When thinking about the recruiting landscape for 2016, my first thought is that it all depends on which side of the interview you are on. 2015 has shown the strongest demand for skillsets that ISACA members have (IT audit, governance, security and risk) that we have seen since 2005-2007, during the first years of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) compliance. Currently, conditions are extremely tough for hiring managers who are trying to lure top talent to their teams, and I do not expect this to change anytime soon.
Why the talent shortage? IT audit, governance, security and risk skillsets are an increasingly bright spot on the radar of organizational leaders. This is partly due to increasing regulatory and compliance requirements and high-profile data breaches, but also because of years of efforts to transform IT audit from a “necessary evil” to a value center.
Because of the increased understanding of the value IT risk and controls professionals provide, there has been a significant uptick in non-audit positions since 2012—especially IT risk and compliance roles. These “second line of defense” roles were gaining traction in 2007-2008, but funding in this space tightened (or just plain vanished) during the recession in the US. Now, in a steadily improving economy, budgets for these roles have replenished and the resulting demand has stretched a thin talent pool even thinner by recruiting heavily from IT audit groups.
Another factor is that some of the primary talent generators in our field, the “Big 4” and similar client service firms, made deep staffing cuts during the recession and also dramatically reduced hiring off college campuses from 2009-2012.
These factors have created rosy conditions for most IT professionals seeking new opportunities. Barring a significant global political or economic disturbance, I expect the strong demand in our space to extend at least through 2016.
I am often asked, “What are the top skills in demand?” That is a difficult question to answer for a constituency as diverse as ISACA’s, for example, which covers many disciplines in the IT controls world, ranging from the deeply technical to more general relationship management roles. Cyber security is the word on almost everyone’s lips right now. You can question whether or not cyber security is “new” or just the next iteration of complexity in technology assurance, but regardless, rebranding your skillset toward cyber security activities is a sound career strategy in the near term.
In the long term, whether you are focused on IT audit, governance, risk, compliance, or security, your success will depend on aptitude, attitude, and altitude. By aptitude, I mean your ability to continually learn and adapt quickly to technology and business developments in an increasingly complex and competitive business climate. By attitude, I mean approaching your work with dedication, resilience, optimism and empathy. By altitude, I mean seeing IT risks from the viewpoint of the C-suite, and communicating the impact of risks in business language to a variety of stakeholders.
So, how do you position yourself for continued success in 2016? You have heard the saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I say, “if it ain’t broke, do preventative maintenance.” Each of you probably knows at least one professional who learned a painful lesson during the recession. Many faced involuntarily unemployment for the first time, and were caught having allowed their skills to get stagnant. Now is the time to do preventative maintenance and to be proactive about future-proofing your skillset. Earn an additional certification. Seek out a mentor to help you determine three specific soft and hard skills for you to acquire or improve, and then put an action plan in place to achieve those goals.
Some people will read this and think, “I should do that,” but then it will get shuffled to the side, as life’s many professional and personal demands take a higher priority. I understand. I will leave you with this: I am optimistic that the steady climb in demand for the discussed IT skillsets will continue in 2016, but go ahead and plan your career as if it will not. Either way, you will be a winner.
Sit back and relax. Let us do the information gathering and give you the channel scoop.
We have 6-business days left in Q1. We have countless folks around the globe ready to help you maximize your Q1 close. If you still need help please email your question/request tonextwave@paloaltonetworks.com.
Need a little extra help getting your customer to upgrade from the PA-2000 Series to PA-3000 Series or from the PA-4000 Series to PA-5000 Series? Don’t forget we recently launched the Customer Care Upgrade Program, designed to provide an incentive to help fuel the conversion of our customer install base. Click here to learn more.
Customer success stories are key to accelerating the sales cycle. What if you could easily take a Palo Alto Networks customer testimonial to your next customer meeting? Now you can with our new prevention e-story, which allows you to see and hear from Palo Alto Networks customers. Click here to access the web version of our e-story or to be able to download the e-story to your smartphone or tablet via the Android or Apple App stores.
Looking for that key data point or research fact to help move your customer to close. Our2015Application Usage and Threat Report has new and compelling data. For example, over 40% of email attachments examined by WildFire were found to be malicious. Click hereto access the report and to learn more, including a quick 90 second summary video.
Need help convincing your customer that security is a top priority for today’s executive leadership? Click here to access the Governance of Cybersecurity Report for 2015infographic, which you can quickly share with your customers.
What topics you’d like the scoop on next? Let us know by commenting on this blog.
We modeled the Cybersecurity Canon after the Baseball or Rock & Roll Hall-of-Fame, except for cybersecurity books. We have more than 25 books on the initial candidate list, but we are soliciting help from the cybersecurity community to increase the number to be much more than that. Please write a review and nominate your favorite.
The Cybersecurity Canon is a real thing for our community. We have designed it so that you can directly participate in the process. Please do so!
Book Review by Canon Committee Member, Christina Ayiotis: Locked Down: Information Security for Lawyers (2013) by Sharon D. Nelson, David G. Ries, and John W. Simek
FULL DISCLOSURE: I have known Sharon and John personally and professionally for more than a decade and consider them good friends. We have participated together on panels, spoken at the same conferences, and served on committees and boards of directors together. We have similar areas of expertise and civic commitment.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Sharon, David and John published an important book on information security for lawyers and law firms three years ago. Given the number of law firm breaches since, it appears that few lawyers read or heeded their advice. Locked Down is an easy-to-read overview of why lawyers need to implement good information security, not just cybersecurity, and how. It is even more relevant today than when first published. This book belongs in the Cybersecurity Canonbecause it provides cybersecurity professionals context regarding the legal profession’s requirements and strategies for dealing with cyber and information risk and obligations.
Introduction
Cybersecurity is such an important topic in the legal field that lawyers are starting to pay actual money to be a part of a brand-new Legal Services Information Sharing & Analysis Organization (sold to them by the FS-ISAC) [1]. While my fellow Cybersecurity Canon Committee member Ben Rothke wrote an Amazon review of this book in May 2013 [2], he did so from a Cybersecurity/IT professional’s perspective. My review will primarily be from the perspective of a Cyber Attorney, former Deputy General Counsel of a technology services multinational, Privacy Expert, Certified Records Manager and active member in good standing of the Virginia State Bar for 24 years.
REVIEW
When Locked Down was published, the American Bar Association (a private sector voluntary professional association with no lawmaking power or regulatory authority that relies on the
State Bars as an independent enforcement organization ) was still considering updates to its Model Rules of Professional Conduct that would bring them into the 21st Century. While those updates are now in effect, and they include being competent regarding the “benefits and risks associated with relevant technology,” there is little evidence that the more than one million lawyers in the U.S. have sufficiently educated themselves to be considered competent. Reading this book would be a good start. Then, taking it to their IT colleagues (or consultants, if they are solo or a small firm) and working together to understand how the various strategies are (or could be) implemented would be the next logical step.
While the book starts with “data breach nightmares,” it’s probably no longer necessary to start with fear. Information security is now a business imperative for clients, and they drive the requirements (most of which are conveniently explained). While it is 319 pages in total, the text runs only 170 pages; the rest of the book contains helpful Appendices and an Index.
Yes, lawyers have ethical obligations to keep client information confidential, but there are common law duties, as well as regulatory/statutory requirements for certain data types (that affect both lawyers and clients alike) and the authors provide that as background. The book then delves into all aspects of security (physical, information, cyber and personnel) and use real case studies to make their point. For example, the authors recount the horrifying and “amusing” story about Kevin Mitnick taking on a new identity as Eric Weiss, “the real name…of…Harry Houdini (sic)” to get a job as a systems administrator at a Denver law firm. Ironically, there has been an explosion of cybersecurity practices at law firms in the last few years—the shoemaker’s children excuse will definitely not work for them. It would not surprise me to see a day when a law firm is sued by a client because of a data breach and Locked Down is entered into evidence to demonstrate the “reasonable care” law firms should be taking with respect to security.
“Two lawyers and an IT expert” sounds like the beginning of a good joke, but it is the unique blend of perspectives and expertise the authors bring that makes the book so readable. A SANS Institute Glossary of Security Terms is conveniently located in Appendix M, so lawyers unfamiliar with such terms can easily look them up. Topics such as authentication, secure configuration, virtual private networking (VPN) should be part of every lawyer’s lexicon, if for no other reason than their clients have the exact same issues protecting information in their own environments.
