Category: Network Security

Endace Packet Forensics Files: Episode #31

Original Entry by : Michael Morris

Michael talks to Kamal Khlefat, Product Manager, LinkShadow

By Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

Modernizing the SOC is one of the latest trends cyber security teams are undertaking to stay current and on a level playing field against today’s threat actors. Whether it is adapting to simply keep up with the volume of threats or implementing AI and ML technologies to find and prevent more sophisticated threat vectors SecOps need to improve and upgrade.

In this episode of the Endace Packet Forensic files, I talk with seasoned SOC Director, Kamal Khlefat, now Product Manager at LinkShadow, who shares his perspectives on the movement to modernize the SOC.

Kamal gives his insight into where most SOC teams are struggling and the gaps organizations have in their cybersecurity defenses. He shares some observations about what customers are doing to handle ever-increasing alert volumes and the fatigue analysts suffer in their relentless effort to investigate and troubleshoot every indicator of compromise. And, finally, Kamal highlights some of the differences he is seeing between various industry verticals like governments, financial, energy and retail.

Other episodes in the Secure Networks video/audio podcast series are available here.

Endace Packet Forensics Files: Episode #30

Original Entry by : Michael Morris

Michael talks to Tony Krzyzewski, Director of SAM for Compliance and Global Cyber Alliance Ambassador

By Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

In this episode of the Endace Packet Forensic files, I talk with Tony Krzyzewski, Director of SAM for Compliance, Global Cyber Alliance Ambassador, and New Zealand’s Convenor on the International Standards Organization SC27 Information Security, Cybersecurity and Privacy Protection Standards Committee.

With more than four decades working in IT and Networking, and almost three decades in cybersecurity, there are few more experienced practitioners than Tony. In this episode, Tony draws on his extensive experience to give some practical, pragmatic advice about where organizations need to focus to improve their cyber defenses. He highlights the importance of focusing on operational management processes for any cyber security program and reinforces the mantra I have been hearing from many CISOs about how the importance of regularly practising and performing “Security FireDrills”.

Tony talks about his long-time campaign to encourage organizations to adopt DMARC, “Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance” policies to improve protections against fraudulent email and phishing attacks.

Finally, Tony gives his perspective on the massive surge in SOAR and XDR solutions in the market and how that is impacting organizations’ security postures, and puts on his predictions hat as he talks about what to look out for in the year ahead.

Other episodes in the Secure Networks video/audio podcast series are available here.

Endace Packet Forensics Files: Episode #29

Original Entry by : Michael Morris

Michael talks to Tim Dales, VP Labs and Analyst, IT Brand Pulse

By Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

What is the “Total Cost of Ownership” for security teams to get absolute forensics with full packet capture?

In this episode of the Endace Packet Forensic files, I talk with Tim Dales, VP of Labs and Analyst for IT Brand Pulse. Tim shares the results of an IT Brand Pulse study that examines the cost of in-house developed packet capture solutions versus off-the-shelf, vendor-built solutions.

Tim shares details of the report’s findings including the pros and cons and some of the key things many people don’t consider before trying to build solutions in-house.

Finally, Tim discusses key changes in how organizations are thinking about their security architectures and the gaps they are looking to address. He shares the importance of integrated workflows in helping analysts to accelerate investigation times and confirm or dispense potential indicators of compromise more definitively.

Other episodes in the Secure Networks video/audio podcast series are available here.

Endace Packet Forensics Files: Episode #28

Original Entry by : Michael Morris

Michael talks to Tim Wade, Director, Office of the CTO, Vectra AI

By Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

Security Operations teams at many organizations are reviewing processes and tools as breaches continue to happen, investigation times remain too long, outcomes are uncertain, and too many alerts are going unaddressed. Organizations are asking, “why are we spending so much money on security without tangible results?” They are looking at “SOC Modernization” initiatives to help them defend effectively against increasingly sophisticated threat actors.

In this episode of the Endace Packet Forensic files I talk with Tim Wade, Technical Director from the Office of the CTO at Vectra.AI, who shares his insights into the “SOC Modernization” trend and three pillars that he suggests require a change in thinking to ultimately be successful.

Tim starts with a fundamental change in philosophy – he suggests SOC teams need to shift from a “prevention” to a “resiliency” approach to cyberdefense. He illustrates the importance of taking incremental and iterative steps with monthly and even weekly measurement and review cycles to evaluate progress.

Tim suggests SOC teams need to better understand the rules of the game so they can step back and actively work to break them – because that is exactly what our treat actor adversaries are doing every day. Challenge everything and think like your opponent.

