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A Defense-in-Depth Approach Could Stop the Next Big Hack in its Tracks

Last year’s SolarWinds attack and its aftermath have provided numerous lessons concerning the dangers of IT supply chain attacks. Not all apply to every small and medium-sized business—most are unlikely to be targeted by highly trained state-backed hackers with virtually limitless funding—but some will be.

We learned, for instance, that even IT pros could use a refresher on basic password hygiene through security awareness training. A more substantive lesson is the importance of defense in depth, an approach that prioritizes mutually reinforcing layers of security.

In the case of SolarWinds, the Trojanized Orion update was able to elude endpoint security because it was issued by such a trusted source. As we’ve discussed, however, the damage from the compromise could have been limited significantly by using a defense in depth approach backed by leading threat intelligence.

A firewall with the right threat intelligence embedded could have blocked communications with the command-and-control server thus preventing a Trojanized Orion install from connecting back to the attackers and stopping them from furthering the attack. An endpoint DNS solution could have stopped the Trojanized Orion version by refusing to resolve the domain names of the command-and-control servers, again disrupting the infection to the point that no real damage could be done.

This is what we mean when we stress the importance of a layered defense. Take a hypothetical scenario in which the opposite happens, for example. A zero-day threat with no known connection to malicious IPs, files, or other data objects may not be known to the threat intelligence feed informing a network security solution. Once it has made its way to the endpoint, however, it begins to engage in behaviors known to be malicious. Examples include elevating privileges, moving laterally, or trying to establish outbound communications to name a few.

In this case, it is the endpoint security solution’s turn to save the day. If equipped with a rollback or remediation feature, endpoint solutions can not only stop the activity but also remediate the damage already done. These two layers work in concert to pick up the slack left by the other, helping organizations remain resilient against different types of attacks.

Remote work threatens defense in depth

Most larger organizations and a growing number of smaller ones have caught on to the need for layering endpoint and network protection. Firewalls embed threat intelligence and DNS security solutions are used to both block malware and control internet use. But recent events have worked to undermine this growing understanding.

Remote work exploded in 2020 with the advent of COVID-19, rapidly ushering in a new way of working before all of the security details could really be worked out. This presents a new set of stubborn challenges for IT security admins that’s not likely to fade soon. Outside of the corporate firewall, it is the Wild West. Every employee’s home network has a different set of security protocols and internet use is unregulated.

Webroot’s report on COVID-19 work habits found that three out of four people (76%) worldwide admit they use personal devices for work tasks, use work devices for personal tasks, or both. The 2020 Webroot Threat Report also found that personal devices were about twice as likely to encounter a malware infection as business devices. Together these numbers suggest a significant security threat for companies with remote workers.

DNS security solutions are one way of addressing this risk. Installed as an agent on each corporate endpoint, they route traffic through protected DNS servers that can identify, stop and disrupt communications threats. Of course, personal device use still represents a problem for companies not enforcing strict policies against their use. Nevertheless, DNS security remains a way to protect business-issued devices beyond the company network.   

The “next one” will look different

Focusing solely on how the SolarWinds attack is not the key to preventing future breaches. The next large supply chain attack will likely look very different than the SolarWinds attack. In fact, other than the infamous CC Cleaner hack of 2017, in which more than 2.3 million users of the computer cleanup software were duped into downloading malware onto their own machines, these types of attacks leveraging trusted but Trojanized updates are relatively rare.

But this fact makes defense in depth more critical, not less. Zero days will continue to be encountered. There is no telling which techniques the next one will employ, so it is important to make use of multiple tools to limit potential damage.

Cybercriminals will continue to undermine individual defenses. Smart organizations will hedge their cybersecurity bets so they are not all overcome at one time.

The post A Defense-in-Depth Approach Could Stop the Next Big Hack in its Tracks appeared first on Webroot Blog.

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Why MSPs Need to Shift from Cybersecurity to Cyber Resilience

If your critical systems, website or customer data were suddenly inaccessible due to a cyberattack, how soon would you be able to get back up and running? That’s a question that should be on every business leader’s mind. We’ve written before about cyber resilience and why it’s so important, but in today’s increasingly disruptive threat landscape, it’s more important than ever for managed service providers (MSPs) and small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to embrace cyber resilience so they can mitigate disruption.

Threats such as hacking, phishing, ransomware and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are only the tip of the iceberg and have the potential to interrupt critical business operations and cause reputational damage to organizations of all sizes. With attacks such as the SolarWinds security breach making headlines, as well as increasing threats targeting remote workers and taking advantage of COVID-19, MSPs and SMBs must concern themselves with threats that were once only a concern for much larger organizations. To stay resilient, it’s essential that leaders understand how to protect their businesses using a multi-layered approach.

