertise, making them more productive and efficient. BLOKWORX is a leading MSSP delivering data-centric security services aimed at managed security providers (MSP) with limited in-house cybersecurity resources. BLOKWORX sets itself apart from other MSSPs with its extensive networking expertise. “Most MSSPs focus on the endpoint when it comes to threat detection, then broaden their efforts,” said Robert Boles, Founder & President of BLOKWORX. “While we can and do look at endpoints, together with Stellar Cyber, we take a more comprehensive approach, looking at all layers of the network, allowing us better to understand the real depth and breadth of a threat and more completely protect a client's network from cloud to edge to endpoint.” We are delighted that BLOKWORX underscores how the Stellar Cyber Open XDR Platform accentuates the differentiation and value they offer their customers, said Jim O’Hara, Stellar Cyber Chief Revenue Officer. BLOKWORX is already a deeply valued partner, and we look forward to developing our relationship further. BLOKWORX played a critical role in integrating Stellar Cyber and Deep Instinct. They invested significant cycles working with the dev teams from Stellar Cyber and Deep Instinct, ensuring the integration works as expected. The result is a resilient integration between the two products that protect enterprises globally. “BLOKWORX was an invaluable contributor to the integration work we completed with Deep Instinct,” said Andrew Homer, VP of Technology Alliances at Stellar Cyber. “When you see this type of dedication from a partner, you want to work harder to deliver the best possible outcomes, and that is what we did.” “We will not bring anything into our stack that doesn’t pass our comprehensive vetting process, especially when a product claims to be multi-tenant. Stellar Cyber checked every box in our vetting process,” added Robert Boles. Unlike other SecOps platforms requiring several multifaceted technical professionals to deploy, use, and maintain, the Stellar Cyber Open XDR Platform delivers NG-SIEM, NDR, UEBA, SOAR, and TIP capabilities in an efficient way that allows security analysts to focus on security operations. In addition, powered by deep learning AI and an “open” integration architecture, Stellar Cyber intelligently correlates alerts, logs, and telemetry data, providing security analysts with the holistic view of threats they need to mitigate them quickly. About Stellar Cyber Stellar Cyber delivers comprehensive, unified security without complexity, empowering lean security teams of any skill to secure their environments successfully. With Stellar Cyber, organizations reduce risk with early and precise identification and remediation of threats while slashing costs, retaining investments in existing tools, and improving analyst productivity, delivering an 8X improvement in MTTD and a 20X improvement in MTTR. The company is based in Silicon Valley. For more information, visit https://stellarcyber.ai. About BLOKWORX Most IT Managed Service Providers can’t keep up with all the security options and threats that come at their clients on their own. BLOKWORX simplifies security solutions and constantly prevents cyber threats before they become catastrophic events so MSPs can protect their clients, reduce their risks and have peace of mind growing their business, with a trusted and proven security partner watching their backs. We Defend. We Protect. You Grow. For more information, visit www.blokworx.com.

