Category: Cyber Security CII sector
Cyber Security CII sector
Ransomware: What board members should know and what they should be asking their technical experts
Cybersecurity for U.S. critical infrastructure a ‘national-security imperative'
FS-ISAC Report Finds Cybercriminals and Nation-State Actors Converging, Increasing Cross-Border and Supply Chain Attacks
Large UK organisations offered ten steps to stay ahead of cyber threat
Refreshed 10 Steps to Cyber Security guidance released for cyber security professionals in large and medium sized organisations.
Cyber security professionals at large and medium sized organisations have today been given access to a suite of refreshed guidance to help them stay ahead of current and emerging cyber threats.
The guidance, 10 Steps to Cyber Security, is a collection of advice from the National Cyber Security Centre – a part of GCHQ – that supports CISOs and security professionals keep their company safe by breaking down the task of protecting an organisation into ten components.
It is being unveiled during CYBERUK, a virtual gathering of thought leaders from the cyber security community and hosted by the NCSC.
The 10 Steps to Cyber Security, which were first published in 2012 and are now used by a majority of the FTSE350, have been updated to capture challenges posed by the growth of cloud services, the shift to large-scale home working, and the rise and changing nature of ransomware attacks.
Sarah Lyons, NCSC Deputy Director for Economy and Society, said:
“The cyber threat landscape is constantly evolving and that’s why it’s really important that all businesses understand their cyber risk.
“Our 10 Steps to Cyber Security has been – and continues to be - a fundamental guide for network defenders and this update demonstrates our commitment to securing the UK economy.
“Following our advice will reduce the likelihood of incidents occurring but also minimise impact when they do get through.”
The renewed ten components, all of which consider that home and mobile working is now the default for most large and medium sized organisations, cover:
- Risk management
- Engagement and training
- Asset management
- Architecture and configuration
- Identity and access management
- Vulnerability management
- Data security
- Logging and monitoring
- Incident management
- Supply chain security
The refreshed guidance, which can also be used by charities and public sector organisations, can be used in tandem with the NCSC’s Cyber Security Board Toolkit, which helps frame discussions between technical experts and the Board to ensure that online resilience is a high priority.
ITU and UNDP join forces to address urgent unmet capacity building needs
The rise of digital technologies and ways of working offers extraordinary new opportunities to further global sustainable development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, from increasing economic resilience to mitigating the damage of COVID-19 and delivering more effective public services. Yet not everyone is equally able to take advantage of these opportunities, particularly as the rapid pace of digital change places further demands on resource-constrained governments and societies.
Bridging the world's digital divide is increasingly urgent, as those who left out of today's digital transformation are in danger of falling further behind. This means ensuring that digital services are available everywhere, as well as affordable and accessible to all.
To address this key issue, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have launched a Joint Facility for Digital Capacity Development to support those not currently served by existing digital capacity development resources or channels.
Supporting UN Efforts in Digital Capacity Development
The Joint Facility stands in support of the UN Secretary-General's Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, which calls for "a broad multi-stakeholder network to promote holistic, inclusive approaches to digital capacity-building for sustainable development, including a new joint facility for digital capacity development, which will be led by ITU and UNDP."
People and communities currently underserved in terms of digital capacity will benefit from more efficient and effective support from the ITU/UNDP Joint Facility, which aims to make digital opportunities accessible to all.
"Robust and effective digital capacity building underlines the fulfilment of the Secretary-General's Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, by supporting countries in their efforts to harness the full potential of digital technology as part of their digital futures", said Assistant Secretary-General Maria Francesca Spatolisano, Officer-in-Charge at the UN Office of the Envoy on Technology.
"The Joint Facility will further strengthen our collective effort to equip people with the needed digital skills, literacy and capabilities, alongside with the multi-stakeholder network for digital capacity development envisioned in the roadmap."
The Joint Facility aims to:
- direct stakeholders to relevant existing ITU/UNDP resources, including digital literacy and skills training;
- identify areas of unmet demand for digital capacity development initiatives and work with end users to develop new interventions when needed;
- identify patterns and trends in unmet stakeholder needs; and
- direct strategic, operational, and programmatic support in executing digital strategies, capacity development initiatives, or other high-priority operational areas for partners.
Digital capacity must be strengthened on both the local and international levels to enable inclusive digital and societal transformation.
While governments are the main target audience, other groups requiring digital capacity support will also benefit from the services offered by the Joint Facility.
Bringing UN Agencies Together for Meaningful Change
The Joint Facility cements the partnership between ITU and UNDP to drive digital capacity development, and intends to have a new single structure facilitating joint resourcing, roles, and responsibilities.
