CYBER SECURITY CONSULTING SERVICE AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
CyberSecOp's comprehensive managed security services, cyber security consulting, professional services, and data protection technology are recognized as industry-leading threat detection and response solutions by major analyst firms, key media outlets, and others.
Why Cybersecurity and Compliance Starts at the Top
In today's digital age, cybersecurity and compliance have become paramount concerns for organizations across industries. As cyber threats evolve and regulatory requirements become increasingly stringent, businesses must adopt a top-down approach to security. At CyberSecOp, we believe that cybersecurity and compliance initiatives must originate from the executive suite and permeate throughout the organization to ensure the adoption and resiliency of the systems in place.
Why Cybersecurity and Compliance Must Start from the Top
Setting the Tone: Leadership sets the tone for organizational culture, including attitudes toward cybersecurity and compliance. When executives prioritize security and compliance, it sends a clear message that these are non-negotiable aspects of the business; the entire organization must be thoughtful and engaged
Resource Allocation: Adequate resources, including budget and personnel, are essential for implementing robust cybersecurity measures and maintaining compliance. Leadership’s commitment ensures resources are appropriately allocated and aligned to the organization’s strategic objectives.
Risk Management: Understanding the potential impact of cyber threats on financial, business operations and reputational levels, leadership can make informed effective decisions to mitigate these risks.
Regulatory Compliance: Many organizations are legally required to comply with industry regulations, governance expectations, and standards. Leadership oversight ensures organizational compliance, avoiding potential legal, financial, and reputational consequences.
Why Happy Employees Ensure a Trusted System
Employee Buy-In: A positive work environment fosters employee buy-in and commitment to cybersecurity best practices. When employees feel valued and supported, they are more likely to adhere to security policies and procedures, reducing the risk of insider threats.
Training and Awareness: Engaged and satisfied employees are receptive to cybersecurity training and awareness initiatives. Regular training sessions empower employees to recognize and respond to security threats, enhancing overall cyber resilience.
Culture of Accountability: A culture of happiness and satisfaction promotes accountability and responsibility at all levels of the organization. Employees' ownership of the organization’s overall cyber health and wellness drives acceptance and acknowledgment of the need to be risk-aware.
Reduced Turnover: It has been proven that a low turnover rate minimizes the risk of insider threats associated with disgruntled or departing employees. A stable workforce contributes to the continuity and consistency of security measures.
Conclusion: Building a Culture of Security and Trust
Cybersecurity and compliance must be ingrained in an organization’s culture from the top down. Leadership’s commitment to resource allocation and risk management are essential to a comprehensive security strategy. Fostering employee happiness and satisfaction are important additives to a culture focused on security, promoting adherence to policies and procedures, and ensuring a trusted system.
At CyberSecOp, we understand the importance of a holistic approach to cybersecurity and compliance. Organizations can develop tailored security solutions and cultivate a culture of security excellence by partnering with us.
Thank you for prioritizing cybersecurity and compliance in your organization. Together, we can build a safer and more resilient digital future.
3CX DesktopApp Supply Chain Attack: What You Need to Know
After being alerted by several security researchers of an ongoing supply chain attack in its 3CX DesktopApp, 3CX is currently working on a software update. According to the company's CEO, Nick Galea, the malware affects the Windows Electron client for customers running update 7. As an immediate response, the company has advised users to uninstall and reinstall the app, and in the meantime, use its PWA (progressive web application) client instead.
3CX is a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) IPBX software development company with over 600,000 customers and 12 million users in 190 countries. Its 3CX DesktopApp allows users to make calls, chat, video conference, and check voicemail using their desktop. Some of its customers include BMW, Honda, Ikea, Pepsi, and Toyota.
The ongoing attack was detected by security researchers at Sophos, Crowdstrike, and SentinelOne, who observed malicious activity originating from a trojanized version of the 3CX DesktopApp. Sophos reported that the software is a digitally signed version of the softphone desktop client for Windows and is packaged with a malicious payload. The application has been abused by the threat actor to add an installer that communicates with various command-and-control servers.
