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IT Service Management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">IT service management (ITSM)</span> is the process of designing, delivering, managing, and improving the IT services an organization provides to its end users. ITSM is focused on aligning IT processes and services with business objectives to help an organization grow.\r\nITSM positions IT services as the key means of delivering and obtaining value, where an internal or external IT service provider works with business customers, at the same time taking responsibility for the associated costs and risks. ITSM works across the whole lifecycle of a service, from the original strategy, through design, transition and into live operation.\r\nTo ensure sustainable quality of IT services, ITSM establishes a set of practices, or processes, constituting a service management system. There are industrial, national and international standards for IT service management solutions, setting up requirements and good practices for the management system. \r\nITSM system is based on a set of principles, such as focusing on value and continual improvement. It is not just a set of processes – it is a cultural mindset to ensure that the desired outcome for the business is achieved. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library)</span> is a framework of best practices and recommendations for managing an organization's IT operations and services. IT service management processes, when built based on the ITIL framework, pave the way for better IT service operations management and improved business. To summarize, ITIL is a set of guidelines for effective IT service management best practices. ITIL has evolved beyond the delivery of services to providing end-to-end value delivery. The focus is now on the co-creation of value through service relationships. \r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ITSM processes typically include five stages, all based on the ITIL framework:</span></p>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ITSM strategy.</span> This stage forms the foundation or the framework of an organization's ITSM process building. It involves defining the services that the organization will offer, strategically planning processes, and recognizing and developing the required assets to keep processes moving. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Service design.</span> This stage's main aim is planning and designing the IT services the organization offers to meet business demands. It involves creating and designing new services as well as assessing current services and making relevant improvements.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Service transition.</span> Once the designs for IT services and their processes have been finalized, it's important to build them and test them out to ensure that processes flow. IT teams need to ensure that the designs don't disrupt services in any way, especially when existing IT service processes are upgraded or redesigned. This calls for change management, evaluation, and risk management. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Service operation. </span>This phase involves implementing the tried and tested new or modified designs in a live environment. While in this stage, the processes have already been tested and the issues fixed, but new processes are bound to have hiccups—especially when customers start using the services. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Continual service improvement (CSI).</span> Implementing IT processes successfully shouldn't be the final stage in any organization. There's always room for improvement and new development based on issues that pop up, customer needs and demands, and user feedback.\r\n\r\n","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\">Benefits of efficient ITSM processes</h1>\r\nIrrespective of the size of business, every organization is involved in IT service management in some way. ITSM ensures that incidents, service requests, problems, changes, and IT assets—in addition to other aspects of IT services—are managed in a streamlined way.\r\nIT teams in your organization can employ various workflows and best practices in ITSM, as outlined in ITIL. Effective IT service management can have positive effects on an IT organization's overall function.\r\nHere are the 10 key benefits of ITSM:\r\n<ul><li> Lower costs for IT operations</li><li> Higher returns on IT investments</li><li> Minimal service outages</li><li> Ability to establish well-defined, repeatable, and manageable IT processes</li><li> Efficient analysis of IT problems to reduce repeat incidents</li><li> Improved efficiency of IT help desk teams</li><li> Well-defined roles and responsibilities</li><li> Clear expectations on service levels and service availability</li><li> Risk-free implementation of IT changes</li><li> Better transparency into IT processes and services</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">How to choose an ITSM tool?</h1>\r\nWith a competent IT service management goal in mind, it's important to invest in a service desk solution that caters to your business needs. It goes without saying, with more than 150 service desk tools to choose from, selecting the right one is easier said than done. Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing an ITSM products:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Identify key processes and their dependencies. </span>Based on business goals, decide which key ITSM processes need to be implemented and chart out the integrations that need to be established to achieve those goals. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Consult with ITSM experts.</span> Participate in business expos, webinars, demos, etc., and educate yourself about the various options that are available in the market. Reports from expert analysts such as Gartner and Forrester are particularly useful as they include reviews of almost every solution, ranked based on multiple criteria.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Choose a deployment option.</span> Every business has a different IT infrastructure model. Selecting an on-premises or software as a service (SaaS IT service management) tool depends on whether your business prefers to host its applications and data on its own servers or use a public or private cloud.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Plan ahead for the future.</span> Although it's important to consider the "needs" primarily, you shouldn't rule out the secondary or luxury capabilities. If the ITSM tool doesn't have the potential to adapt to your needs as your organization grows, it can pull you back from progressing. Draw a clear picture of where your business is headed and choose an service ITSM that is flexible and technology-driven.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Don't stop with the capabilities of the ITSM tool.</span> It might be tempting to assess an ITSM tool based on its capabilities and features but it's important to evaluate the vendor of the tool. A good IT support team, and a vendor that is endorsed for their customer-vendor relationship can take your IT services far. Check Gartner's magic quadrant and other analyst reports, along with product and support reviews to ensure that the said tool provides good customer support.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_ITSM.png","alias":"itsm-it-service-management"},"52":{"id":52,"title":"SaaS - software as a service","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Software as a service (SaaS)</span> is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. It is sometimes referred to as "on-demand software", and was formerly referred to as "software plus services" by Microsoft.