ICIT Analysis: Signature Based Malware Detection is Dead
Signature and behavioral based anti-malware are no match for next generation adversaries who utilize mutating hashes, sophisticated obfuscation mechanisms, self-propagating malware, and intelligent malware components. In this analysis, entitled “Signature Based Malware Detection is Dead,” the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology provides a thought-provoking analysis of the necessity for critical infrastructure sectors to adopt advanced .. read more
Join ICIT Fellows at RSA for Demos, Education and Networking!
ICIT will have a strong presence at the 2017 RSA Conference & Expo, with Sr. Fellows meeting with next-generation technology providers to identify bleeding edge technologies and Fellows offering education and demos at booths as well as hosting the best parties of the conference. Do not miss these opportunities to meet with ICIT Fellows. And .. read more
ICIT Brief: In 2017, The Insider Threat Epidemic Begins
Just as American and European critical infrastructure executives were beginning to wrap their minds around the devastation of the Office of Personnel Management breach, ransomware erupted onto the scene, followed by concentrated DDoS attacks such as the Mirai botnet attack on Dyn, which enabled a quantum leap for cyber criminals. Now, all techno-forensic indicators suggest .. read more
Congressman Jim Langevin Receives the ICIT Transcend Award
Washington D.C. January 25, 2017 – The Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT), America’s Cybersecurity Think Tank™, presented Congressman Jim Langevin, from Rhode Island’s 2nd congressional district, with its Transcend Award at the Congressman’s office in the Rayburn House Office Building. The Transcend Award is an honor given each year to a distinguished member of .. read more
ICIT Publication: Dragnet Surveillance Nation: How Data Brokers Sold Out America
With recent accusations of fake news and the weaponization of information as a mechanism of steering public perceptions dominating headlines around the world, have you ever considered the reality that private dragnet surveillance via social media properties, ISPs, search engines, health sector organizations etc., heavily contribute to the problems of adversarial intervention and streamlined distribution .. read more
The Cybersecurity Show Must Go On: Surpassing Security Theatre and Minimal Compliance Regulations
The United States Cybersecurity culture is heavily rooted in practices of Security Theater, where an organization that suffers a data breach can invest in countermeasures that provide a feeling or sense of security without actually improving the cybersecurity threat posture of the organization. In this publication, entitled “The Cybersecurity Show Must Go On: Surpassing Security .. read more
“Fake News” Is “Old News” for Nation State and Mercenary APTs
By James Scott, Senior Fellow ICIT Regardless of your partisan persuasion, your opinion of mainstream media or your opinion of the ‘alt-right,’ one thing is for certain, ‘fake news’ is ‘old news’ when it comes to the weaponization of information by nation states and cyber mercenaries. Cyber adversaries tailor spear phishing and malvertising lures to .. read more
It’s the Russians! … or Is it? Cold War Rhetoric in the Digital Age
by James Scott, Sr. Fellow, ICIT Introduction Malicious actors can easily position their breach to be attributed to Russia. It’s common knowledge among even script kiddies that all one needs to do is compromise a system geolocated in Russia (ideally in a government office) and use it as a beachhead for attack so that indicators .. read more
ICIT Analysis: Identity and Access Management Solutions: Automating Cybersecurity While Embedding Pervasive and Ubiquitous Cyber-Hygiene-by-Design
Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions are a critical component of organizational cyber-hygiene and cybersecurity initiatives because IAM solutions automate cyber-hygiene best practices, reduce user fatigue, provide access controls, establish user accountability, institute system auditability, and enable users to mitigate cyberattacks. In this analysis, entitled “Identity and Access Management Solutions: Automating Cybersecurity While Embedding Pervasive .. read more
ICIT Publication – Rise of the Machines: The Dyn Attack Was Just a Practice Run
As the adversarial threat landscape continues to hyper-evolve, America’s treasure troves of public and private data, IP, and critical infrastructure continues to be pilfered, annihilated, and disrupted. The Mirai IoT botnet has inspired a renaissance in adversarial interest in DDoS botnet innovation based on the lack of fundamental security-by-design in the Internet and in IoT .. read more
