AI in Cybersecurity: Use Cases, Benefits, Risks & Best Practices
Artificial intelligence (AI), while not a new phenomena, has become one of the hottest topics in the world over the past couple of months since the release of ChatGPT to the public – an AI content generation platform that’s been raising a lot of important questions. Whether we realize it or not, AI algorithms and machine learning are a part of our every day lives, particularly when working in a technical field. In cybersecurity, AI is increasingly being applied to help defend against growing sophisticated cyber threats. By using machine learning algorithms to analyze vast amounts of data and identify patterns, AI can help detect and respond to threats in real-time, reducing the likelihood of successful cyber attacks. In the whirlwind of information and news surrounding AI in the recent weeks, it can be difficult to parse out and understand how these programs could serve to protect your data, and specifically which areas it could be of use in. In this three-part series, we’ll be addressing some of the most popular uses of AI in cybersecurity: 1. Intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS) 2. Threat intelligence and analysis using AI 3. Cybersecurity analytics with AI 4. Network traffic analysis with AI 5. AI-powered malware detection and analysis 6. Identity and access management using AI 7. AI-powered threat hunting 8. Behavioral biometrics with AI 9. AI for fraud detection and prevention 10. AI for security automation and orchestration There are a large number of benefits to using AI in this field, particularly when it comes to efficiency in input and output, but with those benefits come a learning curve of new security risks – our goal is to AI smarter, not harder. While AI has the potential to greatly enhance digital security, it’s important to note that it is not a silver bullet solution. AI is a two-way street, and threat actors will absolutely be using it themselves to develop new and more advanced attacks. There is also the risk of false positives and other errors when using AI-powered tools. Therefore, it’s important for organizations to use AI in conjunction with other cybersecurity strategies, such as strong access controls, network segmentation, and user education. By taking a holistic approach to cybersecurity, organizations can leverage the power of AI while also minimizing their risk of cyber attacks. Follow along as we take a look at the some of the amazing ways your organization could benefit from supplementing cybersecurity efforts with AI, as well as the potential risks and drawbacks that inevitably come with sophisticated technology of this nature.
Knowbe4’s Seven Core Dimensions of Security Culture
In case you haven’t heard it enough, businesses need to be proactive when it comes to security! A single security breach can result in significant financial loss, damage to reputation, and even legal consequences. The term “security culture” has become a rallying cry to encourage companies to implement training and education for employees to help protect them from being breached. A robust security culture within a company can go a long way in preventing such incidents from happening by educating employees, implementing policies and procedures, and consistently enforcing them. Elevate is a proud partner of Knowbe4 – the world’s largest integrated platform for security awareness training combined with simulated phishing attacks. Taking an approach not just of offering training, but addressing the root issue by changing behavior, they’ve established the Seven Core Dimensions of security culture. The dataset used to identify these patterns combines the measured behaviors of employees, as measured using the knowbe4 Kevin Mitnick Security Awareness Training (KMSAT) phishing assessment platform, and the measured security culture of the organizations of the same employees, as collected through their scientific Security Culture Survey. By examining the behavior and security culture of 97,661 employees across 1,115 organizations, KnowBe4 has observed that the link exists between the level of security culture in an organization and the measure of secure behavior of its employees. Ultimately their findings conclude that “organizations that invest in building and maintaining a security culture will drive significantly higher secure behaviors among their employees. In fact, there is a 52x differencebetween the behaviors of credential sharing in the worst class (Poor) and the best class (Good). Thismeans the more focus given to security culture, the greater the likelihood that employees will followsecure practices and adopt more secure behaviors.” The classes are categorized according to the security culture score of organizations included in thedataset on which the research is based: Knowbe4 has concluded that improving one’s security culture directly translates into more secure employee behaviors and to the overall reduction of organizational risk. Despite the daunting ideas of investing in such programs, research shows a strong return on such an investment and guaranteed added value. The following steps are encouraged for your organization to build upon: • Risk Assessments—set-up periodic assessments, or better yet, continuous monitoring of yourorganizations risks. Make sure that your risk assessment includes the human factors as measuredby security culture, knowledge and behavior of the organization and its employees. • Use the 7 Dimensions—actively work on building a strong security culture using the sevendimensions as a guideline for improvement. • Train and measure through engagement and automation—partner with KnowBe4 to design andautomate the right awareness training program to fit your diverse audience, including engagingcontent, attack simulations and unique communication tools. • Communicate often—communicate often by partnering with other departments and connectingtheir messages to overall security initiatives. • Use the Champion Model—consider mobilizing a champion program across your organizationin order to have advocates in every department, region and country who can further translateand embed the security message within your organization. • Engage with your peers—the security landscape is always changing and it is difficult to keeptrack of it all. Leverage your security community to learn from others, and to share your ownknowledge and experience Visit their website at https://www.knowbe4.com/ to learn more about Knowbe4 and their extensive security training tools!