\r\n SaaS services is typically accessed by users using a thin client, e.g. via a web browser. SaaS software solutions has become a common delivery model for many business applications, including office software, messaging software, payroll processing software, DBMS software, management software, CAD software, development software, gamification, virtualization, accounting, collaboration, customer relationship management (CRM), Management Information Systems (MIS), enterprise resource planning (ERP), invoicing, human resource management (HRM), talent acquisition, learning management systems, content management (CM), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and service desk management. SaaS has been incorporated into the strategy of nearly all leading enterprise software companies.\r\nSaaS applications are also known as <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Web-based software</span>, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">on-demand software</span> and<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> hosted software</span>.\r\nThe term "Software as a Service" (SaaS) is considered to be part of the nomenclature of cloud computing, along with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Desktop as a Service (DaaS),managed software as a service (MSaaS), mobile backend as a service (MBaaS), and information technology management as a service (ITMaaS).\r\nBecause SaaS is based on cloud computing it saves organizations from installing and running applications on their own systems. That eliminates or at least reduces the associated costs of hardware purchases and maintenance and of software and support. The initial setup cost for a SaaS application is also generally lower than it for equivalent enterprise software purchased via a site license.\r\nSometimes, the use of SaaS cloud software can also reduce the long-term costs of software licensing, though that depends on the pricing model for the individual SaaS offering and the enterprise’s usage patterns. In fact, it’s possible for SaaS to cost more than traditional software licenses. This is an area IT organizations should explore carefully.<br />SaaS also provides enterprises the flexibility inherent with cloud services: they can subscribe to a SaaS offering as needed rather than having to buy software licenses and install the software on a variety of computers. The savings can be substantial in the case of applications that require new hardware purchases to support the software.<br /><br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Who uses SaaS?</span></h1>\r\nIndustry analyst Forrester Research notes that SaaS adoption has so far been concentrated mostly in human resource management (HRM), customer relationship management (CRM), collaboration software (e.g., email), and procurement solutions, but is poised to widen. Today it’s possible to have a data warehouse in the cloud that you can access with business intelligence software running as a service and connect to your cloud-based ERP like NetSuite or Microsoft Dynamics.The dollar savings can run into the millions. And SaaS installations are often installed and working in a fraction of the time of on-premises deployments—some can be ready in hours. \r\nSales and marketing people are likely familiar with Salesforce.com, the leading SaaS CRM software, with millions of users across more than 100,000 customers. Sales is going SaaS too, with apps available to support sales in order management, compensation, quote production and configure, price, quoting, electronic signatures, contract management and more.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why SaaS? Benefits of software as a service</span></h1>\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lower cost of entry</span>. With SaaS solution, you pay for what you need, without having to buy hardware to host your new applications. Instead of provisioning internal resources to install the software, the vendor provides APIs and performs much of the work to get their software working for you. The time to a working solution can drop from months in the traditional model to weeks, days or hours with the SaaS model. In some businesses, IT wants nothing to do with installing and running a sales app. In the case of funding software and its implementation, this can be a make-or-break issue for the sales and marketing budget, so the lower cost really makes the difference.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reduced time to benefit/rapid prototyping</span>. In the SaaS model, the software application is already installed and configured. Users can provision the server for the cloud and quickly have the application ready for use. This cuts the time to benefit and allows for rapid demonstrations and prototyping. With many SaaS companies offering free trials, this means a painless proof of concept and discovery phase to prove the benefit to the organization. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Pay as you go</span>. SaaS business software gives you the benefit of predictable costs both for the subscription and to some extent, the administration. Even as you scale, you can have a clear idea of what your costs will be. This allows for much more accurate budgeting, especially as compared to the costs of internal IT to manage upgrades and address issues for an owned instance.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The SaaS vendor is responsible for upgrades, uptime and security</span>. Under the SaaS model, since the software is hosted by the vendor, they take on the responsibility for maintaining the software and upgrading it, ensuring that it is reliable and meeting agreed-upon service level agreements, and keeping the application and its data secure. While some IT people worry about Software as a Service security outside of the enterprise walls, the likely truth is that the vendor has a much higher level of security than the enterprise itself would provide. Many will have redundant instances in very secure data centers in multiple geographies. Also, the data is being automatically backed up by the vendor, providing additional security and peace of mind. Because of the data center hosting, you’re getting the added benefit of at least some disaster recovery. Lastly, the vendor manages these issues as part of their core competencies—let them.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Integration and scalability.</span> Most SaaS apps are designed to support some amount of customization for the way you do business. SaaS vendors create APIs to allow connections not only to internal applications like ERPs or CRMs but also to other SaaS providers. One of the terrific aspects of integration is that orders written in the field can be automatically sent to the ERP. Now a salesperson in the field can check inventory through the catalog, write the order in front of the customer for approval, send it and receive confirmation, all in minutes. And as you scale with a SaaS vendor, there’s no need to invest in server capacity and software licenses. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Work anywhere</span>. Since the software is hosted in the cloud and accessible over the internet, users can access it via mobile devices wherever they are connected. This includes checking customer order histories prior to a sales call, as well as having access to real time data and real time order taking with the customer.