Overcoming Event Fatigue: ICIT Programs Offer a Platform for True Thought Leader Collaboration
by James Scott (Sr. Fellow, ICIT) & Parham Eftekhari (Sr. Fellow, ICIT) The rapid outbreak of cyber threats over the past few years has resulted in an abundance of events that promote faux experts and ineffective silver bullet solutions, often hosted by organizations who are more focused on luring in massive crowds of attendees and .. read more
The Painfully Vulnerable Election System and Rampant Security Theater
by James Scott, Sr. Fellow, ICIT and Drew Spaniel, Fellow, ICIT ‘Clunky as Heck’ and Security via Obscurity Create Only an Illusion of Secure Elections “Election Officials, consider your voting machines, networks and tabulators infected until you’ve forensically proven otherwise.” James Scott, Senior Fellow, ICIT The first step to correcting the plague of cyber-kinetic vulnerabilities .. read more
DYN Attacks Exploit Old and Well Known Vulnerabilities
by James Scott, Sr. Fellow, ICIT and Drew Spaniel, Researcher, ICIT Throughout the morning, DYN has released statements indicating that the issue has been resolved only to have the servers crash within the following hour. Without inside information, two hypotheticals exist to explain the heat map and the disruption. First, it is possible that DYN .. read more
The Categorical Threat Landscape to Consider When Reading NASS’ Open Letter to Congress
Authored By: James Scott, Sr. Fellow, ICIT & Drew Spaniel, Researcher, ICIT On September 26, 2016, the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) released an Open Letter to Congress that urged for the informed communication of facts about the security of election systems with the American public. This communique builds upon the NASS letter .. read more
ICIT Analysis: Hacking Elections is Easy! Part 2: Psst! Wanna Buy a National Voter Database? Hacking E-Voting Systems Was Just the Beginning
The United States election process has been at risk since the widespread adoption of electronic voting (e-voting) systems in 2002-2006. Despite the fact that researchers have spent the past decade demonstrating that Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) and optical scanning systems from every manufacturer are vulnerable along numerous attack vectors, our Nation is still plagued with .. read more
ICIT Brief – Your Life, Repackaged and Resold: The Deep Web Exploitation of Health Sector Breach Victims
Despite being the most at-risk and perpetually breached critical infrastructure sector in the Nation, virtually all health sector organizations refuse to evolve their layered security to combat a hyper evolving threat landscape. As a result, when a healthcare system is breached and patient records are stolen, the entire brutal impact of the incident that resulted from .. read more
ICIT Analysis: Hacking Elections is Easy! Part One: Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures
True democracy relies on the reliability of the democratic process. The “Help America Vote Act”, passed in 2002, ushered in an era of uncertainty by proliferating the use of electronic voting systems vulnerable to cyber, technical and physical attack. More often than not, electronic voting systems are nothing but bare-bone, decade old computer systems that .. read more
ICIT Brief – The Energy Sector Hacker Report: Profiling the Hacker Groups that Threaten our Nation’s Energy Sector
Among our Nation’s critical infrastructures, the Energy Sector is a primary target for exploitation by nation state and mercenary APTs, hacktivists, cyber jihadists and other hacker teams. Although the nation’s socioeconomic survival depends on the energy sector to deliver energy to the homes and businesses that support life, business operations, and critical systems, it was .. read more
ICIT Brief – China’s Espionage Dynasty: Economic Death by a Thousand Cuts
The criminal culture of theft that has been injected into virtually every line of China’s 13th Five-Year Plan is unprecedented. From state sponsored smash and grab hacking and techno-pilfering, to corporate espionage and targeted theft of IP, never before in recorded history has IP transfer occurred at such a rapid velocity. In this report, entitled .. read more
ICIT Report: Utilizing the NSA’s CSfC Process- Protecting National Security Systems with Commercial Layered Solutions
The acceleration of State Sponsored and Mercenary APT cyber-attacks, each of which possess new and more innovative layering of stealth and sophistication, has triggered a much needed response by the National Security Agency’s (NSA) Information Assurance Directorate (IAD). A more expedient path to technology approval has been introduced for qualified organizations. As a result, the .. read more
ICIT Report: CISO Solution Fatigue – Overcoming the Challenges of Cybersecurity Solution Overload
Due to the plague of APTs, malware, ransomware and other malicious initiatives by invisible adversaries, few C-level executive positions are as critical as the CISO. A well informed CISO can improve the engagement of the C-Suite and improve the cyber posture of the organization. However, due to a variety of factors, CISOs combat information overload and vendor .. read more
ICIT Analysis: The Wound Collectors – Profiling the Self Radicalized Lone-Wolf Terrorist
Acts of domestic terrorism in the West are escalating at an alarming rate. Lone wolf attacks and attackers have sparked public, political and law enforcement curiosity due to the, seemingly, random and independent action of a self-radicalized extremist with modest or no ties directly to the group in which they proclaim the action to be .. read more
American ISIS: Analysis of the Orlando Jihadist & Lone-wolf Attacks
ISIS lone wolves are being activated in towns and cities globally for the most potent cyber-physical combination of guerrilla attack ever to be introduced in modern warfare. This new enemy, fueled by extremist ideology, defies traditional profiling attributes such as race, sex, age, education, and nationality and can more easily evade detection by law enforcement. This .. read more
ICIT Brief – The Anatomy of Cyber-Jihad: Cyberspace is the New Great Equalizer
Until now it has been fairly easy to categorize malicious cyber-actors as State Sponsored APT, Hacktivist, Mercenary and Script Kiddie. However, a new threat actor has emerged who uses technological means to bring terror and chaos to our nation and its allies: the Cyber-Jihadist. Cyber-Jihad has quickly arrived on the scene and will only continue .. read more
NIST SP 800-160: For the Rest of Us – An ICIT Summary
NIST Special Publication 800-160: Systems Security Engineering: Consideration for a Multidisciplinary Approach in the Engineering of Trustworthy Secure Systems, offers useful strategies that can raise the bar for cyber defense and can be implemented quickly to drastically minimize traditionally vulnerable attack surfaces laid siege by state sponsored APTs, hacktivists, sophisticated mercenaries and cyber jihad hackers. This condensed .. read more
ICIT Brief: Combatting the Ransomware Blitzkrieg with Endpoint Security
Ransomware, the weaponization of encryption, has struck fear and confusion into the hearts of PC users and critical infrastructure communities alike. While it is impossible for organizations to prevent malware from infecting their networks, those who deploy a multi-layered security strategy and teach proper cybersecurity hygiene to their employees have a strong chance of defending against these .. read more
ICIT Bulletin: America is Under Siege: Now is the Time for NASA to Unleash Gryphon-X
Despite maintaining one of the greatest treasure troves of intellectual capital on the planet, NASA, like virtually all federal agencies, is plagued by bureaucracy and competing interagency political agendas which creates a culture that stifles innovation. While adversaries run rampant in the critical infrastructures of our Nation, nextgen cybersecurity proposals aimed at protecting our networks, .. read more
ICIT Bulletin: Cerber and KeRanger
Cerber and KeRanger are two of the latest Ransomware debacles to catastrophically affect the ill prepared. Once again we are confronted with the reality of our Nation’s lack of cybersecurity hygiene and the need for a more security-centric culture among technology users. This ICIT Bulletin entitled, “Cerber & KeRanger: The Latest Weaponized Encryption” consolidates an explanation .. read more
The ICIT Ransomware Report: 2016 Will Be the Year Ransomware Holds America Hostage
Institute note: during our non-public soft distribution, we discovered that an incorrect, pre-edited version of this document was distributed. We have since corrected this error. Our Ransomware Report is available for download below. 2016 is the year ransomware will wreak havoc on America’s critical infrastructure community. The resurgence of these attacks is driven by a growing attack surface .. read more
ICIT Fellow Meetings: Change Agents & Operational Innovation
ICIT’s 2016 monthly Fellow meetings have drawn executives from DHS, DoD, NASA, FDIC, HHS, FCC, and Interior as the Institute shepherds the community through a cybersecurity-centric renaissance and fosters strategic collaboration with industry and academic leaders. These thought leadership forums have inspired attendees to move their organization’s cybersecurity strategies forward with innovative .. read more
ICIT Analysis: FDA Guidance on Medical Device Cyber Security
This Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology blog post, entitled “Assessing the FDA’s Cybersecurity Guidelines for Medical Device Manufacturers: Why Subtle “Suggestions” May Not Be Enough” is an objective analysis of the recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “Draft Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff.” The guidance advises medical device manufacturers to address .. read more
ICIT Bulletin: Anonsec
This Bulletin is an analysis of the hacktivist group Anonsec, which claimed to have exfiltrated data from NASA servers and drones on January 31, 2016. On January 31, 2016, Default Virusa, an administrator of the hacktivist group Anonsec, contacted journalist Mikael Thalen, claiming to have exfiltrated between 100-276GB of data from NASA servers and .. read more
ICIT Brief: Hacking Healthcare IT in 2016: Lessons the Healthcare Industry can Learn from the OPM Breach
Among all of America’s critical infrastructures, the healthcare sector is the most targeted and plagued by perpetual persistent attacks from numerous unknown malicious hackers. The goal of these threat actors is to exploit vulnerabilities in insecure and antiquated networks in order to exfiltrate patient data for financial or geopolitical gain. In order to protect patient .. read more
ICIT Senate Briefing: Hacking Hospitals
On November 19, the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology conducted a briefing at the U.S. Senate entitled “Hacking Hospitals” to address the growing threats facing healthcare organizations. During this briefing, senior Senate staffers and attendees from agencies including the Departments of Veterans Affairs, State, Homeland Security, Health and Human .. read more
Congresswomen Lee (TX) and Chu (CA) speak at “Town Hall” on Minority Representation in Cybersecurity
As part of Cybersecurity Awareness month, the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology hosted a Town Hall on Minority Representation in Cybersecurity, a meeting sponsored by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (TX). Congresswoman Lee was joined by Congresswoman Linda T. Sánchez, Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Congresswoman and Judy Chu, .. read more
ICIT Brief: Who’s Behind the Wheel? Exposing the Vulnerabilities and Risks of High Tech Vehicles
The July 2015 remote hack of a Jeep Cherokee by security researchers from IOActive served as a catalyst which made vehicle cybersecurity a top priority for the automotive industry, consumers and lawmakers. Since then, Chrysler has recalled 1.4 million Jeeps to patch vulnerabilities and lawmakers have proposed various pieces of legislation to address cybersecurity in vehicles, including the Security and Privacy .. read more
ICIT Talking Points: “Is the OPM Data Breach the Tip of the Iceberg?” – for the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
Throughout June 2015, the United States Office of Personnel Management failed to adequately answer inquiries from the American people, Congress, and Federal agencies, concerning the two breaches of its systems that have left the granular personal information of 22.1 million United States Citizens in the hands of an unidentified adversary. After review of the July .. read more
Legislative Brief “Moving Forward: How Victims Can Regain Control & Mitigate Threats in the Wake of the OPM Breach”
In June 2015, the Nation learned that the personnel records of 21.5 million United States citizens had been exfiltrated by an unknown adversary from the Office of Personnel Management, one of the largest known breaches in the history of the U.S. Government. The immediate public outcry included congressional hearings attributing the breach to OPM administrators and .. read more
Preparing the Battlefield: The Coming Espionage Culture Post OPM Breach
As part of its continued analysis of the OPM breach, ICIT’s most recent brief entitled “Preparing the Battlefield: The Coming Espionage Culture Post OPM Breach” discusses the significant impact the breach will have on America’s national security. The large number of victims, many of whom hold security clearances, combined with the personal nature of the information stolen gives .. read more
ICIT Brief: OPM Demonstrates that Antiquated Security Practices Harm National Security
The Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology has published its official analysis of the Office of Personnel Management breach, Handing Over the Keys to the Castle: OPM Demonstrates that Antiquated Security Practices Harm National Security. This research brief provides insights on several of the most important aspects of the breach, some of which are not being .. read more