April 10th is Global Work from Home Day – How is it Really Going?
It’s been three years since the world of office life was forever changed. Businesses clamored to comply with new public health policies without sacrificing everything they’d built, and work from home became our new norm. Since then, we’ve been through the ringer with data security risks and learning how to protect company assets while maintaining a remote workforce that only seems to be getting stronger. The question is – even after all this time, have companies really taken the steps necessary to secure their systems? There are a lot of risks that are more easily addressed, and many measures have been implemented to mitigate outside threats such as setting up VPN’s, using multi-factor authentication, providing guidance on recognizing phishing attempts etc. Less talked about is preventing internal risk. Remote work can lead to an increase in insider threats, where employees intentionally (or unintentionally) compromise company data. This can include sharing sensitive information with unauthorized parties, using personal devices for work purposes without permission, or failing to follow established security protocols. The lack of direct oversight and communication that comes with working remotely can make it more difficult for companies to identify and prevent these types of threats. As much as companies have tried to embrace the remote work culture, as it has its benefits for all parties, data from a 2023 Fortinet study demonstrates that organizations are more vulnerable when supporting a work-from-home model. “Of the companies surveyed, 62% reported a data breach as a “partial” result of staff working from home.” citing anything from lack of training to identity access management issues. On April 3rd, Lookout, Inc. released its new report “The State of Remote Work Security” to raise awareness among IT and security leaders about the growing threats associated with remote work and bring your own device (BYOD) policies. The survey shows that personal and work tasks blur together more when working from home, and the boundaries between the two have become increasingly permeable. 32% of remote and hybrid workers use apps or software not approved by IT, and 92% of remote employees perform work tasks on their personal tablet or smartphone devices. These devices, apps and software, along with the corporate data being accessed, are not visible to IT, thereby dramatically increasing an organization’s risk posture. (StreetInsider) In anticipation of Global Work from Home Day on April 10th – CybeReady, a global expert in security awareness training, has released a Remote Workforce CISO Training Toolkit that is now available to download for free. According to CybeReady, the Remote Workforce CISO Toolkit not only applies to home-based work environments, but also to co-working spaces where individuals from different companies or industries can work in the same physical location such as WeWork or Fusion Workplaces (SecurityBrief). Penetration Testing is a great first step to assessing any existing vulnerabilities in your organization. If you have any concerns about security in your remote workforce, schedule a consultation with Elevate for assistance anticipating and addressing these threats.