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What’s driving the need for cyber resilience?

Cyberattacks are, unfortunately, a matter of “if,” not “when.” Being cyber resilient means that a company has both the ability to prevent attacks and also to mitigate damage and maintain business continuity when systems or data have been compromised. Where cybersecurity focuses more on protecting an organization before an attack has occurred, cyber resilience encompasses an end-to-end approach that keeps the business operating even in the midst and aftermath of an attack.

Without a holistic approach to security and recovery, catastrophic failures can occur. For example, many SMBs rely only on free cybersecurity solutions or eschew security all together. Our data shows only 26% of SMBs deploy enough layers of security to cover their users, networks and devices.

Complicating matters further is the digital disruption that stems from the rapid shift to remote work. The challenge for both MSPs and SMBs is in securing a remote workforce and new, unsecured perimeters, especially across home networks and personal devices, which are already at increased risk for an attack.

SMBs will look to MSPs to achieve cyber resilience

Business leaders have a significant opportunity to bolster confidence in the business through cyber resilience, especially as employees look to management to protect them against increasingly sophisticated threats. According to data from a recent report, only 60% of office workers worldwide believe their company is resilient against cyberattacks. Nearly one in four (23%) admit to not knowing whether their company is resilient, while nearly one in five (18%) flat-out think it isn’t. What’s more, only 14% of office workers worldwide consider cyber resilience to be a responsibility all employees share, meaning that the burden of championing resilience starts with leadership. These statistics indicate a clear gap, and it’s safe to say that many SMBs are grappling with how to keep their businesses safe from cyberattacks.

As prominent attacks and the flow of threats continue, SMBs will look to MSPs to protect their businesses and help them achieve cyber resilience. This creates a unique opportunity for MSPs to guide customers through the maze of cybersecurity and data protection solutions and ensure they are receiving relevant education on protecting the business. MSPs can ensure that customers have defense in depth by offering ongoing security awareness training as well as endpoint protection. Those looking to transition to managed security can lean on Webroot’s training modules and phishing simulations to provide world-class training and monitoring.

It can take a village to prevent cyber threats

While getting support from MSPs is a great stride towards keeping businesses safe, a big piece of the cyber resilience puzzle is teamwork. There’s no single solution or approach that can protect a business, and it really does take a village to protect against today’s cyberattacks. Just as SMBs look to MSPs to become cyber resilient, MSPs can rely on security expertise to fill in the remaining gaps.

Cyber resilience solutions can be custom built for MSPs and their SMB customers, and further tailored to each individual business. By partnering with Webroot and Carbonite, you can offer a customizable set of solutions including endpoint protection, ongoing end user training, threat intelligence, and backup and recovery.

To learn more about cyber resilience and stay up to date on security tips and industry topics, follow our Hacker Files and Lockdown Lessons podcast series.

The post Why MSPs Need to Shift from Cybersecurity to Cyber Resilience appeared first on Webroot Blog.

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Does a SIEM make sense for my MSP?

Every device on an MSP’s managed network provides insight into what’s happening on that network. This includes network routers, switches, printers, wireless devices to servers, endpoints, IoT devices and everything else connected to the network. Each creates a log in its own format, or syntax, that a technician can review for troubleshooting, configuration confirmation, the creation of specific alerts based on a device’s activity or a host of other reasons. These records of each devices’ activities are known as syslogs.

Syslogs present information in a variety of ways, including custom formatting, industry-standard formatting, even raw data lacking a consistent format. The good news is that any activity requiring a security review is buried somewhere in these syslogs. The bad news is that data can buried in these syslogs.

Whole mountain ranges of information are regularly processed by these systems. Millions upon millions of data points may be present, making the set overwhelmingly confusing. At best, sorting meaningful information from noise is a daunting task, even for well-staffed IT departments.

Fortunately for security professionals—and more specifically for MSPs and MSSPs focused on providing insight into their managed networks—there is a mature product category that can be incorporated into their technology stack to help. Security information event management (SIEM) solutions have existed for years, but they’ve recently been gaining traction among MSPs and MSSPs. For good reason: knowledge of a network’s activity is essential to protecting it.

Is setting up a SIEM worth the cost and effort for an MSP?

The short answer is: YES. If you want to synthesize information from various sources to determine if a security event has or is taking place on a customer network, then yes, a SIEM is the natural evolution of the MSP security stack.

The longer answer is, well, longer. Let’s break out a couple of options for those interested in establishing a more sophisticated security information and event management solution.

