Tag Archives: Cyber security

Secure Remote Access Emergency Readiness – Top Tips

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How to ensure business resiliency, user productivity and security

Many circumstances and compliance obligations require organisations to activate or rapidly extend remote access capabilities as part of a business continuity strategy.  Beyond impacting user productivity, this emergency workplace shift can stress IT infrastructure and operations. With advanced planning, crises that require immediate, increased and varied remote access capacity should not increase threat exposure, cyberattack and data leakage risks.

Top Tips

Here are some important Secure Access Emergency Readiness tips to ensure business continuity, operational efficacy and protected accessibility.

Understand your remote access needs in terms of users, applications and resources in order to assess respective physical, virtual or user-based connection capacity and throughput. 

Identify key applications and resources, whether on-premises or cloud, that will require increased capacity and apply to an emergency capacity plan. 

Explore application and security tool license and capacity shifting options set in advance with your vendors to handle burst utilisation. 

Review and maintain application, data and role mapping to ensure users only access the resources they need, and have processes in place to quickly respond to user or role escalation and ad hoc privileged access and revocation. 

Consider virtual and cloud environment deployment and clientless mode to allow for more rapid on-demand deployment and scalability. 

Establish Disaster Recovery (DR) sites to provide secure access services in case of a primary site outage or failure and explore Secure Access solutions’ DR options for active/active or active/ passive modes. 

Build, publish and review emergency remote work guidelines, resources and communications. 

Activate advanced secure access usability features for streamlined access, such as: always-on, per-application and simultaneous tunneling, configuration lock down, clientless operation and online portals. 

Ensure emergency means to simulate on-premise access, including Layer-3 access to a specific subnet, HTML5 access to local machines, or Virtual Desktop Infrastructure by privileged users and technicians. 

Enforce endpoint compliance policy and activate self-remediation capabilities to reduce phishing and ransomware threats introduced by increased remote users and potential vulnerable devices. 

Invoke mobile device security options, such as mobile VPN, device security, segregating corporate apps and information, and data encryption to allow for broader for corporate and personal device use. 

Utilise Adaptive Authentication and User Entity Behaviour Analytics (UEBA) to better understand and react to new user/device usage, as well as unwanted and anomalous activity. 

Leverage usage analytics, bandwidth “throttling” and optimised gateway selection capabilities to better distribute workloads and to deliver “essential” applications to users without performance degradation. 

In a world where natural and man-made disasters occur, we want to help keep your business running effectively and securely so you can focus on what’s really important – and keeping your employees, friends, and family safe. If and when these unplanned events and disasters intensifies, organisations must adjust for increased stay, connect and work from home mandates. Beyond impacting user productivity, this emergency workplace shift can stress IT infrastructure and operations.

Download the Pulse Secure Solution Brief

Download the Secure Remote Access Emergency Readiness Solution Brief here to get these important tips to ensure business resiliency, user productivity, and continued secure access.

[Webinar On-Demand] Never Trust. Always Verify.

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Gartner predicts that 21 billion mobile devices, wearables, medical devices and other IoT things will connect to the internet by 2020.

So, how can you be sure who or what is on your network?

Watch our on-demand webinar ‘Never Trust. Always Verify’ with Malcolm, Network Utilities’ Technical Director and Paul, Channel SE from Pulse Secure to learn how a Zero Trust model gives you the visibility needed to mitigate risk.

During the webinar you’ll discover:

  • What’s driving the interest in Zero Trust
  • The principles of a Zero Trust model
  • Trends shaping the delivery of Secure Access
  • How the Software Defined Perimeter works
  • The critical elements of any successful Zero Trust Secure Access solution
  • How Pulse Secure delivers Zero Trust Secure Access for hybrid IT

DISCOVER THE 14 CORE CAPABILITIES YOU NEED FOR DEFENCE-GRADE SECURITY

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The following 14 core technical capabilities were created to help guide and prioritise cybersecurity investments.*

With cyber threats constantly evolving, it’s important to identify the gaps in your security posture and being prepared for cybercriminals to get through your defences in this changing environment is essential. You need to determine where to start and what is most important.