</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"> </p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/SaaS__1_.png","alias":"saas-software-as-a-service"},"79":{"id":79,"title":"VM - Vulnerability management","description":"Vulnerability management is the "cyclical practice of identifying, classifying, prioritizing, remediating and mitigating" software vulnerabilities. Vulnerability management is integral to computer security and network security, and must not be confused with a Vulnerability assessment.\r\nVulnerability management is an ongoing process that includes proactive asset discovery, continuous monitoring, mitigation, remediation and defense tactics to protect your organization's modern IT attack surface from Cyber Exposure.\r\nVulnerabilities can be discovered with a vulnerability scanner, which analyzes a computer system in search of known vulnerabilities, such as open ports, insecure software configurations, and susceptibility to malware infections. They may also be identified by consulting public sources, such as NVD, or subscribing to a commercial vulnerability alerting services. Unknown vulnerabilities, such as a zero-day, may be found with fuzz testing, which can identify certain kinds of vulnerabilities, such as a buffer overflow with relevant test cases. Such analysis can be facilitated by test automation. In addition, antivirus software capable of heuristic analysis may discover undocumented malware if it finds software behaving suspiciously (such as attempting to overwrite a system file).\r\nCorrecting vulnerabilities may variously involve the installation of a patch, a change in network security policy, reconfiguration of software, or educating users about social engineering.\r\nNetwork vulnerabilities represent security gaps that could be abused by attackers to damage network assets, trigger a denial of service, and/or steal potentially sensitive information. Attackers are constantly looking for new vulnerabilities to exploit — and taking advantage of old vulnerabilities that may have gone unpatched.\r\nHaving a vulnerability management framework in place that regularly checks for new vulnerabilities is crucial for preventing cybersecurity breaches. Without a vulnerability testing and patch management system, old security gaps may be left on the network for extended periods of time. This gives attackers more of an opportunity to exploit vulnerabilities and carry out their attacks.\r\nOne statistic that highlights how crucial vulnerability management was featured in an Infosecurity Magazine article. According to survey data cited in the article, of the organizations that “suffered a breach, almost 60% were due to an unpatched vulnerability.” In other words, nearly 60% of the data breaches suffered by survey respondents could have been easily prevented simply by having a vulnerability management plan that would apply critical patches before attackers leveraged the vulnerability.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is vulnerability management?</span>\r\nVulnerability management is a pro-active approach to managing network security by reducing the likelihood that flaws in code or design compromise the security of an endpoint or network.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What processes does vulnerability management include?</span>\r\nVulnerability management processes include:\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Checking for vulnerabilities:</span> This process should include regular network scanning, firewall logging, penetration testing or use of an automated tool like a vulnerability scanner.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Identifying vulnerabilities:</span> This involves analyzing network scans and pen test results, firewall logs or vulnerability scan results to find anomalies that suggest a malware attack or other malicious event has taken advantage of a security vulnerability, or could possibly do so.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Verifying vulnerabilities:</span> This process includes ascertaining whether the identified vulnerabilities could actually be exploited on servers, applications, networks or other systems. This also includes classifying the severity of a vulnerability and the level of risk it presents to the organization.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Mitigating vulnerabilities:</span> This is the process of figuring out how to prevent vulnerabilities from being exploited before a patch is available, or in the event that there is no patch. It can involve taking the affected part of the system off-line (if it's non-critical), or various other workarounds.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Patching vulnerabilities:</span> This is the process of getting patches -- usually from the vendors of the affected software or hardware -- and applying them to all the affected areas in a timely way. This is sometimes an automated process, done with patch management tools. This step also includes patch testing.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/VM_-_Vulnerability_management1.png","alias":"vm-vulnerability-management"},"204":{"id":204,"title":"Managed Detection and Response","description":" MDR, which stands for Managed Detection & Response, is an all-encompassing threat detection system, which arose from the need for small/medium-sized organizations who lack resources to be able to monitor their network systems in-house. It provides a cost-effective alternative to SIEM (Security Information and Event Management).\r\nEveryday, the capabilities of attackers get more sophisticated and the volume of alerts becomes overwhelming and unmanageable. In-house teams might struggle to analyze and log data, which makes it harder than ever to determine if these threats are harmful. MDR can put a stop to attacks before they even happen. MDR technology monitors your systems and detects any unusual behavior, whilst our expert team responds to the threats detected within your business.\r\nMDR offers real-time threat intelligence, and is able to analyse behaviour which can be missed by traditional endpoint security technology. MDR also provides rapid identification of known threats, which in turn minimises overall attacks. Having remote incident investigation will minimise damage to your business, and will allow you to get back to work in no time. It’s important to note that using MDR services will allow third party access to your company's data. You need to consider working with a provider who understands and respects your data policy.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Managed Detection and Response?</span>\r\nManaged Detection and Response (MDR) is a managed cybersecurity service that provides intrusion detection of malware and malicious activity in your network, and assists in rapid incident response to eliminate those threats with succinct remediation actions. MDR typically combines a technology solution with outsourced security analysts that extend your technologies and team.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Isn’t that What MSSPs or Managed SIEMs Do?</span>\r\nNo. Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) monitor network security controls and may send alerts when anomalies are identified. MSSPs typically do not investigate the anomalies to eliminate false positives, nor do they respond to real threats. This means that abnormalities in network usage are forwarded to your IT personnel who must then dig through the data to determine if there is a real threat and what to do about it.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Doesn’t My Firewall Protect My Network?