Securing Federal Data Post OPM: Lunch & Learn Summary + Slides
This week the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology held a Lunch and Learn called “Securing Data for Today’s Federal Agency” which focused on the increasingly daunting task of protecting federal data in an age of information sharing and increased threats both inside and outside an agency. An .. read more
Brief: Keeping Smart Cities Smart – Preempting Emerging Cyber Attacks in U.S. Cities
The Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology, working closely with IOActive and other Fellows, has published its latest legislative briefing titled “Keeping Smart Cities Smart: Preempting Emerging Cyber Attacks in U.S. Cities“. As more and more U.S. cities adopt ‘smart’ technologies, America finds its urban centers increasingly at risk for cyber-attacks which could bring entire .. read more
NIST Issues Revisions to ICS Security Guide; ICIT launches Initiative to Support
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued its second revision to its Guide to Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Security, a major source of guidance for critical infrastructure sectors which own and operate computer controlled industrial equipment. Many of the changes are driven by the internet connectivity of ICS machines and devices, or “Internet of Things”, .. read more
OPM Data Breach Interview: Federal News Radio Interviews Dan Waddell, Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology Fellow
The OPM Data Breach that has affected millions of current and former federal employees wasn’t about acquiring bank records or credit card information. Instead, signs point to cyber espionage. Dan Waddell, ICIT Fellow and director of government affairs at (ISC)2 joined Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss the magnitude of the breach. Click HERE .. read more
Legislative Brief: “Preventative Measures- Ensuring Information Security Prior to mHealth Development”
The Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology issued its latest legislative briefing titled “Preventative Measures- Ensuring Information Security Prior to mHealth Development”. The brief is an analysis of the proliferation of mobile technologies in the healthcare ecosystem, addressing the benefits mobility brings to patients and health providers as well as data privacy risks that exist if these technologies are .. read more
ICIT Announces Summer Initiatives
The Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology announced its summer initiatives today, covering a broad range of critical infrastructure topics in support of the legislative calendar, various federal and state government initiatives and the needs of critical infrastructure sectors around the country. If your organization is interested in providing expertise to any of the initiatives below, contact .. read more
ICIT Speaks at U.S. Senate “Health Sector Fly-In” on Cybersecurity
The Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology co-hosted and spoke at the inaugural Health Sector Fly-In Tuesday June 2, 2015, which was held at the United States Senate and sponsored by Senator Lamar Alexander (TN). As a member of the Healthcare and Public Health (HPH), Sector Coordinating Council (SCC) and the SCC Cyber .. read more
ICIT Fellows Talk on the Convergence of Physical and Cyber Security at the British Embassy
Members of the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology spoke on the convergence of physical and cyber security at the British Embassy June 2, 2015, at a meeting attended by representatives from the United States government, the British government, and critical infrastructure sectors including Energy and Finance. The event featured a presentation by Danyetta Magana .. read more
Analysis of H.R. 1560 Title I (Protecting Cyber Networks Act) and Title II (National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act)
The Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT) today issued a briefing to members of the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, Federal Agencies and other Critical Infrastructure Sector Leaders titled “Progress as Two Steps Forward and One Step Back: Analysis of H.R. 1560 Title I and Title II (H.R. 1731).” The briefing is a detailed .. read more
ICIT Meets with Representatives Comstock, Lofgren, Massie, Poe; to speak at British Embassy and U.S. Senate
The Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology met last Friday with senior technology and intelligence leads from U.S. House of Representatives members Barbara Comstock (MD), Ted Poe (TX), Zoe Lofgren (CA) and Thomas Massie’s (KY) offices to provide advisory on issues ranging from surveillance technology, threat intelligence, and privacy / civil liberties. Last week’s passage of .. read more