Advice regarding securing desktops, laptops, mobile devices, email, voice communications, etc. are all general business issues that all professionals should be aware of. Outsourcing and cloud computing are even more prevalent today and managing that third-party risk is not just an ethical duty but also a business requirement; the authors’ recommendations in that regard are critical. It’s also important for law firms to acknowledge that clients consider them to be third-party vendors that must similarly meet baseline security requirements. Appendix H: “Lockdown: Information Security Program Checklist” is an excellent starting point.
The Certified Records Manager in me applauds the inclusion of Chapter 13: “Secure Disposal” and the authors get extra points for citing a relevant NIST standard. While the book focuses on information security, it is important to recognize that end-to-end information management (for both client and law firm information) is the goal (to mitigate risk and reduce costs). Chapter 15: “Securing Documents” is particularly important for lawyers because legal advice provided within documents and relevant communications channels must be kept secret in order to be protected by the attorney-client privilege (not to mention the requirements for trade secrets). There is also an important discussion regarding metadata (from both operating systems and applications perspectives) – not surprising given Sharon and John (along with Bruce A. Olsen) wrote The Electronic Evidence and Discovery Handbook: Forms, Checklists and Guidelines.
They cover cyberinsurance but caution that policies are confusing and care must be taken to understand what exactly is covered (and what is not). They end the book looking at “The Future of Information Security” and readers should beware that the topics covered (laws and regulations, BYOD, passwords, policies and plans, mobility, cloud computing, social media, and training) are all everyday issues now.
CONCLUSION
Given how quickly technology evolves, in the next edition of Locked Down the authors will likely have to add sections on wearables, biometrics as part of multifactor authentication, quantum encryption, virtual law practices, etc., but lawyers should feel comfortable knowing that mastering what’s in this book puts them in a defensible position. Furthermore, good information security is now a business differentiator. Law firms that implement all of the book’s recommendations can use their superior cybersecurity standing when marketing their services. [3] They can even give clients a copy of Locked Down for their own use (and no, I’m not getting paid a commission on book sales).
SOURCES
[1] “Legal Services Information Sharing & Analysis Organization,” by the FS-ISAC, Last Visited 21 October 2015, http://www.fsisac.com/ls-isao
Frost & Sullivan recently named Palo Alto Networks the recipient for Asia Pacific Technology Innovation Leadership Award for Security.
Held annually in Singapore, the Awards program recognizes best-in-class companies in Asia Pacific. This program has identified many outstanding companies from the automotive, energy, building & environment industries to the healthcare, information communication technologies and logistics sectors in the region.
Palo Alto Networks achievement was evaluated based on market performance indicators and research conducted by Frost & Sullivan’s analysts.
KP Unnikrishan, Marketing Director, Asia Pacific & Japan for Palo Alto Networks was present at the Award ceremony. Do check out some of the photos from the event below!
(Left) Vivek Vaidya, Vice President, Frost & Sullivan presenting the award to KP Unnikrishnan, Marketing Director, Asia Pacific & Japan for Palo Alto Networks (right).
Mobile app creators are often looking for ways to monetize their software. One of the most common ways to do this is by displaying advertisements to users or by offering in-app purchases (IAPs). Mobile monetization platforms create software libraries that authors can embed into their apps to start earning money quickly. We previously highlighted the dangers of installing apps that enable IAPs using SMS messages, as these apps typically have access to all SMS messages sent to the phone.
While not all SMS-based IAP applications steal user data, we recently identified that the Chinese Taomike SDK has begun capturing copies of all messages received by the phone and sending them to a Taomike controlled server. Since August 1, Palo Alto Networks WildFire has captured over 18,000 Android apps that contain this library. These apps are not hosted inside the Google Play store, but are distributed via third party distribution mechanisms in China.
Background
WildFire captures many samples of mobile malware that intercept and upload SMS messages. Most of these are created by malware authors who set up command and control (C2) servers with third party hosting providers and frequently update their locations to avoid detection.
