Unshackled SonicWall
Great to see SonicWall growing, unshackled from Dell. A solid platform, especially for SMBs. At Trestle Networks, our Managed Firewall solution includes support for customers' existing SonicWall deployments.
But steer clear of built-in WiFi on smaller firewall models. While tempting, it's a recipe for coverage/capacity problems. Contact me to learn more and follow Trestle Networks.
More on the Whole Foods Breach
More on the Whole Foods credit card data breach. Wonder if you potentially exposed? Visit their new page to identify impacted locations. Glad I haven't visited their "Pressery Juice Bar" here in Longmont, Co. How secure is your wired LAN, WiFI and Internet connectivity? Do better than Whole Foods, for both compliance and peace of mind. Contact me to learn more and follow us on Facebook.
What Are Those Towers For?
I think we're all curious what the "Homeland Security items" are... Enhanced security at these tunnels is welcome, but a lack of transparency on broad public monitoring is not. Thoughts?
On The Deloitte Breach
This breach of Deloitte looks more and more brutal. According to the story, "A breach at Deloitte involved usernames, passwords and personal data on the accountancy’s top blue-chip clients." What's your guess on what the attackers successfully exploited? Weak remote access authentication methods and sloppy role-based access?
Securing Data at OSI Layer 1
An interesting article about Level3's wavelength encryption. Great marketing. Anyone know of past security breaches of any major carrier's physical transport? If not, when will it finally happen and be publicly reported? Remember to follow Trestle Networks.
Article: "The Dangers of the Hackable Car"
Here's a frightening reminder of why NOT to turn cars into 1000 lb IoT devices:
"Last month, cyber sleuths at security provider Trend Micro Inc. disclosed a flaw in almost all cars from the past 30 years that makes any number of safety features—such as anti-lock brakes—vulnerable to attack."
Today's vehicles are connected in ways my old college Volkswagens -- thankfully -- were not. Remember, apply the same network security practices to all potential attack targets, no exceptions, no cutting corners. Contact me to learn more and follow Trestle Networks.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-dangers-of-the-hackable-car-1505700481
A Warning to the England Side: Stay Off the World Cup WiFi
A smart play for all travelers, not just Harry Kane :). At a minimum, VPN all your traffic when connected to an untrusted network. And guest WiFi providers need do their part to protect against security breaches. For example, at Trestle Networks we always enable 24/7 Mojo Networks, Inc. WIPS to protect against Honeypot / Evil Twin attacks on our managed WiFi service. Reach out to learn more.
Bluetooth Mesh
A good article from a few weeks back on Bluetooth Mesh. This has potential as a low-bandwidth network extender for IoT devices and possibly for VERY light apps on traditional devices. However, imagine some of the scenarios for congestion and even DDoS if not well-managed (in contrast to hub-and-spoke topologies)? What are some potentially brutal business impacts of a failed mesh?
Security Is More than Locking Doors and Windows
Like the article says, PCI DSS compliance only the beginning. It's mostly just locking your doors/windows and checking them a few times a year. That's basic and a bit absurd. What happens when intruders finally get in (they will)? Are depending on manual response? When deploying Managed WiFi for our customers, we always enable Mojo Networks' 24/7 WIPS.
- STEP 1: Detect
- STEP 2: Prevent
- STEP 3: RF-locate and smash with hammer
- STEP 4: Breathe easier
Spear Fishing & Psychological Profiling
Personal social media is fine for Labor Day weekend BBQ pics... but it's a golden treasure trove for spear phishing bad actors looking to infiltrate your employer. Be cautious about what you post, whom you tag and at least restrict your content to friends (not "Public"). Don't become an attacker's next psychological profile.
"Half of Global Firms Failing on PCI Compliance" - Info Security Magazine
Half of Global Firms Failing on PCI Compliance
They say that half are in compliance with PCI DSS? Including 3.2? Based on our time assessing retail and restaurant WiFi environments, that sounds very...well...generous. Remember, compliance requires quarterly WiFi scans, but why not use Mojo Networks, Inc. patented 24/7 WIPS like our customers do? A quarter is long time to be vulnerable...
Just Don't Allow Public RDP and SSH, Period.
This good article touches on the vulnerabilities of SSH and RDP brute force attacks against Azure VMs. Who else is frightened by the huge expansion of super-easy direct public Internet access to compute in Azure, AWS and other cloud platforms? It's just too simple to open, vulnerable to sloppy security practices. Secure your VPCs, your VNETs, your VMs just like you secure your colo or on-premise data center, via automated builds and tight change management processes.
http://www.eweek.com/security/microsoft-sounds-alarm-on-weaponized-virtual-machines-on-the-cloud
"...there's no silver bullet."
This is undeniably true of so much in life...including cyberattacks. Two excellent reminders in this article:
#1 Bulk up your detection methods
#2 Segment your environment, wherever possible
These will reduce the size and scope of an attack's impact and enable faster and more successful response. At Trestle Networks, we work 24/7 to protect our Managed WiFi retail/restaurant clients through PCI DSS compliance and 24/7 WIPS (WiFi intrusion prevention system).
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3193654/security/face-it-enterprise-cyberattacks-are-going-to-happen.html