LRQA Nettitude Blog

Information Vs Intelligence

The cybersecurity industry can be awash with various terms, three-letter abbreviations, and jargon which is used incorrectly. This sets the wrong expectations and outcomes.

We are referring to Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT), Social Media Intelligence (SOCMINT), Human Intelligence (HUMINT), and Technical Intelligence (TECHINT). All have a common theme running through them: the term intelligence. It is an industry buzzword that is designed to generate intrigue, resonate around boardrooms, and make practitioners of the varying disciplines walk ten feet tall.

There is however an underlying issue with at least three of those disciplines; the data they produce is arguably classed as information rather than intelligence, and commonly they are the terms used to aggregate collection capability rather than a polished end product. There is a clear difference between information and intelligence.

Imagine you have had a data breach and your only support is Google. That’s an increasingly common story. So, let’s rewind and consider how organisations can get into this situation, highlighting potential oversights that could make a risky situation dire.

What is Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) and why should you use it?

There is a common misunderstanding as to what Cyber Threat Intelligence is. Many think it‘s a buzzword or just simply raw outputs from data feeds and dark web monitoring. This couldn’t be further from the truth and isolating its use in this area could result in minimal output and value.

What is File Integrity Monitoring (FIM)?

File Integrity Monitoring (FIM) is a control or process that compares the current state of operating system and/or application software files against a known baseline to validate the integrity of the files (i.e. looking for inconsistencies).

The integrity verification uses a cryptographic hash function to calculate an initial checksum of a file, which is then compared with a newer calculated checksum of the current state of the same file. In essence, a checksum is a small block of data that is derived from another block of data.

Too many organisations risk cyberattacks via enabled legacy code they do not need. The warning comes in the wake of Nettitude’s cybersecurity team discovering a second high-risk vulnerability in Microsoft’s VPN protocol.

The vulnerability, called CVE-2022-23270, formed part of Microsoft’s 10th May Patch Tuesday release. Everyone should install it as quickly as possible.

The race for connectivity during the COVID-19 pandemic left a trail of cyber risk to mitigate. In doing so, Nettitude’s cybersecurity team uncovered a potentially critical Microsoft vulnerability before it was exploited.

CVE-2022-21972 is a Windows vulnerability hidden in legacy Microsoft VPN code for decades. It risks most Windows server versions since Windows 7.

Thanks to Nettitude, Microsoft released a patch on 10th May 2022. Once installed, you can remove this high-risk vulnerability within your network for good.

Secure application development previously required several fragmented approaches patchworked together, often in an inconsistent manner. Secure deployment of applications was previously poorly defined, and people or process assessments were not considered.

Then, the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) decided to do something about it. They created a single easy to follow standard called the Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS). This has been through multiple iterations, with version 4.0.3 being the most recent.

Statistics show that in 2021, online retail sales amounted to a staggering 4.9 trillion dollars, with purchases made by over two billion customers.

Experts anticipate that this trend will continue as more people select the ease of internet shopping. Unfortunately, it has also encouraged cyber criminals to target this area.

These two factors have prompted retailers and security experts to focus on improving online retail cybersecurity measures. 

We often hear about unwanted cyber interventions harming operations. You might think it’s not relevant to the maritime industry – you’d be wrong.

Not immune from cybersecurity incidents, a growing number of attackers are focusing their activity on the marine and offshore sector^[1][2][3]. That includes cargo ships and cruise liners. Both are attractive targets due to high-value assets and likely vulnerabilities.

Whilst the picture might seem alarming, specialist guidance and procedures exist to help you mitigate your risk, securing vessels from harmful attacks. Created by cybersecurity specialist Nettitude, and used by Lloyds Register, the LR Cybersecurity ShipRight [4] certification is one such example.

The wait is finally over and PCI DSS v4.0 is released today, 31st March 2022. Whatever the size of your organisation, volume of payments or size of in-scope network, there will be an impact to you of some kind, but for today it's business as usual.

In this post, we discuss six areas in PCI DSS v4.0, which we think you should be aware of today, with much more detail to come.

For now, we will take it easy and focus on the key themes and changes: