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Remote Work Is Here to Stay: How to Deal with Access Risks Across an Expanded Workforce

While no one could have anticipated the way in which COVID-19 would change the workforce over the last year, perhaps even more unexpected is the lasting impact the pandemic will have on remote work. With millions of employees still working from home, organizations are especially vulnerable because they lack visibility into the actual access levels employees possess across the collaboration tools...
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3 Ways Core Impact Can Benefit Large Security Teams

As the need for regular security assessments continues to grow, penetration testing tools are helping organizations advance their in-house programs through strategic automation. However, there is a misconception that automated tools are best for those with a reduced headcount, like small teams or individuals. Fortunately, Core Impact is designed with every team in mind, and offers capabilities...
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New Approaches to the SWIFT and PCI-DSS Framework

THE WORLD OF COMPLIANCE At the official start of summertime 2016 in Britain we are starting to consume the labour of last autumn, five gallons of alcoholic homemade cider (yum!) made from eight apple varieties grown in mine and my neighbors’ gardens. I’m very VERY careful sterilizing glassware, containers, and buckets: there was this unfortunate incident three years ago (no, you don’t want to hear...
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Pros and Cons for Puppet's Configuration Management & Security

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY I was at the Red Hat Summit in Boston at the end of June. We had a lot of activity at our exhibitor stand, and a lot of discussions being passed on to me by our sales team I continued to have the same conversation again and again over the three days. This seems to be the year people have finished bedding down Puppet in their server/VM infrastructure, and are looking...
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6 Steps to Better Securing the Internet of Things (IoT)

These days, an organization’s technology stack isn’t merely computers and servers. The Internet of Things (IoT)—a catch all term for the many different devices that have sensors or software that connect them to the Internet—has carved out a foothold in every industry. Hospitals are filled with devices that monitor patient status, farmers are using sensors placed in the ground to obtain data about...
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Getting Inside the Mind of an Attacker Part 5: Final Words of Advice

Authored by: Julio Sanchez In part four of this series, we examined a penetration testing engagement that the Core Security Services team performed, exploring an insider attacker engagement that showed one of the ways an attacker can escalate their privileges using Kerberos tickets. The four scenarios presented over the course of this series demonstrate the many types of attacks, both internal and...
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Ways Hackers Look to Exploit State and Local Governments

Don’t for a minute think that bad actors have no interest in the information you collect in your state or local office. Whether you work for the City Water Department or the Department of Tax and Revenue for your county, you are collecting data that is critical to not only your job – but for all of the organizations and people that work and live within your territory. Even if you aren't employed...
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Adapting to a Changed World: 6 Cybersecurity Predictions for 2021

As a new year looms bright with possibility in front of us, how can we prepare for a world that looks profoundly different than it did a year ago? On the cybersecurity front, we can always anticipate continuing battles with familiar foes, as well as a few new challenges on the horizon. Though we may not have a crystal ball, based on our observations and discussions, here are six predictions for...
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Finding Clarity in the Chaos: 5 Cybersecurity Trends of 2020

As 2020 comes to an end and we anticipate gleefully tossing our calendars in the garbage, we can all agree it was one of the most tumultuous years in recent history. It was a difficult time for almost every person and industry, and cybersecurity was certainly no exception, with shocking breaches, mass transitions to remote working, and threat actors thriving as the pandemic raged on. Though we’re...
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Why Identity Governance Is Essential for Segregation of Duties (SoD)

It’s no secret that organizations today face a constant onslaught of identity-related access risks within the current threat landscape. One of the most critical and potentially damaging access risks that can exist under the surface of an organization is the lack of controls to ensure adequate segregation of duties (SoD). Throughout this blog, we will examine what it means to segregate duties...
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Interoperability with Cobalt Strike and Other Notable New Features in Core Impact 20.3

The latest release of Core Impact has arrived! Version 20.3 showcases our commitment to creating a comprehensive, streamlined process for testing the defenses of any IT environment. At the forefront of this effort is the debut of exciting new interoperability capabilities with our red teaming platform, Cobalt Strike. Additionally, this latest release includes new features focused on both...
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3 Reasons You May Need to Rethink Your Virus Protection Strategy

These days, encountering malware like viruses, ransomware, trojans, or worms has become all too common—it’s almost an inevitability. In fact, according to the 2020 Malware Report by Cybersecurity Insiders, 88% see malware as an extreme or moderate threat, and 75% believe malware and ransomware will increase in the next year. As this threat continues to loom, almost all organizations have antivirus...
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A Day in the Life of a Pen Tester

When someone says “pen test,” you’re not alone if you pictured someone clicking a ball point pen top, drawing scribbles to see if any ink comes out. But if you keep listening, it actually seems like pen testers are paid to hack into computers all day long. So what do they actually do? We went behind the scenes, taking a closer look at the day in the life of a pen tester.
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What is Privileged Account Management?

Day after day, we see the evidence of an increased number of breaches. As a Privileged Account Management (PAM) provider, we are also seeing a similar increase in requests for proposals on our Core Privileged Access Manager (BoKS) solution. What is most interesting is that a large number of security professionals who contact us indicate that they are not not even sure what privileged accounts are...
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With Public Cloud OS Instances Growing, Security Challenges Grow, Too

“Some cloud vendors tout that systems deployed within their framework require little or no administration: You create an image with the software and applications that you want it to provide services for, spin it up in a management console, and Voila! you have an entirely new system online; with minimal cost, no hassle, little work. However, even with newer models for virtualization appearing on...
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Getting Inside the Mind of an Attacker Part 4: Additional Internal Attack Techniques

Authored by: Julio Sanchez In part 3 of this series, we examined a penetration testing engagement that the Core Security Services team performed, simulating an insider attacker with low-level credentials escalating their privileges with Kerberos tickets and pass-the-hash attacks. In this final scenario, we’ll explore another insider attack engagement, demonstrating how different techniques can be...
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‘You Can’t Boil the Ocean’: How a Phased Approach Can Help Your IGA Program Succeed

Implementing an Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) solution can be a daunting task. Organizations of all sizes recognize the complexity of mitigating identity-related access risks across countless devices, applications, and systems, but need a way to see through the competing priorities and to understand that IGA is not an all or nothing proposition. Rather than a destination, Identity...
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Open Source vs. Enterprise: Why Not All Exploits are Created Equal

A common tactic of attackers trying to breach an environment is to use an exploit against a known vulnerability in an application or device present in a targeted infrastructure. Exploiting a vulnerability can provide an attacker with privileges or capabilities they would not normally be granted. In order to provide insight into what threat actors might be able to do, pen testers also use exploits....
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Getting Inside the Mind of an Attacker Part 3: Internal Attacks on Active Directory

Authored by: Julio Sanchez In part 2 of this series, we examined a penetration testing engagement that the Core Security Services team performed, simulating an external attacker with no internal access finding entry using a password spray attack, eventually gaining control of Active Directory. Continuing our exploration of Active Directory attacks, we’ll share another scenario in order to further...
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What You Don’t Know About Access Management Is Hurting You

The impact of COVID-19 has been far-reaching across nearly every sector. Millions of employees now work remotely, making companies particularly vulnerable when it comes to external access risks. Many organizations lack a centralized process to manage user access to accounts and resources. They often have limited visibility into access levels users possess to data and systems within their network....