</span>\r\nFirewalls and other preventive forms of cybersecurity are very important and effective at preventing basic cyberattacks. However, over the past decade, it has become clear that preventive cybersecurity technologies are not enough to secure an organization’s network. Further, they are yet another source of alerts, log messages, and events that contribute to the “alert fatigue” being universally suffered today. Recent major hacks such as the Marriot Hack of 2018, the Anthem Hack of 2015, and the Target Hack of 2013 demonstrate how easily cybercriminals can breach networks at enterprise organizations to steal millions of credit card numbers, medical records, and other forms of PII/PHI.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Endpoint_Detection_and_Response.png","alias":"managed-detection-and-response"},"445":{"id":445,"title":"Penetration Testing","description":" A <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">penetration test</span>, colloquially known as a pen test, <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">pentest </span>or <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ethical hacking</span>, is an authorized simulated cyberattack on a computer system, performed to evaluate the security of the system.\r\nStandard penetration test is performed to identify both weaknesses (also referred to as <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">vulnerabilities</span>), including the potential for unauthorized parties to gain access to the system's features and data, as well as strengths, enabling a full risk assessment to be completed. \r\nThe main objective of system penetration testing is to identify security weaknesses. Vulnerability testing can also be used to test an organization's security policy, its adherence to compliance requirements, its employees' security awareness and the organization's ability to identify and respond to security incidents.\r\nTypically,<span style=\"font-size:11pt; font-family:Arial; font-style:normal; \">professional penetration testing</span>provides information about security weaknesses that are identified or exploited through pen testing is aggregated and provided to the organization's IT and network system managers, enabling them to make strategic decisions and prioritize remediation efforts. \r\nA wide variety of <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">software security testing tools </span>are available to assist with penetration testing, including free-of-charge, free software, and commercial software. Penetration tools scan code in order to identity malicious code in applications that could result in a security breach. Pen testing tools examine data encryption techniques and can identify hard-coded values, such as usernames and passwords, to verify security vulnerabilities in the system.\r\n Important aspect of any penetration testing program is defining the scope within which the pen testers must operate. Usually, the scope defines what systems, locations, techniques and tools can be used in a penetration test. Limiting the scope of the penetration test helps focus team members - and defenders - on the systems over which the organization has control.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Here are several of the main vulnerability penetration testing approaches:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Targeted testing</span> is performed by the organization's IT team and the penetration testing team working together. It's sometimes referred to as a "lights turned on" approach because everyone can see the test being carried out.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">External testing</span> targets a company's externally visible servers or devices including domain name servers, email servers, web servers or firewalls. The<span style=\"font-size:11pt; font-family:Arial; font-style:normal; \">objective of penetration testing</span>is to find out if an outside attacker can get in and how far they can get in once they've gained access.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"></span></li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Internal testing</span> mimics an inside attack behind the firewall by an authorized user with standard access privileges. This kind of test is useful for estimating how much damage a disgruntled employee could cause.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"></span></li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Blind testing simulates</span> the actions and procedures of a real attacker by severely limiting the information given to the person or team performing the test beforehand. Typically, the pen testers may only be given the name of the company.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"></span></li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Double-blind testing</span> takes the blind test and carries it a step further. In this type of pen test, only one or two people within the organization might be aware a test is being conducted. Double-blind tests can be useful for testing an organization's security monitoring and incident identification as well as its response procedures.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"></span></li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Black box</span> testing is basically the same as blind testing, but the tester receives no information before the test takes place. Rather, the pen testers must find their own way into the system.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"></span></li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">White box</span> testing provides the penetration testers information about the target network before they start their work. This information can include such details as IP addresses, network infrastructure schematics and the protocols used plus the source code.</li></ul>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What Is Penetration Testing?</span></h1>\r\nThere is a considerable amount of confusion in the industry regarding the differences between vulnerability assessment and penetration testing tool,as the two phrases are commonly interchanged. However, their meaning and implications are very different. A <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">vulnerability assessment </span>simply identifies and reports noted vulnerabilities, whereas a pentest attempts to exploit the vulnerabilities to determine whether unauthorized access or other malicious activity is possible.<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \"> Penetration testing</span> typically includes network penetration testing and web application security testing as well as controls and processes around the networks and applications, and should occur from both outside the network trying to come in (external testing) and from inside the network.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What is a pentesting tool ?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Penetration tools are used as part testing to automate certain tasks, improve testing efficiency and discover issues that might be difficult to find using manual analysis techniques alone. Two common penetration testing tools are <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">static analysis </span>tools and <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">dynamic analysis</span> tools. Tools for attack include software designed to produce <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">brute-force attacks</span> or <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">SQL injections</span>. There is also hardware specifically designed for pen testing, such as small inconspicuous boxes that can be plugged into a computer on the network to provide the hacker with remote access to that network. In addition, an ethical hacker may use social engineering techniques to find vulnerabilities. For example, sending phishing emails to company employees, or even disguising themselves as delivery people to gain physical access to the building.