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Application SecurityBotnetsSecurity

Don’t Let Your Data Seep Through The Cracks: Cybersecurity For the Smart Home

September 20, 2018 — by Anna Convery-Pelletier — 0

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Technology and wireless connectivity have forever changed households. While we don’t have the personal hovercrafts or jetpacks that we were promised as children, infinite connectivity has brought a whirlwind of “futuristic” benefits and luxuries few could have imagined even a decade ago. But more importantly, it has re-defined how the modern domicile needs to be managed.

Just as with an enterprise network, cybersecurity concerns also impact the home network. The onus is on us, the consumer, to take responsibility for home network security because device manufacturers have not and the risks associated with any data breach is hugely detrimental in the digital age we live in.

A home network is no longer just laptops, tablets, smartphones and printers. The explosion of the Internet of Things (IoT) has resulted in network connectivity to nearly everything. Everyday household items – appliances, cameras, routers, baby monitors, toys, televisions, thermostats, heating systems, etc. are now connected to each other and the internet. But with all this network connectivity comes risk. Why is that and more importantly, what should you do about it?

While many consumers naively assume that developers behind new network-connected equipment must be thinking long and hard about security, in truth they aren’t. To be first to market, design zero-setup equipment, and to deliver a more fulfilling consumer experience, security on many IoT devices is woefully inadequate and often times an afterthought. In addition, many of these network-connected devices leverage bare bone operating systems that have neither the capacity nor processing power for sophisticated anti-virus/malware tools.

It’s common knowledge that home security such as burglar alarms and even door locks are connected to the internet. What many consumers don’t realize is that this creates a huge exposure because the Wi-Fi serves as a new vulnerability to the house’s physical security system. While useful for providing remote access to your next-door neighbors when the dog needs to be let outside, tech-savvy thieves need only to hack the Wi-Fi to gain access to security controls, monitor resident’s daily habits and gain physical access to the house.

IoT devices connected to e-commerce sites is yet another. For example, a smart fridge integrated into somebody’s Amazon Fresh or FreshDirect account (and access to banking/credit card information) allows someone to purchase groceries or other kitchen necessities right from the refrigerator door. This seamless connectivity can be a dream come true for today’s digital consumer, but can also provide a virtual playground from which hackers can gain access to digital bounties via a single vulnerability.

Smart Homes Require Smart Planning and Smart Security

Smart homes are here and are only going to get smarter. In effect, they are no different from a small corporate network, and as such, they need similar levels of planning and security, especially when considering the growing trend of working from home. However, many consumers simply don’t have the desire to run them securely. Most importantly, consumers are not reviewing and taking the necessary security precautions like they do other aspects of their life.

[You might also like: Cybersecurity & The Customer Experience: The Perfect Combination]

Just like security must become the very fabric of a business, cybersecurity planning – the act of reviewing network-connected devices, where sensitive data is stored and potential security vulnerabilities – must become a critical component of the smart home.

On a yearly basis, my family sits down and does financial planning to review everything from vacations to unexpected expenses. We’ve now included conversations about security planning and ask ourselves some questions such as:

Have I taken an inventory of and actually know all of the various network-connected devices that are in my home? Have security updates been applied to home computers and network-connected devices? Do any outdated devices, such as routers, need to be changed out by the vendor? Are my passwords secure and have I backed up any critical/sensitive information?

These types of questions are what modern-day consumers must be asking, in addition to executing the multitude of security best practices regarding password management, device protection, and backing up sensitive information. Even traditional consumer-focused antivirus software providers now offer multi-layered security devices meant specifically to safeguard home networks, routers and IoT devices.

[You might also like: Personal Security Hygiene]

To truly enjoy the promise of the smart home, it needs to be protected from cyber intruders just as vicariously as it’s protected against physical intruders. Similar to the lessons that leading organizations and name brands have learned in recent years, the best combination is taking proactive measures and leveraging consumer security tools that are easy to implement, easy to operate and does not require a great deal of expertise. It’s time for consumers to become proactive and smarter about home cybersecurity.

Read “Consumer Sentiments: Cybersecurity, Personal Data and The Impact on Customer Loyalty” to learn more.

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Application SecuritySecurity

Millennials and Cybersecurity: Understanding the Value of Personal Data

September 19, 2018 — by Jeff Curley — 0

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From British Airways to Uber, recent data breaches have shown how valuable our data is to cybercriminals – and the lengths to which they will go to access it.

The size and impact of these breaches has meant that topics once reserved for tech experts and IT personnel have transitioned into a more mainstream conversation. Revelations about how important our data can be, such as the Cambridge Analytica scandal, have amplified these sentiments and changed the way in which many use digital services altogether.

The result is that consumers, especially millennials, are very concerned about how the organizations they are trusting with their data safeguard their information – and how they will make amends if a breach does occur.

In fact, our latest survey found that almost half of UK millennials now refuse to give up their personal data to businesses as they don’t trust them to keep that data safe.

Who Do You Trust?

Millennials are also likely to look outside the box when it comes to checking for data breaches. In our survey, almost 15% said they searched the dark web to find their data, while 13% used data breach search websites.

But while the majority are security conscious when it comes to how businesses use their personal data, many are in fact taking risks when it comes to other forms of data security, like sharing Netflix or Amazon Prime login details with friends and family.

