Successful mitigation of today’s security threats requires an approach that is both on the offensive and on the defensive. Here, we give our take on how to approach and handle specific security challenges, as well as our reaction to some of the latest industry topics.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a massive shift towards remote work, which remains today. Remote work has become the new norm, and it has brought about many changes in the workplace. While remote work offers many benefits, it also increases cybersecurity risks. In this article, DirectDefense will discuss the rise of remote work and cybersecurity, and… Read more »
04.13.23Get Ready for the 2024 PCI Compliance Update The new, stringent, PCI DSS 4.0 will replace PCI DSS version 3.2.1 on March 31, 2024. At that time, you will be required to be compliant with the new specifications. (Do not become confused by the March 31, 2025, date which is when the requirements labeled “best… Read more »
An Examination Whether the Latest AI Products are Anything More Than Powerful New Tools If you work in security or even tech, odds are you can’t stop hearing about recent advancements in artificial intelligence and how they will be humankind’s undoing. With the introduction of products like ChatGPT, OpenAI, or ChatSonic, it’s undeniable that the… Read more »
12.12.22What We Can Expect in 2023 Based on the Past Year’s Threat Landscape As we gear up for the holidays and new year, it is that time of the year again to review this year’s security-related events and examine the themes for future security challenges we can expect in the coming year that may affect… Read more »
03.31.22Navigating the 5 Stages of Grief Following an Incident Response Event Are you a victim of a data breach and are you feeling signs of grief? You’re not alone. As an incident response professional, I have met many different types of corporate staff, from the IT staff to the C-suite. Unfortunately, it was probably on… Read more »
03.25.22Breaking Down Microsoft’s Response to the Lapsus$ Gang’s Social Engineering Compromise Microsoft has done an excellent job in explaining the social engineering breach that originated against them from the Lapsus$ group. In their recent blog post, they detail the Lapsus$ attack and how access was obtained, as well as provide some decent recommendations to enhance… Read more »
Security company Qualys has uncovered a truly dangerous memory corruption vulnerability in polkit’s pkexec, CVE-2021-4034, dubbed “PwnKit”. Polkit, formerly known as PolicyKit, is a systemd SUID-root program. It’s installed by default in every major Linux distribution, which means that tens of millions of devices are vulnerable to this easily-exploitable bug. What makes this flaw even… Read more »
12.09.21What to Know, How to Prepare, and How We Got Here When 2021 began, everything from the pandemic to the economy felt uncertain. Security threats increased both as a result of those uncertainties and the ever-growing sophistication of the threat landscape. In this post, we’ll review the events that created security threats in 2021 and… Read more »
The Recent Breach at Meat Processor JBS SA Proves the Need for a Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan The world’s largest meat processor by sales, Brazil-based JBS SA, is recovering from a ransomware attack that hit their IT networks, taking about one-fifth of U.S. beef and pork processing completely offline. The company was forced… Read more »
Greater Security Must be Applied to all Operational Technology Systems The Colonial Pipeline shutdown, caused by a ransomware attack, highlights the precarious position of many critical infrastructures. The effects of the pipeline cyber incident are widespread, as 45% of the U.S. East Coast relies on it for gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel. Several southern… Read more »