Among these malware we have found many that are created by “mobile monetization” companies who distribute apps that provide little value but have a high cost to the user. These apps are often installed by tricking users into clicking a pop-up, only to find later that a charge has appeared on their phone bill. Antivirus programs typically identify these apps as malware, the topic of this blog is something different and harder to detect.
Taomike is a Chinese company that aims to become the biggest mobile advertisement solution platform in China. They provide an SDK and services to help developers display rich advertisements with a high pay rate. Taomike has not previously been associated with malicious activity, but a recent update to their software added SMS theft functionality. The apps this library is embedded in may be legitimate and have significant functionality, but their developer’s choice to use this library has put them at risk.
Technical Details: SMS Theft
Not all apps that use the Taomike library steal SMS messages. Our analysis indicates that only samples that contain the embedded URL, hxxp://112.126.69.51/2c.php have this functionality. This is the URL to which the software uploads SMS messages, and the IP address belongs to the Taomike API server used by other Taomike services. We have captured around 63,000 Android apps in WildFire that include the Taomike library but only around 18,000 include the SMS theft functionality.
We believe there are different versions of the Taomike SDK and only some of them include SMS uploading behavior. Based on our data, the version that contains the SMS stealing functions is newer and was released around August 2015. Apps that use earlier versions of the library appear to be safe.
The Taomike library is called “zdtpay” and is a component of Taomike’s IAP system.
Because Android apps are required to list the permissions they need in their manifest file, we can see that this library requires both SMS and network related permissions. The library also registers a receiver named com.zdtpay.Rf2b for both the SMS_RECEIVED and BOOT_COMPLETED actions with highest priority of 2147483647.
Figure 1. Registered receiver for SMS_RECEIVED
The registered receiver Rf2b reads SMS messages whenever they arrive. The message body and sender phone number are collected as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. SMS body and sender number read
If the device has just booted, it will start the service MySd2e, which then registers a receiver for Rf2b as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. MySd2e Service registers receiver for Rf2b
SMS information collected by the receiver is saved in a hashmap with “other” as the key and sent to a method that uploads the message to 112.126.69.51 as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Information uploaded to IP Address used by api.taomike.com
All SMS messages sent to the phone are uploaded, not just those that are relevant to Taomike’s platform. Figure 5 shows a packet capture of a test message upload. The message content is “hey test msg” as circled with dashed red box.
Figure 5. SMS uploaded via HTTP in pcap
The Taomike library makes contact with the following URLs, but only the “2c.php” path is used to capture SMS messages. The rest appear to be used for other parts of the IAP functionality in the library.
We have captured over 18,000 samples that contain the SMS stealing library since August 2015, meaning the number of affected users is considerable. We expect the number of affected apps and users to increase as more developers incorporate the newer version of Taomike library.
The infected apps are not limited to a single developer or third party store as many developers appear use the Taomike library. Some of the infected apps purport to contain or display adult content.
We do not know how Taomike is using the stolen SMS messages, but no library should capture all messages and send them to a system outside the phone. In version 4.4 of Android (KitKat) Google began preventing apps from capturing SMS messages unless they were defined as the “default” SMS app.
Users outside of China and those that only download apps from the official Google Play store are not at risk from this threat.
To protect Palo Alto Networks customers from the Taomike SMS stealer, we’ve made the following protections available:
Palo Alto Networks WildFire will automatically identify and block malicious APK samples containing the SMS stealing Library
Threat Prevention signature 14798 will detect and block the malicious C2 communication, including the SMS upload traffic from Taomike library
Palo Alto Networks AutoFocus users can identify and investigate this threat using theTaomike tag
Conclusion
Even popular third party monetization platforms are not always trustworthy. When developers incorporate the libraries into their apps they need to carefully test them and monitor for any abnormal activities. Identifying monetization and advertising platforms that behave poorly and abuse their users is something that our industry must to do ensure the safety of all mobile devices and their users.
Acknowledgement:
We greatly appreciate the help from Rongbo Shao from Palo Alto Networks in working on the Threat Prevention signature. We would also like to thank Ryan Olson, Benjamin Small, Richar Wartell, and Chris Clark from Palo Alto networks in publishing the discovery.