When we consider that it has been suggested up to 80% of the population use the same password for all of their online accounts, login sharers may be inadvertently be sharing their online banking password at the same time as sharing their entertainment account login. It’s clear to see how a problem could develop.

[You might also like: Consumer Sentiments About Cybersecurity and What It Means for Your Organization]

Taking Password Hygiene Seriously

There’s currently a battle going on between security and usability, with businesses and consumers both trying to find a sweet spot between a comfortable service and providing the necessary security.

For consumers, especially millennials, there are some rules of thumb that can help in this battle.

The most important rule is also the most obvious – protect your passwords! Unsecured login credentials are today’s number one tool for cybercriminals to access user information. Usernames and passwords are for sale on the dark web by the millions and, as mentioned before, hackers know people are often using the same password on different sites so they are likely to try using these credentials on other, more valuable, sites.

We all struggle to remember some of the complicated passwords we have to create in order to gain access to some websites. That’s why the temptation to replicate credentials across sites is strong. After all, humans are not meant to remember passwords, and good passwords should be hard to memorize!

One approach to deal with the issue is to use passphrases which are easier to remember. However, this approach can still lead to the temptation to use the same passphrase everywhere and often websites prompt the user to create passwords with variations in letter case, characters, and numbers that are themselves difficult to remember.

A better approach is to let your computer do the hard work and use a password manager. Using a unique random password for each site is the best way to protect yourself from data theft online as if data leaks from one site it will have no effect on the rest of the sites you visit.  Personally, since two consecutive breaches that affected me in a space of just two weeks (each coming with a sensible advisory to reset my passwords everywhere) I have taken to using Apple iCloud Keychain to take away the pain of having to generate unique passwords everywhere.

Additionally, use two-factor authentication where available. This will ensure that even if a hacker has your password, it will be very hard to break into the site. Specifically, use two-factor authentication when you log in to your password manager.

Although using a password manager might be considered a risk by itself – you’re putting all of your passwords in one place, after all – security experts believe that the risk is still lower than any other password system. Modern password managers do a great job at keeping your passwords secret. But in order to lower the risk further, never log in to your password manager on an unknown device.

2018 Mobile Carrier Ebook

Read “The Millennial View on Data Security” today.

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Application DeliverySecuritySSL

Adopt TLS 1.3 – Kill Two Birds with One Stone

September 13, 2018 — by Prakash Sinha — 1

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Transport Layer Security (TLS) version 1.3 provides significant business benefits by making applications more secure, improving performance and reducing latency for the client. Changes in how handshake between client and server is designed has decreased site latency – utilizing a faster handshake, and use of Elliptic Curve (EC) based ciphers that allow faster page load time. TLS 1.3 also enforces forward security to prevent a replay of all recorded data if private session keys are compromised.

Transport Level Security – A Quick Recap

Transport Layer Security (TLS) version 1.0, the first standardized version of SSL introduced in 1999, which is based on SSL v3.0. TLS 1.0 is obsolete and vulnerable to various security issues, such as downgrade attacks. Payment Card Industry (PCI) had set a migration deadline of June 30, 2018 to migrate to TLS 1.1 or higher.

TLS 1.1, introduced in 2006, is more secure than TLS 1.0 and protected against certain types of Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) attacks such as BEAST. Some TLS 1.1 implementations are vulnerable to POODLE, a form of downgrade attack. TLS 1.1 also removed certain ciphers such as DES, and RC2 which are vulnerable and broken and introduced support for Forward Secrecy, although it is performance intensive.

TLS 1.2, introduced in 2008, added SHA256 as a hash algorithm and replaced SHA-1, which is considered insecure. It also added support for Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) cipher suites, Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), and Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) without a significant performance hit. TLS 1.2 also removed the ability to downgrade to SSL v2.0 (highly insecure and broken).

Why TLS 1.3?

TLS 1.3 is now an approved standard of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).  Sites utilizing TLS 1.3 can expect faster user connections than with earlier TLS standards while making the connections more secure due to the elimination of obsolete and less secure ciphers, server dictating the session security and faster establishment of handshake between client and server. TLS 1.3 eliminates the negotiation on the encryption to use. Instead, in the initial connection the server provides an encryption key, the client provides a session key, and then the connection is made. However, if needed TLS 1.3 provides a secure means to fall back to TLS 1.2 if TLS 1.3 is not supported by the endpoint.

[You might also like: High-Performance Visibility into SSL/TLS Traffic]

TLS 1.3 – Recommendations

To achieve SSL/TLS acceleration and effectively address the growing number and complexity of encrypted web attacks, organizations face serious strategic challenges. We recommend migration to TLS 1.3 to take advantage of significant business benefits and security that the newer standard provides. However, as with any transition to a new standard, be mindful of the adoption risks.

Evaluate the Risks and Plan Migration

The risks may be incompatibility between client and server due to poor implementations and bugs. You may also need to carefully evaluate the impact on devices that implement inspection based on RSA static keys, products that protect against data leaks or implement out of path web application protection based on a copy of decrypted traffic.

  • Adopt a gradual deployment of TLS 1.3 – A crawl-walk-run approach of deploying in QA environments, test sites, and low traffic sites
  • Evaluate or query the “middle box” vendors for compatibility with TLS 1.3, currently, only active TLS 1.3 terminators can provide compatibility
  • Utilize Application Delivery Controllers (ADCs) to terminate TLS 1.3 and front-end servers that are not capable of supporting TLS 1.3

TLS 1.3 provides improved security, forward security to secure data even if private keys are compromised, improved latency and better performance.