</p>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the benefits of penetration testing?</span></h1>\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Manage the Risk Properly. </span>For many organizations, one of the most popular benefits of pen testing services is that they will give you a baseline to work upon to cure the risk in a structured and optimal way. It will show you the list of vulnerabilities in the target environment and the risks associated with it.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"></span></li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Increase Business Continuity.</span> Business continuity is the prime concern for any successful organization. A break in the business continuity can happen for many reasons. Lack of security loopholes is one of them. Insecure systems suffer more breaches in their availability than the secured ones. Today attackers are hired by other organizations to stop the continuity of business by exploiting the vulnerabilities to gain the access and to produce a denial of service condition which usually crashes the vulnerable service and breaks the server availability.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"></span></li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Protect Clients, Partners, and Third Parties.</span> A security breach can affect not only the target organization but also their associated clients, partners and third parties working with it. However, if company schedules a penetration test regularly and takes necessary actions towards security, it will help professionals build trust and confidence in the organization.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"></span></li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Helps to Evaluate Security Investment. </span> The pen test results will give us an independent view of the effectiveness of existing security processes, ensuring that configuration management practices have been followed correctly. This is an ideal opportunity to review the efficiency of the current security investment. What needs to be improved and what is working and what is not working and how much investment needed to build the more secure environment in the organization.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"></span></li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Help Protect Public Relationships and Guard the reputation of your company.</span>A good public relationship and company reputation are built up after taking many years struggle and hard work and with a huge amount of investment. This can be suddenly changed due to a single security breach.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"></span></li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Protection from Financial Damage.</span> A simple breach of the security system may cause millions of dollars of damage. Penetration testing can protect your organization from such damages.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"></span></li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Helps to tests cyber-defense capability.</span> During a penetration test, the target company’s security team should be able to detect multiple attacks and respond accordingly on time. Furthermore, if an intrusion is detected, the security and forensic teams should start investigations, and the penetration testers should be blocked and their tools removed. The effectiveness of your protection devices like IDS, IPS or WAF can also be tested during a penetration test.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"></span></li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Client-side Attacks. </span>Pen tests are an effective way of ensuring that successful highly targeted client-side attacks against key members of your staff. Security should be treated with a holistic approach. Companies only assessing the security of their servers run the risk of being targeted with client-side attacks exploiting vulnerabilities in software like web browsers, pdf readers, etc. It is important to ensure that the patch management processes are working properly updating the operating system and third-party applications.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Penetration_Testing.png","alias":"penetration-testing"},"467":{"id":467,"title":"Network Forensics","description":" Network forensics is a sub-branch of digital forensics relating to the monitoring and analysis of computer network traffic for the purposes of information gathering, legal evidence, or intrusion detection. Unlike other areas of digital forensics, network investigations deal with volatile and dynamic information. Network traffic is transmitted and then lost, so network forensics is often a pro-active investigation.\r\nNetwork forensics generally has two uses. The first, relating to security, involves monitoring a network for anomalous traffic and identifying intrusions. An attacker might be able to erase all log files on a compromised host; network-based evidence might therefore be the only evidence available for forensic analysis. The second form relates to law enforcement. In this case analysis of captured network traffic can include tasks such as reassembling transferred files, searching for keywords and parsing human communication such as emails or chat sessions.\r\nTwo systems are commonly used to collect network data; a brute force "catch it as you can" and a more intelligent "stop look listen" method.\r\nNetwork forensics is a comparatively new field of forensic science. The growing popularity of the Internet in homes means that computing has become network-centric and data is now available outside of disk-based digital evidence. Network forensics can be performed as a standalone investigation or alongside a computer forensics analysis (where it is often used to reveal links between digital devices or reconstruct how a crime was committed).\r\nMarcus Ranum is credited with defining Network forensics as "the capture, recording, and analysis of network events in order to discover the source of security attacks or other problem incidents".\r\nCompared to computer forensics, where evidence is usually preserved on disk, network data is more volatile and unpredictable. Investigators often only have material to examine if packet filters, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems were set up to anticipate breaches of security.\r\nSystems used to collect network data for forensics use usually come in two forms:\r\n<ul><li>"Catch-it-as-you-can" – This is where all packets passing through a certain traffic point are captured and written to storage with analysis being done subsequently in batch mode. This approach requires large amounts of storage.</li><li>"Stop, look and listen" – This is where each packet is analyzed in a rudimentary way in memory and only certain information saved for future analysis. This approach requires a faster processor to keep up with incoming traffic.</li></ul>","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Why is network forensics important?</span>\r\nNetwork forensics is important because so many common attacks entail some type of misuse of network resources.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the different ways in which the network can be attacked?