1. Asset Management

Identify assets by leveraging automated tools and discovery solutions (to also discover rogue systems), including:

  • Installed software (including on endpoints, mobile (leverage Mobile Device Management (MDM or EMM) solutions) and servers)
  • Deployed hardware (including endpoints, mobile, cloud and “on- premise” systems)

2. Network Segmentation

Ensure networks are properly segmented, particularly separating the business side from the infrastructure networks.

Focus initially on high value assets and critical systems. Move away from solutions that focus only on “on premise” segmentation and deploy network segmentation solutions, such as Software Defined Perimeter that allows for granular role-based segmentation of on-premise and Cloud-based systems, including legacy systems. Additionally, leverage Network Access Control (NAC) when possible.

3. Network Security

Leverage intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDS/IPS) across enterprise and system enclave boundaries (including ingress, egress points), including using cloud-based appliances whenever possible to monitor cloud traffic.

  • Select solutions that can protect both on-premise and cloud-based traffic and consolidate alerts/logs on a single dashboard
  • Consider leveraging Deep Packet Inspection/Packet Capture (DPI)
  • Consider deploying cloud access security brokers (CASBs) at cloud boundaries
  • Leverage Domain Name Server Security (DNSSEC) to secure your Domain Name Server (DNS)
  • Consider specific distributed denial of service (DDoS) protections to protect servers, applications, and networks
  • Consider solutions that protect communication systems against telephony denial of service (TDoS) and DDoS attacks

4. Identity Management

Manage user access and roles by:

  • Deploying a centralised identity management solution with access control management and identity proofing
  • Leveraging a Single Sign-On solution across the enterprise and its applications
  • Deploying multi-factor authentication across the organisation, particularly for critical systems and privilege access
  • Using identity management best practices to ensure “need to know” and “least privilege”
  • Properly disabling or deleting accounts according to the organisation’s policy requirement

5. Privilege Access

Privilege access management solutions should be deployed to manage and control critical infrastructure systems’ administrative accounts, including:

  • Requiring multi-factor authentication for all administrative accounts, including on servers and endpoints
  • Using solutions, such as Software Defined Perimeter, to enforce multi-factor authentication policies across the enterprise while implementing patching, need to know, and least privilege, among others

6. Patching and Vulnerability Management

  • Conduct proper monitoring and patch installation, including testing prior to patch deployments
  • Prioritise patches based on risk and critical impact
  • Regularly perform automated scanning (daily ideal or weekly), including credentialed, passive, internal, and external scans. Include database configuration and web services configuration scans
  • Install agents on servers and endpoints to facilitate scans whenever possible
  • Scan applications both statically and dynamically
  • Perform source code review when necessary

7. Continuous Monitoring

Continuous monitoring is recommended 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including:

  • Employ alerts and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions with a customised dashboard to monitor critical systems using proper log management
  • Create/manage a security operation centre (SOC) to continuously monitor critical systems

8. Endpoint Protection

Employ endpoint protection solutions to:

  • Mitigate against viruses, ransomware, and malware using solutions such as Application Segmentation (Micro Virtual Machine isolation), Advanced Endpoint Protection, and Antivirus/Anti-malware
  • Deploy these solutions across all endpoints and servers, including mobile devices
  • Leverage a File Integrity Solution to protect against file tampering/rootkits etc.

9. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)/Key Management

Deploy both symmetric and asymmetric encryption key management solutions, including:

  • Managing public and private keys used for application programming interfaces (APIs), email signing, and encryption using a PKI solution
  • Employing key management solutions to store keys, including Secure Shell (SSH) keys and other encryption keys

10. Log Management

Centralise, correlate and consolidate logs, including:

  • Ingress and egress logs
  • Application logs
  • Endpoint protection logs
  • Firewall logs
  • Security logs such as authentication failure, misuse, unauthorised access, insider threat
  • Server logs
  • Database logs
  • Webserver logs
  • IDS/IPS logs

Ensure proper timestamp by leveraging Time Synchronisation (Network Time Protocol (NTP)) solutions across every system.

11. Phishing Protection

Implement phishing training and plugin solutions, including:

  • Mandating regular phishing training for all employees, including senior executives
  • Deploying email validation system (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC), Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)) to detect and prevent email spoofing
  • Deploying phishing plugin solutions on email servers and endpoints to allow phishing email detection, prevention, and reporting
  • Conducting real-life phishing campaigns to all your employees to measure openings/clicks, and target training to employees opening those emails

12. Configuration Management

Adopt a configuration management solution to properly enforce configuration requirements on servers and endpoints, including:

  • Prioritising solutions that can synchronise logs with SIEM and that support multiple operating systems
  • Leveraging application whitelisting solutions to limit access to necessary applications on endpoints and mobile devices. Whitelisting is recommended instead of blacklisting because new malicious software is too difficult to track

13. Application Security

Application security is the use of software, hardware and procedural methods to prevent vulnerabilities in applications and protect sensitive information from external threats. Applications may include desktop, server, and mobile technology. Software security should be built into applications during their development phase:

  • Fuzz testing (fuzzing) should be leveraged as a quality assurance technique, using a software tool called a fuzzer to discover coding errors and security loopholes in software, operating systems or networks. The technique involves inputting fuzz (massive amounts of random data) to the test subject to make it crash, find vulnerabilities, and identify potential causes
  • Dynamic analysis can be used as the testing and evaluation of a program by executing data in real-time to find errors in a program and flaws in the source code while it is running, rather than by repeatedly examining the code offline. Dynamic code analyser software finds security issues caused by the code’s interaction with other system components like SQL databases, application servers or Web services to debug a program in all the scenarios for which it is designed
  • Static code analysis is also available as one of the security tools the enterprise can use to identify flaws and malicious code in applications before they are bought or deployed. The process provides an understanding of the code structure, and can help to ensure that the code adheres to industry standards
  • Leverage Web Application Firewalls (WAF) solutions to secure your web applications

14. Data Security

Implement solutions to secure data, including:

  • Properly protect data, in particular, personally identifiable information (PII), personal health information (PHI), payment card industry (PCI), and sensitive, classified, and/or financial data, by using Data Loss Prevention solutions:
    • Leveraging solutions to detect and prevent data leaks and massive data exports on servers, databases, and endpoints, when possible
  • Deploying backup solutions across the organisation endpoints, servers, databases, and critical systems
    • Establishing off-site backup, whether in a separate datacentre or on the cloud
  • Mandating encryption for all PII, PHI, PCI, sensitive, and confidential data whenever possible. Examples include:
    • Requiring full disk encryption solutions for mobile devices, laptops, and removable media
    • Using encryption on databases and files whenever required

* 2018 Cybersecurity Guide – originally provided by Bromium featuring Nicolas Chaillan.

Secure Access for Today and Tomorrow: Part 3

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The Requirements of a Secure Access Solution – Balance Security and Productivity

With a Secure Access solution in place, organisations can enforce policy compliance by employees, guests and contractors regardless of location, device type, or device ownership. Users enjoy greater productivity and the freedom to work anywhere without sacrificing access to authorised network resources and applications. IT can mitigate malware, data loss and IoT risks. And IT is empowered to optimise their resources and enable digital transformation across the organisation.

Integrated mobile security

First, a Zero Trust Secure Access solution must enable enterprise mobility to boost workforce productivity. This requires enabling visibility and compliance controls in a transparent way across different devices and operating systems. It involves simplifying the secure use of mobile devices by offering automated, self- service on-boarding of devices – whether they are laptops, smartphones, or tablets – regardless of user location and device ownership. Mobility enablement also requires the ability to ensure compliance by isolating work applications and data from private applications in BYOD scenarios. Lastly, a Secure Access solution must support always.