Read “2017-2018 Global Application & Network Security Report” to learn more.

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BotnetsSecurity

Defending Against the Mirai Botnet

September 12, 2018 — by Ron Winward — 1

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When attacks from the Mirai botnet hit the network in 2016, we all knew something was different. You could feel it. In a 31-day span, the internet suffered three record-breaking attacks; Brian Krebs’ at 620 Gbps, OVH at 1.2 Tbps, and the widespread outages caused by the attack on Dyn DNS. Also within that window, the source code for Mirai was released to the world.

Mirai no longer holds the record for the largest volumetric attack on the Internet. That honor goes to the Memcached reflection attacks on Github. In fact, once the code was released, the botnets went from a few botnets with several enslaved members, to several botnets with fewer members. More botnets were fighting to enslave a pool of devices.

[You might also like: The Dyn Attack – One Year Later]

Attackers Get Creative

Attackers, as they always do, got creative. By modifying the Mirai code, attackers could discover new devices by leveraging other known exploits. While many attackers were fighting for telnet access to IoT devices with traditional Mirai, new variants were developed to find additional methods of exploitation and infection. Examples include TR-064 exploits that were quickly added to the code (and used to infect the endpoints of service providers), a 0-day exploit on Huawei routers in several botnets, and the Reaper botnet, which includes 10 previously disclosed CVEs.

One thing that has remained the same, however, is the attack vectors that are included in the modern botnets. They’re largely all based on Mirai, and even if their infection methods differ, the attacks don’t change much.

For example, Masuta and DaddysMirai include the original Mirai vectors but removed the HTTP attack. Orion is an exact copy of the original Mirai attack table (and just like Mirai, has abandoned the PROXY attack). Owari added two new vectors, STD and XMAS.

Understanding IoT Attacks

My background in network engineering naturally made me curious about the impact of these attacks on the network. What do they look like in flight? How is each one different? Is one more of a threat than another? I have been studying the attack vectors since they were released in 2016, but with the observation that new variants largely included the same attacks (and some twists), it was clearly worth revisiting.

[You might also like: IoT Threats: Whose problem is it?]

Today we launch a new publication, IoT Attack Handbook – A Field Guide to Understanding IoT Attacks from the Mirai Botnet and its Modern Variants. This is a collection of research on the attack vectors themselves and what they look like on the wire. You will see that they’re not much different from each other, with the only truly interesting change being the introduction of a Christmas Tree attack in Owari. But that too had some interesting challenges. You’ll have to read the guide to find out why.

It’s important to understand the capabilities of Mirai and other IoT botnets so that your organization can truly comprehend the threat. Manually reacting to these attacks is not viable, especially in a prolonged campaign. In many cases, it is possible to block some of these attacks on infrastructure devices such as core routers or upstream transit links, but in many cases, it’s not.

Effectively fighting these attacks requires specialized solutions, including behavioral technologies that can identify the threats posed by Mirai and other IoT botnets. It also requires a true understanding of how to successfully mitigate the largest attacks ever seen. Hopefully, this handbook provides the guidance and insight needed for each vector if your organization ever needs to take emergency measures.

Read the “IoT Attack Handbook – A Field Guide to Understanding IoT Attacks from the Mirai Botnet and its Modern Variants” to learn more.

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Application DeliveryApplication SecuritySecurity

DDoS Protection is the Foundation for Application, Site and Data Availability

September 11, 2018 — by Daniel Lakier — 1

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When we think of DDoS protection, we often think about how to keep our website up and running. While searching for a security solution, you’ll find several options that are similar on the surface. The main difference is whether your organization requires a cloud, on-premise or hybrid solution that combines the best of both worlds. Finding a DDoS mitigation/protection solution seems simple, but there are several things to consider.

[You might also like: Should Business Risk Mitigation Be A Factor When We Choose Our Suppliers and Manufacturers?]

It’s important to remember that DDoS attacks don’t just cause a website to go down. While the majority do cause a service disruption, 90 percent of the time it does not mean a website is completely unavailable, but rather there is a performance degradation. As a result, organizations need to search for a DDoS solution that can optimize application performance and protect from DDoS attacks. The two functions are natural bedfellows.

The other thing we often forget is that most traditional DDoS solutions, whether they are on-premise or in the cloud, cannot protect us from an upstream event or a downstream event.

  1. If your carrier is hit with a DDoS attack upstream, your link may be fine but your ability to do anything would be limited. You would not receive any traffic from that pipe.
  2. If your infrastructure provider goes down due to a DDoS attack on its key infrastructure, your organization’s website will go down regardless of how well your DDoS solution is working.

Many DDoS providers will tell you these are not part of a DDoS strategy. I beg to differ.

Finding the Right DDoS Solution

DDoS protection was born out of the need to improve availability and guarantee performance.  Today, this is critical. We have become an application-driven world where digital interactions dominate. A bad experience using an app is worse for customer satisfaction and loyalty than an outage.  Most companies are moving into shared infrastructure environments—otherwise known as the “cloud”— where the performance of the underlying infrastructure is no longer controlled by the end user.

