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Secure your cloud environment with just 5 pillars Learn how Prevasio CNAPP’s innovative features and robust architecture offers a comprehensive defense mechanism that goes beyond traditional security measures Webinars 5 Pillars for advanced cloud security In this webinar you’ll discover how Prevasio CNAPP’s cutting-edge features and resilient architecture redefine cloud security, providing a comprehensive defense mechanism that transcends conventional security measures. Gain a deep understanding of the innovative strategies and advanced technologies that make Prevasio CNAPP an indispensable ally in safeguarding your critical data and applications. June 13, 2023 Jacqueline Basil Product Marketing Manager Relevant resources Cloud migrations made simpler: Safe, Secure and Successful Migrations Keep Reading AlgoSec Cloud - Cloud security policy and configuration management made simple Read Document 6 best practices to stay secure in the hybrid cloud Read Document Choose a better way to manage your network Choose a better way to manage your network Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... phone By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

Secure VPC as the main pillar of cloud security      Remember the Capital One breach back in 2019 ? 100 million customers' data exposed,... Cloud Security A secure VPC as the main pillar of cloud security Asher Benbenisty 6 min read Asher Benbenisty Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 11/11/24 Published Secure VPC as the main pillar of cloud security Remember the Capital One breach back in 2019 ? 100 million customers' data exposed, over $270 million in fines – all because of a misconfigured WAF. Ouch! A brutal reminder that cloud security is no joke. And with cloud spending skyrocketing to a whopping $675.4 billion this year, the bad guys are licking their chops. The stakes? Higher than ever. The cloud's a dynamic beast, constantly evolving, with an attack surface that's expanding faster than a pufferfish in a staring contest. To stay ahead of those crafty cybercriminals, you need a security strategy that's as agile as a ninja warrior. That means a multi-layered approach, with network security as the bedrock. Think of it as the backbone of your cloud fortress, ensuring all your communication channels – internal and external – are locked down tighter than Fort Knox. In this post, we're shining the spotlight on Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs) – the cornerstone of your cloud network security. But here's the kicker: native cloud tools alone won't cut it. They're like a bicycle in a Formula 1 race – good for a leisurely ride, but not built for high-speed security. We'll delve into why and introduce you to AlgoSec, the solution that turbocharges your VPC security and puts you in the driver's seat. The 5 Pillars of Cloud Security: A Quick Pit Stop Before we hit the gas on VPCs, let's do a quick pit stop to recap the five foundational pillars of a rock-solid cloud security strategy: Identity and Access Management (IAM): Control who gets access to what with the principle of least privilege and role-based access control. Basically, don't give the keys to the kingdom to just anyone! Keep a watchful eye with continuous monitoring and logging of access patterns. Integrate with SIEM systems to boost your threat detection and response capabilities. Think of it as having a security guard with night vision goggles patrolling your cloud castle 24/7. Data Encryption: Protect your sensitive data throughout its lifecycle – whether it's chilling in your cloud servers or traveling across networks. Think of it as wrapping your crown jewels in multiple layers of security, making them impenetrable to those data-hungry thieves. Network Security: This is where VPCs take center stage! But it's more than just VPCs – you also need firewalls, security groups, and constant vigilance to keep your network fortress impenetrable. It's like having a multi-layered defense system with moats, drawbridges, and archers ready to defend your cloud kingdom. Compliance and Governance: Don't forget those pesky regulations and internal policies! Use audit trails, resource tagging, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to stay on the right side of the law. It's like having a compliance officer who keeps you in check and ensures you're always playing by the rules. Incident Response and Recovery: Even with the best defenses, breaches can happen. It's like a flat tire on your cloud journey – annoying, but manageable with the right tools. Be prepared with real-time threat detection, automated response, and recovery plans that'll get you back on your feet faster than a cheetah on Red Bull. Why Network Security is Your First Line of Defense Network security is like the moat around your cloud castle, the first line of defense against those pesky attackers. Breaches can cost you a fortune, ruin your reputation faster than a bad Yelp review, and send your customers running for the hills. Remember when Equifax suffered a massive data breach in 2017 due to an unpatched vulnerability? Or the ChatGPT breach in 2023 where a misconfigured database exposed sensitive user data? These incidents are stark reminders that even a small slip-up can have massive consequences. VPCs: Building Your Secure Cloud Fortress VPCs are like creating your own private kingdom within the vast public cloud. You get to set the rules, control access, and keep those unwanted visitors out. This isolation is crucial for preventing those sneaky attackers from gaining a foothold and wreaking havoc. With VPCs, you have granular control over your network traffic – think of it as directing the flow of chariots within your kingdom. You can define routing tables, create custom IP address ranges, and isolate different sections of your cloud environment. But here's the thing: VPCs alone aren't enough. You still need to connect to the outside world, and that's where secure options like VPNs and dedicated interconnects come in. Think of them as secure tunnels and bridges that allow safe passage in and out of your kingdom. Native Cloud Tools: Good, But Not Good Enough The cloud providers offer their own security tools – think AWS CloudTrail, Azure Security Center, and Google Cloud's Security Command Center. They're a good starting point, like a basic toolkit for your cloud security needs. But they often fall short when it comes to dealing with the complexities of today's cloud environments. Here's why: Lack of Customization: They're like one-size-fits-all suits – they might kinda fit, but they're not tailored to your specific needs. You need a custom-made suit of armor for your cloud kingdom, not something off the rack. Blind Spots in Multi-Cloud Environments: If you're juggling multiple cloud platforms, these tools can leave you with blind spots, making it harder to keep an eye on everything. It's like trying to guard a castle with multiple entrances and only having one guard. Configuration Nightmares: Misconfigurations are like leaving the back door to your castle wide open. Native tools often lack the robust detection and prevention mechanisms you need to avoid these costly mistakes. You need a security system with motion sensors, alarms, and maybe even a moat with crocodiles to keep those intruders out. Integration Headaches: Trying to integrate these tools with other security solutions can be like fitting a square peg into a round hole. This can leave gaps in your security posture, making you vulnerable to attacks. You need a security system that works seamlessly with all your other defenses, not one that creates more problems than it solves. To overcome these limitations and implement best practices for securing your AWS environment, including VPC configuration and management, download our free white paper: AWS Best Practices: Strengthening Your Cloud Security Posture . AlgoSec: Your Cloud Security Superhero This is where AlgoSec swoops in to save the day! AlgoSec is like the ultimate security concierge for your cloud environment. It streamlines and automates security policy management across all your cloud platforms – whether it's a hybrid setup or a multi-cloud extravaganza. Here's how it helps you conquer the cloud security challenge: X-Ray Vision for Your Network: AlgoSec gives you complete visibility into your network, automatically discovering and mapping your applications and their connections. It's like having X-ray vision for your cloud fortress, allowing you to see every nook and cranny where those sneaky attackers might be hiding. Automated Policy Enforcement: Say goodbye to manual errors and inconsistencies. AlgoSec automates your security policy management, ensuring everything is locked down tight across all your environments. It's like having a tireless army of security guards enforcing your rules 24/7. Risk Prediction and Prevention: AlgoSec is like a security fortune teller, predicting and preventing risks before they can turn into disasters. It's like having a crystal ball that shows you where the next attack might come from, allowing you to prepare and fortify your defenses. Compliance Made Easy: Stay on the right side of those regulations with automated compliance checks and audit trails. It's like having a compliance officer who whispers in your ear and keeps you on the straight and narrow path. Integration Wizardry: AlgoSec plays nicely with other security tools and cloud platforms, ensuring a seamless and secure ecosystem. It's like having a universal translator that allows all your security systems to communicate and work together flawlessly. The Bottom Line VPCs are the foundation of a secure cloud environment, but you need more than just the basics to stay ahead of the bad guys. AlgoSec is your secret weapon, providing the comprehensive security management and automation you need to conquer the cloud with confidence. It's like having a superhero on your side, always ready to defend your cloud kingdom from those villainous attackers. AWS Security Expertise at Your Fingertips Dive deeper into AWS security best practices with our comprehensive white paper. Learn how to optimize your VPC configuration, enhance network security, and protect your cloud assets. Download AWS security best practices white paper now! If you’re looking to enhance your cloud network security, explore AlgoSec's platform.  