According to SentinelOne, the threat actor registered a massive attack infrastructure in February 2022 and is tracking the attack under the name SmoothOperator. Researchers noted that it is a chain attack that takes advantage of the DLL side-loading technique to load a malicious DLL that's designed to retrieve an icon file payload. The trojanized 3CX DesktopApp is the first stage in a multi-stage attack chain that pulls ICO files appended with base64 data from GitHub and ultimately leads to a third-stage infostealer DLL still being analyzed as of the time of writing.
Crowdstrike also found that the malicious activity includes beaconing to actor-controlled infrastructure, deployment of second-stage payloads, and hands-on-keyboard activity in a small number of cases. Sophos noted that the DLL side-loading is designed in such a way that users will not realize any difference while using the application. The information stealer can gather system information and sensitive data stored in Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, and Mozilla Firefox browsers.
In conclusion, the ongoing supply chain attack on the 3CX DesktopApp has prompted urgent action from the company, with a software update in progress and a recommendation for users to switch to its PWA client in the meantime. Security researchers have detected malicious activity originating from the trojanized version of the app, which has been abused by the threat actor to communicate with command-and-control servers and steal sensitive data. As always, it is important to stay vigilant and take immediate action in response to any security alerts or warnings.
Why a vCISO may be right for your organization cyber security
Since the start of the COVID19 pandemic, several societal changes have shaped how firms function in the current climate. Many firms have implemented a work-from-home model to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus and ensure employees are comfortable with their surroundings. What many organizations didn’t anticipate are the cyber security-related risks.
Once employees leave the security of their offices, they increase their attack surface and open themselves and their employer to attendant Information Security vulnerabilities that may come with working remotely. Remote work changes have prompted heightened instances of cyber attacks that have worsened in style and quantity over time. The pandemic has created the perfect environment for hackers to attack with more accuracy, and with greater cost to the firm, than ever. Learn more about remote working in relation to the pandemic.
How a vCISO can help protect your firm from cyber attacks
A vCISO can function as an additional set of eyes that constantly monitors your firm’s security operations. The additional security will aid in preventing possible security breaches. A vCISO can also bring expertise to assist in developing a strategy to strengthen your firm’s security program.
The benefits of a vCISO:
A board-level cyber security consultant fulfilling the CISO responsibilities
A team of security risk assessment experts
Employee security awareness education
Dark Web Monitoring 24/7/365
Full enterprise risk management for any required compliance
Comprehensive third party/vendor management
Compliance support for NIST, ISO, GDPR, CCPA, NYDFS, PCI/DSS among others
A more affordable approach as opposed to hiring a full-time CISO
Eliminate internal training costs and have our seasoned experts handle your security
CyberSecOp offers vCISO services. Click here to learn more.
CyberSecOp is listed in FINRA's Compliance Vendor Directory
FINRA, Finance Industry Regulatory Authority, released its Compliance Vendor Directory as a convenient, one-stop source for firms searching for vendors that offer compliance-related products and services. CyberSecOp is pleased to announce that we are listed on FINRA's Compliance Vendor Directory as a data management vendor.
CyberSecOp team has been providing expert compliance consulting services to the financial services industry. We take security seriously, we maintaining client relationships and delivering the highest levels of compliance services. Our client base includes some of the most respected names in the financial services industry and ranges from large international firms to small firms. Our satisfied clients include advisers, institutional investors, private funds, investment companies, and broker-dealer.
CyberSecOp offers several services to help keep businesses compliant with a number of different regulations and governing bodies. As a member of the financial industry, keeping your organization compliant can be a source of constant stress that’s always in the back of your mind. Performing self-audits and constant reviewing of records to make sure you’re meeting the standards set by your industry can be time-consuming to the point that you’re slipping behind other important work. FINRA members can view the FINRA Compliance Vendor Directory here: http://www.finra.org/industry/cvd
How to Improve Data Security & Data Privacy
What are the biggest challenges currently facing data security and privacy?