Simple and easy-to-use UX

A Zero Trust Secure Access solution must also take into consideration users’ consumer-based expectations for a simple, integrated user experience (UX). For example, end users want the convenience of Single Sign On (SSO) to applications across devices, operating systems and application infrastructures. IT administrators demand an intuitive and flexible way to orchestrate all elements of access security – freeing them from the need to correlate data and actions across multiple security systems and consoles. Additionally, a best-in-class solution will optimise the user experience by leveraging an integrated Application Delivery Control (ADC) solution, guaranteeing timely response to meet any demand, regardless of whether users access applications on site or remotely.

End-to-end hybrid IT security and visibility

The increase in cyberattacks coupled with the move to hybrid IT environments means that a Zero Trust Secure Access solution must offer end-to-end hybrid IT security and visibility. The solution should provide user, device and access operational intelligence to allow for informed policy development, threat response and reporting. Such a solution should combine multi-factor authentication with role-based and device-compliant authorised access to applications, whether the applications are hosted in enterprise data centres, private clouds, or public clouds. An integrated platform, incorporating both perimeter-based (VPN) and Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) architectures provides versatility to address a broad number of business needs while offering deployment flexibility and management economies.

Unified and scalable platform

The difficulties associated with multiple security silos can be mitigated by adopting a unified Zero Trust Secure Access platform. A unified platform provides appropriate application access that supports physical and virtual IT resources across on-premise and cloud environments. It must also provide endpoint coverage across classic PCs, mobile and even IoT devices, requiring the application of agent and agentless Client technology. Given the growth in users and devices, a unified platform must be sufficiently scalable to handle the steady

Unified policy engine for users, devices, and applications

Policy unification is another way to combat the gaps that can be created by multiple security silos. Unlike siloed solutions, policy unification enables rules to be written once and automatically applied enterprise-wide. SDP architectures offer a unified and centralized policy engine that is context-aware, enabling enforcement of granular policies based on user, role, device, location, time, network and application, as well as endpoint security state. To minimize IT administrative workloads and ensure interoperability with third-party solutions, policy enforcement should be standards-based.

Seamless integration across multiple vendor solutions

Establishing a unified platform and policy engine is made easier and effective by partnering with a single vendor who can orchestrate Zero Trust Secure Access controls across multiple vendor solutions. To minimise IT administrative workloads, bi-directional interoperability should be standards-based and support a variety of third-party solutions. Applying this approach allows a single vendor to incorporate new technologies as they become available and enable greater enterprise availability, resiliency, elasticity and scalability.

Extensibility to new endpoints, services, and applications

Finally, as demonstrated by the growing need for IoT and multi-cloud security, a Zero Trust Secure Access solution must be intelligent and adaptable. The solution must be able to discover, segment and monitor sanctioned and unsanctioned IoT devices on the network and private cloud employing advanced device profiling, classification, analytics and threat response. Furthermore, as IOT devices interface with corporate application including IT and OT (Operational Technology) convergence, Secure Access functionality must be sufficiently flexible to accommodate future use cases without compromising availability, performance, compliance, or security.

Original source: Zero Trust Secure Access Checklist via https://www.pulsesecure.net

Read Secure Access for Today and Tomorrow: Part 1 here

Read Secure Access for Today and Tomorrow: Part 2 here

Secure Access for Today and Tomorrow: Part 2

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IT teams are on a constant treadmill of change, which is driven by five major trends shaping the delivery of Secure Access.