Request a demo to see how AlgoSec can empower you to create a secure, compliant, and resilient cloud infrastructure. Dive deeper into cloud security: Read our previous blog post, Unveiling Cloud's Hidden Risks , to uncover the top challenges and learn how to gain control of your cloud environment. Don't miss out : We'll be publishing more valuable insights on critical cloud security topics, including Security as Code implementation, Azure best practices, Kubernetes security, and cloud encryption. These articles will equip you with the knowledge and tools to strengthen your cloud defenses. Subscribe to our blog to stay informed and join us on the journey to a safer and more resilient cloud future. Have a specific cloud security challenge? Contact us today for a free consultation. Schedule a demo Related Articles Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Convergence didn’t fail, compliance did. Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* Phone number* country* Select country... By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, the cloud has become an indispensable tool for businesses seeking agility and scalability.... Cloud Security Unveiling the Cloud's Hidden Risks: How to Gain Control of Your Cloud Environment Asher Benbenisty 7 min read Asher Benbenisty Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 11/4/24 Published In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, the cloud has become an indispensable tool for businesses seeking agility and scalability. However, this migration also brings a new set of challenges, particularly when it comes to security. The increasing complexity and sophistication of cyber threats demand a proactive and comprehensive approach to safeguarding your cloud environments. At AlgoSec, we understand these challenges firsthand. We recognize that navigating the cloud security maze can be daunting, and we're here to guide you through it. Drawing on our extensive real-world experience, we've curated a series of blog articles designed to equip you with practical advice and actionable insights to bolster your cloud security posture. From the fundamentals of VPC security to advanced Security as Code practices, we'll delve into the strategies and best practices that will empower you to protect your valuable assets in the cloud. Join us on this journey as we explore the ever-evolving world of cloud security together. Hey cloud crusaders! Let's face it, the cloud's the lifeblood of modern business, but it's also a bit of a wild west out there. Think of it as a bustling city with gleaming skyscrapers and hidden alleyways – full of opportunity, but also teeming with cyber-crooks just waiting to pounce. The bad news? Those cyber threats are getting sneakier and more sophisticated by the day. The good news? We're here to arm you with the knowledge and tools you need to fortify your cloud defenses and send those cyber-villains packing. Think of this blog series as your cloud security boot camp. We'll be your drill sergeants, sharing battle-tested strategies and practical tips to conquer the cloud security maze. From the basics of VPC security to the ninja arts of Security as Code, we've got you covered. So, buckle up, grab your virtual armor, and join us on this thrilling quest to conquer the cloud security challenge! The Cloud's Underbelly: Where the Dangers Hide The cloud has revolutionized business, but it's also opened up a whole new can of security worms. It's like building a magnificent castle in the sky, but forgetting to install the drawbridge and moat. Here's the deal: the faster you embrace the cloud, the harder it gets to keep an eye on everything. Think sprawling cloud environments with hidden corners and shadowy figures lurking in the depths. If you can't see what's going on, you're practically inviting those cyber-bandits to steal your precious data and leave you with a hefty ransom note. In this post, we're shining a light on those hidden dangers and giving you the tools to take back control of your cloud security. Get ready to become a cloud security ninja! Cloud Security Challenges: A Rogue's Gallery Cloud security is like a tangled web – complex, ever-changing, and full of surprises. Let's break down the top five reasons why securing your cloud can feel like a Herculean task. 1. Cloud Adoption on Steroids: Think of cloud adoption as a rocket launch – it's not a one-time event, but a continuous journey into the unknown. New resources are constantly being added, applications are migrating, and data is flowing like a raging river. Keeping track of everything and ensuring its security is like trying to herd cats in a hurricane. And hold on tight, because Gartner predicts that by 2027, global public cloud spending will blast past the $1 trillion mark! That's a whole lot of cloud to manage and secure. 2. Security's Unique Demands: The cloud's a shape-shifter, constantly changing and evolving. That means your attack surface is never static – it's more like a wriggling octopus with tentacles reaching everywhere. And if you're not careful, those tentacles can be riddled with vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, just waiting for a cyber-pirate to exploit them. Legacy security solutions? They're like trying to fight a dragon with a water pistol. They simply can't keep up with the cloud's dynamic nature, leaving you vulnerable to breaches, compliance failures, and a whole lot of financial pain. Figure 1: Gartner’s Top Cybersecurity Trends for 2024 (Source: Gartner ) 3. The Threat Landscape: A Cyber-Jungle The cyber threat landscape is a dangerous jungle, and your cloud environment is the prized watering hole. McKinsey estimates that by 2025, cyberattacks will cost businesses a staggering $10.5 trillion annually! That's enough to make even the bravest cloud warrior tremble. And as if the cloud's inherent challenges weren't enough, you've got a relentless horde of cyber-criminals trying to breach your defenses. Just look at some of the major attacks in 2024: AT&T : 110 million customer phone records compromised – that's like losing a phone book the size of a small city! Ticketmaster : 560 million customer records stolen – a hacking collective hit the jackpot with this one! Dell : 49 million customers' data compromised through brute-force attacks – talk about a battering ram! Figure 2: Stolen Ticketmaster data on illicit marketplaces (Source: Bleeping Computer ) 4. Regulatory Pressures: The Compliance Gauntlet Navigating the world of compliance is like running a gauntlet – one wrong step and you'll get hit with a penalty. Without a crystal-clear view of your cloud resources, networks, applications, and data, you're practically walking blindfolded through a minefield. Poor visibility, suboptimal network segmentation, and inconsistent rules are the enemies of compliance. They're like cracks in your cloud fortress, just waiting for an auditor to exploit them. To gain a deeper understanding of how to navigate these regulatory complexities and implement best practices for building effective cloud security, download our free white paper by clicking here. 5. Reputation on the Line: In today's cutthroat business world, your cloud expertise is your reputation. One major security disaster can send your customers running for the hills and leave your brand in tatters. Securing Your Cloud Kingdom: A Battle Plan So, how do you defend your cloud kingdom from these relentless threats? It's time to ditch those outdated security solutions and embrace a multi-layered, application-centric approach. Think of it as building a fortress with multiple walls, guard towers, and a crack team of archers ready to defend your precious assets. Here's your battle plan: Trim the Fat: Keep your attack surface lean and mean by constantly pruning unnecessary resources and applications. It's like trimming the hedges around your castle to eliminate hiding spots for those pesky intruders. Map Your Terrain: Get a bird's-eye view of your entire cloud landscape – public, private, hybrid, the whole shebang! Understand how everything connects and interacts, so you can identify and prioritize risks like a true cloud strategist. Banish Shadow IT: Don't let those rogue employees sneak in unauthorized applications and resources. Shine a light on shadow IT and bring it under your control before it becomes a backdoor for attackers. Protect Your Treasure: Exposed data is like leaving your crown jewels out in the open. Identify and secure your sensitive data with an iron grip. Hunt for Weaknesses: Continuously scan your cloud environment for vulnerabilities and misconfigurations. Even the smallest crack can be exploited by a determined attacker. Prioritize and address those weaknesses before they turn into a breach. Conquer Compliance: Compliance can be a beast, but it's a beast you can tame. Design and implement security policies and configurations that meet those regulatory demands. Remember, a secure cloud is a compliant cloud. Fortify Your Policies: Strong security policies are the guardians of your cloud kingdom. Automate their creation and enforcement to ensure consistency and compliance. And don't forget to keep a watchful eye on them! Unleash the Power of Application-Centric Security: Ditch those clunky, siloed security tools that bombard you with irrelevant alerts. Embrace a unified, application-centric solution that understands the importance of your applications and prioritizes risks accordingly. Building Effective Cloud Security Security: Free White Paper Looking for a comprehensive guide to building effective cloud security? Our white paper provides expert insights and actionable strategies to optimize your security posture. Choosing the Right Weapon: Your Cloud Security Solution To truly conquer the cloud security challenge, you need the right weapon in your arsenal. Here's what to look for in an application-centric cloud security solution: AI-Powered Application Discovery: Automatically discover, map, and analyze your cloud applications like a bloodhound on the trail. Tech Stack Integration: Seamlessly connect to your unique cloud environment, whether it's public, private, hybrid, or a multi-cloud extravaganza. Smart Security Policy Enforcement: Automate the creation, implementation, and management of your security policies across all your cloud assets. Reporting Powerhouse: Generate audit-ready reports with a single click, keeping those pesky auditors at bay. Streamlined Workflows: Say goodbye to clunky processes and hello to smooth, automated workflows that boost your team's efficiency. Prioritized Remediation: Focus on the most critical risks first with a prioritized remediation plan. It's like having a triage system for your cloud security. Integration Master: Integrate seamlessly with your existing security tools and platforms, creating a unified security ecosystem. Think of it as a superhero team-up for your cloud defenses. Don't Just Survive, Thrive! Securing your cloud isn't just about battening down the hatches and hoping for the best. It's about creating a secure foundation for growth, innovation, and cloud dominance. Think of it as building a fortress that's not only impenetrable but also allows you to launch your own expeditions and conquer new territories. Here's how a proactive, application-centric security approach can unleash your cloud potential: Accelerate Your Cloud Journey: Don't let security concerns slow you down. With the right tools and strategies, you can confidently migrate to the cloud, deploy new applications, and embrace innovation without fear. Boost Your Business Agility: The cloud is all about agility, but security can sometimes feel like a ball and chain. With an application-centric approach, you can achieve both – a secure environment that empowers you to adapt and respond to changing business needs at lightning speed. Unlock Innovation: Don't let security be a barrier to innovation. By embedding security into your development process and automating key tasks, you can free up your teams to focus on creating amazing applications and driving business value. Gain a Competitive Edge: In today's digital world, security is a key differentiator. By demonstrating a strong commitment to cloud security, you can build trust with your customers, attract top talent, and gain a competitive advantage. AlgoSec: Your Cloud Security Sidekick If you're looking for a cloud security solution that ticks all these boxes, look no further than AlgoSec! We're like the Robin to your Batman, the trusty sidekick that's always got your back. Our platform is packed with features to help you conquer the cloud security challenge: AI-powered application discovery and mapping Comprehensive security policy management Continuous compliance monitoring Risk assessment and remediation Seamless integration with your existing tools Ready to take charge of your cloud security and become a true cloud crusader? Take advantage of dynamic behavior analyses, static analyses of your cloud application configurations, 150 pre-defined network security risk checks, and nuanced risk assessments, as well as a myriad of tools in the AlgoSec Security Management Suite (ASMS) . Get a demo today to see how AlgoSec can help you know your cloud better and secure your application connectivity. Stay tuned for our upcoming articles, where we'll share valuable insights on VPC security, Security as Code implementation, Azure best practices, Kubernetes and cloud encryption. Let's work together to build a safer and more resilient cloud future. Schedule a demo Related Articles Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Convergence didn’t fail, compliance did. Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* Phone number* country* Select country... By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

Technology is advancing rapidly – which is good – but it also exposes your organization to new security threats that can jeopardize... Cloud Security Cybersecurity Mesh Architecture (CSMA) Explained Rony Moshkovich 6 min read Rony Moshkovich Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 8/14/23 Published Technology is advancing rapidly – which is good – but it also exposes your organization to new security threats that can jeopardize sensitive information. For instance, there’s a good chance your organization has moved to multi-cloud computing environments and you’re also considering (or have adopted) the Internet of Things (IoT). In addition, remote work and bring your own device (BYOD) policies have become quite popular. All these changes mean one thing – attackers are constantly finding new ways of exploiting your defenses. To adapt, your organization must respond with equally innovative ways to strengthen your security posture. This is where Cybersecurity Mesh Architecture (CSMA) comes in. Implementing CSMA allows organizations to fortify their security infrastructure and create resilient defense mechanisms against modern threats. That’s why we’ll discuss everything about Cybersecurity Mesh Architecture. We’ll also cover actionable tips to implement CSMA. What is Cybersecurity Mesh Architecture? Cybersecurity Mesh Architecture (CSMA) is a security concept proposed by Gartner. It is described by Garner as “a composable and scalable approach to extending security controls, even to widely distributed assets.” What this means is that CSMA solves the problem of security silos. For example, many organizations use a security system of multiple integrated security solutions. This increases overhead costs, makes the entire security architecture complex to manage, and then it becomes difficult to monitor cybersecurity risks. This is why CSMA is a “composable” approach that provides a flexible and collaborative security ecosystem to secure a modern, distributed enterprise. So, instead of having security tools and controls running independently, a cybersecurity mesh allows them to interoperate through multiple supportive layers like consolidated policy management, centralized security intelligence & governance, analytics & enforcement, and a common identity fabric. As such, a centralized, decentralized security approach is a suitable name for cybersecurity mesh. How Does CSMA Work? The traditional approach to security deployments is complex. For example, every large organization has an average of 47 different cybersecurity tools within its environments. That means more resources and more effort from security teams managing integrations. On the other hand, CSMA makes security more cohesive and collaborative. This means your organization no longer needs as many resources to fortify its security. But to achieve this, CSMA has four foundational layers: Security Analytics & Intelligence This layer collects and analyzes data from security tools to provide threat analysis and trigger incident responses in your organization. Since CSMA offers centralized administration, vast data sets can be collected, aggregated, and analyzed from a central place. This is particularly possible with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) software that offers real-time threat analytics and automated event alerts. Distributed Identity Fabric This layer includes identity capabilities like identity proofing, user entitlement management, and adaptive access. It provides the security framework with decentralized directory services crucial to implementing a zero-trust model. Consolidated Policy & Posture Management This layer translates a central policy into configurations and rules for each environment or tool. Alternatively, it can provide dynamic runtime authorization services. Hence, IT teams can quickly identify compliance risks and any misconfiguration concerns. Consolidated Dashboards When disconnected security tools are integrated, your security teams would often need to switch between multiple dashboards, which can slow down operations. However, with this layer, they can have a single-pane dashboard that provides a comprehensive ecosystem view. This makes it easier to respond quicker and more effectively to security events. Benefits of Cybersecurity Mesh Architecture (CSMA) – Why Should You Implement it? Cybersecurity mesh architecture promises many beneficial outcomes for your security architecture. This includes improved threat detection, more efficient incident response, a consistent security policy, and adaptive access control systems. Let’s discuss the benefits of cybersecurity mesh. These benefits also highlight why you should consider implementing it. More Flexibility and Scalability Cybersecurity mesh architecture solutions are designed to offer a more flexible and scalable security response to increased digitization. This enables your organization’s security team to keep pace with the evolving distributed IT infrastructure. Improved Collaboration Part of CSMA’s goals is to improve collaboration and interoperability between your organization’s security solutions. This improves your organization’s threat detection, incident response, and prevention. Consistent Security Architecture With CSMA, your organization has more consistent security through tool connections. This is because the approach allows for security to be extended as needed. So, you’ll have consistent and uniform protection of constantly evolving and growing infrastructure. Increased Effectiveness and Efficiency Cybersecurity mesh seamlessly integrates your organization’s security architecture, removing the need for security personnel to always switch between multiple tools. As you’d expect, this improves the configuration, utilization, and deployment. Your security teams will become more efficient and can redirect time and resources to other essential security tasks. Supports Identity and Access Management (IAM) CSMA supports the deployment and efficacy of identity and access management controls. This is particularly important if your organization has distributed assets that must be properly protected and seek a more robust and reliable method of securing your access points beyond the conventional security perimeters. CSMA empowers your organization to address these challenges, providing advanced capabilities to ensure the integrity and reliability of your security infrastructure. Simplified Implementation Cybersecurity mesh presents a well-suited approach to simplifying security measures’ design, deployment, and maintenance. CSMA establishes a foundational framework for the efficient deployment and configuration of new security solutions. Plus, this architecture’s inherent flexibility and adaptability allow it to evolve and align with evolving business and security requirements dynamically. How to Implement Cybersecurity Mesh Architecture: Best Practices and Considerations Gartner’s cybersecurity mesh architecture concept is an emerging approach to organization security. This means specifications, requirements, and standards for implementation are still evolving. Nonetheless, there are a few considerations and best practices that your organizations can take on board. Organizations that start now are bound to reap the benefits as technology evolves and more threats continue to emerge. Here are some best practices for implementing cybersecurity mesh: 1. Evaluate vendor tools and their compatibility with CSMA Thinking of CSMA implementation? Then it’s essential first to thoroughly evaluate the available vendor tools. You must assess their features, capabilities, and, most importantly, their compatibility with the unique requirements of your CSMA deployment. Carefully selecting tools that work as part of a larger security framework rather than an independent silo will help. This is why it’s recommended to select vendors with an excellent track record of updating their systems to the latest security standards. 