As organizations embark on digital transformation, there is a clear need for enterprise data privacy and protection. New data privacy laws and the growing enforcement of existing regulations challenge organizations. And most organizations face rapid data growth and proliferation across the enterprise. Organizations have more data, more use cases, and more locations than ever before
First what is data privacy?
Data privacy and data protection are very closely interconnected, so much so that users often think of them as synonymous. But the distinctions between data privacy vs. data protection are fundamental to understanding how one complements the other. Privacy concerns arise wherever personally identifiable information is collected, stored, or used.
Second what is data security?
Data security is about securing data against unauthorized access. Data privacy is about authorized access — who has it and who defines it. Another way to look at it is this: data protection is essentially a technical issue, whereas data privacy is a legal one.
Data encryption ensure only privilege users has access
Data encryption isn't just for the technical advanced; modern tools make it possible for anyone to encrypt emails and other information. "Encryption used to be the sole province of geeks and mathematicians, but a lot has changed in recent years. In particular, various publicly available tools have taken the rocket science out of encrypting (and decrypting) email and files. based on what your need are our firm can help you implement the right technologies to ensure data security.
Stronger Password and Multi-factor Authentication
Password and Multi-Factor are essential when protecting data and data privacy from unauthorized users, or attackers. unfortunately many user don’t understand the importance of passwords. So much so that the 20 most commonly used passwords not only contain highly insecure passwords like the word “password”, they also account for a whopping 10.3% of all passwords that are being used. CyberSecOp recommend creating passwords that contain a minimum of 8 characters. If your password protects something sensitive, like access to your bank account, then use a minimum of 12 characters. all password should contain at lease one upper and lower case, and a symbol. don’t use the same passwords for every site, you can use difference variations of the password making it easier to recall. Example: Chase Bank : Iwanttolive1o8chase% Facebook:Iw@nttoliv3fb.
Enable two-factor authentication.
On top of having good passwords, consider enabling two-factor authentication when you sign into your email, bank website or any other sensitive account. When using two-factor authentication, a code will be sent to your phone when you sign in. You then input the code to access your account. Hackers likely don’t have access to your phone, so this can be a great way to add a layer of password security and data security. It may feel like additional work, but the extra protection can go a long way.
All organization needs an Ethical Hacker team like CyberSecOp
An ethical hacker is one who mimics the actions of a malicious hacker so as to detect security risks in advance and thus prevent breaches and attacks.
Any organization or business can hire the services of an ethical hacker to test/monitor the organization’s defenses, perform IT health checks and penetration tests, to assess the security of the systems and to evaluate the overall security of the organization’s network. An ethical hacker can provide valuable help to an organization by detecting vulnerabilities in a system/network on time and thus prevent the exploitation of data (customer data, financial data and other sensitive data), which could happen as a result of cybercriminals exploiting the vulnerabilities.
Backup is an essential part of data security
Backups are most often overlooked, data protection and backing up your data is essential when you have a major security event such has ransomware. Basically, this creates a duplicate copy of your data so that if a device is lost, stolen, or compromised, you don't also lose your important information. It's best to create a backup on a different device, such as an external hard drive, so that you can easily recover your information when the original device becomes compromised. It is critical that once the backup has complete to physically disconnect the backup device for the system, if the backup drive stay connected and your system becomes affect by ransomware, your backup data could also be affected.
Data Security, Data Privacy & Compliance
CyberSecOp can provide guidance and assistance with addressing privacy and data security practices, as well as to ensure that the practices and program implemented are compliant with relevant laws and regulations. The EU and some US Federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), have been promulgating updated guidelines and recommendations for privacy and data security best practices in a variety of industries, including some of the newer Internet of Things and peer platform (sharing economy) marketplaces. Additionally, several industry groups have adopted self-regulatory programs and rules, including certification programs, to which a company can voluntarily abide.