SIM, SEM or SIEM? That’s the question to begin with. While security information management (SIM) and security event management (SEM) solutions have been in place for some time, they’re now commonly combined into the offering referred to as a SIEM.

So, where does an MSP get started? There are three common choices for getting a SIEM stood up and configured:

  • On-premise – Stand up a server, add some software (a bunch, actually), point all the syslogs to the device and get started. Easy, right? In reality, on-premise solutions have a higher cost and can be daunting to get started. Software costs range based upon the solution provider’s model. But if control and compliance are important, on-premise solutions may be a great option.
  • Cloud-based – Any one of a number of existing solutions that cater to MSPs are simpler to get started. The challenge with cloud-based solutions entails pulling data from many sources and pushing it through firewalls and networks to a public cloud solution.
  • Hybrid – As its name implies, some options blend cloud-based solutions with a local collection server to gather information and push a single source, securely, to the cloud for analysis and processing.

Feeding your SIEM a healthy diet of data

Before deciding on a SIEM component, a log collection or data collection solution must be set up to feed it. Syslog collection refers to a number of different activities, but in a SIEM or security-specific sense it usually comes down to what makes the most sense for the application: purpose-built or generic.

  • A syslog aggregator or log collector – These are devices that take in all syslog information from all devices. They range from sophisticated solutions with alerting and performance reviews to feeds that simply “normalize” the data, distilling the most relevant input and then reworking the details into a consistent standard and reporting on the highlights.
  • Syslog bridges – These are more generic solutions that act mostly as log collectors. Simply point devices to this collector and it maps the data.
  • Syslog collector – These are generic log collectors much like a bridges, but they usually provide a little more intelligence, cost more, and often serve multiple purposes like performance, device status and security event reporting.

Log gathering is the most misunderstood aspect of a SIEM and is often overlooked. The key is finding the most appropriate strategy for your needs.

For most MSPs, a basic bridge with a specific security purpose for feeding a SIEM may be the most efficient and cost-effective option. For additional needs like performance or status determinations, a more sophisticated syslog may be good. But most performance and status information is already provided by RMM solutions, so why reinvent the wheel?

What to expect from your SIEM

After deciding on a syslog collector and SIEM setup, it’s time to put the SIEM to work parsing data and making sense of the output. This is the intel that allow technicians to make sound decisions regarding security events.

Which SIEM to incorporate into a given MSPs operations depends on the level of services offered. MSPs building out a SOC or offering managed detection and response (MDR) services may require more sophisticated output from their SIEM. MSPs simply looking to distill information for their respective technical teams to analyze and make security decisions can usually rely on tailored, cloud-based solutions.

Regardless of the provider, a SIEMs should at least do the following:

  • Perform log gathering – If log gathering is not directly accounted for by a SIEM, another solution will be necessary for feeding data to it.
  • Correlate security events – To spot security threats that may be spread across a network, not only native to a single device’s syslog, a SIEM must be able to track data across multiple devices.
  • Connect to threat intelligence feeds – To keep up with a rapidly shifting threat landscape (and therefore useful to preventing attacks) it must be informed by strong threat intelligence feeds, preferably those using machine learning to recognize even zero-day threats.
  • Issue security alerts – A key SIEM benefit is the ability to provide timely alerts regarding security events based on large amounts of data to assist with decision making, making it possible to stop attacks before they develop
  • Present reports – Many SIEMs can produce reports in a cadence that makes sense for an MSP or MSSP depending on their needs and the needs of their clients.
  • Enhance compliance – Because SIEMs aggregate information on a network, it can produce compliance reports for clients based on industry-specific needs.

A good SIEM solution can minimize technician workload and minimize manual data interpretation. It also benefits clients by beefing up your own security capabilities. A SIEM is a natural step for any growing MSP’s looking to provide the best security solution for customers with workable margins.

With a little focus, it shouldn’t take months or an act of congress to setup and use a SIEM. The above guidance should enable any MSP, regardless of size, to devise a viable plan for putting one in place.

The post Does a SIEM make sense for my MSP? appeared first on Webroot Blog.

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Fools Rush in: 5 Things MSPs Should Know Before Adopting EDR

Buzzwords and acronyms abound in the MSP industry, an unfortunate byproduct of marketing years in the making. Cybersecurity is a hot watercooler topic at any business. Well, now probably more likely a virtual happy hour than a watercooler, but nevertheless cybersecurity remains top-of-mind.

