cybersecurity topics – Build A Security Ninja

“Hack the Hackers…”

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Steph

Cybersecurity in the News

It’s been in the news that after two large cyberattacks against 2 Australian companies the government is:

Contemplating a law to prevent paying ransomware payments
Creating a team to ‘hack the hackers’

Computer screen filled with orange, red, white, and green ‘code’

The problem with the former solution is that it will hurts businesses more than hackers. The time to outlaw payments for ransomware has long passed in my opinion. It doesn’t appear to offer a solution really or it doesn’t answer the real problem which is that there a lack of push or support for shoring defenses that would lower the success of these attacks.

The second outcome I have less of an opinion on. Though I will say that active countermeasures (similar to this idea) has been a idea in cyber for years.

Dark Reading has more to say on the latter than I.

I just think this geopolitically is something to watch. I’m also curious to see how cybercriminals might respond to both proposed actions.

Jobs in Cyber:

Posted on September 4, 2022September 4, 2022 by Steph

Digital Forensics Examiner

When I first starred in cybersecurity I wanted to do Digital Forensics. I thought the field was very Sherlock Holmes. Thought it was cool to dig deep into a computer’s innards to try and find a hint or clue.

Skills Needed:

Undertsanding of law and criminal examinations
Technical aptitude
Understanding of computer systems
Malware Analysis
Skill in analyzing volatile data
Interpretation ig debugging tools

More info:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computer-science/digital-forensic-examiner

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/digital-forensic-examiner-salary-SRCH_KO0,25.htm

Cons, Goals

Rev up to Black Hat/Defcon

Posted on August 6, 2022August 6, 2022 by Steph

It’s been a fantastic week. I’ve started a new position and I’m amped for the work. It’s been a long time since I was genuinely excited about working. I think good things are in store.

Also we’re counting down the days to my first Black Hat and Defcon. They say every Infosec person has to go at least once, and this is my time. Even got a village presentation that everyone is excited about which makes me nervous and excited as well.

Even if you’re not around hopefully people will catch the stream of the talks.

Informational, Research, Topic, Vulnerabilities

Case Study: Stuxnet

Posted on July 25, 2022July 25, 2022 by Steph

Enter the CyberWar

(A Day Late during to Travel)

If you’re paying attention to the War in Ukraine you’ve probably heard people talk about the ensuing cyber dimension of the conflict. This is just the latest skirmish–though some say it’ s the beginning of the new Era of Cyberwarfare–of cyberwarfare.

Stuxnet, wasn’t the first cyber operation nor was it the first virus, but it’s notable because it was one of the first that destroy hardware and an operation linked specifically to the U.S.

Stuxnet was a virus developed to target Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Basically, it targeted automated controls in industrial control systems causing the hardware to break. It did this by exploiting zero-days in Microsoft and Siemens software. The bad part is that Stuxnet worked to well and ended up spreading globally.

Cons, Goals, Informational, Research

Cyber Presentations

Posted on July 16, 2022July 16, 2022 by Steph

So, one of my goals as I wrote before was to get better at public speaking. I worked on thos by applying for talks…even though it frankly terrifies me to think of being in front of a room full of people with all eyes on me. Luckily for my anxiety I got chosen to speak but both were to be pre-recorded.

Which is great because it still gets me speaking, but also doesn’t make me have to deal with the anxiety of the moment. It’s an important step and even an confidence boost to have my presentations be accepted. And even just being accepted and being able to add, Presenter @ so and so conference to my CV/Resume and speak on it in interviews has been helpful.

So, my advise this Saturday for someone trying to expand their cyber presence:

Make an effort to attend some conferences
If your interested apply to call for papers, you never know when something that seems interesting to you might be interesting to others
Its’s ok to have fears, we sll have them, but we cant let them control what we accomplish in life

CTF, Informational, Profiles, Simple Malware Analysis, Vulnerabilities

Jobs in Cyber: Vulnerability Researcher

Posted on July 9, 2022July 9, 2022 by Steph

Hand with black nail polish holding a magnifying glass – Pexel

Stumbled on this job during a recent job search. This had never been on my radar as a possible field of interest, but after interviewing and learning about the position I was intrigued.

