Protecting Against Ransomware: Zero Trust Security

Zero trust isn't a silver bullet for ransomware, but if implemented well, it can help create a much more robust security defense.

 Did you know only 26% of companies have a specific incident response plan for ransomware? With ransomware attacks constantly on the rise, your organization needs to be prepared and take every possible precaution.

Reduce your organization’s risk with CyberSecOp Zero Trust Program. With the help of a single-source platform for your compliance program, you can protect against vulnerabilities while reducing incident response time by as much as 60%.  

Ransomware victims paid more than $600 million to cybercriminals in 2021. According to blockchain analysis firm, Chainalysis, more than $600 million in cryptocurrency could be tied to ransomware payments in 2021, with the Conti ransomware gang accounting for nearly one-third of those payments.  

HOW CAN CYBERSECOP HELP YOUR ORGANIZATION BE CYBER READY?

CyberSecOp provides cyber risk and advisory programs that identify security gaps and build strategies using Zero Trust or other security frameworks. The zero-trust model is an effective defense mechanism for preventing ransomware. Adoption of zero-trust architecture, the modern alternative to perimeter-based security, is one of the most effective ways to prevent ransomware attacks.

Ransomware Protection with Zero Trust Security

Zero Trust Security Architecture: Why is the Zero Trust Security Model important?

Endpoints represent the most significant attack surface, according to IDC, with over 70% of breaches originating on the endpoint. Organizations have a diverse mix of endpoints connected to their network, whether laptops, mobile endpoints, servers, firewall, wireless hotspots, or IoT devices. Zero-trust architecture works to ensure that users, devices and network traffic are all verified and subjected to least-privilege rules when accessing trusted resources. This way, compromised assets are limited in their scope and an attacker is prevented from moving laterally across the network.

With the rise of remote endpoints and high-profile ransomware attacks, businesses face more cybersecurity threats than ever before. Traditional network security models which assume users and computing devices within the “trusted” network environment are free from compromise and cannot secure organizations. Businesses are also now recognizing that attacks are more sophisticated and that internal networks are no longer more trustworthy than what lies outside the firewall. CyberSecOp and the security community recognized that Zero-trust security is the ultimate protection against ransomware.

Zero Trust Security Optimization

Zero Trust Network (ZTN) concept follows the mantra of never trust, always verify. Through this approach, organizations can reduce their open attack surface and adopt enhanced security capabilities beyond traditional defenses. Zero Trust enables organizations to reduce risk of their cloud and container deployments while also improving governance and compliance. Organizations can gain insight into users and devices while identifying threats and maintaining control across a network.

Traditional – manual configurations and attribute assignment, static security policies, least-function established at provisioning, proprietary and inflexible policy enforcement, manual incident response, and mitigation capability.

Advanced – some cross-solution coordination, centralized visibility, centralized identity control, policy enforcement based on cross-solution inputs and outputs, some incident response to pre-defined mitigations, some least-privilege changes based on posture assessments.

Optimal – fully automated assigning of attributes to assets and resources, dynamic policies based on automated/observed triggers, assets have dynamic least-privilege access (within thresholds), alignment with open standards for cross pillar interoperability, centralized visibility with retention for historical review

10 Ransomware Prevention Best Practices

Below are 10 best practices to help security professionals improve endpoint management:

CyberSecOp Managed Zero Trust security services were built with a new approach that creates zero-trust connections between the users and applications directly to solve this unique challenge. As a scalable, cloud-native platform, it enables digital transformation by securely connecting users,

devices, and applications anywhere, without relying on network-wide access. This platform is delivered by five key architecture attributes, unique to the CyberSecOp Managed Zero Trust Security services that together enable organizations to provide strong security and a great user experience to their employees and customers.

1. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is is an electronic authentication method in which a computer user is granted access to a website or application only after successfully presenting two or more pieces of evidence to an authentication.

2. Email Security is critical because 74% of organizations in the United States experienced a successful phishing attack. Implementing email security gateway, DMARC, SPF, DKIM, stronger encryption, and MFA can reduce email compromise by over 98%.

3. CyberSecOp endpoint management solution that supports application isolation and containment technology is a form of zero-trust endpoint security. Instead of detecting or reacting to threats, it enforces controls that block and restrain harmful actions to prevent compromise. Application containment is used to block harmful file and memory actions on other apps on the endpoint. Application isolation is used to prevent other endpoint processes from altering or stealing from an isolated app or resources. This can prevent ransomware from being deployed on devices.

