Category: Packet Forensics Files

Endace Packet Forensics Files: Episode #33

Original Entry by : Michael Morris

Michael talks to NIST Fellow, Ron Ross

By Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

The dynamic nature and complexity of many organizations’ cyber infrastructure makes it hard enough to keep it running and performing, let alone to maintain the highest levels of security to protect your IP and data.  But do you know what the highest level of security standards are?

In this episode of the Endace Packet Forensic files I talk with NIST Fellow, Ron Ross, who shares how cyber security standards are evolving to keep pace with new threats and challenges. Ron highlights where he sees most organizations falling short and the highest priorities they should be addressing. He shares some insights into new standards and recommendations for protecting operational technologies which are becoming an attractive target for threat actors.

Finally, Ron talks about the need to move from a mindset of “prevention” to building “resiliency” into your security architecture to stay ahead of cyberthreats.

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

Endace Packet Forensics Files: Episode #32

Original Entry by : Michael Morris

Michael talks to Merritt Baer, Principal in the Office of the CISO at AWS

By Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

Is your organization trying to implement enterprise level security at scale and you’re not sure where to focus?

In this episode of the Endace Packet Forensic files I talk with Merritt Baer, Principal in the Office of the CISO at AWS, who shares her experience in how to design and build robust, dynamic security at scale. Merritt discusses what security at scale looks like, some of the things that are often missed, and how to protect rapidly evolving hybrid cloud infrastructures.  She highlights some common pitfalls that organizations run into as they shift workloads to cloud providers and how to pivot your SOC teams and tools to ensure you have robust security forensics in place.

Finally, Merritt examines how adopting SOAR platforms can help, and things you can do to prevent gaps and breakdowns in your security posture.

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

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.