Empower Your First Line of Defense – Training Employees in Cybersecurity
If your organization deals with sensitive information on a regular basis, you most likely have varying levels of digital security on your radar at all times. As cyber attacks become more sophisticated and frequent, it is essential for companies to prioritize cybersecurity training for their employees as a first line of defense. Research shows that in 2022, 80% of organizations suffered one or more breaches that could be attributed to lack of cybersecurity skills and awareness. Offering these trainings is one of the easiest ways an organization can protect its data and prevent human errors that create vulnerabilities. These trainings can educate employees on the latest cybersecurity threats, teach them how to identify and respond to potential attacks, and provide guidelines for maintaining secure practices. Businesses are consistently putting themselves at risk due to poor practices when it comes to lack of education and training for their staff. There are a variety of best practices that employees can be taught, ranging from simple password safeguarding to recognizing phishing attempts and understanding the function and importance of firewalls and VPN’s. Cybersecurity training can also create a culture of security within the company. When employees are aware of the risks associated with cybersecurity and the importance of protecting sensitive information, they are more likely to be vigilant in their daily activities. By creating a culture of security, the company can mitigate the risk of cyber threats and help employees understand their role in protecting the organization’s assets. You can train your people all day every day, but ultimately you cannot control their attention or retention. New research has found that only 10% of workers remember all of their cybersecurity training, causing companies to both waste time and money and expose themselves to further risk. While some have started offering regular security training courses to a select portion of their staff, many are still not requiring a significant percentage of their employees to engage in any training at all. So how does a company increase training opportunities while addressing low employee engagement? 80% of workers interviewed by CybSafe reported that they are likely to act on security advice provided on platforms that they use on a daily basis such as Slack and Teams. 90% thought that security nudges on instant messaging platforms would be a valuable tool to help them retain their training information as well as encourage consistent vigilance. That being said, internal employee communication seems to have fallen through the cracks in many organizations as 47% have not received any training at all for applications like Slack and Teams. It has been reported that workers are more likely to share login details in tools like Slack rather than email.Executives from health systems and training experts have curated their approach to how they provide employee training to change behavior and acquire expertise in cybersecurity. During a recent panel discussion, it was concluded that the best way to educate and train employees on data security best practices is through short (3-6 minute) and frequent training highlight installments. Privacy operations and product security expert Bill O’Connell shared: “I’ve run security and privacy training programs for probably 15 years. One of the things I’ve noticed is that sometimes there’s more information than people want or are ready for…You also have to figure out how to tailor the message because ultimately your goal is not just let me get the check mark that everybody sat through one hour of training —let me get them to behave differently. You might be better off going for some small wins. One year, we did three-minute videos, YouTube-length videos, and sprinkled them out throughout the year rather than the one-hour long training. Also, making it where there’s a baseline that you’d have to do that would offer more and make it relevant to the individual.” (MedCity News, 2023) Providing cybersecurity training to employees can also help the company comply with various regulations and standards. Many industries and governments require companies to follow specific cybersecurity standards and regulations to protect sensitive data. Offering cybersecurity training to employees can help the company meet those requirements and avoid potential legal or financial consequences for non-compliance. There is no question in this day and age that cybersecurity training is an essential investment that can benefit the organization in multiple ways by protecting sensitive data, fostering a culture of security, and improving regulation compliance. Not sure where to start? Connect with an Elevate specialist to discuss a plan of action for implementing cybersecurity training in your organization.
Ethical Hacking – The Unsung Hero of Cybersecurity
The word “hacking” has long had a negative connotation, generally being used in the context of security breaches involving people with malicious intent. For many, the term “ethical hacking” may seem like an oxymoron, but this benevolent and invaluable cybersecurity practice can save your company from serious threats to your data, privacy, and finances. Ethical hacking, also known as white-hat hacking or penetration testing, is the practice of testing computer systems and networks for security vulnerabilities in a lawful and legitimate manner. These security professionals simulate a malicious attack with the goal of identifying weaknesses and vulnerabilities in a company’s system that could be exploited by real attackers. The main objective of ethical hacking is to discover and report security flaws and loopholes to the owners of the systems and networks so that they can be fixed before any real damage is done. Ethical hacking experts follow four key protocol concepts: The primary benefit of penetration testing is that it helps organizations identify and address potential security weaknesses before they can be exploited by malicious actors. By identifying vulnerabilities in a system, an ethical hacker can help the organization improve its security posture and prevent data breaches, theft, and other malicious activities. This best practice also helps organizations comply with industry and government regulations, which require them to maintain a certain level of security and privacy for their customers and users. Ethical hacking is also an important tool for cyber security research and development. By exploring different attack scenarios and testing security measures, ethical hackers can gain valuable insights into the latest threats and vulnerabilities in the digital landscape. This knowledge can then be used to develop new security technologies and strategies to protect against emerging threats. Ethical hacking helps to promote a culture of security awareness and education. By highlighting the risks and vulnerabilities of computer systems and networks, penetration testing can raise awareness among individuals and organizations about the importance of security and the need to take proactive measures to protect against cyber threats. This kind of foresight is necessary to create a more security-conscious society that is better equipped to deal with the constantly evolving challenges of our digital world. Don’t want for an attack to happen, book an appointment to schedule penetration testing services and get ahead of the threat!