Finally, Tim advises CISOs that modernization needs to address challenges holistically. Not just focusing on technologies, but also ensuring they are working on people and processes and gaps in training, communication, and thinking.

Other episodes in the Secure Networks video/audio podcast series are available here.

Endace Packet Forensics Files: Episode #27

Original Entry by : Michael Morris

Michael talks to Phillip Solakov, Client Solutions Director at Optiv

By Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, EndaceCyber security teams around the globe are embarking on a variety of “modernization” initiatives, as they try to keep up with the dynamic threat landscape, but what are the must-have elements if you are looking to modernize your SOC?

You won’t want to miss this episode of the Endace Packet Forensic files as I talk with Phillip Solakov, Client Solutions Director for Optiv Canada, as he shares his view of what “SOC Modernization” means and what’s driving these efforts.

Phillip explains some of the biggest issues SOC teams are facing and things they are working on to overcome these challenges. He drills into how alert fatigue is compounded with more detection tools, more telemetry and why it is becoming critical for more automation in SOC processes and tools.

Finally, Phillip highlights some things SOC teams are still missing with the continuously expanding attack surface, and he gives some examples of how these gaps can still be addressed with the right security architecture and mindset.

Other episodes in the Secure Networks video/audio podcast series are available here.

Endace Packet Forensics Files: Episode #26

Original Entry by : Michael Morris

Michael talks to Pavel Minarik, CTO of Kemp Technologies

By Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

Many organizations are undertaking SOC and NOC modernizations, but what does this mean and what is driving it?

If your company is planning a “modernization” you won’t want to miss this episode of the Endace Packet Forensic files as Pavel Minarik, CTO of Kemp Technologies, talks about what’s important and what is fueling the need to modernize.

Pavel gives his insights into some of the biggest challenges NOCs and SOCs are facing and shares some tips to help these separate teams work together and collaborate more.  He underscores why this is becoming more important with increasing network complexity, virtualization, and escalating threat attack vectors.

Finally, Pavel talks about why network traffic is such a foundational data source for both NoCs and SoCs and the pros and cons of flow-based monitoring vs full packet monitoring. He shares the best practices analysts are adopting to become improve investigation efficiency and reduce incident response times.

Other episodes in the Secure Networks video/audio podcast series are available here.

Endace Packet Forensics Files: Episode #25

Original Entry by : Michael Morris

Michael talks to David Ellis, VP Sales and Corporate Relations, SecureIQLab

By Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

How does an organization quantify its cybersecurity readiness and robustness?  What does a strong cybersecurity posture look like?  These are questions many CISO and SecOps analysts are trying to figure out so they can sleep at night knowing they are doing all they can to protect their organization’s cyber assets.

In this episode of the Endace Packet Forensic files, I talk with David Ellis, VP of Sales and Corporate Relations for SecureIQLab, who shares his insights into what the SecureIQLab team sees in their role as both a test lab and a security assessment consultancy.

David outlines the elements of a successful security team and what metrics SecOps should be monitoring to quantify their security posture.  He shares common vulnerabilities that he sees many organizations are still facing and the table-stakes that every security team should have in terms of tools, processes, and policies.

Finally, David talks about what frameworks and standards teams should be adopting and what the process for your organization might look like if you want to get into a security audit and assessment.

Other episodes in the Secure Networks video/audio podcast series are available here.

Endace Packet Forensics Files: Episode #24

Original Entry by : Michael Morris

Michael talks to Ajit Thyagarajan, Principal Security Architect for Cisco

By Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

The cybersecurity landscape is constantly changing with new Zero-Day Threats, double-extortion ransomware attacks and continuously evolving phishing techniques. The volume of threats and the pace of change are impacting the way SecOps teams operate and pushing them to find new ways to connect disparate data sources in order to automate processes and improve incident response times.

You won’t want to miss this episode of the Endace Packet Forensic files as I talk with Ajit Thyagarajan, Principal Security Architect for Cisco, who talks about the challenges security analysts are facing and shares his views and ideas on how to improve their day-to-day operation.

Ajit shares the concept of the Intelligent Telemetry Plane that he and his team at Cisco have been developing. He highlights the value of the provenance of telemetry data and how important bringing different data sources together is to staying ahead of threat actors.

Finally, Ajit shares some ideas about the types of challenges a common telemetry management platform can help solve and what to keep your eyes on over the year ahead when it comes to security threats and cyber defense.

Other episodes in the Secure Networks video/audio podcast series are available here.