Keeping the aforementioned points in mind, here are three key features to consider when looking at modern enterprise DDoS solutions:

  1. Data center or host infrastructure rerouting capabilities gives organizations the ability to reroute traffic to secondary data centers or application servers if there is a performance problem caused by something that the traditional DDoS prevention solution cannot negate. This may or may not be caused by a traditional DDoS attack, but either way, it’s important to understand how to mitigate the risk from a denial of service caused by infrastructure failure.
  2. Simple-to-use link or host availability solutions offer a unified interface for conducting WAN failover in the event that the upstream provider is compromised. Companies can use BGP, but BGP is complex and rigid. The future needs to be simple and flexible.
  3. Infrastructure and application performance optimization is critical. If we can limit the amount of compute-per-application transactions, we can reduce the likelihood that a capacity problem with the underlying architecture can cause an outage. Instead of thinking about just avoiding performance degradation, what if we actually improve the performance SLA while also limiting risk? It’s similar to making the decision to invest your money as opposed to burying it in the ground.

[You might also like: Marrying the Business Need with the Technology Drive: Recapping It All]

Today you can look at buying separate products to accomplish these needs but you are then left with an age old problem: a disparate collection of poorly integrated best-of-breed solutions that don’t work well together.

These products should work together as part of a holistic solution where each solution can compensate and enhance the performance of the other and ultimately help improve and ensure application availability, performance and reliability. The goal should be to create a resilient architecture to prevent or limit the impact of DoS and DDoS attacks of any kind.

Read the “2018 C-Suite Perspectives: Trends in the Cyberattack Landscape, Security Threats and Business Impacts” to learn more.

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Application SecuritySecurity

Understanding the Power of Big Data For Your Business

September 6, 2018 — by Ashley Lipman — 4

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Data might just be the biggest asset your company has. It is more than just collecting numbers. The right metrics can help you make smart decisions for your business, and anticipate customer demands early on. You can use consumer data to improve your marketing strategy, create products and services that challenge the industry, and build a robust bottom line.

But not all data is created equal. What metrics should you consider in your strategy, and how should you measure this information in the first place? How can you use data to analyze your business success and future steps?

What is Big Data?

While the term might sound like a business buzzword, it’s actually much more than that. Big data started as a conversation for technologists in big companies, but it’s now a viable resource for all business sizes. According to Oracle, big data is “data that contains greater variety arriving in increasing volumes and with ever-higher velocity.”

This definition might be confusing, but it ’s much simpler than that. It is a large amount of complex information that is constant from new sources. That means big data is always recent, and it’s always relevant. It is changing, and it can be used to address new problems in a shifting world.

[You might also like: Consumer Sentiments About Cybersecurity and What It Means for Your Organizations]

Big Data in Practice

Now that you understand how big data is a large metric of constantly evolving trends, it’s time to examine its value in business today. Whether you’re running a startup or an established organization, you need to make smart choices. If you don’t have any basis for these decisions, you’re bound to make mistakes.

Big data bridges gaps in experience. If you’re looking to expand your business into a new market or you’re launching a new product, you don’t have the experience to fall back on. You need big data. To understand why, let’s talk about how it’s used in practice.

Developing Products

If you want to stay relevant in your industry today, you need to have new products that compete with the norm. Things move quickly, and if you can’t anticipate customers’ wants and needs before they become a reality, you’ll lose out to bigger competition. By using data, you can understand what was successful about products or services in the past. More importantly, you can analyze what needs have yet to be filled.

Customer Experience

According to a survey, 88% of buyers are willing to pay more for a better experience. In the next few years, customer experience is expected to overtake other things like price or even the product itself as a way to differentiate between brands. In this race for customers, you need to make sure your customers’ needs are addressed in a timely, efficient manner. Data allows you to avoid repeating past problems and keep track of things like personalized offers and patterns.

Maintenance

Customers today have very limited patience. When things go wrong, they’re likely to run to a competitor without a second thought. It’s up to companies to create a system for maintaining their technology, quality, and services. A single failure or error will lead to damaged reputations, customer dissatisfaction, and inefficient use of time. Whether you need to look into Windows logging basics for a complex computer system or application monitoring, data is how you prevent problems before they start.

Innovation

Only the most innovative companies will succeed today. How do you innovate? By analyzing what’s been done in the past and building on this knowledge. Using big data is a smart way to gain insight into areas that need improving, and you can learn from the mistakes of other organizations to avoid repeating them yourself. Innovation depends on stats, technology, and your ability to keep moving forward.

The Future of Big Data

As more startups join the race, big data is being called upon more than ever before. There are so many ways to utilize data of the past to create smart decisions for the future. Technology is changing at a rapid pace. This gives us more insight into data and consumer decisions. How will you use this to help your business?

Another challenge regarding the development of big data in the future is how it will be secured. Any businesses that work with customer or employee data need to create systems for securing it from unwanted parties. While data is an asset, it is also a risk.

[You might also like: Cybersecurity & Customer Experience: Embrace Technology and Change to Earn A Customer’s Loyalty]

Losing customer data can be harmful to the reputation of the business which is something frequently seen in the news today. Things like firewalls, virus protection, and other protective measures will be essential as we enter this new age of cybersecurity. How will your company protect its own data moving forward? What systems are in place to protect yourself from outside threats?

It’s not enough to collect data. You need to know how to analyze it in a way that you can actually act on. You also need to protect it as though your business depends upon it. Take your data further and find new discoveries that will take your organization into a new era of customer satisfaction.