4. CyberSecOp endpoint management solution support Protective DNS Service (PDNS) refers to a service that provides Domain Name Service (DNS) protection (also known as DNS filtering) by blacklisting dangerous sites and filtering out unwanted content. It can also help to detect & prevent malware that uses DNS such as URL in phishing emails and hiding tunnels to communicate attackers' command and control servers.

5. CyberSecOp endpoint management solution supports bandwidth throttling so that remote endpoints can be continuously patched and secured rather than having to periodically send IT resources to remote locations. Our solution delivers patch management over the internet without requiring corporate network access. This ensures that internet-facing systems are patched in a proactive, timely manner rather than IT having to wait for these devices to visit the corporate network before they can be scanned and remediated.

6. CyberSecOp endpoint management reduces administrative overhead of endpoint management solutions to accommodate tight budgets and future growth. Our solutions support many endpoints using a single management system.

7. Consolidate endpoint management tools. Use a single tool to patch systems across Windows, Mac and variations of Unix operating systems to simplify administration, minimize the number of open network ports, and reduce the number of active agents on endpoints.

8. Validate that the endpoint management solution provides accurate, real-time endpoint data and reports. End users make changes to endpoints all the time and information that is hours or days old may not reflect a current attack surface.

9. CyberSecOp endpoint management allows administrators to apply patches that address the highest levels of risk first based on current endpoint status. This gives the biggest impact from remediation efforts.

10. Make sure the endpoint management solution enforces regulatory and corporate compliance policies on all endpoints constantly to avoid unintended drift and introduction of new vulnerabilities.

To conclude

Ransomware protection needs to go beyond detecting and blocking an initial malware infection at the email perimeter. Malware can enter your organization by other means, and cyber attacks often use the web channel to contact command and control servers and download the encryption keys necessary to complete the cyber attack.

What is Cyber resilience?

Cyber resilience is the ability of an organization to withstand and recover from cyber attacks and other cybersecurity threats. It involves implementing measures to prevent cyber attacks, as well as having the necessary systems and processes in place to minimize the impact of a successful attack and to quickly recover from it.

There are several components of cyber resilience, including:

• Risk assessment: Identifying and assessing potential vulnerabilities and threats to an organization's systems and data.

• Prevention: Implementing measures to prevent cyber attacks, such as using strong passwords and enabling two-factor authentication.

• Detection: Implementing systems and processes to detect potential cyber attacks in progress.

• Response: Having a plan in place to respond to a cyber attack, including procedures for containing the attack and minimizing its impact.

• Recovery: Having systems and processes in place to recover from a cyber attack, including data backup and recovery systems.

• By building cyber resilience, organizations can protect themselves from cyber attacks and minimize the impact of successful attacks, enabling them to continue operating in the face of these threats.

Zero trust Cyber resilience

Zero trust is a cybersecurity approach that assumes that all actors, whether inside or outside an organization, are potentially untrustworthy and must be continuously authenticated and authorized before being granted access to resources. It is based on the idea that an organization should not trust any user or device, regardless of their location or whether they are inside or outside the organization's network.

The zero trust approach can be used to enhance cyber resilience by requiring all users and devices to be authenticated and authorized before they are granted access to resources. This can help to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information and systems, and can also help to minimize the impact of a successful cyber attack.

To implement a zero trust approach, organizations typically use a combination of technologies, including multi-factor authentication, network segmentation, and access controls. These technologies help to ensure that only authorized users and devices are granted access to resources, and can help to prevent unauthorized access or the spread of malware within an organization.

By adopting a zero trust approach, organizations can significantly enhance their cyber resilience and reduce their risk of suffering a cyber attack.

zero trust cyber resilience technologies

There are several technologies that can be used to implement a zero trust approach and enhance cyber resilience. Some examples include:

1. Multi-factor authentication: This requires users to provide multiple forms of authentication, such as a password and a security token, before they are granted access to resources.

2. Network segmentation: This involves dividing an organization's network into smaller, isolated segments, which can help to prevent the spread of malware or unauthorized access within the network.

3. Access controls: This involves implementing controls to ensure that only authorized users and devices are granted access to specific resources.

4. Identity and access management (IAM) systems: These systems help to manage and secure user access to resources by controlling who is allowed to access specific resources and under what conditions.