A vulnerability researcher basically investigate, identify, and study vulnerabilities and exploits in software and/or systems. Sometimes this can be independently, but often it is part of an enterprise or in conjunction with continuous monitoring services.

Possible Skills Needed:

Scripting knowledge
Decompiler knowledge
Malware Analysis
Communication (verbal and written)
Methodical approach to research
Analytical mind
Scanners such as Nessus

Current Events, Informational, Research, Topic

Privacy in the Digital Age:

Posted on June 25, 2022June 25, 2022 by Steph

Roe v. Wade

Again, had a post planned and instead news caused a different post.

Even before the Supreme Court officially struck down the Roe v. Wade decision and sent reproductive health issues back to the states there were stirrings questioning how incoming changes might effect health apps and data collection.

Living in today’s world people might not worry about how much of their information is readily collected or available. Perhaps, they’ve resigned themselves to the fact that they can’t stop their data being collected. There has been very little headway made in crafting some type of national privacy law, so it makes one feel like this is just inevitable, online privacy is your own concern.

For months before today reading through Twitter brought calls for women to remove period tracking apps and be more cognizant of how their data might be collected and in the future possibly subpoenaed as proof of some ‘reproductive crime’..

“Democrat lawmakers along with privacy advocates are now growing worried prosecutors in these anti-abortion states will use subpoenas to demand tech companies help them identify which users have visited an abortion provider.” -Michael Kan, PCMag.

I would definitely consider myself a privacy advocate. I think the majority of infosec people are concerned about privacy to some degree. It’s concerning that it really took something so dramatic to bring this conversation about data collection back to the foreground.

It can be proposed that perhaps we all just became too complacent in many ways…

How all this unfolds and develops is something to keep a definite eye on.

Informational, InfoSec History, Research, Vulnerabilities

There is no Safe Haven: Mac Attacks

Posted on June 11, 2022 by Steph

I was all set to write about an interesting job in infosec today and then I woke up and saw reports of a new attack: ‘Pacman’, being leveraged against Apple computers. This report got me thinking about a conversation I saw on Social media where a connection was asking about what laptop to buy. One of this person’s friends mentioned getting an Apple because they are ‘safer’ than Windows machines and ‘antivurs wasn’t needed’ (no one but us tech geeks recommend Linux it wasnt even in the running). I recall thinking that laypeople are just really unaware that Apple systems are getting targeted at higher rates in recent years . So here we are talking about Mac Attacks.

As a disclaimer I’ve got no real dog in whatever battle exists between OSes. As a tech-head I have systems that run Windows, MacOS, and several flavors of Linux. The job isn’t to safeguard a specific type of system it’s to safeguard them all.

We can say, oh MacOS and Linux OS distros have less know vulnerabilities or are attacked less often, but to say that one or the other doesn’t have any or doesn’t get attacked is untrue. All systems are opened to be attacked.

Some Recent Apple Malware:

Pacman
Silver Sparrow
XLoader
GoSearch22
Thiefquest

A more in depth look at some Apple vulnerabilities and malware can be found here or here.

I will always advocate for user to protect themselves. Defense in depth isn’t just for enterprises it also means that users shouldn’t assume that the systems are just inherently ‘safe’. When people say security is everyone’s business I can support that because your end security should be your business which includes setting precautions to overlap where initial software and hardware might fall short.

Flashback Friday, Informational, InfoSec History

Case Study: Maroochy Shire

Posted on May 29, 2022July 25, 2022 by Steph

Problem

In 2001, a former contractor who still had access to the system, compromised the industrial control system (ICS). This compromised causes the sewage to flood the town and watershed.

This would become the first widely recognized attack on and industrial system.

“Marine life died, the creek water turned black and the stench was unbearable for residents,” said Janelle Bryant of the Australian Environmental Protection Agency in The Register“

–Cohen, Gary, 2021

Solution

Focus on possible Insider Threats
Offboarding procedures
Emphasize separation of duties
Airgap operational technology from information technology.

Informational, Labs, What I've Used

Splunk Core Certified User – Study Guide

Posted on May 24, 2022May 24, 2022 by Steph

I would advise anyone who wants to learn to use Splunk to actually use Splunk. They offer a really thorough fundamentals class for free and you fan set up a Splunk environment fairly easy.

There’s also hands-on by completing the ‘Boss of the SOC’ challenges.