Read the “2018 C-Suite Perspectives: Trends in the Cyberattack Landscape, Security Threats and Business Impacts” to learn more.

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DDoS AttacksHTTP Flood AttacksSecurity

Rate Limiting-A Cure Worse Than the Disease?

September 5, 2018 — by Eyal Arazi — 0

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Rate limiting is a commonly-used tool to defend against application-layer (L7) DDoS attacks. However, the shortcomings of this approach raises the question of whether the cure is worse than the disease?

As more applications transition to web and cloud-based environments, application-layer (L7) DDoS attacks are becoming increasingly common and potent.

In fact, Radware research found that application-layer attacks have taken over network-layer DDoS attacks, and HTTP floods are now the number one most common attack across all vectors. This is mirrored by new generations of attack tools such as the Mirai botnet, which makes application-layer floods even more accessible and easier to launch.

It is, therefore, no surprise that more security vendors claim to provide protection against such attacks. The problem, however, is that the chosen approach by many vendors is rate limiting.

A More Challenging Form of DDoS Attack

What is it that makes application-layer DDoS attacks so difficult to defend against?

Application-layer DDoS attacks such as HTTP GET or HTTP POST floods are particularly difficult to protect against because they require analysis of the application-layer traffic in order to determine whether or not it is behaving legitimately.

For example, when a shopping website sees a spike in incoming HTTP traffic, is that because a DDoS attack is taking place, or because there is a flash crowd of shoppers looking for the latest hot item?

Looking at network-layer traffic volumes alone will not help us. The only option would be to look at application data directly and try to discern whether or not it is legitimate based on its behavior.

However, several vendors who claim to offer protection against application-layer DDoS attacks don’t have the capabilities to actually analyze application traffic and work out whether an attack is taking place. This leads many of them to rely on brute-force mechanisms such as HTTP rate limiting.

[You might also like: 8 Questions to Ask in DDoS Protection]

A Remedy (Almost) as Bad as the Disease

Explaining rate limiting is simple enough: when traffic goes over a certain threshold, rate limits are applied to throttle the amount of traffic to a level that the hosting server (or network pipe) can handle.

While this sounds simple enough, it also creates several problems:

  • Rate limiting does not distinguish between good and bad traffic: It has no mechanism for determining whether a connection is legitimate or not. It is an equal-opportunity blocker of traffic.
  • Rate limiting does not actually clean traffic: An important point to emphasize regarding rate limiting is that it does not actually block any bad traffic. Bad traffic will reach the original server, albeit at a slower rate.
  • Rate limiting blocks legitimate users: It does not distinguish between good and malicious requests and does not actually block bad traffic so rate limiting results in a high degree of false positives. This will lead to legitimate users being blocked from reaching the application.

Some vendors have more granular rate limiting controls which allow limiting connections not just per application, but also per user. However, sophisticated attackers get around this by spreading attacks over a large number of attack hosts. Moreover, modern web applications (and browsers) frequently use multiple concurrent connections, so limiting concurrent connections per user will likely impact legitimate users.

Considering that the aim of a DDoS attack is usually to disrupt the availability of web applications and prevent legitimate users from reaching them, we can see that rate limiting does not actually mitigate the problem: bad traffic will still reach the application, and legitimate users will be blocked.

In other words – rate limiting administers the pains of the medication, without providing the benefit of a remedy.

This is not to say that rate limiting cannot be a useful discipline in mitigating application-layer attacks, but it should be used as a last line of defense, when all else fails, and not as a first response.

A better approach with behavioral detection

An alternative approach to rate limiting – which would deliver better results – is to use a positive security model based on behavioral analysis.

Most defense mechanisms – including rate limiting – subscribe to a ‘negative’ security model. In a nutshell, it means that all traffic will be allowed through, except what is explicitly known to be malicious. This is how the majority of signature-based and volume-based DDoS and WAF solutions work.

A ‘positive’ security model, on the other hand, works the other way around: it uses behavioral-based learning processes to learn what constitutes legitimate user behavior and establishes a baseline of legitimate traffic patterns. It will then block any request that does not conform to this traffic pattern.

Such an approach is particularly useful when it comes to application-layer DDoS attacks since it can look at application-layer behavior, and determine whether this behavior adheres to recognized legitimate patterns. One such example would be to determine whether a spike in traffic is legitimate behavior or the result of a DDoS attack.

[You might also like: 5 Must-Have DDoS Protection Technologies]

The advantages of behavioral-based detections are numerous:

  • Blocks bad traffic: Unlike rate limiting, behavioral-based detection actually ‘scrubs’ bad traffic out, leaving only legitimate traffic to reach the application.
  • Reduces false positives: One of the key problems of rate limiting is the high number of false positives. A positive security approach greatly reduces this problem.
  • Does not block legitimate users: Most importantly, behavioral traffic analysis results in fewer (or none at all) blocked users, meaning that you don’t lose on customers, reputation, and revenue.

That’s Great, but How Do I know If I Have It?

The best way to find out what protections you have is to be informed. Here are a few questions to ask your security vendor:

  1. Do you provide application-layer (L7) DDoS protection as part of your DDoS solution, or does it require an add-on WAF component?
  2. Do you use behavioral learning algorithms to establish ‘legitimate’ traffic patterns?
  3. How do you distinguish between good and bad traffic?
  4. Do you have application-layer DDoS protection that goes beyond rate limiting?