1. The consumerisation of IT is revolutionising.

It has completely changed the nature of today’s workplace and contributing to digital business transformation. Enterprises are confronted with proliferation of smart devices and online apps. Millennials, who will represent almost fifty percent of the workforce by 2020, are tech savvy and accustomed to a rich, on-the-go personal digital experience – and they expect a similar digital experience at work using their own mobile devices. Enterprises are challenged to support workforce dynamics and deliver this consumer-like user experience for their employees without compromising key compliance and security requirements.

2. Networks are increasingly under attack.

With new cyberthreats and data leakage in the headlines, security breaches have reached crisis proportions. Reducing the Mean-Time-to-Detect (MTTD) and Mean-Time-To-Respond (MTTR) to vulnerabilities and incidents has never been more important for organisations. Visibility, real-time prevention and automated response are critical for IT to combat threats that are the result of insider activity, privilege misuse, non-compliant and unsanctioned devices and device loss.

3. Cloud computing and hybrid IT environments are the norm.

The traditional data centre environment has morphed into a blended enterprise, cloud and cloud service environment. In this new world, IT resources are typically deployed in an enterprise’s own private cloud or leverage third-party public clouds, including Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) offerings. Even though multi-cloud has become the new normal, cloud security still may not be as trusted as traditional data centre protection. After all, the primary product offering of cloud providers such as Google and Amazon Web Services (AWS) is space, processing power and bandwidth – not security. To ensure appropriate and protected connectivity to applications and information, businesses need Secure Access solutions that can extend proven data centre security to the cloud.

4. Use of multiple security silos for enterprise access.

Hybrid IT environments contribute heavily to this trend as IT extends existing data centre security policies to cover IaaS and SaaS situations. Unfortunately, the use of point solutions to address access security within different computing environments frequently leaves gaps, limits visibility and yields inconsistent policies. This also often results in a complex and frustrating user experience. In a 2017 report by ESG, 66% of cybersecurity and IT professionals agreed or strongly agreed that security analytics and operations effectiveness is limited because it is based upon multiple independent point tools.

5. The Internet of Things (IoT) is exploding.

Printers, smart TVs, personal WiFi, security cameras, sensors, and other peripheral devices are becoming commonplace. These devices are all connected via laptops, desktops, smartphones, or directly on enterprise networks and often further connected through IP networks to other corporate and third-party resources. The security of these systems, from changing default passwords to installing patches, is often an afterthought at best – frequently leaving IoT devices vulnerable to attack and misuse. Typically, organisations are unaware of these devices, and the myriad of ways they are connecting to their internal systems and data. With the rise of Industry 4.0, which uses IoT and cloud to boost manufacturing output, cybersecurity concerns are now bleeding over from IT into the operational technology (OT) domain. Hackers now view IoT as a new opportunity for targeted attacks, taking advantage of security weaknesses and employee ignorance alike. To gain control of the risks posed by IoT, organisations need to redesign their security architecture for IT and OT end-to-end visibility, contextual awareness, and real-time action.

Secure Access ensures that in a Zero Trust world only authenticated users with compliant devices can connect to authorised applications and information at any time, from any location, over any network.

Original source: Zero Trust Secure Access Checklist via https://www.pulsesecure.net

Read Secure Access for Today and Tomorrow: Part 1 here

Read Secure Access for Today and Tomorrow: Part 3 here

Secure Access for Today and Tomorrow: Part 1

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You can’t secure what you can’t see, so visibility is key.

Enabling the modern, mobile workforce is hard work! Users are demanding and require access to applications regardless of their location. Not to mention the increased sophisticated malware and hackers that keep beating down the door.

In an ideal world you want to know your mobile workforce is entirely visible on your network, however, in this ever-changing world we live in making assumptions about user identity is a security risk in itself.

Mitigate your security risk with a Zero Trust Secure Access model.

Secure Access ensures that in a Zero Trust world only authenticated users with compliant devices can connect to authorised applications and information at any time, from any location, over any network. However, with new cyber threats and security breaches in the headlines every day companies must ensure a balance between productivity and security. With the rise of digital transformation Secure Access is critical to your workforce and will enable you to empower your employees, customers and partners to work, communicate and collaborate seamlessly.