5. Security information and event management (SIEM) systems collect and analyze security-related data from multiple sources, such as firewall logs and intrusion detection systems, to help organizations detect and respond to potential threats.

By using these technologies, organizations can implement a zero-trust approach and enhance their cyber resilience by preventing unauthorized access to sensitive information and systems and minimizing the impact of successful cyber attacks.

What is a Zero Trust Security Architecture?

What is Zero Trust Security?

Zero Trust Security, also referred to as Zero Trust Networks or Zero Trust Architecture, is a security concept with one basic principle: don’t automatically trust anything to access your data, whether it’s connecting from outside your organization or within. Implementing Zero Trust involves various technologies, policies, and processes that help you better respond to the sophisticated approaches cybercriminals are using to gain access to sensitive data.

CyberSecOp’s Zero Trust Security service offers a comprehensive solution to secure all access to your applications and environment from any user, device, and location. Zero trust is a security model based on maintaining strict access controls.

With the recent and very public surge of cyber incidents affecting businesses and critical infrastructure, you may have heard the phrase ‘Zero Trust’ regarding cyber security and protecting business assets. So what is Zero Trust? Put Zero Trust is a model of thought that centers around never trusting any device, application, or person, regardless of whether they are attempting to connect from inside or outside the network. This methodology is gaining more and more traction as cloud application usage increases and the permanent shift to remote work is further implemented.

 Zero trust is a strategy where everything (People, Data, Sessions, Devices, Applications) is treated as suspicious regardless of whether it's inside or outside the network. Essentially it is a ‘default deny’ posture, even for users within the organization. Instead of ‘Trust, verify the organization ‘Never Trusts, Always Verify.’ This is not accomplished by one tool but rather by policy, procedure, and means. Zero trust also focuses on Least Privilege- a Methodology that states no user should have more rights and permissions than what is needed to perform their work.

Zero Trust focuses on 5 pillars

1.       Device Trust

2.       User Trust

3.       Transport and Session Trust

4.       Application Trust

5.       Data Trust 

CyberSecOp can transform your business into a Zero Trust model by focusing on the tools, policy, and procedures to protect these five pillars and substantially decrease the odds of a successful breach. 

ZERO TRUST SERVICES & ZERO TRUST PLATFORM

OVERVIEW: MANAGED SECURITY - MDR SERVICES - MANAGED COMPLIANCE

With Zero Trust network access for your private apps and systems, you no longer have to choose between user experience and security. CyberSecOp Managed Zero Trust services were built with a new approach that directly creates zero trust connections between the users and the applications to solve this unique challenge. As a scalable, cloud-native platform, it enables digital transformation by securely connecting users, devices, and applications anywhere without relying on network-wide access. This platform is delivered by five key architecture attributes unique to the CyberSecOp Managed Zero Trust services. Together, they enable organizations to provide strong security and a great user experience to their employees and customers.

ZERO TRUST SECURITY SOLUTION & SERVICES

When all employees have the same access privileges, the network is vulnerable. VPNs may provide adequate security for on-premise resources, but only Zero Trust solutions offer the user-based access rules required for proper cloud security.

Our Zero Trust solutions and services utilize multi-layered cybersecurity protection to transform your business with cybersecurity orchestration, automation, cybersecurity consulting, cloud, and managed security services. We implement a comprehensive approach to secure and protect businesses from cyber threats. Our cybersecurity services cover all the following areas needed for a zero-trust secure environment:  Cybersecurity Program Strategy, Risk Management, Risk Assessment, Threat Intelligence, Incident Response, Advanced Malware & Ransomware Protection,  Perimeter Security,  Application Assessment, & Security Monitoring Services. We know where you are and how to protect your organization with a cybersecurity gap analysis to identify a more precise road map and a more robust cybersecurity program.

Zero Trust Cybersecurity Benefits and More

Zero trust networks, of course, extend beyond security. They are also inherently agile, a vital benefit for an increasingly remote workforce. As massive remote crews put unprecedented strain on cloud resources, the more stability and resilience you can build into your architecture, the better. Rather than backhauling remote data to a static data center, zero trust applications connect directly into your network from outside the perimeter, which helps free up bandwidth for DevOps and access business-critical cloud services.

ADOPT OUR ZERO TRUST SECURITY MODEL DEFENSE APPROACH

AUTOMATED PKI LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT ZERO TRUST

The automated PKI lifecycle management platform enables Zero Trust by utilizing  Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificates and key pairs, strengthening digital identities, and securing the connections between entities beyond the firewalled network architecture. In this age of digital transformation, the Zero Trust model increases the need for a consolidated, automated, and modern approach to PKI.

