Tag: Protect

Clock displays time of day.  Time is invisible and exists virtually.  Everyone of us has the same amount of time, no matter you're rich or not.  You can't save up time for later use, borrow time from others, nor go back in time. Everything in this universe is influenced by time - living individual getting aged, machines getting wear and tear, cutoff point in trading like stock, FX or bidding, project deadline, return of investment, interests etc.  Time is also regarded as the 4th dimension. In cyber world, time has its own unique characteristics.  In central computing like mainframe, time signal orchestrates tasks coordination across components - data fetched from storage via data bus to processor for manipulation then sent to next destination.  In decentralized computing with networked computers, time stamps the sequence of system events for trouble shooting and digital forensic. It is therefore important to maintain the clock synchronization in the network.  There are various considerations: Clock source: National lab, or...

In physical world, it is beautiful scenery.  In cyber world, Aurora vulnerability refers cyber attack resulting into damage of physical components (the generator) in the electric grid. When the threat actor is able to reach the control network, repeatedly sending command for rapidly open and close a generator's circuit breakers out of phase will cause it explode. For such critical asset with severe consequence when failed, necessary cybersecurity controls shall include but not limited to these measures: Incorporate security at design stage Isolate automation components from external connections Zone components within control system network Apply least privilege principle Control physical access to critical asset Conduct regular cyber maintenance (protection updates Validate incident detection and respond readiness Equip support personnel skill set Execute periodic assessment for assurance Refresh end of life components Manage insider threat ...

Certain hotels provide safe for customers storing valuables during their stay. It is somewhat physically robust from brute force opening the door.  The door is locked with customer chosen numeric digits each time when closing.  This code will then be used to open the safe.  There are lots of articles shared in the Internet how to bypass the codes to open the safe door. In summary, lessons learned from these articles are: Improper configuration (default master access code unchanged) Lack of physical protection (because it is accessible semi-public to explore tampering opportunity; drop at a moderate height will open the door after flipping the lock handle several times) Likely come with factory console port as backdoor but intention is for good purpose to help customer unlock safe due to forgotten code The safe there is better than none but customer should be advised to use at own risk.  The latter clause shall be posted in conjunction with the safe usage instructions to disclaim...

The key difference between physical and cyber perimeters is visibility. To augment physical perimeter limitations, surveillance cameras (probably with video analytic to detect intruder) and guard patrol are required. For cyber perimeter, threat actors need to understand what are behind the Internet-facing entry point (web, remote login etc.) in order to reach the internal cyber assets.  Their first step is to conduct reconnaissance.  See Lockheed Martin, the Cyber Kill Chain® framework. Organizations nowadays must have a web presence in doing business.  The hard part is to minimize the cyber footprint.  It's a matter how well the Internet-facing entry points are configured per best practices (least privileges, exclusion from search engine, scrutinize data input, enforce server-side logic etc.) and sustaining the protection (security patches, version upgrade, hot fixes etc.).  Further, regular validation via black box, white box penetration tests are necessary for assurance....