US Launches New National Cybersecurity Strategy
In 2018 the Department of Homeland Security released a 5-year strategy to provide a framework to execute their cybersecurity responsibilities. The goal was to improve national cybersecurity risk management by increasing security and resilience across government networks and critical infrastructure. On Thursday, March 2nd, the new plan for the National Cybersecurity Strategy was released, outlining long-range goals for how individuals, government and businesses can safely operate in the digital world. While this is not an executive order, the new policy document represents a significant shift in attitude toward the highly talked about “public-private partnerships”. Many aspects of the new strategy are already in place, but others would require legislative changes posing potential challenges in the current congressional climate. Acting National Cyber Director Kemba Walden expressed that this new strategy “fundamentally re-imagines America’s cyber social contract” and will “rebalance the responsibility for managing cyber risk onto those who are able to bear it”. It has been stressed that asking individuals, small businesses and local governments to take on the primary burden of cybersecurity “isn’t just unfair, it’s ineffective”. Walden added “The biggest, most capable and best-positioned actors in our digital ecosystem can and should shoulder a greater share of the burden for managing cyber risks and keeping us all safe.” The strategy outlines and builds upon the 5 pillars of cybersecurity strategy: Pillar 1 | Defend Critical Infrastucture Pillar 2 | Disrupt and Dismantle Threat Actors Pillar 3 | Shape Market Forces to Drive Security and Resilience Pillar 4 | Invest in a Resilient Future Pillar 5 | Forge International Partnerships to Pursue Shared Goals The 39-page National Cybersecurity Strategy document explains that “we will make two fundamental shifts in how the United States allocates roles, responsibilities, and resources in cyberspace. In realizing these shifts, we aspire not just to improve out defenses, but to change those underlying dynamics that currently contravene our interests.” These two fundamental shifts are: “Rebalance the Responsibility to Defend Cyberspace” which will focus on “asking more of the most capable and best-positioned actors to make our digital ecosystem secure and resilient.” “Realign Incentives to Favor Long-Term Investments” which “outlines how the “Federal Government will use all tools available to reshape incentives and achieve unity of effort in a collaborative, equitable, and mutually beneficial manner.” A senior administration official acknowledged that creating laws to shift liability to industry is a long-term process, possibly a decade. There is expected pushback not just from the big tech industry, but also the U.S. Chamber of Commerce which has lobbied against mandating security standards in the past. The industry as a whole will be on watch to see how this new aggressive and comprehensive federal cybersecurity regulation will fare in the coming years.
Addressing the Threat – Cybersecurity Staffing and Recruiting Challenges in 2023
It has been no secret that the Cybersecurity workforce is facing a significant talent shortage. Whether due to natural lack of interest, decrease in STEM curriculum, or impressions of being an unfavorable career experience from those previously and currently in the industry – companies face an ever dwindling pool of qualified candidates while cyber threats increase exponentially. As we quickly encroach upon a future with a minefield of cyber threats, organizations have kicked it in to overdrive to address the staffing issue. Washington lawmaker’s concerns lie within the military software and IT landscape with regards to the Pentagon’s cyber recruitment and retention. Losing talent to the higher paying private sector, lack of service obligations by military branches, and increased support for initiatives and scholarships targeting both trade schools and universities are top bill for Congress to address in the coming year. The NSA (National Security Agency) has launched an “unprecedented hiring effort” this year. NSA Director Catherine Aucella stated “As NSA shifts to an era of strategic competition, it is critical that we’re able to build and sustain the diverse and expert workforce we need to continue working our missions”. This includes their biggest hiring push in 30 years with openings for over 3,000 employees. This week, the NSF (National Science Foundation) awarded the University of South Florida its largest grant to prepare students for cybersecurity careers in the federal government and other public institutions. The $3.7 million grant will establish the Cybersecurity Research and Education for Service in Government (CREST) program, which “will enable USF to recruit, mentor and provide scholarships to at least 28 graduate and undergraduate students and prepare them to serve as cybersecurity professionals in the federal government”. NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan said: “Cybersecurity is one of the most important issues confronting society in the information age, as our reliance on the national cyberspace evolves, so does the complexity of the cyber threats we face. It is imperative that we support the development of a strong cybersecurity workforce to ensure we can all benefit from secure and trustworthy cyberspace.” In a more broad spectrum, it is suggested that companies simply don’t understand their particular needs, which is reflected in “catch-all” job descriptions. Cybersecurity is a broad industry, and as such part of the initiative for 2023 should be ensuring that boards understand the field better – “Whether it’s privacy regulations, cyber threats or simply commercial risks, he continued, each organization has to ask itself what skills it really needs to keep itself secure”. Elevate specializes in Cybersecurity Recruiting and Staff Augmentation. If you are looking to fill an open position with top-tier talent, book an appointment with our specialist today.