To sleep at night, MSPs feel they must enhance or expand their security offerings beyond the standard layers, like; firewalls, firewall filtering, active directory protocols, DNS Filtering and antivirus/malware detection. One of the ways many MSPs feel they can satiate their cybersecurity concerns involves buzzword-y new acronyms floating around involving “EDR” or endpoint detection and response. But what is EDR really and what can it do for MSPs and their clients?

But first, besides EDR, there’s also ADR, MDR, xDR and the industry can surely expect newer blank-DR acronyms coming in the next few years. What are all these acronyms and how do they help MSP protect their clients? Here are a few definitions:

  • EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) – Technically, every security agent sitting on an endpoint is an EDR solution. The information the agents feed back to administrators determines what action to take and when.
  • ADR (Automatic Detection and Response) – Newer technology allows the agent to automatically make a decision without human intervention. Ideally, ADR automatically remediates a situation and reports to the administrators on action taken.
  • xDR – This newer acronym refers to agents across a network communicating to make a remediation decision or report decision across multiple endpoints.
  • MDR (Managed Detection and Response) – A best-of-breed solution using EDR, ADR and possibly xDR tools in various combinations, MDR allows a human team to make decisions and respond to situations. While more complex and administrative heavy, MDR closes the gap that arises when suspicious applications are being monitored and observed, but not reacted to by an ADR or xDR solution. Human-driven MDR ferrets out the suspicious and reacts.

Here are five things MSPs should consider when evaluating EDR solutions:

1. All security tools with an endpoint agent are basically EDR.

Their job is to detect malicious code, applications, scripts or other malicious files and make a status determination on the fly. Most security agents use various methods like physically scanning file hashes, scanning file content, watching behaviors, looking at scripts, detecting known attack surfaces and other techniques to try to ascertain if a newly encountered file is good or bad.

How the security agent reports its activity depends on the EDR tool. So, while many security tools claim they offer an “EDR” solution, the key is to determine the level of threat, suspicions and action taken in reporting or alerting that adds value for MSPs.

2. The “R,” or response, is key to a successful EDR solution.

While many security tools report and alert, the level of response is the most important aspect of any security practice. If the security agent provides minimal information for decision making, it’s of limited use to the technical personnel responsible for intervening.

On the other hand, technicians can take advantage of security tools with consoles that display alerts, reports and visibility into whether an agent responded, how and the agent’s current status. Too often tools don’t provide necessary insight for reviewing or comparing threat data or approaches – like the MITRE attack framework or other sites with relevant threat information.

Solutions with a more comprehensive API  are advantageous for custom review, integration into more dedicated threat review tools or for alerting through a log gathering and reporting tool. APIs are valuable for providing added information from which human technicians can make decisions.

3. What can be done with the EDR information? Is it actionable?

Once a tool has been selected, what should be done with the information it provides? Answering this is key to successfully setting EDR expectations for customers. If a client requires an MSP has an EDR solution in place, installing an agent is only half of the equation.

Gathering the information into a comprehensive tool or suite can be daunting. If the security solution provider has tools like alerts, reports or an API, start there. However, these tools are often limited and need to be supplemented by a solution with higher performance or a faster response time.

Log gathering tools are a higher performance option that allow many tools to feed into a single system. Once such a solution is in place, the next challenge is to build rules for sifting through the millions of ingested points of information. These rules provide human reviewers  more details for making decisions. It may take several cycles to hone in on the rules that lead to successfully spotting suspicious or malicious activity and protecting customers.

4. Understand what’s behind the EDR hype.

What’s the buzz around EDR and why has it become such a topic for discussion? Fair question considering level of effort to stand up, manage, monitor and address a situation when it arise can be costly and time consuming. Simply having a security vendor “supports EDR” isn’t enough. Selecting a check box to satisfy a requirement is, again, only half of the equation.

So, why go through the time and expense of implementing EDR? Here are three top reasons:

  • Cybersecurity insurance – With the rise of breaches across business and public sector landscapes, cybersecurity insurance on the rise. Many providers have requirements from governance to tools that meet a specific scope. EDR is one such requirement.
  • Good practice – Having layers of protection for customers is important. Extending security offerings by adding an EDR solution with a process will increase that security footprint.
  • Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) – More and more MSPs are adding value to their customers by adding cybersecurity-specific services. With cybersecurity challenges on the rise, many service providers can increase revenue and provide greater security posture for their customers. Implementing an EDR solution will contribute to that effort.

5. Plan out next steps for adopting EDR at your MSP

  • Evaluate the need. Investing in potentially costly new solutions because of a buzzword is not advisable.
  • Determine the level of effort required to adopt an EDR solution and devise a plan for doing it.
  • Review existing tools and determine if existing solutions are being leveraged most effectively today.
  • Build the team. Part of the plan for adopting EDR should include designating a security team to both manage the solution and respond to its findings.

