Each morning MSSP Alert broadcasts a quick lineup of news, analysis and chatter from across the global managed security services provider, SOC (security operations center) and IT outsourcing ecosystem.
Here’s the update for Friday, August 17, 2018.
10. IT Security Spending: IT security spending will reach $124 billion in 2019, up 8.7 percent from $114 billion in 2018, Gartner predicts.
9. Apple Australia Hack: Apple said on Friday no customer data was compromised after Australian media reported a teenager had pleaded guilty to hacking into its main computer network, downloading internal files and accessing customer accounts, Reuters says.
8. Alleged China Hacker Activity: Hackers operating from an elite Chinese university probed American companies and government departments for espionage opportunities following a U.S. trade delegation visit to China earlier this year, Reuters says.
7. Kaspersky vs U.S. Federal Government: Oral arguments in the legal case are expected to begin on September 14, according to NextGov. Kaspersky is fighting to lift a U.S. policy that bars the company's software from deployment on federal networks. The federal government claims Kaspersky represents a potential national security risk, alleging that the company may have ties to Russia's government. Kaspersky denies the allegations.
6. U.S. Election System Security: McAfee is offering election officials in all 50 United States access to a free 12 license of McAfee Skyhigh Security Cloud. The McAfee Cloud for Secure Elections Program will "help ensure that the cloud-based storage services housing voter and citizen data are properly configured for maximum security and are continuously monitored for internal and external intrusion, and that no citizen or voter data is improperly uploaded to or shared from cloud services," the security company says.
It's unclear whether U.S. states will take McAfee up on the offer. Also, participation in the program requires the review and approval of the user’s election infrastructure to confirm that it meets McAfee system requirements and that participation does not trigger any state or local contract or ethics restrictions, McAfee notes.
5. Cyber Insurance: The number of UK organizations without cybersecurity insurance has fallen, but only 38 of the organizations say their policy covers all risks, according to Ovum.
4. Talent - Risk Management: Continuity Logic, a provider of integrated business continuity and risk management solutions, has hired Philip Bigge as senior VP and manager of customer solutions, and David Mackas VP of enterprise business continuity risk.
3. SOC as a Service Imperative: The U.S. federal government is overhauling its Security Operations Center (SOC) strategy, and shifting aggressively to SOC as a Service. Clues about the overall strategy are here.
2. MSP Perspectives on Symantec Lifelock Bug: eMazzanti's Kent Sorensen is sharing three lessons from a recent LifeLock Bug that allowed a security researcher to easily obtain email addresses for millions of LifeLock customer.
1. MSSP Partner Program: OPAQ has joined Palo Alto Networks MSSP Partner Program. OPAQ offers network security as a service -- predictably, delivered as a cloud service. We'll share more details soon.