</span>\r\nAttacks typically target availability confidentiality and integrity. Loss of any one of these items constitutes a security breach.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Where is the best place to search for information?</span>\r\nInformation can be found by either doing a live analysis of the network, analyzing IDS information, or examining logs that can be found in routers and servers.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">How does a forensic analyst know how deeply to look for information?</span>\r\nSome amount of information can be derived from looking at the skill level of the attacker. Attackers with little skill are much less likely to use advanced hiding techniques.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Network_Forensics.png","alias":"network-forensics"},"727":{"id":727,"title":"IT Security Audit","description":" A <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">computer security audit</span> is a manual or systematic measurable technical assessment of a system or application. Manual assessments include interviewing staff, performing security vulnerability scans, reviewing application and operating system access controls, and analyzing physical access to the systems. Automated assessments, or CAAT's, include system generated audit reports or using software to monitor and report changes to files and settings on a system. Systems can include personal computers, servers, mainframes, network routers, switches.\r\nAt its root, an <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">IT security audit</span> includes two different assessments. The manual assessment occurs when an internal or external IT security audit companies interview employees, reviews access controls, analyzes physical access to hardware, and performs vulnerability scans. \r\nAudit, performed by IT security audit services or IT security audit software, analyzes individual technical infrastructure components at a detailed level, ensuring that each is functioning in a manner that reinforces appropriate information security. The stakes are made higher with a number of regulatory compliance requirements mandating that IT audits be included in organizational due diligence efforts. These reviews should occur, at a minimum, annually. Some organizations, however, prefer to do them more frequently.\r\nOrganizations should also review system-generated reports. Automated assessments not only incorporate that data, but also respond to software monitoring reports and changes to server and file settings.\r\nSecurity audits, vulnerability assessments, and penetration testing are the <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">three main types of security diagnostics. </span>Each of the three takes a different approach and may be best suited for a particular purpose. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Security audits</span> measure an information system's performance against a list of criteria. \r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">vulnerability assessment,</span> on the other hand, involves a comprehensive study of an entire information system, seeking potential security weaknesses. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Penetration testing</span> is a covert operation, in which a security expert tries a number of attacks to ascertain whether or not a system could withstand the same types of attacks from a malicious hacker. In penetration testing, the feigned attack can include anything a real attacker might try, such as social engineering. Each of the approaches has inherent strengths, and using two or more of them in conjunction may be the most effective approach of all.\r\n\r\n\r\n","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a security audit?</span></h1>\r\nA Security Audit is a process or event where the IT security policy or standards are used as a basis to determine the overall state of existing protection and to verify whether existing protection is being performed properly. It aims to determine whether the current environment is securely protected in accordance with the defined IT security policy.<br />Before performing a security assessment or audit, the organization should define the scope of the security audit, and the budget and duration allowed for the assessment/audit.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">How often should a security audit be performed?</span></h1>\r\nA security audit only provides a snapshot of the vulnerabilities in a system at a particular point in time. As technology and the business environment changes, periodic and ongoing reviews will inevitably be required. Depending on the criticality of the business, a security audit might be conducted yearly, or every two years.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Who should perform a security audit?</span></h1>\r\nA security audit is a complex task requiring skilled and experienced personnel; it must be planned carefully. To perform the audit an independent and trusted third party is recommended. This third party can be another group of in-house staff or an external audit team, dependent on the skills of the internal staff and the criticality/sensitivity of the information being audited.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IT_Security_Audit.png","alias":"it-security-audit"},"791":{"id":791,"title":"Vulnerability Scanner","description":" A <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">vulnerability scanner</span> is a computer program designed to assess computers, network vulnerability or applications for known weaknesses. In plain words, these scanners are used to discover the weaknesses of a given system. They are utilized in the identification and detection of vulnerabilities arising from mis-configurations or flawed programming within a network-based asset such as a firewall, router, web server, application server, etc. They are typically available as SaaS (Software as a service); provided over the internet and delivered as a web application. \r\nMost vulnerability scanners will also attempt to log in to systems using default or other credentials in order to build a more detailed picture of the system. After building up an inventory, the vulnerability scanner checks each item in the inventory against one or more databases of known vulnerabilities to see if any items are subject to any of these vulnerabilities. The result of such scan is a systems vulnerability analysis, highlighting any that have known vulnerabilities that may need threat and vulnerability management.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">How vulnerability scanning works</span>. Vulnerability scanning finds systems and software that have known security vulnerabilities, but this information is only useful to IT security teams when it is used as the first part of a four-part vulnerability management process. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Vulnerability management process involves:</span>\r\n<ul><li>Identification of vulnerabilities</li><li>Evaluation of the risk posed by any vulnerabilities identified</li><li>Treatment of any identified vulnerabilities</li><li>Reporting on vulnerabilities and how they have been handled</li></ul>\r\n<br /><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Types of vulnerability scans. </span>Not all vulnerability scans are alike, and to ensure compliance with certain regulations (such as those set by the PCI Security Standards Council) it is necessary to carry out two distinct types of vulnerability scans: an internal and an external vulnerability scan. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">External vulnerability scan.</span> As the name suggests, an external vulnerability scan is carried out from outside an organization's network, and its principal purpose is to detect vulnerabilities in the perimeter defenses such as open ports in the network firewall or specialized web application firewall. An external vulnerability scan can help organizations fix security issues that could enable hackers to gain access to the organization's network.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Internal vulnerability scan. </span>By contrast, an internal vulnerability scan is carried out from inside an organization's perimeter defenses. Its purpose is to detect vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers who successfully penetrate the perimeter defenses, or equally by "insider threats" such as contractors or disgruntled employees who have legitimate access to parts of the network.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Unauthenticated and authenticated vulnerability scans.</span> A similar but not always identical variation of internal and external vulnerability scans is the concept of unauthenticated and authenticated vulnerability scans. Unauthenticated scans, like external scans, search for weaknesses in the network perimeter, while authenticated scans provide vulnerability scanners with various privileged credentials, allowing them to probe the inside of the network for weak passwords, configuration issues, and misconfigured databases or applications.<br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\">What is Vulnerability Assessment?</h1>\r\nVulnerability Assessment is also known as Vulnerability Testing, is a vulnerability scanning software performed to evaluate the security risks in the software system in order to reduce the probability of a threat. Vulnerability Analysis depends upon two mechanisms namely Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT).\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Types of a vulnerability scanner:</span></p>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Host Based. </span>Identifies the issues in the host or the system. The process is carried out by using host-based scanners and diagnose the vulnerabilities. The host-based tools will load a mediator software onto the target system; it will trace the event and report it to the security analyst.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Network-Based.</span> It will detect the open port, and identify the unknown services running on these ports. Then it will disclose possible vulnerabilities associated with these services. This process is done by using Network-based Scanners.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Database-Based.</span> It will identify the security exposure in the database systems using tools and techniques to prevent from SQL Injections. (SQL Injections: - Injecting SQL statements into the database by the malicious users, which can read the sensitive data's from a database and can update the data in the Database.)\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">How vulnerability scanners works?</h1>\r\nVulnerability scanning is an inspection of the potential points of exploit on a computer or network to identify security holes.\r\nA security scan detects and classifies system weaknesses in computers, networks and communications equipment and predicts the effectiveness of countermeasures. A scan may be performed by an organization’s IT department or a security service provide, possibly as a condition imposed by some authority. Vulnerability scans are also used by attackers looking for points of entry.\r\nA vulnerability scanner runs from the end point of the person inspecting the attack surface in question. The software compares details about the target attack surface to a database of information about known security holes in services and ports, anomalies in packet construction, and potential paths to exploitable programs or scripts. The scanner software attempts to exploit each vulnerability that is discovered.\r\nRunning a vulnerability scan can pose its own risks as it is inherently intrusive on the target machine’s running code. As a result, the scan can cause issues such as errors and reboots, reducing productivity.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">How to choose the best vulnerability scanning tool?</h1>\r\nWhen researching vulnerability scanners, it's important to find out how they're rated for accuracy (the most important metric) as well as reliability, scalability and reporting. If accuracy is lacking, you'll end up running two different scanners, hoping that one picks up vulnerabilities that the other misses. This adds cost and effort to the scanning process. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Software-Based Vulnerability Scanners.</span> These types of scanning products generally include configuration auditing, target profiling, penetration testing and detailed vulnerability analysis. They integrate with Windows products, such as Microsoft System Center, to provide intelligent patch management; some work with mobile device managers. They can scan not only physical network devices, servers and workstations, but extend to virtual machines, BYOD mobile devices and databases.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Cloud-Based Vulnerability Scanners: </span>Continuous, On-Demand Monitoring. A newer type of vulnerability finder is delivered on-demand as Software as a Service (SaaS). Like software-based scanners, on-demand scanners incorporate links for downloading vendor patches and updates for identified vulnerabilities, reducing remediation effort. These services also include scanning thresholds to prevent overloading devices during the scanning process, which can cause devices to crash.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">What is mobile application security scanner?</h1>\r\nMobile application security testing can help ensure there aren’t any loopholes in the software that may cause data loss. The sets of tests are meant to attack the app to identify possible threats and vulnerabilities that would allow external persons or systems to access private information stored on the mobile device. \r\nMobile application vulnerability scanner can help to ensure that applications are free from the flaws and weaknesses that hackers use to gain access to sensitive information. From backdoors, malicious code and other threats, these flaws may be present both in commercial and open source applications as well as software developed in-house.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Vulnerability_Scanner.png","alias":"vulnerability-scanner"},"793":{"id":793,"title":"Web Application Vulnerability Scanner","description":" A <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">web application vulnerability scanner,</span> also known as a <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">web application security scanner,</span> is an automated security tool. It scans web applications for malware, vulnerabilities, and logical flaws. Web application scanner use black box tests, as these tests do not require access to the source code but instead launch external attacks to test for security vulnerabilities. These simulated attacks can detect path traversal, cross-site scripting(XSS), and command injection.\r\nWeb app scanners are categorized as <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) tools.