SECURE INTERNET GATEWAY

Control desktop, laptop, and mobile device access to malicious and inappropriate websites.

SECURE WEB GATEWAY

Protect against every kind of threat and ensure strict compliance with policies without slowing down your users.

ANTI SPAM & EMAIL GATEWAY

Secure Email Gateway protects organizations and employees from spear-phishing, malware, spam, and zero-day attacks. To ensure zero trust by removing spam and malicious email traffic before it enters your network to ensure zero trust.

ADVANCED ENDPOINT PROTECTION

Secure all your servers, desktops, laptops, and mobile devices from known and unknown malware–without requiring signatures or updates.

WEB APPLICATION FIREWALL

Powerful, real-time edge protection for

web apps and websites providing advanced

filtering, security, and intrusion protection.

SIMPLIFY COMPLIANCE REPORTING

Meet compliance requirements with no extra work. CyberSecOp Consultants have you covered, delivering streamlined reports of system access across the organization and zero trust technologies. 

CYBER SECURITY OPERATIONS CENTER

Your always-on certified cybersecurity professionals team provides 24/7/365 surveillance and remediation services to ensure zero trust.

DATA LOSS PREVENTION

Monitor and control the movement of sensitive and confidential data across the network. Implement a ‘zero-trust’ data loss prevention (DLP) strategy utilizing activity, system-access, schedule, and content-based rules to ensure zero trust.

SINGLE SIGN-ON

A secure cloud single sign-on solution that IT, security, and users will love. Single sign-on solutions can quickly connect to and sync from identity stores including AD, LDAP, HR systems, and other third-party identity providers to ensure zero trust.

MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION

Secure, intelligent access to delight your workforce and customers. Secure your accounts and apps with a robust multi-factor authentication solution to keep the right people in and the wrong people out. Protect all your resources, including customer-facing and enterprise apps that store your most sensitive data to ensure zero trust.

SECURITY INCIDENT EVENT MANAGEMENT

We are providing actionable intelligence leveraging current events and data. Our SIEM collects logs and circumstances of the network traffic and web assets, security devices, operating systems, applications, and databases and reviews the vulnerabilities using artificial intelligence to process to ensure zero trust.

REMOTE MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT

Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) is remote monitoring software that allows you to remotely monitor and manage endpoints, computers, mobile devices, and networks from a centralized console to ensure zero trust.

MANAGED CYBERSECURITY SERVICES

CyberSecOp is a cybersecurity service provider offering a range of solutions related to protecting computer systems within an organization. Cybersecurity is a constantly evolving industry created in response to hacking, viruses, and other personal and business data threats. CyberSecOp-managed cybersecurity services will provide your business with expertise in the three stages of business cybersecurity protection services: assessment, security program implementation, and governance. We implement external and internal cybersecurity solutions with advanced IT security software and hardware solutions. CyberSecOp provides several cybersecurity tools to ensure end-to-end cybersecurity protection. We also offer IT outsourcing services to address your company’s information technology needs.

End to End Cybersecurity Services

We offer cybersecurity and strategic advisory consulting, incident response, design, and deployment services. We will implement a security program strategy to align information security policy, security controls, and plan with business goals.

LEADING MANAGED CYBERSECURITY SERVICE PROVIDER

CyberSecOp is a leader in managed cybersecurity services. Our cybersecurity team will implement a secure framework and constantly monitor and protect your business from cyber threats. Our cybersecurity experts integrate business context intelligence, threat data, and cybersecurity insights to protect your assets and data. The risk scene develops with rising rates; it takes more oversight with cybersecurity services to effectively ensure your organization is secure from cyber threats. Our team will work with your firm to identify any risks or threats it may face. We will deliver recommendations highlighting security flaws in your environment and the immediate steps to these issues.

CYBERSECURITY AS A SERVICE (CSAAS)

CyberSecOp offers proactive Cybersecurity as a Service (CSaaS) to mitigate cyber risk. Every business needs defense in-depth, includincludessecurity solutions and cybersecurity experts who can deploy and monitor them. 

Transform and strengthen your cybersecurity to become proactive, effective and resilient. Cybersecurity is a core business requirement, providing a secure foundation to transform your enterprise and support your business. Ready to see how CyberSecOp Cybersecurity Services can help?