OWASP Top 10
It might not have made Letterman’s list, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important! The OWASP Top 10 provides rankings for the most critical web app security risks. As their last update was in 2021, it remains to be seen if the evolving threat landscape will affect their rankings in the coming year, but for now these risks are holding solid ground for the foreseeable future. The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to improving software security. Anyone can participate and contribute to their online community, and they offer online tools, videos, forums, and events. Their features are always free of charge and easily accessible through the website. The OWASP Top 10: A10:2021 – Server-Side Request Forgery The data shows a relatively low incidence rate with above average testing coverage, along with above-average ratings for Exploit and Impact potential. A09:2021 – Security Logging and Monitoring Failures Logging and monitoring can be challenging to test, but detecting and responding to breaches is critical. You are vulnerable to information leakage by making logging and alerting events visible to a user or an attacker. A08:2021 – Software and Data Integrity Failures This category focuses on making assumptions related to software updates, critical data, and CI/CD pipelines without verifying integrity. One of the highest weighted impacts from Common Vulnerability and Exposures/Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVE/CVSS) data. A07:2021 – Identification and Authentication Failures Confirmation of the user’s identity, authentication, and session management is critical to protect against authentication-related attacks. A06:2021 – Vulnerable and Outdated Components Vulnerable Components are a known issue that we struggle to test and assess risk and is the only category to not have any Common Vulnerability and Exposures (CVEs) mapped to the included CWEs. A05:2021 – Security Misconfiguration 90% of applications were tested for some form of misconfiguration, with an average incidence rate of 4.%, and over 208k occurences of a Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) in this risk category. A04:2021 – Insecure Design If we genuinely want to “move left” as an industry, we need more threat modeling, secure design patterns and principles, and reference architectures. An insecure design cannot be fixed by a perfect implementation as by definition, needed security controls were never created to defend against specific attacks. A03:2021 – Injection 94% of the applications were tested for some form of injection with a max incidence rate of 19%, an average incidence rate of 3.37%, and the 33 CWEs mapped into this category have the second most occurrences in applications with 274k occurrences A02:2021 – Cryptographic Failures The first thing is to determine the protection needs of data in transit and at rest. For example, passwords, credit card numbers, health records, personal information, and business secrets require extra protection, mainly if that data falls under privacy laws, e.g., EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), or regulations, e.g., financial data protection such as PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) A01:2021 – Broken Access Control Moves up from the fifth position to the category with the most serious web application security risk; the contributed data indicates that on average, 3.81% of applications tested had one or more Common Weakness Enumerations (CWEs) with more than 318k occurrences of CWEs in this risk category. The 34 CWEs mapped to Broken Access Control had more occurrences in applications than any other category. (source: https://owasp.org/Top10) The purpose of compiling this list is to offer developers and web application security professionals insight into the most widespread security risks and utilize the findings for their remediation plans and recommendations for how to improve upon their existing security practices, with the goal of minimizing the presence of known risks in their applications. For remediation planning and assistance, or for more information on these risks – please reach out to our team for assistance.
Code, Compliance, and CISO’s. Shifts in the Cybersecurity Landscape Amid New NYDFS Regulation Changes.