If your vendor has these capabilities, make sure they’re turned-on and enabled. If not, the increase in application-layer DDoS attacks means that it might be time to look for other alternatives.

Read “2017-2018 Global Application & Network Security Report” to learn more.

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Attack Types & VectorsBotnetsDDoSSecurity

The Evolution of IoT Attacks

August 30, 2018 — by Daniel Smith — 1

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What is the Internet of Things (IoT)? IoT is the ever-growing network of physical devices with embedded technologies that connect and exchange data over the internet. If the cloud is considered someone else’s computer, IoT devices can be considered the things you connect to the internet beyond a server or a PC/Laptop. These are items such as cameras, doorbells, light bulbs, routers, DVRs, wearables, wireless sensors, automated devices and just about anything else.

IoT devices are nothing new, but the attacks against them are. They are evolving at a rapid rate as growth in connected devices continues to rise and shows no sign of letting up. One of the reasons why IoT devices have become so popular in recent years is because of the evolution of cloud and data processing which provides manufacturers cheaper solutions to create even more ‘things’. Before this evolution, there weren’t many options for manufacturers to cost-effectively store and process data from devices in a cloud or data center.  Older IoT devices would have to store and process data locally in some situations. Today, there are solutions for everyone and we continue to see more items that are always on and do not have to store or process data locally.

[You might also like: The 7 Craziest IoT Device Hacks]

Cloud and Data Processing: Good or Bad?

This evolution in cloud and data processing has led to an expansion of IoT devices, but is this a good or a bad thing? Those that profit from this expansion would agree that this is positive because of the increase in computing devices that can assist, benefit or improve the user’s quality of life. But those in security would be quick to say that this rapid rise in connected devices has also increased the attack landscape as there is a lack of oversight and regulation of these devices. As users become more dependent on these IoT devices for daily actives, the risk also elevates. Not only are they relying more on certain devices, but they are also creating a much larger digital footprint that could expose personal or sensitive data.

In addition to the evolution of IoT devices, there has been an evolution in the way attacker’s think and operate. The evolution of network capabilities and large-scale data tools in the cloud has helped foster the expansion of the IoT revolution. The growth of cloud and always-on availability to process IoT data has been largely adopted among manufacturing facilities, power plants, energy companies, smart buildings and other automated technologies such as those found in the automotive industry. But this has increased the attack surfaces for those that have adopted and implemented an army of possible vulnerable or already exploitable devices. The attackers are beginning to notice the growing field of vulnerabilities that contain valuable data.

In a way, the evolution of IoT attacks continues to catch many off guard, particularly the explosive campaigns of IoT based attacks. For years, experts have warned about the pending problems of a connected future, with IoT botnets as a key indicator, but very little was done to prepare for it.  Now, organizations are rushing to identify good traffic vs malicious traffic and are having trouble blocking these attacks since they are coming from legitimate sources.

As attackers evolve, organizations are still playing catch up. Soon after the world’s largest DDoS attack, and following the publication of the Mirai source code, began a large battle among criminal hackers for devices to infect. The more bots in your botnet, the larger the attack could be.  From the construction of a botnet to the actual launch an attack, there are several warning signs of an attack or pending attack.

As the industry began monitoring and tracking IoT based botnets and threats, several non-DDoS based botnets began appearing. Criminals and operators suddenly shifted focus and began infecting IoT devices to mine for cryptocurrencies or to steal user data. Compared to ransomware and large-scale DoS campaigns that stem from thousands of infected devices, these are silent attacks.

Unchartered Territory

In addition to the evolving problems, modern research lacks standardization that makes analyzing, detecting and reporting complicated. The industry is new, and the landscape keeps evolving at a rapid rate causing fatigue in some situations. For instance, sometimes researchers are siloed, and research is kept for internal use only which can be problematic for the researcher who wants to warn of the vulnerability or advise on how to stop an attack. Reporting is also scattered between tweets, white papers, and conference presentations. To reiterate how young this specialty is, my favorite and one of the most respected conferences dedicated to botnets, BotConf, has only met 6 times.

EOL is also going to become a problem when devices are still functional but not supported or updated. Today there are a large number of connected systems found in homes, cities and medical devices that at some point will no longer be supported by the manufacturers yet will still be functional. As these devices linger unprotected on the internet, they will provide criminal hackers’ a point of entry into unsecured networks. Once these devices pass EOL and are found online by criminals, they could become very dangerous for users depending on their function.

In a more recent case, Radware’s Threat Research Center identified criminals that were targeting DLink DSL routers in Brazil back in June. These criminals were found to be using outdated exploits from 2015. The criminals were able to leverage these exploits against vulnerable and unpatched routers 4 years later. The malicious actors attempted to modify the DNS server settings in the routers of Brazilian residents, redirecting their DNS request through a malicious DNS server operated by the hackers. This effectively allowed the criminals to conduct what’s called a man in the middle attack, allowing the hackers to redirect users to phishing domains for local banks so they could harvest credentials from unsuspecting users.

[You might also like: IoT Hackers Trick Brazilian Bank Customers into Providing Sensitive Information]

Attackers are not only utilizing old and unpatched vulnerabilities, but they are also exploiting recent disclosures. Back in May, vpnMentor published details about two critical vulnerabilities impacting millions of GPON gateways. The two vulnerabilities allowed the attackers to bypass authentication and execute code remotely on the targeted devices. The more notable event from this campaign was the speed at which malicious actors incorporated these vulnerabilities. Today, actors are actively exploiting vulnerabilities within 48 hours of the disclosure.

What Does the Future Hold?

The attack surface has grown to include systems using multiple technologies and communication protocols in embedded devices. This growth has also led to attackers targeting devices for a number of different reasons as the expansion continues. At first hackers, mainly DDoS’er would target IoT devices such as routers over desktops, laptops, and servers because they are always on, but as devices have become more connected and integrated into everyone’s life, attackers have begun exploring their vulnerabilities for other malicious activity such as click fraud and crypto mining. It’s only going to get worse as authors and operators continue to look towards the evolution of IoT devices and the connected future.

If anything is an indication of things to come I would say it would be found in the shift from Ransomware to crypto mining. IoT devices will be the main target for the foreseeable future and attackers will be looking for quieter ways to profit from your vulnerabilities. We as an industry need to come together and put pressure on manufacturers to produce secure devices and prove how the firmware and timely updates will be maintained. We also need to ensure users are not only aware of the present threat that IoT devices present but also what the future impact of these devices will be as they approach end of life. Acceptance, knowledge, and readiness will help us keep the networks of tomorrow secured today.

Download “When the Bots Come Marching In, a Closer Look at Evolving Threats from Botnets, Web Scraping & IoT Zombies” to learn more.

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Protecting Sensitive Data: What a Breach Means to Your Business

August 29, 2018 — by Mike O'Malley — 0

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Data breaches have made big headlines in recent years, from Target to Equifax to Hudson’s Bay Co’s Saks and Lord & Taylor.  But the growing trend is actually in all the litigation stemming from data breaches. International law firm Bryan Cave analyzed the increasing trend of legal action following data breaches of all sizes. It found that in 2016 alone, there were 76 class action lawsuits related to data breaches:

  • 34% were within the medical industry
  • 95% had negligence as the most popular legal theory
  • 86% emphasized the breach of sensitive data

Our own research supports these findings. Radware’s 2018 Consumer Sentiments Survey found that 55% of U.S. consumers stated that they valued their personal data over physical assets, i.e. cars, phones, wallets/purses. In addition, Radware’s C-Suite Perspectives report revealed 41% of executives reported that customers have taken legal action following a data breach. Consequences of data breaches have extended past bad press, and include lasting effects on stock prices, customer acquisition costs, churn, and even termination of C-Suite level executives.

[You might also like: Consumer Sentiments About Cybersecurity and What It Means for Your Organizations]

Types of sensitive data vary by industry and therefore have respective attack methods. For example, the finance and commerce industry are expected to protect data such as names, contact information, social security numbers, account numbers and other financial information. Likewise, the healthcare industry is at high risk of data breaches, as medical records contain the same personal data in addition to more details that aid in identity fraud – such as doctor and prescription records, medical insurance information, and individual health attributes from height and weight to blood type.

On the surface, data breaches fall under the jurisdiction of CISO, CTOs, etc., but CEOs are now just as likely to be held responsible for these incidents; Target’s then-CEO was forced to resign following its 2013 data breach.  Other CEO’s at Sony and Home Depot were no longer in their positions within 6 months of their high profile breaches.

Laws and regulations surrounding data breaches are now moving at a faster pace due to steeper consequences, with the implementation of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the United States’ growing interest and demand in data privacy and protection. Security at its bare minimum is no longer realistic, and instead a competitive advantage for smart companies. C-level executives who aren’t reviewing security plans are opening themselves and their companies to significant liabilities.

How does GDPR affect me?

The GDPR’s purpose is providing protection over the use of consumers’ personal data. Companies are now held to a higher expectation to protect their customers’ data, further emphasizing the evolving consideration of cybersecurity as a necessity in business. At its strictest, companies found not having done enough can be penalized upwards of €20 million or 4% of the offending organization’s annual worldwide revenue.

Although data breaches alone are months of bad publicity in general, the wrath of consumers often stem from the delayed notification and response from the company. Companies incur this fury when they attempt to keep a data breach hidden only for it to be uncovered, resulting in increased litigation costs. The GDPR now mandates and upholds companies to the high standard of notifying data breach-affected consumers within 72 hours.

Targeted for a Data Breach

In 2013, one of the most notable, mainstream headlines focused on the data breach of Minnesota-based, retail giant Target Corporation. During the holiday shopping season, Target revealed their mass data breach of personal information, of which 40 million customers had personal financial data stolen and 70 million had general personal data (such as email and addresses) revealed. Attackers were able to exploit the company’s customer database through a third-party vendor’s stolen credentials, utilizing malware as the weapon of choice; the same malware was later utilized to attack other retailers such as Home Depot. Hackers after the finance and retail industry still utilize malware like Target’s 2013 data breach to create pathways from minimally-protected 3rd parties into more complex systems.

At the end of the investigation, Target had to pay a fine of $18.5 million across the U.S. in addition to its cumulative legal fees of a staggering $202 million for the data breach. What goes unmentioned however, is also the potential cost of lost customers from these breaches, as well as the brand reputation decline. The company must also abide to new Terms of Agreements by various State Attorney Generals that include requiring Target to employ a security leader for the creation and management of a thorough information security program, in addition to other related guidelines.

