LRQA Nettitude Blog

By Vanessa Santos | Security Consultant at LRQA Nettitude

Json Web Tokens (JWTs) are commonly used in many applications to validate the client’s identity. The JWT token is provided during authentication in case of success and this is then used in all authenticated interactions to the application.

The validation of user’s identity is based on the user’s information stored in the JWT token which is signed by the server using JSON Web Signatures. The information exchanged within the JWT can also be encrypted using JSON Web Encryption however this is not widely used.

Although the JWT token can be used in web applications there is a number of caveats that come with the choice of implementing JWT authentication tokens that can result in them being hijacked.

In this article we will be discussing these security implementation issues and will uncover ways of preventing an attacker from hijacking JWT tokens.

By Jenny Wu | Senior Incident Response Consultant at Nettitude

The move to the Cloud and remote working models has changed the way networks are connected. Today, we are shifting focus from security to protecting assets rather than the traditional perimeter. Traditional anti-virus is no longer able to keep up with newer attacks and vulnerabilities, allowing compromises to occur more frequently; especially for the healthcare industry which is frequently targeted. They therefore need additional protection in the form of Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Tooling.

By Nettitude

Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of our Nettitude Bug Bounty programme .

Over the past few months, we’ve been running a Bug Bounty trial with a number of our clients, which we’re pleased to say has been successful. Now, we’re ready to open our Bug Bounty service up to the world.

By Nettitude

Today, just 19% of the technology sector is represented by females. While it’s true that the industry still has a long way to go in achieving true gender equality, we are slowly and surely beginning to see change.

Nettitude can attest to this. As an organisation within the technology sector, Nettitude are proud to be one of few organisations within our industry to be led by a female CEO. Under the direction of Karen Bolton our values and vision for the future are bright when it comes to women making an impact, in which each Nettitude colleague is viewed as an important and impactful individual, despite their gender.

By Matt Tryphona | Security Analyst at Nettitude

The Healthcare industry remains highly targeted by hackers due to the great deal of personal data that is used and handled on a day-to-day basis. One of the biggest cyber Risks within healthcare is IoT devices, as they can be used as a gateway for capturing sensitive data if not secured correctly.

When we think of an IoT device, you may think about smart-home devices, such as a smart plug, or smart bulb controlled from an app on your phone. We may even think of a ‘smart’ assistant controlled by our voice, which can do much more than just tell you the weather. The ‘smart’ assistants can act as an IoT hub that control our devices to provide a seamless futuristic experience.

It’s one thing for the security of devices in the home to be breached, but within a healthcare environment, this can have a detrimental knock on effect across the board in light of an increasing variety and severity of healthcare cyber threats. Below we’ll take a look at what IoT is, how it’s used within the healthcare industry, and how a security breach could impact the industry.

By Greg March | SOC Platform and Security Analyst at Nettitude

Technology is at the forefront of innovation with new hardware, software and AI breakthrough announcements on a daily basis. From the creation of the first computer (ENIAC developed in 1946) to the rise of IOT smart fridges, data remains the key to the interconnected world around us.

Over recent years, the rise in cyber-criminal activity has highlighted the pressures and importance of developing secure technology - whether that is for data in transit or at rest. Transport encryption such as SSL(secure Socket Layer)/TLS(Transport Layer Security) and HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Security) technologies are exactly that, they provide a secure method of transporting encrypted data from one machine to another, preventing unauthorized actors from stealing private information.

Although encryption was first developed with security and privacy in mind, hackers and cyber criminals of even low sophistication levels have incorporated the advantages of encryption in their attack techniques.

By Mike Buckley | Pre - Sales Consultant at Nettitude

Transforming on-premise environments to the Cloud is not new, many organisations have already been through this process, and those that haven’t or are part way through should understand their strategy for doing so. While each organisation has their own business goals, those goals will loosely align with basic architectural requirements structured within the Cloud environment, whether that be IaaS, PaaS or SaaS or a combination of all. Gartner’s “Top Security and Risk Management Trends” highlighted “Cloud Native” as one of the three architectural building blocks of Cloud security transformation, alongside “SASE” and “Zero Trust”.

By Stuart Wright | Global Head of Compliance and Risk at Nettitude

Employee awareness of common security threats is a crucial line of defence when protecting your organisation from attacks. Within the retail sector, this is especially important as any security compromise could expose the payment details of thousands of customers.

For this reason, it is essential that retailers have a solid PCI DSS employee training programme in place that ensures employees know what best practice to follow to help prevent data leaks or cyber-attacks. But what should your training program look like? In this blog, we’ll try to shed some light on this and give some practical tips on how to approach this requirement.

By Matthew Gould

As our world advances, so does technology and the demand for easier access to the services we use and depend upon throughout our daily lives. Services that are provided by you as an organisation, whom your clients put their trust in to ensure their personal and financial data is protected. Along with the ever-changing technical landscape comes the inevitable race organisations are faced with to remain up-to-date and secure. As systems increase in size and complexity, so does the strain on resources and the ability to effectively safeguard your systems and the sensitive assets they retain.

By Tim Percival - VP of Cyber, APAC & Anthony Long - Managing Principal Security Consultant

This month, the Saudi Arabia central bank has announced plans to incorporate open banking into their financial infrastructure. This move is set bring about many new opportunities as the Kingdom changes direction from their usual path of stability. The new plans will enable increased data-sharing, allowing customers and businesses to have more control over their finances and access bespoke financial services. 

With Singapore having already began to adopt open banking technology around 2016, it’s clear that Asia’s financial market is wasting no time when it comes to the latest technological advancements. Yet, with this adoption comes increased cyber-risks, rendering regulatory authorities all the more critical in stabilising the market.

In part four of the ‘Global Regulatory Frameworks Compared series, we’ll look at AASE – the cybersecurity guidelines created for the Singapore market by ABS (The Association of Banks in Singapore).