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Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) News: 29 January 2018

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 lineup for Monday, January 29, 2018:

13. Gartner Magic Quadrant: The 2018 Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms is here, along with our channel- and MSSP-related analysis.

12. Russia & The U.S. Presidential Election: Dutch domestic intelligence service AIVD had access to the infamous Russian hacking group Cozy Bear for at least a year starting in mid-2014, according to reports. In fact, the Dutch government alerted the United States to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections after Netherlands-based officials watched the hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and other operations by the Russians, including a 2014 State Department hack, The Washington Post reports.

11. National Security & 5G Networks: President Donald Trump’s national security team is looking at options to counter the threat of China spying on U.S. phone calls that include the government building a super-fast 5G wireless network, Reuters reports.

10. Microsoft Spectre Update: Microsoft has released a Windows update that disables previous Spectre fixes. The update comes amid Intel's continued struggles to properly mitigate the Meltdown and Spectre security vulnerabilities.

9. Intel Taking More Heat: In initial disclosures about Meltdown and Spectre security vulnerabilities, Intel notified a small group of customers, including Chinese technology companies like Lenovo, but left out the U.S. government, according to The Wall Street Journal. That approach has raised red flags in Washington, where politicians remain wary of foreign technology companies that may work for foreign governments...

8. Quiet Financial Exit: Shlomo Kramer, co-founder of cybersecurity company Imperva Inc., has sold his entire stake in the company, according to CTech. According to SEC filings, last year Mr. Kramer had around 2 million shares, 1.3 owned privately by him and some 800,000 owned through investment holding company Hapri Ltd., of which he is a director, CTech says. Together, Mr. Kramer had a 6.8% stake in the company. As Imperva's price per share ranged between $40 and $50 in 2017, Mr. Karmer's stake would have netted him some $90 million, the report suggests. Imperva has been on a roller coaster ride the past couple of years, including a recent "streamlining effort" -- which is typically code for layoffs and cost cuts...

7. ATM Jackpotting: ATM makers are warning customers about so-called Jackpotting hacks -- which make ATMs spit out cash like a classic Las Vegas slot machine. We'll share more details soon.

6. Massive Crypto Refund: Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck says it will return about 46.3 billion yen ($425 million) of the virtual money it lost to hackers last week ago in one of the biggest-ever thefts of digital money, Reuters reports.

5. $1 Million Phishing Attack Averted:  The Harris County Auditor's Office in Texas nearly suffered an $888,000 phishing attack in September 2017, according to GovTech. After falling for a fraudulent email, county officials scrambled and successfully recovered the money, the report says...

4. Identity & Access Management: 67 percent of consumers are comfortable using biometric authentication today, while 87 percent say they'll be comfortable with these technologies in the future, according to a recent IBM Security study...

3. Funding: The UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity (CLTC) has confirmed 37 different groups will share a total of over $1 million in funding to support a broad range of initiatives related to cybersecurity and other emerging issues at the intersection of technology and society.

2. Apparent M&ANavigant Consulting, a professional services firm, apparently has acquired assets and/or talent from Comprehensive Applied Security Solutions -- also known as COMPASS Cyber Security. COMPASS is a Baltimore-based firm that provides cyber risk consulting and technical security services to academic, federal government, nonprofit, and commercial clients. The COMPASS cybersecurity team has joined Navigant's cyber risk and information security practice, according to a press release that stopped short of calling the deal a merger or acquisition...

1. Check Point Conference: We're set to blog live next week at CPX 360 - the Check Point Software Cybersecurity Summit & Expo in Las Vegas. If you're attending and would like to potentially meet please email me ([email protected]).

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.