The Early Bird Avoids the Attack

Target became a lasting example of the need for cybersecurity to be implemented within a company’s architecture and business processes. The topic of protecting customer data has become its own high-profile discussion across various industries, rather than just within the technology industry. Being proactive with not only the security surrounding the company’s products/services, but also the data it collects, will be a competitive differentiator moving forward.

Radware research found that 66% of C-Suite Executives across the world, believed hackers could penetrate their networks, yet little is changed to implement protections as exhibited by the graphic below.

[You might also like: Cybersecurity & Customer Experience: Embrace Technology and Change to Earn A Customer’s Loyalty]

Sensitive data across all industries are valuable, coming at different prices in the dark net market. As data breaches are becoming more commonplace, industries have to take different levels of precaution in order to protect consumers’ personal data. For example, the healthcare industry heavily utilizes encryption to protect data such as medical records and prescription history. However, attackers are also implementing encryption attack tools in order to access this information. It is crucial for the cybersecurity systems of these organizations to be able to distinguish between valid encrypted information versus attack information encrypted with SSL, in order to prevent a breach. A comprehensively designed network infrastructure that consistently manages and monitors SSL and encryption technology through its security systems can ensure protected network and data privacy.

Transitioning cybersecurity from the hallways of IT and embedding it into the very foundation of business operations allows an organization to scale and focus on security innovation, rather than scrambling to mitigate new threats as they evolve or worse, litigating expensive class actions. In addition, this proactive approach further builds customer relationships via improved trust and loyalty. Knowing that cybersecurity is a company’s and CEO’s priority will help the customer feel more at ease with potential partnerships and strengthens the level of trust between.

Read the “2018 C-Suite Perspectives: Trends in the Cyberattack Landscape, Security Threats and Business Impacts” to learn more.

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IoT, 5G Networks and Cybersecurity: A New Atmosphere for Mobile Network Attacks

August 28, 2018 — by Louis Scialabba — 2

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The development and onset of 5G networks bring a broad array of not only mobile opportunities but also a litany of cybersecurity challenges for service providers and customers alike. While the employment of Internet of Things (IoT) devices for large scale cyberattacks has become commonplace, little has been accomplished for their network protection. For example, research by Ponemon Institute has found that 97% of companies believe IoT devices could wreak havoc on their organizations.

With hackers constantly developing technologically sophisticated ways to target mobile network services and their customers, the rapidly-approaching deployment of 5G networks, combined with IoT device vulnerability has created a rich environment for mobile network cyberattacks.

[You might also like: The Rise of 5G Networks]

Forecast Calls for More Changes

Even in today’s widespread use of 4G networks, network security managers face daily changes in security threats from hackers. Just as innovations for security protection improve, the sophistication of attacks will parallel. Cybersecurity agency ENISA forebodes an increase in the prevalence of security risks if security standards’ development doesn’t keep pace.

Add in research company Gartner’s estimate that there will be 20.4 billion connected devices by 2020, hackers will have a happy bundle of unprotected, potential bots to work with. In the new world of 5G, mobile network attacks can become much more potent, as a single hacker can easily multiply into an army through the use of botnet deployment.

Separating the Good from the Bad

Although “bot traffic” has an unappealing connotation to it, not all is bad. Research from Radware’s Emergency Response Team shows that 56% of internet traffic is represented by both good and bad bots, and of that percentage, they contribute almost equally to it. The critical part for service providers, however, is to be able to differentiate the two and stop the bad bots on their path to chaos.

New Technology, New Concerns

Although 4G is expected to continue dominating the market until 2025, 5G services will be in demand as soon as its rollout in 2020 driven by features such as:

  • 100x faster transmission speeds resulting in improved network performance
  • Lower latency for improved device connections and application delivery
  • 1,000x greater data capacity which better supports more simultaneous device connections
  • Value-added services enabled by network slicing for better user experience

The key differentiating variable in the composition of 5G networks is its unique architecture of the distributed nature capabilities, where all network elements and operations function via the cloud. Its flexibility allows for more data to pass through, making it optimal for the incoming explosion of IoT devices and attacks, if unsecured. Attacks can range from standard IoT attacks to burst attacks, even potentially escalating to smartphone infections and operating system malware.

[You might also like: Can You Protect Your Customers in a 5G Universe?]

5G networks will require an open, virtual ecosystem, one where service providers have less control over the physical elements of the network and more dependent on the cloud. More cloud applications will be dependent on a variety of APIs. This opens the door to a complex world of interconnected devices that hackers will be able to exploit via a single point of access in a cloud application to quickly expand the attack radius to other connected devices and applications.

Not only are mobile service providers at risk, but as are their customers; if not careful, this can lead to more serious repercussions regarding customer loyalty and trust between the two.

A Slice of the 5G Universe

Now that the new network technology is virtualized, 5G allows for service providers to “slice” portions of a spectrum as a customizable service for specific types of devices. Each device will now have its own respective security, data-flow processes, quality, and reliability. Although more ideal for their customers, it can simultaneously prove to be a challenge in satisfying the security needs of each slice. Consequently, security can no longer be considered as simply an option but as another integral variable that will need to be fused as part of the architecture from the beginning.

2018 Mobile Carrier Ebook

Read “Creating a Secure Climate for your Customers” today.

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