2. Security team readiness and training for CSMA adoption Like it or not, the success of your CSMA implementation depends heavily on how prepared your security team is. Are they ready for the change? It’s important to provide the necessary training that allows each member and the entire team to understand the intricacies of CSMA, including how it will work in your organization. 3. Conduct an Asset Protection Inventory Part of the considerations for your CSMA implementation should include conducting a comprehensive inventory of your organization’s assets. Here, you’ll identify and categorize the critical systems, data, and resources that require protection. Doing this will help you understand the areas where CSMA must be prioritized. It further allows you to allocate resources effectively and maximize security coverage across the organization. 4. Consider Costs Every digital transformation has its costs, especially when you must redesign your organization’s entire architecture or infrastructure. So, it’s important to consider the immediate costs and temporary downtime you may encounter. However, if you like looking at the long term, then implementing cybersecurity mesh outweighs the initial costs. 5. Evaluate Organization Appetite for the Transformation Before embarking on the journey of implementing CSMA, it is imperative to evaluate your organization’s appetite for transformation. What does this mean? Assess the level of commitment, resources, and support available to drive the implementation process effectively. Understanding the organizational readiness and obtaining buy-in from key stakeholders will significantly contribute to the success of your CSMA deployment. 6. Leverage Access Control Measures Use access control measures, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and Zero Trust Network Access, with appropriate audit procedures for each access request. This allows you to control access to data, ensuring only authorized users have access to your organization’s assets. It also helps you monitor each access request independently to dig out malicious activity. 7. Set KPIs and Track Them Just like any endeavor, it’s important to establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from the onset. It is the only way to know the CSMA you’ve implemented actually works and delivers the intended results. Your organization must identify and track the metrics essential to your overall business objectives. However, keep in mind that KPIs might have different levels. The KPIs your security teams will track typically differ from what the CISO reports at the board level. While security teams evaluate your overall cybersecurity resiliency, the CISO examines how the CSMA strategy impacts business outcomes. Conclusion According to Gartner, organizations that have successfully implemented a cybersecurity mesh architecture by 2024 will reduce the financial impact of individual security incidents by 90 percent ! So, what are you waiting for? As technology continues to evolve, so will new threats. And malicious actors are constantly finding loopholes around the traditional approach to security. Ready to make the change? Prevasio is your trusted partner for consolidated security across your cloud environments. Speak to us now to learn how we can help you. Schedule a demo Related Articles Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Convergence didn’t fail, compliance did. Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* Phone number* country* Select country... By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

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Prof. Avishai Wool discusses the complexities of mergers and acquisitions for application management and how organizations can securely... Security Policy Management Managing network connectivity during mergers and acquisitions Prof. Avishai Wool 3 min read Prof. Avishai Wool Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 7/22/21 Published Prof. Avishai Wool discusses the complexities of mergers and acquisitions for application management and how organizations can securely navigate the transition It comes as no surprise that the number of completed Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) dropped significantly during the early stages of the pandemic as businesses closed ranks and focused on surviving rather than thriving. However, as we start to find some reprieve, many experts forecast that we’ll see an upturn in activity. In fact, by the end of 2020, M&A experienced a sudden surge and finished the year with only a 3% decline on 2019 levels. Acquiring companies is more than just writing a cheque. There are hundreds of things to consider both big and small, from infrastructure to staffing, which can make or break a merger. With that in mind, what do businesses need to do in order to ensure a secure and successful transition? When two worlds collide For many businesses, a merger or acquisition is highly charged. There’s often excitement about new beginnings mixed with trepidation about major business changes, not least when it comes to IT security. Mergers and acquisitions are like two planets colliding, each with their own intricate ecosystem. You have two enterprises running complex IT infrastructures with hundreds if not thousands of applications that don’t just simply integrate together. More often than not they perform replicated functions, which implies that some need to be used in parallel, while others need to be decommissioned and removed. This means amending, altering, and updating thousands of policies to accommodate new connections, applications, servers, and firewalls without creating IT security risks or outages. In essence, from an IT security perspective, a merger or acquisition is a highly complicated project that, if not planned and implemented properly, can have a long-term impact on business operations. Migrating and merging infrastructures One thing a business will need before it can even start the M&A process is an exhaustive inventory of all business applications spanning both businesses. An auto-discovery tool can assist here, collecting data from any application that is active on the network and adding it to a list. This should allow the main business to create a map of network connectivity flows which will form the cornerstone of the migration from an application perspective. Next comes security. A vulnerability assessment should be carried across both enterprise networks to identify any business-critical applications that may be put at risk. This assessment will give the main business the ability to effectively ‘rank’ applications and devices in terms of risk and necessity, allowing for priority lists to be created. This will help SecOps focus their efforts on crucial areas of the business that contain sensitive customer data, for instance. By following these steps you’ll get a clear organizational view of the entire enterprise environment and be able to identify and map all the critical business applications, linking vulnerabilities and cyber risks to specific applications and prioritize remediation actions based on business-driven needs. The power of automation While the steps outlined above will give you with an accurate picture of your IT topology and its business risk, this is only the first half of the story. Now you need to update security policies to support changes to business applications. Automation is critical when it comes to maintaining security during a merger or acquisition. An alarming number of data breaches are due to firewall misconfigurations, often resulting from attempts to change policies manually in a complex network environment. This danger increases with M&A, because the two merging enterprises likely have different firewall setups in place, often mixing traditional with next-generation firewalls or firewalls that come from different vendors. Automation is therefore essential to ensure the firewall change management process is handled effectively and securely with minimal risk of misconfigurations. Achieving true Zero-Touch automation in the network security domain is not an easy task but over time, you can let your automation solution run handsfree as you conduct more changes and gain trust through increasing automation levels step by step. Our Security Management Solution enables IT and security teams to manage and control all their security devices – from cloud controls in public clouds, SDNs, and on-premise firewalls from one single console. With AlgoSec you can automate time-consuming security policy changes and proactively assess risk to ensure continuous compliance. It is our business-driven approach to security policy management that enables organizations to reduce business risk, ensure security and continuous compliance, and drive business agility. Maintaining security throughout the transition A merger or acquisition presents a range of IT challenges but ensuring business applications can continue to run securely throughout the transition is critical. If you take an application centric approach and utilize automation, you will be in the best position for the merger/migration and will ultimately drive long term success. To learn more or speak to one of our security experts, schedule your personal demo . Schedule a demo Related Articles Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Convergence didn’t fail, compliance did. Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* Phone number* country* Select country... By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

Properly configured firewalls are vital in any comprehensive cybersecurity strategy. However, even the most robust configurations can be... Uncategorized How To Prevent Firewall Breaches (The 2024 Guide) Tsippi Dach 9 min read Tsippi Dach Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 1/11/24 Published Properly configured firewalls are vital in any comprehensive cybersecurity strategy. However, even the most robust configurations can be vulnerable to exploitation by attackers. No single security measure can offer absolute protection against all cyber threats and data security risks . To mitigate these risks, it’s crucial to understand how cybercriminals exploit firewall vulnerabilities. The more you know about their tactics, techniques, and procedures, the better-equipped you are to implement security policies that successfully block unauthorized access to network assets. In this guide, you’ll understand the common cyber threats that target enterprise firewall systems with the goal of helping you understand how attackers exploit misconfigurations and human vulnerabilities. Use this information to protect your network from a firewall breach. Understanding 6 Tactics Cybercriminals Use to Breach Firewalls 1. DNS Leaks Your firewall’s primary use is making sure unauthorized users do not gain access to your private network and the sensitive information it contains. But firewall rules can go both ways – preventing sensitive data from leaving the network is just as important. If enterprise security teams neglect to configure their firewalls to inspect outgoing traffic, cybercriminals can intercept this traffic and use it to find gaps in your security systems. DNS traffic is particularly susceptible to this approach because it shows a list of websites users on your network regularly visit. A hacker could use this information to create a spoofed version of a frequently visited website. For example, they might notice your organization’s employees visit a third-party website to attend training webinars. Registering a fake version of the training website and collecting employee login credentials would be simple. If your firewall doesn’t inspect DNS data and confirm connections to new IP addresses, you may never know. DNS leaks may also reveal the IP addresses and endpoint metadata of the device used to make an outgoing connection. This would give cybercriminals the ability to see what kind of hardware your organization’s employees use to connect to external websites. With that information in hand, impersonating managed service providers or other third-party partners is easy. Some DNS leaks even contain timestamp data, telling attackers exactly when users requested access to external web assets. How to protect yourself against DNS leaks Proper firewall configuration is key to preventing DNS-related security incidents. Your organization’s firewalls should provide observability and access control to both incoming and outgoing traffic. Connections to servers known for hosting malware and cybercrime assets should be blocked entirely. Connections to servers without a known reputation should be monitored closely. In a Zero Trust environment , even connections to known servers should benefit from scrutiny using an identity-based security framework. Don’t forget that apps can connect to external resources, too. Consider deploying web application firewalls configured to prevent DNS leaks when connecting to third-party assets and servers. You may also wish to update your security policy to require employees to use VPNs when connecting to external resources. An encrypted VPN connection can prevent DNS information from leaking, making it much harder for cybercriminals to conduct reconnaissance on potential targets using DNS data. 2. Encrypted Injection Attacks Older, simpler firewalls analyze traffic by looking at different kinds of data packet metadata. This provides clear evidence of certain denial-of-service attacks, clear violations of network security policy , and some forms of malware and ransomware . They do not conduct deep packet inspection to identify the kind of content passing through the firewall. This provides cybercriminals with an easy way to bypass firewall rules and intrusion prevention systems – encryption . If malicious content is encrypted before it hits the firewall, it may go unnoticed by simple firewall rules. Only next-generation firewalls capable of handling encrypted data packets can determine whether this kind of traffic is secure or not. Cybercriminals often deliver encrypted injection attacks through email. Phishing emails may trick users into clicking on a malicious link that injects encrypted code into the endpoint device. The script won’t decode and run until after it passes the data security threshold posed by the firewall. After that, it is free to search for personal data, credit card information, and more. Many of these attacks will also bypass antivirus controls that don’t know how to handle encrypted data. Task automation solutions like Windows PowerShell are also susceptible to these kinds of attacks. Even sophisticated detection-based security solutions may fail to recognize encrypted injection attacks if they don’t have the keys necessary to decrypt incoming data. How to protect yourself against encrypted injection attacks Deep packet inspection is one of the most valuable features next-generation firewalls provide to security teams. Industry-leading firewall vendors equip their products with the ability to decrypt and inspect traffic. This allows the firewall to prevent malicious content from entering the network through encrypted traffic, and it can also prevent sensitive encrypted data – like login credentials – from leaving the network. These capabilities are unique to next-generation firewalls and can’t be easily replaced with other solutions. Manufacturers and developers have to equip their firewalls with public-key cryptography capabilities and obtain data from certificate authorities in order to inspect encrypted traffic and do this. 3. Compromised Public Wi-Fi Public Wi-Fi networks are a well-known security threat for individuals and organizations alike. Anyone who logs into a password-protected account on public Wi-Fi at an airport or coffee shop runs the risk of sending their authentication information directly to hackers. Compromised public Wi-Fi also presents a lesser-known threat to security teams at enterprise organizations – it may help hackers breach firewalls. If a remote employee logs into a business account or other asset from a compromised public Wi-Fi connection, hackers can see all the data transmitted through that connection. This may give them the ability to steal account login details or spoof endpoint devices and defeat multi-factor authentication. Even password-protected private Wi-Fi connections can be abused in this way. Some Wi-Fi networks still use outdated WEP and WPA security protocols that have well-known vulnerabilities. Exploiting these weaknesses to take control of a WEP or WPA-protected network is trivial for hackers. The newer WPA2 and WPA3 standards are much more resilient against these kinds of attacks. While public Wi-Fi dangers usually bring remote workers and third-party service vendors to mind, on-premises networks are just as susceptible. Nothing prevents a hacker from gaining access to public Wi-Fi networks in retail stores, receptions, or other areas frequented by customers and employees. How to protect yourself against compromised public Wi-Fi attacks First, you must enforce security policies that only allow Wi-Fi traffic secured by WPA2 and WPA3 protocols. Hardware Wi-Fi routers that do not support these protocols must be replaced. This grants a minimum level of security to protected Wi-Fi networks. Next, all remote connections made over public Wi-Fi networks must be made using a secure VPN. This will encrypt the data that the public Wi-Fi router handles, making it impossible for a hacker to intercept without gaining access to the VPN’s secret decryption key. This doesn’t guarantee your network will be safe from attacks, but it improves your security posture considerably. 4. IoT Infrastructure Attacks Smartwatches, voice-operated speakers, and many automated office products make up the Internet of Things (IoT) segment of your network. Your organization may be using cloud-enriched access control systems, cost-efficient smart heating systems, and much more. Any Wi-Fi-enabled hardware capable of automation can safely be included in this category. However, these devices often fly under the radar of security team’s detection tools, which often focus on user traffic. If hackers compromise one of these devices, they may be able to move laterally through the network until they arrive at a segment that handles sensitive information. This process can take time, which is why many incident response teams do not consider suspicious IoT traffic to be a high-severity issue. IoT endpoints themselves rarely process sensitive data on their own, so it’s easy to overlook potential vulnerabilities and even ignore active attacks as long as the organization’s mission-critical assets aren’t impacted. However, hackers can expand their control over IoT devices and transform them into botnets capable of running denial-of-service attacks. These distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are much larger and more dangerous, and they are growing in popularity among cybercriminals. Botnet traffic associated with DDoS attacks on IoT networks has increased five-fold over the past year , showing just how promising it is for hackers. How to protect yourself against IoT infrastructure attacks Proper network segmentation is vital for preventing IoT infrastructure attacks . Your organization’s IoT devices should be secured on a network segment that is isolated from the rest of the network. If attackers do compromise the entire network, you should be protected from the risk of losing sensitive data from critical business assets. Ideally, this protection will be enforced with a strong set of firewalls managing the connection between your IoT subnetwork and the rest of your network. You may need to create custom rules that take your unique security risk profile and fleet of internet-connected devices into account. There are very few situations in which one-size-fits-all rulemaking works, and this is not one of them. All IoT devices – no matter how small or insignificant – should be protected by your firewall and other cybersecurity solutions . Never let these devices connect directly to the Internet through an unsecured channel. If they do, they provide attackers with a clear path to circumvent your firewalls and gain access to the rest of your network with ease. 5. Social Engineering and Phishing Social engineering attacks refer to a broad range of deceptive practices used by hackers to gain access to victims’ assets. What makes this approach special is that it does not necessarily depend on technical expertise. Instead of trying to hack your systems, cybercriminals are trying to hack your employees and company policies to carry out their attacks. Email phishing is one of the most common examples. In a typical phishing attack , hackers may spoof an email server to make it look like they are sending emails from a high-level executive in the company you work for. They can then impersonate this executive and demand junior accountants pay fictitious invoices or send sensitive customer data to email accounts controlled by threat actors. Other forms of social engineering can use your organization’s tech support line against itself. Attackers may pretend to represent large customer accounts and will leverage this ruse to gain information about how your company works. They may impersonate a third-party vendor and request confidential information that the vendor would normally have access to. These attacks span the range from simple trickery to elaborate confidence scams. Protecting against them can be incredibly challenging, and your firewall capabilities can make a significant difference in your overall state of readiness. How to protect yourself against social engineering attacks Employee training is the top priority for protecting against social engineering attacks . When employees understand the company’s operating procedures and security policies, it’s much harder for social engineers to trick them. Ideally, training should also include in-depth examples of how phishing attacks work, what they look like, and what steps employees should take when contacted by people they don’t trust. 6. Sandbox Exploits Many organizations use sandbox solutions to prevent file-based malware attacks. Sandboxes work by taking suspicious files and email attachments and opening them in a secure virtual environment before releasing them to users. The sandbox solution will observe how the file behaves and quarantine any file that shows malicious activity. In theory, this provides a powerful layer of defense against file-based attacks. But in practice, cybercriminals are well aware of how to bypass these solutions. For example, many sandbox solutions can’t open files over a certain size. Hackers who attach malicious code to large files can easily get through. Additionally, many forms of malware do not start executing malicious tasks the second they are activated. This delay can provide just enough of a buffer to get through a sandbox system. Some sophisticated forms of malware can even detect when they are being run in a sandbox environment – and will play the part of an innocent program until they are let loose inside the network. How to protect yourself against sandbox exploits Many next-generation firewalls include cloud-enabled sandboxing capable of running programs of arbitrary size for a potentially unlimited amount of time. More sophisticated sandbox solutions go to great lengths to mimic the system specifications of an actual endpoint so malware won’t know it is being run in a virtual environment. Organizations may also be able to overcome the limitations of the sandbox approach using Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR) techniques. This approach keeps potentially malicious files off the network entirely and only allows a reconstructed version of the file to enter the network. Since the new file is constructed from scratch, it will not contain any malware that may have been attached to the original file. Prevent firewall breaches with AlgoSec Managing firewalls manually can be overwhelming and time-consuming – especially when dealing with multiple firewall solutions. With the help of a firewall management solution , you easily configure firewall rules and manage configurations from a single dashboard. AlgoSec’s powerful firewall management solution integrates with your firewalls to deliver unified firewall policy management from a single location, thus streamlining the entire process. With AlgoSec, you can maintain clear visibility of your firewall ruleset, automate the management process, assess risk & optimize rulesets, streamline audit preparation & ensure compliance, and use APIs to access many features through web services. Schedule a demo Related Articles Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Convergence didn’t fail, compliance did. Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* Phone number* country* Select country... By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

In this webinar, our experts show how application centric automation can help secure connectivity Webinars Secure Application Connectivity with Automation In this webinar, our experts show how application centric automation can help secure connectivity. How can a high degree of application connectivity be achieved when your data is widely distributed? Efficient cloud management helps simplify today’s complex network environment, allowing you to secure application connectivity anywhere. But it can be hard to achieve sufficient visibility when your data is dispersed across numerous public clouds, private clouds, and on-premises devices. Today it is easier than ever to speed up application delivery across a hybrid cloud environment while maintaining a high level of security. In this webinar, we’ll discuss: – The basics of managing multiple workloads in the cloud – How to create a successful enterprise-level security management program – The structure of effective hybrid cloud management March 22, 2022 Asher Benbenisty Director of product marketing Relevant resources Best Practices for Incorporating Security Automation into the DevOps Lifecycle Watch Video Avoiding the Security/Agility Tradeoff with Network Security Policy Automation Keep Reading Choose a better way to manage your network Choose a better way to manage your network Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... phone By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

The aim of this post is to provide a very high-level illustration of the DNS Tunneling method used in the SolarWinds supply chain attack.... Cloud Security DNS Tunneling In The SolarWinds Supply Chain Attack Rony Moshkovich 1 min read Rony Moshkovich Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 12/23/20 Published The aim of this post is to provide a very high-level illustration of the DNS Tunneling method used in the SolarWinds supply chain attack . An Attacker compromises SolarWinds company and trojanizes a DLL that belongs to its software. Some of the customers receive the malicious DLL as an update for the SolarWinds Orion software. “Corporation XYZ” receives the malicious and digitally signed DLL via update. SolarWinds Orion software loads the malicious DLL as a plugin. Once activated, the DLL reads a local domain name “local.corp-xyz.com” (a fictious name). The malware encrypts the local domain name and adds it to a long domain name. The long domain name is queried with a DNS server (can be tapped by a passive DNS sensor). The recursive DNS server is not authorized to resolve avsvmcloud[.]com, so it forwards the request. An attacker-controlled authoritative DNS server resolves the request with a wildcard A record. The Attacker checks the victim’s name, then adds a CNAME record for the victim’s domain name. The new CNAME record resolves the long domain name into an IP of an HTTP-based C2 server. The malicious DLL downloads and executes the 2nd stage malware (TearDrop, Cobalt Strike Beacon). A Threat Researcher accesses the passive DNS (pDNS) records. One of the long domain names from the pDNS records is decrypted back into “local.corp-xyz.com”. The Researcher deducts that the decrypted local domain name belongs to “Corporation XYZ”. Schedule a demo Related Articles Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Convergence didn’t fail, compliance did. Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* Phone number* country* Select country... By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

Explore Algosec's customer success stories to see how organizations worldwide improve security, compliance, and efficiency with our solutions. VERIZON HELPS CLIENTS IMPROVE SECURITY AND BUSINESS AGILITY USING ALGOSEC Organization Verizon Industry Telecom Headquarters NJ, USA Download case study Share Customer
success stories "I selected AlgoSec’s Security Management Solution because the reporting is very trustworthy, it helps reduce the operational workload for network security administrators, and ultimately it improves performance and security." AlgoSec Business Impact Reduce the workload for the operations team and improve efficiency Provide comprehensive trustworthy reporting on change management Improve overall network performance and security Background Verizon is one of the world’s largest global communications companies and an international technology innovator. Verizon provides products and services related to networks, cloud, machine to machine and mobile technologies; data, hosting and storage; and managed security, as well as other wired and wireless offerings to business and government clients around the world. The company’s Global IP Network connects people and businesses in 2,700 cities and 150 countries. Challenge Verizon’s professional services consultants find that their clients too often focus on compliance to the detriment of security and operational issues. “From an auditing perspective, if the firewall is up and running some clients think they are more or less okay,” says Stefano Ciminelli, EMEA Practice Manager, Business Resiliency & Optimization at Verizon Business. Ciminelli warns that clients also need to be certain that “the firewall policies do not contain mistakes—those that could bring down their business. It’s not just a problem of protecting the IT systems, it’s really a matter of protecting the business,” he notes. Firewall management can also create tension between the network security group and business managers. “You always have the network security people focused on IT and the business people who like to focus on change management. Often these two groups don’t really communicate or understand each other easily,” Ciminelli adds.Moreover, many companies have several people devoted to managing firewalls and “firefighting,” “because they simply do not have the right tools,” says Ciminelli. Solution Ciminelli and his team at Verizon wanted to provide their clients with a way to address IT and security issues and, at the same time, automate change management workflows in order to support business continuity.