On November 9, 2022 the NYDFS announced major revisions to their existing laws with regards to cybersecurity and reporting. Recent updates to their 2017 cybersecurity regulation for financial service companies are slated to take affect mid-Summer 2023. These changes present quite a few major compliance feats for entities doing business in New York to anticipate and overcome in the next few months. There is no sugarcoating it – the upcoming changes are considerable. Chief among these are: approach to risk assessment, restructuring of internal oversight and CISO responsibility, access privileges, and revisions to policies and procedures. It is important for companies both in and outside of the state of New York to fully understand these changes as the compliance models are usable across regulations and demonstrate best practices. The new obligations of an entities risk assessment are found in section 500.2, with the term “risk assessment” being redefined as: “Risk assessment means the [risk assessment that each covered entity is required to conduct under section 500.9 of this Part] process of identifying cybersecurity risks to organizational operations (including mission, functions, image and reputation), organizational assets, individuals, customers, consumers, other organizations and critical infrastructure resulting from the operation of an information system. Risk assessments shall take into account the specific circumstances of the covered entity, including but not limited to its size, staffing, governance, businesses, services, products, operations, customers, counterparties, service providers, vendors, other relations and their locations, as well as the geographies and locations of its operations and business relations. Risk assessments incorporate threat and vulnerability analyses, and consider mitigations provided by security controls planned or in place.” The definition now requires INFOSEC consultants to update their risk assessments based on a list of factors specifically tailored to the company. From a compliance standpoint, this adds time, money, and complexity to the overall process. 2023 shall be known as the Year of the CISO. The proposed changes significantly elevate the role of Chief Information Security Officer and puts pressure on senior management boards of directors to bring them in to a more high-level fold. Section 500.4(a) states that: “(a) Chief information security officer. Each covered entity shall designate a qualified individualresponsible for overseeing and implementing the covered entity’s cybersecurity program andenforcing its cybersecurity policy (for purposes of this Part, chief information security officer or CISO). The CISO must have adequate authority to ensure cybersecurity risks are appropriately managed, including the ability to direct sufficient resources to implement and maintain a cybersecurity program. The CISO may be employed by the covered entity, one of its affiliates or a third party service provider.” The CISO will be responsible for reporting annually to the “governing body” (or whoever is most senior in the organization) on: (1) the confidentiality of nonpublic information and the integrity and security of thecovered entity’s information systems(2) the covered entity’s cybersecurity policies and procedures;(3) material cybersecurity risks to the covered entity;(4) overall effectiveness of the covered entity’s cybersecurity program; [and](5) material cybersecurity events involving the covered entity during the time periodaddressed by the report; and(6) plans for remediating material inadequacies The amendment effectively grants CISOs the authority to manage cybersecurity risks at their discretion, including the ability to direct sufficient resources to implement and maintain a cybersecurity program, and require that the CISO report to the senior governing body on any material cybersecurity issues. The overall goal of these amendments to the CISO role pushes companies to restructure their oversight and funding of their cybersecurity program. If a CISO is not a current member of senior management, lacks an adequate budget or authority, and is not regularly reporting on the cybersecurity program – then there is a significant risk that NYDFS will consider the entire program as non-compliant. Access management and multi-factor authentication are a staple component of the new changes. Companies must conduct a user access privilege review (at minimum annually), immediately terminate access after employee departures, and implement a written password policy that meets industry standards. MFA (multi-factor authentication) must be implemented for remote access to all privileged accounts, as well as to access the entity or third-party applications which host nonpublic information. It is important to note that the exemptions for this section have been removed and full MFA requirements will apply to all covered entities. A revision of policies and procedures will be an arduous task for many companies. Section 500.5 states that covered entities are required to “develop and implement written policies and procedures for vulnerability management that are designed to assess the effectiveness of its cybersecurity program.” The required vulnerability management policies and procedures must require that covered entities at a minimum (i) conduct penetration testing (both inside and outside their systems) by qualified personnel, (ii) periodically, and after major system changes, conduct automated scans of systems, and if automated scans do not cover certain systems, manual scans, (iii) have monitoring processes to promptly inform the covered entity of the emergence of new security vulnerabilities, (iv) prioritize and timely remediate vulnerabilities, and (v) document and report material issues found during testing to the Board of Directors and senior management. The tracking of asset management has also been updated to require “(i) owner; (ii) location; (iii) classification or sensitivity; (iv) support expiration date; and (v) recovery time requirements.”