Read More

API Security

Wallarm Announces Policy Integration with MuleSoft AnyPoint Platform

Wallarm | October 13, 2023

Wallarm has announced the availability of Application and API Security policies seamless integration with the MuleSoft AnyPoint Platform, providing essential protection for apps and APIs in various deployment scenarios. This integration of Wallarm and MuleSoft presents a compelling choice for organizations dedicated to comprehensively safeguarding and managing their API security management, ensuring robust protection for their digital assets. In the digital age, enterprises heavily depend on APIs to facilitate application connections and drive their digital transformation. Wallarm's latest offering seamlessly integrates with the MuleSoft API management and integration platform, bolstering cloud security and compliance to meet the evolving needs of modern businesses. Effective API management is paramount for organizations, and the market offers numerous commercial solutions, each with its unique features. Whether opting for well-known platforms such as MuleSoft, Kong, or Apigee, or exploring external tools like Akamai Edge and Azion Edge, the decision on how to deploy and manage crucial APIs depends on factors such as scalability, performance, and existing infrastructure. Regardless of the chosen approach, the demand for robust API security that effortlessly aligns with these varied deployment methods remains a top priority. CEO and Co-founder of Wallarm, Ivan Novikov, said, Wallarm is keen to unveil a cutting-edge cloud-based security policy that is agile and fully integrated with MuleSoft, a leading integration and API management platform in the market. [Source – Business Wire] About Wallarm Wallarm is a leading provider of robust protection for APIs, microservices, web applications, and serverless workloads in cloud-native environments. Trusted by numerous Security and DevOps teams, Wallarm excels in comprehensive web app and API endpoint discovery, shielding against emerging threats across their API portfolio, and automating incident response for enhanced risk management. The platform is designed to support modern tech stacks, offering a myriad of deployment options in both cloud and Kubernetes-based environments, including a full cloud solution. Based in San Francisco, California, Wallarm is backed by prominent investors like Y Combinator, Toba Capital, Partech, and others.

Read More

API Security

Salt Security, CrowdStrike Expands Partnership with New Integration

Salt Security | September 20, 2023

Salt Security, a prominent API security company, has announced the expansion of its partnership with CrowdStrike, a leading cybersecurity technology company providing cloud workload and endpoint security, cyberattack response, and threat intelligence services. This expansion involves the integration of the Salt Security API Protection Platform with the widely recognized CrowdStrike Falcon Platform. Roey Eliyahu, Co-founder and CEO of Salt Security, stated, Protecting against API threats requires deep visibility and robust runtime protection. We’re excited to bring our unique strengths in API security to the CrowdStrike customer base with this new integration. Together with CrowdStrike, Salt can provide organizations with extended runtime protections and posture management across the cloud and application landscapes. [Source – Cision PR Newswire] Through this integration, customers gain access to a comprehensive 360-degree view of API security risks, particularly focusing on the application-layer attack surface. This integration is accessible via the CrowdStrike Marketplace and provides valuable API threat intelligence. It also enhances cross-organization API security capabilities by streamlining and enhancing the workflows related to API auditing, monitoring, and enforcement. The partnership between Salt Security, offering top-notch API runtime monitoring and AI-driven insights, and CrowdStrike, renowned for its award-winning AI-powered protection, provides organizations with complete visibility into their API attack surface. This integration also offers valuable context regarding the severity of threats in relation to business-critical aspects. With this partnership, customers benefit from: API vulnerability and threat context API threat mitigation API threat management automation The patented Salt API security platform stands out for its utilization of cloud-scale big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML). These technologies work in tandem to automate the process of discovering and cataloging an organization's entire set of APIs. Salt plays a crucial role in pinpointing areas where APIs might expose sensitive data. This proactive approach aids enterprises in recognizing and mitigating potential API threats while also reinforcing their overall API security. Gur Talpaz, Head of Falcon Fund and Vice President of Corporate Development at CrowdStrike, said, With APIs now a prime target for malicious actors, securing them requires a comprehensive and diligent approach. Through this joint integration, we can harness the mature AI-driven intelligence of the Salt API security platform with our widely deployed Falcon platform, giving organizations complete visibility into their application-layer attack surface and a detailed understanding of their application threat landscape. [Source – Cision PR Newswire] About Salt Security Salt Security is a leading API security company that safeguards the APIs at the core of all modern applications. Its API Protection Platform is the sole API security solution that integrates the power of cloud-scale big data with time-tested machine learning and artificial intelligence to detect and prevent API attacks. Salt provides extensive context, real-time analysis, and continuous insights for API discovery, hardening APIs, and attack prevention by correlating the activities of millions of APIs and users over time.

Read More

Spotlight

Cyber attacks are increasing in volume, sophistication, and severity, and the federal government has taken notice. Now, they’re taking action — most recently in the form of new cybersecurity rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission. In “11 Ways to Streamline SEC Cybersecurity Compliance with Risk Cloud,” we explore a va

Resources