“You want to be operationally efficient; you want to be secure; and especially, you want to help your business do their business. But, when it comes to network firewall management and analysis, you actually have few tools available that help you meet all those goals,” says Ciminelli. From the security manager’s perspective, AlgoSec’s Security Management Solution was the top choice. “The reporting is very trustworthy, it helps reduce the operational workload for network security administrators, and ultimately it improves performance and security,” Ciminelli states. “You can find a lot of vendors for security products in the market. But I don’t want to just sell products. I am entrusted to recommend quality services, so I rely on an extremely trustworthy partner like AlgoSec.” Results Ciminelli reports that when his customers invest in AlgoSec, “they are very happy because they can proactively manage their firewalls.” More importantly, though, “they are not forced to change a rule, close their eyes, cross their fingers and hope that everything is going to be okay.” Customers can trust AlgoSec’s reports to show how a rule change will affect access and their overall security before a change is made, and that there will be no surprises after the fact. The ability to share information between IT and business managers has also provided some unexpected benefits for Ciminelli. “When it comes to asking for additional budget, for instance, IT can now prove value and that makes life easier for everybody,” he notes. Customer service ranks high in Ciminelli’s priorities—and AlgoSec consistently delivers. “Whenever I have a problem I always get very efficient and proactive technical support from the AlgoSec team. This is one of the primary reasons I continue to advise my customers to purchase AlgoSec,” he says. Ciminelli urges his clients and other companies to think broadly about the real purpose of firewall policy management. “What you want is not just a well configured firewall, you want good long-term security management.” The goal is to have a firewall that provides excellent protection as the company grows, needs change, and applications are deployed, changed or decommissioned. Ciminelli’s final recommendation? “Using AlgoSec products and relying on good professional services to help you, that is really the smart choice.” Schedule time with one of our experts

Understand the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). Learn key requirements, best practices, and how to achieve and maintain FISMA compliance. FISMA compliance defined: Requirements & best practices The Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) is a U.S. federal law that requires federal government agencies and their third-party partners to implement an information security program to protect their sensitive data. It provides a comprehensive security and risk management framework to implement effective controls for federal information systems. Introduced in 2002, FISMA is part of the E-Government Act of 2002 that’s aimed at improving the management of electronic government services and processes. Both these U.S. government regulations are implemented to uphold federal data security standards and protect sensitive data in government systems. FISMA 2002 was amended by the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA 2014). Everything You wanted to know about the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) FISMA compliance means adhering to a set of policies, standards, and guidelines to protect the personal or sensitive information contained in government systems. FISMA requires all government agencies and their vendors, service providers, and contractors to improve their information security controls based on these pre-defined requirements. Like FISMA, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) enables federal agencies and their vendors to protect government data, albeit for cloud services. FISMA is jointly overseen by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST develops the FISMA standards and guidelines – including the minimum security requirements – that bolster the IT security and risk management practices of agencies and their contractors. The DHS administers these programs to help maximize federal information system security. FISMA non-compliance penalties FISMA non-compliance can result in many penalties, including reduced federal funding and censure by the U.S. Congress. Companies can also lose federal contracts and suffer damage to their reputation. Further, non-compliance indicates a poor cybersecurity infrastructure, which may result in costly cyberattacks or data breaches, which could then result in regulatory fines or legal penalties. What is FISMA compliance? FISMA’s data protection rules were originally applicable only to U.S. federal agencies. While these standards are still applicable to all federal agencies without exception, they are now applicable to other organizations as well. Thus, any third-party contractor or other organization that provides services to a federal agency and handles sensitive information on behalf of the government must also comply with FISMA. Thus the list of organizations that must comply with FISMA includes: Public or private sector organizations having contractual agreements with federal agencies Public or private organizations that support a federal program or receive grants from federal agencies State agencies like Medicare and Medicaid Who must be FISMA-compliant? The seven key requirements of FISMA compliance are: 1. Maintain an inventory of information systems All federal agencies and their contractors must maintain an updated list of their IT systems. They must also identify and track the integrations between these systems and any other systems in the network. The inventory should include systems that are not operated by or under their direct control. 2. Categorize information security risks Organizations must categorize their information and information systems in order of risk. Such categorizations can help them to focus their security efforts on high-risk areas and ensure that sensitive information is given the highest level of security. The NIST’s FIPS 199 standard provides risk categorization guidelines. It also defines a range of risk levels that organizations can assign to their information systems during risk categorization. 3. Implement security controls Since FISMA’s purpose is to protect the information in government systems, security controls that provide this protection are a mandatory requirement. Under FISMA, all government information systems must meet the minimum security requirements defined in FIPS 200. Organizations are not required to implement every single control. However, they must implement the controls that are relevant to them and their systems. They must also document the selected controls in their system security plan (SSP). NIST 800-53 (NIST special publication or SP) provides a list of suggested security controls for FISMA compliance. 4. Conduct risk assessments A risk assessment is a review of an organization’s security program to identify and assess potential risks. After identifying cyber threats and vulnerabilities, the organization should map them to the security controls that could mitigate them. Based on the likelihood and impact of a security incident, they must determine the risk of that threat. The final risk assessment includes risk calculations of all possible security events plus information about whether the organization will accept or mitigate each of these risks. NIST SP 800-30 provides guidance to conduct risk assessments for FISMA compliance. The NIST recommends identifying risks at three levels: organizational, business process, and information system. 5. Create a system security plan All federal agencies must implement an SSP to help with the implementation of security controls. They must also regularly maintain it and update it annually to ensure that they can implement the best and most up-to-date security solutions. The SSP should include information about the organization’s security policies and controls, and a timeline to introduce further controls. It can also include security best practices. The document is a major input in the agency’s (or third party’s) security certification and accreditation process. 6. Conduct annual security reviews Under FISMA, all program officers, compliance officials, and agency heads must conduct and oversee annual security reviews to confirm that the implemented security controls are sufficient and information security risks are at a minimum level. Agency officials can also accredit their information systems. By doing this, they accept responsibility for the security of these systems and are accountable for any adverse impacts of security incidents. Accreditation is part of the four-phase FISMA certification process. Its other three phases are initiation and planning, certification, and continuous monitoring. 7. Continuously monitor information systems Organizations must monitor their implemented security controls and document system changes and modifications. If they make major changes, they should also conduct an updated risk assessment. They may also need to be recertified. What are the FISMA compliance requirements? FISMA compliance benefits both government agencies and their contractors and vendors. By following its guidelines and implementing its requirements, they can: Adopt a robust risk management-centered approach to security planning and implementation Continually assess, monitor, and optimize their security ecosystem Increase org-wide awareness about the need to secure sensitive data Improve incident response and accelerate incident and risk remediation Benefits of FISMA compliance for federal agencies FISMA compliance increases the cybersecurity focus within federal agencies. By implementing its mandated security controls, it can protect its information and information systems, and also protect the privacy of individuals and national security. In addition, by continuously monitoring their controls, they can maintain a consistently strong security posture. They can also eliminate newly-discovered vulnerabilities quickly and cost-effectively. Benefits of FISMA compliance for other organizations FISMA-compliant organizations can strengthen their security postures by implementing its security best practices. They can better protect their data and the government’s data, prevent data breaches and improve incident response planning. Furthermore, they can demonstrate to federal agencies that they have implemented FISMA’s recommended security controls, which gives them an advantage when trying to get new business from these agencies. What are the benefits of FISMA compliance? FISMA defines three compliance levels, which refer to the possible impact of a security breach on an organization. These three impact levels are: 1. Low impact Low impact means that the loss of confidentiality, integrity, or availability is likely to have a limited adverse effect on the organization’s operations, assets, or people. For this reason, the security controls for these systems or data types need only meet the low level of FISMA compliance. 