Traditionally this has been a difficult goal. IT administrators enforce rules to meet the business requirements and adhere to compliance.

This traditional approach can result in poor user experience (UX), causing users to seek alternatives in order to get their jobs done. The growth of shadow IT proves just that, with no trouble at all users are leveraging unsecured personal devices and unsanctioned cloud services to address the very tasks they need to do to get the job done.

Secure Access, in contrast, is designed with a seamless, simple user experience in mind that also provides Zero Trust protection.

It’s a model based on enablement rather than restriction. The objective is to deliver simple and frictionless access to enterprise information, applications and services without compromising security – all while making it easy and flexible for IT to implement, manage and adapt security policies that align with an ever-changing environment.

Zero Trust assumes that nothing inside or outside of the enterprise perimeter should be trusted and the network must verify anyone and anything trying to connect before granting access. Connectivity is only granted after identity is authenticated, the security posture of the connected device is verified, and the user or thing is authorised to access the desired application, service or information*.

Download your Secure Access Made Easy Brochure here

* Source: Zero Trust Secure Access Checklist via https://www.pulsesecure.net

Read Secure Access for Today and Tomorrow: Part 2 here

Read Secure Access for Today and Tomorrow: Part 3 here

Take Control of Your Cybersecurity Posture with CyberScore

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Network Utilities and XQ Cyber have joined forces to bring you a new and exciting award-winning solution that will save you money and improve performance in your business.

Businesses of all sizes can take control of their cybersecurity by using this award winning solution.

CyberScore is an automated testing service that allows you to take control of your cybersecurity by detecting vulnerabilities and providing you with empirical evidence and get well plans. The score itself also allows you to clearly demonstrate to the board simply where your organisation currently stands in terms of its cyber risk rating and security posture.

We would like the opportunity to show you how CyberScore can and will reduce your costs, give you full visibility of your cybersecurity posture and improve performance.

With CyberScore you will be able to:

  • Dramatically reduce pen testing costs
  • Improve quality of compliance
  • Prioritise vulnerability data into easy to understand recommendations
  • Track progress and watch your cybersecurity health improve as measures are implemented
  • Track cyber risk across third parties
  • Share easily digestible reporting across the business
  • Measure performance against the requirements of the UK Cyber Essentials Plus scheme

Fill in the form below and let’s get started.

XQ Cyber and Network Utilities join forces to bring the award winning CyberScore™ to you

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We’ve teamed up with XQ Cyber to bring CyberScore™ to our customers.

With the cost of cyberattacks increasing, the need for businesses and organisations of all sizes to get a clear overview of their cybersecurity posture has never been greater.

The partnership with XQ Cyber means that our customers will be able to use an award-winning automated security testing service to get a clear overview of their organisation’s cybersecurity posture. CyberScore™ converts vulnerability data into an immediate score out of 10 and highly informative Get Well Plans and Risk Management Reports and allows you to:

Continuously understand your cybersecurity posture

  • Track your progress and watch your cyber health improve as mitigation measures are implemented
  • Track cyber risks across supply chains and third parties without the need for consultants or questionnaires
  • Set minimum standards, hold suppliers and service providers to account
  • Dispense with impenetrable reports. Instead, receive a clear and concise Get-Well Plan that can be shared with staff and service providers
  • Dramatically reduce the cost and improve the quality of compliance penetration testing
  • CyberScore™ streamlines what was once a very time and resource intensive task, providing users with a clear oversight of what areas of their security may need improvement.

XQ Cyber director Rachel Hudson said; “We are delighted to have formed a partnership with Network Utilities to bring CyberScore™ to their customers. Working together we can help them reduce the threats posed by the constantly evolving cybersecurity threat.”

For more information contact us today.

Click here to learn more about CyberScore™ and the benefits to your organisation.