Simply selecting ticking an EDR box won’t necessarily contribute to client security. MSPs should evaluate the needs EDR will satisfy, the level of effort it takes to implement and how EDR fits into their overall service offering. Vendors won’t hesitate to offer “EDR solutions,” but it’s up to the MSP to properly implement and establish process to support expectations. Simply having the solutions does no good. EDR done right requires the additional team focus, rules, review and responses. Implement an EDR offering with caution and planning.

The post Fools Rush in: 5 Things MSPs Should Know Before Adopting EDR appeared first on Webroot Blog.

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The NSA Wants Businesses to Use DoH. Here’s What You Need to Know.

Most people would categorically agree that increased privacy online is a good thing. But in practice, questions of privacy online are a bit more complex. In recent months, you’ve likely heard about DNS over HTTPS, also known as DNS 2.0 and DoH, which is a method that uses the HTTPS protocol to encrypt DNS requests, shielding their contents from malicious actors and others who might misuse such information. It can even address several DNS-enabled cyberattack methods, such as DNS spoofing or hijacking. On the other hand, obfuscating the content of DNS requests can also reduce admins’ visibility and control, as well as negatively affect business network security.

Ultimately, this DNS privacy upgrade has been a long time coming. While its creators’ original 1983 design has undoubtedly proven itself by scaling to meet the demands of today’s internet, privacy just wasn’t a consideration 38 years ago; thus, the need for DoH.

“Privacy just wasn’t a consideration 38 years ago; thus, the need for DoH.”

When weighing the obvious privacy and security benefits against the visibility and potential security drawbacks, some businesses are having difficulty managing these new protocols. That’s likely why the NSA recently released a guide that not only explains the need for DoH, it strongly recommends that businesses protect their networks from rogue DNS sources to improve their network security. But what their guide doesn’t really focus on is how.

Correctly managing encrypted DNS can be very challenging. According to Jonathan Barnett, Webroot sr. product manager and DNS security expert, here’s what businesses need to know about the NSA’s guide and how to successfully embrace DoH.

What does the NSA guide recommend?

The NSA supports the privacy and security improvements DoH provides. However, they also recommend that DNS be controlled, which may leave some admins scratching their heads.

“The enterprise resolver should support encrypted DNS requests, such as DoH, for local privacy and integrity protections, but all other encrypted DNS resolvers should be disabled and blocked.”

What does the NSA caution against?

The NSA specifically warns about applications that can make DNS requests for themselves. Previously, if an application needed DNS, it would ask the local system for the resolution, ideally following whatever configuration the admin had set. These requests would then be sent to the network DNS resolver. This process provides a wealth of information to the network, helping with visibility in the case of a malware attack, or even in the event of a user accidentally clicking a phishing link.

With DNS encryption like DoH, this visibility not only disappears, but now DNS itself becomes incredibly difficult to control. The real challenge comes in as DoH hides the DNS requests using SSL, just as your web browser does when connecting to your online banking website. With this method, DNS requests appear as regular website traffic to most firewalls and networks, and can’t be identified by them as legitimate or malicious.

What other challenges should I consider?

DoH is fairly early in its adoption and only a few applications currently use it, though adoption will continue to grow. In North America, Mozilla Firefox uses DoH for DNS resolution by default. Other browsers, such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge have also begun to support DoH, though their default behavior will not enable DoH on most business networks.

Worth noting is that Microsoft itself has yet to support DoH on their DNS servers, so enforcing the NSA’s recommendations may be somewhat difficult. Additionally, as DoH traffic runs on port 443, just like a secure connection to a website, it is not easily regulated or blocked. You can’t just block port 443 at your firewall either, as this action would also block all secure websites. You could block some of the known DoH providers, but as with any new technology solution, more DoH resolvers appear daily.

How does Webroot address security with DoH?

The Webroot® DNS Protection agent already secures DNS requests by using DoH for all of its communications and leverages the power of Webroot BrightCloud® Threat Intelligence to identify and block alternate DoH connections. Our DNS Protection solution also includes an option to echo all DNS requests to your local resolver, so it maintains visibility into the DNS requests being made, leaving intact the powerful information provided by DNS.

Essentially, with a solution that works like Webroot DNS Protection, you still get the power of DNS filtering while also benefitting from DoH encryption. This protection secures remote and on-site users, devices, and networks, effectively fulfilling the NSA’s recommendations.

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