2. Moderate impact A moderate impact incident is one in which the loss of confidentiality, integrity, or availability could have serious adverse consequences for the organization’s operations, assets, or people. For example, it may result in significant financial loss to the organization or significant harm to individuals. However, it is unlikely to cause severe damage or result in the loss of life. 3. High impact The compromise of a high-impact information system could have catastrophic consequences for the organization’s operations, assets, or people. For example, a breach may prevent the organization from performing its primary functions, resulting in major financial loss. It may also cause major damage to assets or result in severe harm to individuals (e.g., loss of life or life-threatening injuries). To prevent such consequences, these systems must be protected with the strongest controls. The three levels of FISMA compliance Following the best practices outlined below can ease the FISMA compliance effort and enable organizations to meet all applicable FISMA requirements: Identify the information that must be protected and classify it based on its sensitivity level as it is created Create a security plan to monitor data activity and detect threats Implement automatic encryption for sensitive data Conduct regular risk assessments to identify and fix vulnerabilities and outdated policies Regularly monitor information security systems Provide cybersecurity awareness training to employees Maintain evidence of FISMA compliance, including records of system inventories, risk categorization efforts, security controls, SSPs, certifications, and accreditations Stay updated on changes to FISMA standards, new NIST guidelines, and evolving security best practices FISMA compliance best practices Using the AlgoSec platform , you can instantly and clearly see which applications expose you to FISMA compliance violations. You can also automatically generate pre-populated, audit-ready compliance reports to reduce your audit preparation efforts and costs and enhance your audit readiness. AlgoSec will also uncover gaps in your FISMA compliance posture and proactively check every change for possible compliance violations. How AlgoSec can help you with FISMA compliance? Select a size Everything You wanted to know about the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) What is FISMA compliance? Who must be FISMA-compliant? What are the FISMA compliance requirements? What are the benefits of FISMA compliance? The three levels of FISMA compliance FISMA compliance best practices How AlgoSec can help you with FISMA compliance? Get the latest insights from the experts Use these six best practices to simplify compliance and risk mitigation with the AlgoSec platform White paper Learn how AlgoSec can help you pass PCI-DSS Audits and ensure continuous compliance Solution overview See how this customer improved compliance readiness and risk management with AlgoSec Case study Choose a better way to manage your network

Survey finds that 58% of respondents are concerned about security in the cloud, while misconfigurations are one of the leading causes of breaches and outages as public cloud adoption doubles over past two years Cloud Security Alliance Releases Latest Survey Report on State of Cloud Security Concerns, Challenges, and Incidents Survey finds that 58% of respondents are concerned about security in the cloud, while misconfigurations are one of the leading causes of breaches and outages as public cloud adoption doubles over past two years March 30, 2021 Speak to one of our experts SEATTLE – March 30, 2021 – The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, and AlgoSec , a leading provider of business-driven network and cloud security management solutions, today announced the results of a new study titled, “ State of Cloud Security Concerns, Challenges, and Incidents .” The survey, which queried nearly 1,900 IT and security professionals from a variety of organization sizes and locations, sought to gain deeper insight into the complex cloud environment that continues to emerge and that has only grown more complex since the onset of the pandemic. The survey found that over half of organizations are running 41 percent or more of their workloads in public clouds, compared to just one-quarter in 2019. In 2021, 63 percent of respondents expect to be running 41 percent or more of their workloads in public cloud, indicating that adoption of public cloud will only continue. Sixty-two percent of respondents use more than one cloud provider, and the diversity of production workloads (e.g. container platforms, virtual machines) is also expected to increase. Key findings include: Security tops concerns with cloud projects : Respondents’ leading concerns over cloud adoption were network security (58%), a lack of cloud expertise (47%), migrating workloads to the cloud (44%), and insufficient staff to manage cloud environments (32%). It’s notable that a total of 79 percent of respondents reported staff-related issues, highlighting that organizations are struggling with handling cloud deployments and a largely remote workforce. Cloud issues and misconfigurations are leading causes of breaches and outages : Eleven percent of respondents reported a cloud security incident in the past year with the three most common causes being cloud provider issues (26%), security misconfigurations (22%), and attacks such as denial of service exploits (20%). When asked about the impact of their most disruptive cloud outages, 24 percent said it took up to 3 hours to restore operations, and for 26 percent it took more than half a day. Nearly one-third still manage cloud security manually : Fifty-two percent of respondents stated they use cloud-native tools to manage security as part of their application orchestration process, and 50 percent reported using orchestration and configuration management tools such as Ansible, Chef and Puppet. Twenty-nine percent said they use manual processes to manage cloud security. Who controls cloud security is not clear-cut : Thirty-five percent of respondents said their security operations team managed cloud security, followed by the cloud team (18%), and IT operations (16%). Other teams such as network operations, DevOps and application owners all fell below 10 percent, showing confusion over exactly who owns public cloud security. “The use of cloud services has continued to increase over the past decade. Particularly now, in the wake of the COVID-19 public health crisis. With organizations struggling to address a largely remote workforce, many enterprises’ digital transformations have been accelerated to enable employees to work from home,” said Hillary Baron, lead author and research analyst, Cloud Security Alliance. “As an ever-more complex cloud environment continues to evolve, the need for supplementary security tools to improve public cloud security will, as well.” “In the face of complex environments, a dearth of security staff, and an overall lack of cloud knowledge, organizations are turning to security tools that can help supplement their workforce. Three of the top four benefits organizations look for in security management tools involve proactive detection of risks and automation. These types of tools can supplement the challenges many organizations are experiencing with lack of expertise (47%) and staff (32%), as well as improve visibility as they move toward an ever-changing cloud environment,” said Jade Kahn, AlgoSec Chief Marketing Officer.AlgoSec commissioned the survey to add to the industry’s knowledge about hybrid-cloud and multi-cloud security. Sponsors of CSA research are CSA Corporate Members, who support the findings of the research project but have no added influence on content development nor editing rights. The report and its findings are vendor-agnostic and allow for global participation. Download the free eBook now. About Cloud Security Alliance The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) is the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment. CSA harnesses the subject matter expertise of industry practitioners, associations, governments, and its corporate and individual members to offer cloud security-specific research, education, training, certification, events, and products. CSA’s activities, knowledge, and extensive network benefit the entire community impacted by cloud — from providers and customers to governments, entrepreneurs, and the assurance industry — and provide a forum through which different parties can work together to create and maintain a trusted cloud ecosystem. For further information, visit us at www.cloudsecurityalliance.org , and follow us on Twitter @cloudsa. About AlgoSec The leading provider of business-driven network security management solutions, AlgoSec helps the world’s largest organizations align security with their mission-critical business processes. With AlgoSec, users can discover, map and migrate business application connectivity, proactively analyze risk from the business perspective, tie cyber-attacks to business processes and intelligently automate network security changes with zero touch – across their cloud, SDN and on-premise networks. Over 1,800 enterprises, including 20 of the Fortune 50, have utilized AlgoSec’s solutions to make their organizations more agile, more secure and more compliant – all the time. Since 2005, AlgoSec has shown its commitment to customer satisfaction with the industry’s only money-back guarantee. www.algosec.com