DHS, ICIT and Federal Agency Leaders Collaborate on ISAOs
On Thursday April 30th, the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT) hosted its monthly Fellow Meeting with featured thought leader Michael Echols, Director of Special Initiatives, Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources Cyber Operations Management (CIKR-COM) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Mr. Echols led an interactive discussion with .. read more
ICIT Fellows Meet with Congressmen Van Hollen and Mooney to Deliver Threat Information Sharing Brief
ICIT met separately with Congressmen Alex Mooney (WV) and Congressmen Chris Van Hollen (MD) (respectively) to hand deliver copies of ICIT’s Threat Information sharing brief late last week. The brief was also sent to members of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus in anticipation of this week’s votes on .. read more
ICIT Briefs Congress on HR691 Telehealth Modernization Act of 2015
ICIT briefed members of the Rural Health Caucus on HR691 – Telehealth Modernization Act of 2015, where Fellows provided expertise on rural health, telemedicine, and privacy issues surrounding telehealth initiatives. ICIT Fellows advised for strong security and access management, interoperability between EHRs, patient access to data, and the securing of data pathways themselves. Click here .. read more
HHS, ICIT Fellows Collaborate on Privacy and Data in Healthcare
Thursday, March 26, the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT) hosted their monthly Fellow Meeting, with featured thought leaders Dr. Kafi Wilson, MHA (ICIT Fellow and CEO, KWMD) and Laura Elizabeth Rosas (Lead Public Health Advisor, Health IT Team, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], U.S. .. read more
Legislative Advising & Thought Leadership Initiatives – Expertise Needed
Who is ICIT? ICIT is a 501c3, next generation cybersecurity think tank that advises the legislative community, federal agencies and critical infrastructure leaders on the country’s most pressing technology and cybersecurity issues. ICIT Fellows provide expertise and research in support of the Institute’s initiatives and publications focused on critical infrastructure sectors including government, healthcare, finance, energy, and critical manufacturing. .. read more
ICIT Fellows Brief Congressional and Senate Members on H.R.3696 Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2014
Week of March 2, 2015: ICIT presented to members of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus and a member of Senate on H.R. 3696: Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, in order to discuss certain aspects of the bill which it believes will be included in 2015 legislation. These meetings gleaned important findings and requests for additional briefings .. read more
Department of Energy CIO (acting) Shares Defense in Depth Strategy at ICIT Fellow Meeting
March 4, 2015: Last week, the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT) hosted their monthly Fellow Meeting. The featured thought leader was Donald Adcock, Chief Information Officer (Acting) for the Department of Energy. In the discussion, Mr. Adcock called for organizations to add “breadth” to their “Defense in Depth” strategies as a means to .. read more
HP, WatchDox, Covenant Announced as ICIT Fellows
February 10, 2015 – The Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT) announces the addition of HP, Watchdox, and Covenant Security Solutions as ICIT Fellows, organizations who bring highly qualified experts, technologies and solutions to support the niche advisory ICIT provides the policy community in the fields of critical infrastructure technology and cyber security. “With .. read more
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RT @ICITorg: Just finishing a full day of media at #RSAC2017 special thanks to @SCmagazineUK @csmonitor @Newsweek @MiamiHerald @modbee @ndn #RSAC
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RT @hackerinfozone: RT @SparkCognition According to @ICITorg, signature-based #malware prevention is dead. Visi… https://t.co/SmbmIwcPrf https://t.co/T1PqqBB3Tr
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RT @osint: Signature-based malware detection not as good as AI, says ICIT paper https://t.co/thHy39fTo0 https://t.co/zC8tvX6G54
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RT @ctricot: #AI: SecurityBrief NZ - ICIT paper reveals why signature-based malware prevention i... #ML https://t.co/Opv49CQDka https://t.co/SyXVJgOvAs