Through its Development Sector, ITU provides direct assistance and capacity development initiatives to bridge the digital divide, promote digital inclusion and facilitate digital transformation for all.
"Making adequate capacity development tools available to all is more important than ever to bridge the digital divide and connect half of the world's population that are still offline," said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau.
"There are many aspects to developing digital skills apart from the actual training. Through the Joint Facility, we will be able to assist countries across the digital skills development value chain from assessing digital capacity needs, advising on digital strategies, and even helping with procurement and raising funds for digital development. We are incredibly excited to work together with the UNDP towards this."
UNDP's wide field presence and topic expertise will help match key local context to relevant digital solutions.
"The lack of sufficient digital skills is a major barrier to reaping the benefits of digitalization and threatens to leave the most marginalized behind," said Robert Opp, UNDP's Chief Digital Officer. "The UNDP is proactively investing in the key area of digital capacity building so that we can all take advantage of digital opportunities together."
While building on existing collaboration between the two agencies, the Joint Facility also paves the way for wider, longer-term collaboration between the UNDP and ITU.
More information about the Joint Facility can be found at digital-capacity.org.
[source:ITU]British tech startups offered help to keep innovations secure
New guidance from the NCSC and the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) to help fledgling technical companies consider key questions around security.
UK startups working on world-leading emerging technology are being offered new guidance to help secure their innovations from a range of security risks.
The guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – a part of GCHQ – and the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) helps fledgling companies working in emerging technologies consider key questions around security.
Launched during the NCSC’s flagship CYBERUK event, the guidance encourages companies to take steps to strengthen their defences against criminals, competitors and hostile state actors.
UK companies working in emerging technologies are likely to be a particularly attractive target to a wide range of actors, including those backed by foreign states seeking technological advancement.
The ‘Secure Innovation’ package of guidance was developed in consultation with emerging technology companies and highlights the importance of laying strong security foundations that can evolve as startups grow, in a cost-effective and proportionate manner.
NCSC Technical Director Dr Ian Levy said:
“The UK has one of the world’s best startup ecosystems, which makes companies working in emerging technologies a target for hostile actors.
“That’s why alongside CPNI we have created bespoke guidance which aims to show these companies what good physical and cyber security looks like and how to implement it.
“Putting good security in place now is a sound investment for these companies, helping lower the risks of future disruption and enhancing their attractiveness to investors.”
The Director of CPNI said:
“UK start-ups and scaleups raised record investment in 2020, closing nearly £11billion in venture-capital funding, despite the obvious challenges. A large part of this success story is how open and engaging UK businesses have always been with their international partners. As new markets continue to emerge, so will the potential threats to companies’ intellectual property and ideas at the hands of hostile states, criminals, and competitors.
“Developed in partnership between CPNI and NCSC and aimed at companies in emerging technology, Secure Innovation provides a holistic approach to all aspects of security, ensuring that good cyber principles are not undermined by physical, and people risks which could threaten the success of a start-up if not managed well from the outset.
“Based on CPNI and NCSC’s technical expertise in protective security, this guidance provides the tools to establish simple, low cost and pragmatic security-minded behaviours from the outset, making protecting their innovation and ingenuity as easy as possible.”
The Secure Innovation guidance, aimed at founders or chief executives of emerging technology startups, explains how security can be integrated into an organisation’s culture and advocates for security focused risk management around supply chains, IT networks, information, people and physical security, cloud computing and more.
U.S. law enforcement warn of regular, regionally disruptive threats that could impact the delivery of patient care
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued an alert regarding “Conti,” a highly disruptive ransomware variant. Attacks associated with Conti and the previously published Darkside ransomware variant are believed to be emanating from criminal networks operating from a non-cooperative foreign jurisdiction.
The FBI says it identified at least 16 Conti ransomware attacks targeting U.S. health care and first responder networks, including law enforcement agencies, emergency medical services, 911 dispatch centers and municipalities within the last year.
Ransomware attacks associated with these variants have resulted in regionally disruptive impacts to critical infrastructure, including hospitals and health systems in the United States and Ireland. Most recently, hospitals in New Zealand have been hit by disruptive ransomware attacks.
These ransomware attacks have delayed or disrupted the delivery of patient care and pose significant potential risks to patient safety and the communities that rely on hospitals’ availability.