. There are limited exceptions for smaller companies in these amendments. An entity (including affiliates) with either fewer than 20 employees (including independent contractors) or less than $15 million in year-end total assets, is exempt from the following regulation sections: 500.4 (CISO requirements), 500.5 (penetration testing and vulnerability assessments), 500.6 (audit trails), 500.8 (application security), 500.10 (cybersecurity personnel), 500.14 (training and monitoring), 500.15 (encryption), and 500.16 (BCDR & IRP Plans). Click here to read the full Regulation and view all upcoming changes in more detail. If you have questions about compliance with the new regulations, or are in need of CISO services to ensure compliance with the new directive, please contact us at https://elevateconsult.com/contact-us/ or book an appointment here. Sources: https://ipandmedialaw.fkks.com https://www.dfs.ny.gov/industry_guidance/regulations https://www.natlawreview.com
What, How and Why of Web App Penetration Testing
As the digital world continues to rapidly expand, organizations must be increasingly aware of the potential risks associated with their web applications. One way to ensure your company’s security is through penetration testing. Penetration testing is a security measure that helps you identify and fix vulnerabilities or weaknesses in your web applications before malicious actors can exploit them. Let’s take a deeper look at what exactly web-app penetration testing entails. What Does Web-App Penetration Testing Involve? Web-app penetration testing involves simulating real-world attacks against your web applications in order to uncover known and unknown vulnerabilities. The goal of this type of testing is to find potential weaknesses in the web application code that attackers might be able to exploit. This type of test should be conducted by an experienced security professional who has the knowledge and tools necessary to identify any potential risks or weaknesses. The process begins with a vulnerability scan that allows the security professional to identify any known vulnerabilities in the system. They will then use specialized tools and techniques in order to test the system for more complex issues such as input validation flaws, authentication bypasses, cross-site scripting (XSS) flaws, SQL injection flaws, and more. Once all tests are complete, the security professional will provide a detailed report on their findings along with recommendations for how you can address any identified risks or vulnerabilities. There are several steps involved in conducting a web application pen test. The first step is to gather information about the target system or application. This may include gathering information about the technologies and platforms being used, as well as any public information about the organization or application. Next, the tester will identify any potential vulnerabilities in the system or application. This may involve using automated tools to scan the system or manually examining the code and architecture of the application. Once potential vulnerabilities have been identified, the tester will attempt to exploit them to see if they can gain unauthorized access to the system or application. This may involve attempting to bypass security controls, such as login pages or access controls, or attempting to execute malicious code on the system. If the tester is successful in exploiting a vulnerability, they will report the issue to the organization and provide recommendations for how to fix it. This may involve patching the system, updating software, or implementing additional security controls. It is important to note that web application pen testing should only be performed by trained professionals who have a deep understanding of cyber security and web application development. Conducting a pen test without the proper knowledge and expertise can result in damage to the system or application being tested, and can also potentially leave it more vulnerable to attack. Why Is Web-App Penetration Testing Important? Web application penetration testing is vital for any organization that relies heavily on their online presence for business operations or customer engagement. It helps ensure that your system remains secure from malicious actors who may try to exploit weaknesses in your system for financial gain or other nefarious purposes. Additionally, it also ensures regulatory compliance with industry standards such as PCI DSS and GDPR ensuring your company avoids hefty fines due to noncompliance violations. Web application pen testing is a crucial part of ensuring the security of any system or application that is connected to the internet. By regularly testing and identifying vulnerabilities, organizations can take steps to fix them and protect themselves from potential attacks. In short, web application penetration testing can help protect your organization from potential cyber attacks by identifying risks and helping you close these loopholes proactively before they can be exploited by malicious actors. It’s an essential part of keeping your systems secure and compliant with industry regulations while also giving you peace of mind knowing that your organization’s data is safe from external threats. If you’re looking for a cost effective way to increase your website’s security posture, web application penetration testing could be just what you need! Contact Elevate to inquire about our pentesting services.