In view of these guidelines and others, companies are further encouraged to establish internal policies and procedures to ensure compliance. Business policies may include a top-level information security and privacy policy, which expresses a commitment to data security and privacy from the top-level officers of a company, a risk management program, an acceptable use policy, access compartmentalization, communications monitoring, breach reporting, a document retention policy and outsourcing policies. Technical policies may include a variety of commitments to technical controls to ensure the protection of data, including encryption, passwords, authentication protocols, disaster recover, intrusion detection, physical security, patching and the like.
Data Protection Solutions & Data Security
Protect and secure data and data privacy is critical since most companies hold clients/costumers sensitive data, and protect that data is not only critical to its clients/costumes. Data protection is also critical for companies intellectual properties and reputation.
Data Protection Services
As more organizations move to hybrid or multi-cloud IT strategy, managing data protection services has become increasingly more complex. Various systems, technologies and environments require different tools for data protection management, and many IT teams find they must use a variety of tools to perform backup operations. In addition to greater inefficiency and rising costs, this intensive focus on data protection services diverts IT teams from higher value tasks and other strategic priorities.
Data Protection Simplified by CyberSecOp LocVault services
To simplify data protection services, CyberSecOp offers a Managed Data Protection solution that can protect digital assets across all your environments. Powered by Locvault's best-in-class data backup and recovery software, CyberSecOps Managed Data protection services help simplify data protection by enabling IT teams to use a single tool for backup and restore processes.
Efficiently Protect, Manage and Recover Your Data
Protect, manage and access the information you need with a heterogeneous data protection solution
A single interface manages data at a fraction of the time, effort and cost required by separate point products
Simplify data management in complex networked storage environments with a consistent way to locate and manage data and applications
With Privacy and Data Protection, CyberSecOp LocVault will help you protect your sensitive business data and help you meet compliance requirements related to data storage and protection.
We’ll also help you assess your risk, create custom policies to encrypt and restrict access to sensitive data, and report on data access — helping to ensure that your important data remains protected. Speak with an expert
What is Regulatory Compliance & Services?
What is Compliance
Compliance means conforming to a rule, such as a specification, policy, standard or law. Regulatory compliance describes the goal that organizations aspire to achieve in their efforts to ensure that they are aware of and take steps to comply with relevant laws, policies, and regulations.
Business and Compliance
When it comes to a business and corporate management, compliance refers to the company obeying all of the legal laws and regulations in regards to how they manage the business, their staff, and their treatment towards their consumers. The concept of compliance is to make sure that corporations act responsibly.
The pressure to comply with constantly changing regulatory, third-party, and internal guidelines can be overwhelming. Being unprepared to manage risks yet meet mandates can lead to economic consequences and legal liabilities. Both can contribute to a significant financial impact and hurt to your reputation, which could prove even more damaging. You may be exposed to threats you’re not yet familiar with that could be putting your company’s reputation at risk—and even jeopardizing its future.Many major companies within the United States are subject to some type of security regulation.
Complying to regulatory compliance
Regulations that contain information security requirements are intended to improve the information security level of organizations within that industry and many organizations would welcome such information. The difficulty comes in determining which regulations apply and in interpreting the requirements of the regulation. The regulations are not written in a way that is easily understood by the average business person so many times a security professional is needed to understand the requirements and how to best implement them. Professionals have experience implementing systems, policies, and procedures to satisfy the requirements of the regulation and enhance the security of your organization and some have obtained credentials such as (CyberSecOp Information Security Practitioner) that signify their understanding of the regulations. Often the requirements are given in general terms leaving the company to determine how to best satisfy the requirements.
For those organizations without a robust security department, we provide a Virtual CISO offering with expertise in the following:
ISO 27001/27002
NIST & NIST Cybersecurity
GDPR
CCPA
FedRamp
NY DFS Requirements 23 NYCRR 500
FFIEC Handbook
FERPA
HIPAA/HITECH
Hi-Trust
PCI-DSS