The American Hospital Association (AHA) remains concerned about cyberattacks with the potential to disrupt patient care and jeopardize patient safety. As stated in our testimony before the Senate Homeland Security Committee in December 2020, the AHA believes that a ransomware attack on a hospital or health system crosses the line from an economic crime to a threat-to-life crime.
The AHA acknowledges and commends the U.S. government’s efforts to share timely and actionable cyber-threat intelligence. However, relying on victimized organizations to individually defend themselves against these attacks is not the solution to this national strategic threat. The vast majority of these attacks originate from outside the United States, often beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement, where ransomware gangs are provided safe harbor and allowed to operate with impunity, sometimes with the active assistance of adversarial nations.
In response, the AHA has urged the government to embark upon a coordinated campaign that will use all diplomatic, financial, law enforcement, intelligence and military cyber capabilities to disrupt these criminal organizations and seize their illegal proceeds, as was done so effectively during the global fight against terrorism.
Darkside Ransomware: Best Practices for Preventing Business Disruption from Ransomware Attacks
(Updated May 19, 2021): Click here for a STIX package of indicators of compromise (IOCs).
Note: These IOCs were shared with critical infrastructure partners and network defenders on May 10, 2021. The applications listed in the IOCs were leveraged by the threat actors during the course of a compromise. Some of these applications might appear within an organization's enterprise to support legitimate purposes; however, these applications can be used by threat actors to aid in malicious exploitation of an organization's enterprise. CISA and FBI recommend removing any application not deemed necessary for day-to-day operations.
The Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are aware of a ransomware attack affecting a critical infrastructure (CI) entity—a pipeline company—in the United States. Malicious cyber actors deployed Darkside ransomware against the pipeline company’s information technology (IT) network. At this time, there is no indication that the
entity’s operational technology (OT) networks have been directly affected by the ransomware.
CISA and FBI urge CI asset owners and operators to adopt a heightened state of awareness and implement the recommendations listed in the Mitigations section of this Joint Cybersecurity Advisory, including implementing robust network segmentation between IT and OT networks; regularly testing manual controls; and ensuring that backups are implemented, regularly tested, and isolated from network connections. These mitigations will help CI owners and operators improve their entity's functional resilience by reducing their vulnerability to ransomware and the risk of severe business degradation if impacted by ransomware.
Darkside Ransomware: Best Practices for Preventing Business Disruption from Ransomware Attacks
(Updated May 19, 2021): Click here for a STIX package of indicators of compromise (IOCs). Note: These IOCs were shared with critical infrastructure partners and network defenders on May 10, 2021. The applications listed in the IOCs were leveraged by the threat actors during the course of a compromise. Some of these applications might appear within an organization's enterprise to support legitimate purposes; however, these applications can be used by threat actors to aid in malicious exploitation of an organization's enterprise. CISA and FBI recommend removing any application not deemed necessary for day-to-day operations.
The Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are aware of a ransomware attack affecting a critical infrastructure (CI) entity—a pipeline company—in the United States. Malicious cyber actors deployed Darkside ransomware against the pipeline company’s information technology (IT) network. At this time, there is no indication that the
entity’s operational technology (OT) networks have been directly affected by the ransomware.
CISA and FBI urge CI asset owners and operators to adopt a heightened state of awareness and implement the recommendations listed in the Mitigations section of this Joint Cybersecurity Advisory, including implementing robust network segmentation between IT and OT networks; regularly testing manual controls; and ensuring that backups are implemented, regularly tested, and isolated from network connections. These mitigations will help CI owners and operators improve their entity's functional resilience by reducing their vulnerability to ransomware and the risk of severe business degradation if impacted by ransomware.
Mitigations
CISA and FBI urge CI owners and operators to apply the following mitigations to reduce the risk of compromise by ransomware attacks.
- Require multi-factor authentication for remote access to OT and IT networks.
- Enable strong spam filters to prevent phishing emails from reaching end users. Filter emails containing executable files from reaching end users.
- Implement a user training program and simulated attacks for spearphishing to discourage users from visiting malicious websites or opening malicious attachments and reenforce the appropriate user responses to spearphishing emails.
- Filter network traffic to prohibit ingress and egress communications with known malicious IP addresses. Prevent users from accessing malicious websites by implementing URL blocklists and/or allowlists.
- Update software, including operating systems, applications, and firmware on IT network assets, in a timely manner. Consider using a centralized patch management system; use a risk-based assessment strategy to determine which OT network assets and zones should participate in the patch management program.
- Limit access to resources over networks, especially by restricting RDP. After assessing risks, if RDP is deemed operationally necessary, restrict the originating sources and require multi-factor authentication.