Content

Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) Morning News: 18 July 2017

Each morning MSSP Alert broadcasts a quick lineup of news, analysis and chatter from across the global managed security services provider ecosystem.

Here’s the lineup for Tuesday, July 18, 2017:

9. Hacker Theft?: CoinDash, a blockchain technology startup that bills itself as a social-trading platform, said that its website was hacked Monday and $7 million was stolen from investors trying to participate in the company’s initial coin offering, Bloomberg reported.

8. Hacker Prosecution: A Lithuanian court has approved the extradition of Evaldas Rimasauskas to the United States, where he will face charges of allegedly swindling $100 million (87 million euros) from tech giants Google and Facebook, Daily Sabah Europe reported.

7. Britain and Kaspersky Lab: Britain's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said on Tuesday it had never certified products from Russian cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab, according to Reuters. The NCSC is part of Britain's GCHQ eavesdropping security agency, according to the report. It's unclear if the statement means Britain's government doesn't leverage Kaspersky products. The United States recently removed Kaspersky's products from a list of products approved for federal government use. The move came amid alleged ties between Kaspersky and Russia's government. The security company has repeatedly denied such claims.

6. Amazon Alexa Privacy: Amazon.com is mulling a far-reaching policy change that would give Alexa developers access to raw transcripts of what people say when using Alexa applications, according to The Information. It comes as the market for voice-activated speakers and digital assistants is getting more crowded, spotlighting the value of signing up developers for new apps.

5. Cybersecurity Investors: Evolution Equity Partners, led by a group of former executives and investors from  AVG Technologies has raised an additional $55 million for their fund that invests in cyber security companies, Reuters reported. Evolution Equity Partners, which raised $70 million in its first funding round in 2015, is looking to bulk up its portfolio at a time when cyber attacks and hacks worldwide are surging, the report said.

4. AWS Database Leaks: Dow Jones & Co. is the latest company to misconfigure an Amazon Web Services cloud account, leaving customer information wide open for anyone to copy or steal. Similar customer leaks involving misconfigured AWS cloud accounts involved Verizon, WWE and a major U.S. Republican party database.

3. Security Operations Center (SOC) Technology: Awake Networks has emerged from stealth mode with an analytics product that parses network traffic and builds behavioral models of the activity within organizations, Fortune says. The tech is designed to be used within security operations centers, where companies manage their digital defenses, to help alert-fatigued teams more readily identify, investigate, and hunt for threats, the report adds. Awake's team, led by CEO Michael Callahan, includes veterans of Cylance, HP Enterprise, FireEye, McAfee, RSA, VMware.

2. Endpoint Security Solution Reality Check: Two independent security experts are set to take a close look at the endpoint security market during the Black Hat USA 2017 conference. In fact, over the past five months they have tested more than 30,000 pieces of malware to exactly how next-generation AV and EDR stand up to the threats. Results will surface on Thursday, July 27, during this session at Black Hat...

1. World's Oldest MSSP?:  Dunbar Armored, founded in 1923 as an armored services and cash management company, continues to push deeper into the managed security services market. The company has embraced security and communications services from OneStream Networks, which specializes in SIP trunking, SD-WAN, unified communications, contact center and security service.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.