</span> DAST tools provide insight into how your web applications behave while they are in production, enabling your business to address potential vulnerabilities before a hacker uses them to stage an attack. As your web applications evolve, DAST solutions continue to scan them so that your business can promptly identify and remediate emerging issues before they develop into serious risks.\r\nWeb app vulnerability scanner first crawls the entire website, analyzing in-depth each file it finds, and displaying the entire website structure. After this discovery stage, it performs an automatic audit for common security vulnerabilities by launching a series of Web attacks. Web application scanners check for vulnerabilities on the Web server, proxy server, Web application server and even on other Web services. Unlike source code scanners, web application scanners don't have access to the source code and therefore detect vulnerabilities by actually performing attacks.\r\nA web application vulnerability assessment is very different than a general vulnerability assessment where security focus on networks and hosts. App vulnerability scanner scans ports, connect to services, and use other techniques to gather information revealing the patch levels, configurations, and potential exposures of our infrastructure.\r\nAutomated web application scanning tools help the user making sure the whole website is properly crawled, and that no input or parameter is left unchecked. Automated web vulnerability scanners also help in finding a high percentage of the technical vulnerabilities, and give you a very good overview of the website’s structure, and security status. \r\nThe best way to identify web application security threats is to perform web application vulnerability assessment. The importance of these threats could leave your organization exposed if they are not properly identified and mitigated. Therefore, implementing a web app security scanner solution should be of paramount importance for your organizations security plans in the future. \r\n\r\n","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\">Why Web Application Vulnerability Scanning is important?</h1>\r\nWeb applications are the technological base of modern companies. That’s why more and more businesses are betting on the development of this type of digital platforms. They stand out because they allow to automate processes, simplify tasks, be more efficient and offer a better service to the customer.<br /><br />The objective of web applications is that the user completes a task, be it buying, making a bank transaction, accessing e-mail, editing photos, texts, among many other things. In fact, they are very useful for an endless number of services, hence their popularity. Their disadvantages are few, but there is one that requires special attention: vulnerabilities.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Main web application security risks</span></p>\r\nA web vulnerability scanner tools will help you keep your services protected. However, it is important to be aware of the major security risks that exist so that both developers and security professionals are always alert and can find the most appropriate solutions in a timely manner.\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Injection</span></li></ul>\r\nThis is a vulnerability that affects the application databases. They occur when unreliable data is sent to an interpreter by means of a command or query. The attacker may inject malicious code to disrupt the normal operation of the application by making it access the data without authorization or execute involuntary commands.\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Authentication failures</span></li></ul>\r\nIf a vulnerability scan in web applications finds a failure, it may be due to loss of authentication. This is a critical vulnerability, as it allows the attacker to impersonate another user. This can compromise important data such as usernames, passwords, session tokens, and more.\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Sensitive data exposure</span></li></ul>\r\nA serious risk is the exposure of sensitive data especially financial information such as credit cards or account numbers, personal data such as place of residence, or health-related information. If an attacker scans for this type of vulnerability, he or she may modify or steal this data and use it fraudulently. Therefore, it is essential to use a web app scanning tools to find vulnerabilities in web applications.<br /><br /><br />","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Web_Application_Vulnerability_Scanner.png","alias":"web-application-vulnerability-scanner"},"834":{"id":834,"title":"IoT - Internet of Things Security","description":" IoT security is the technology area concerned with safeguarding connected devices and networks in the internet of things (IoT).\r\nIoT involves adding internet connectivity to a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals and/or people. Each "thing" is provided a unique identifier and the ability to automatically transfer data over a network. Allowing devices to connect to the internet opens them up to a number of serious vulnerabilities if they are not properly protected.\r\nIoT security has become the subject of scrutiny after a number of high-profile incidents where a common IoT device was used to infiltrate and attack the larger network. Implementing security measures is critical to ensuring the safety of networks with IoT devices connected to them.\r\nIoT security hacks can happen in any industry, from smart home to a manufacturing plant to a connected car. The severity of impact depends greatly on the individual system, the data collected and/or the information it contains.\r\nAn attack disabling the brakes of a connected car, for example, or on a connected health device, such as an insulin pump hacked to administer too much medication to a patient, can be life-threatening. Likewise, an attack on a refrigeration system housing medicine that is monitored by an IoT system can ruin the viability of a medicine if temperatures fluctuate. Similarly, an attack on critical infrastructure -- an oil well, energy grid or water supply -- can be disastrous.\r\nSo, a robust IoT security portfolio must allow protecting devices from all types of vulnerabilities while deploying the security level that best matches application needs. Cryptography technologies are used to combat communication attacks. Security services are offered for protecting against lifecycle attacks. Isolation measures can be implemented to fend off software attacks. And, finally, IoT security should include tamper mitigation and side-channel attack mitigation technologies for fighting physical attacks of the chip.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the key requirements of IoT Security?</span>\r\nThe key requirements for any IoT security solution are:\r\n<ul><li>Device and data security, including authentication of devices and confidentiality and integrity of data</li><li>Implementing and running security operations at IoT scale</li><li>Meeting compliance requirements and requests</li><li>Meeting performance requirements as per the use case</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What do connected devices require to participate in the IoT Securely?</span>\r\nTo securely participate in the IoT, each connected device needs a unique identification – even before it has an IP address. This digital credential establishes the root of trust for the device’s entire lifecycle, from initial design to deployment to retirement.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Why is device authentication necessary for the IoT?</span>\r\nStrong IoT device authentication is required to ensure connected devices on the IoT can be trusted to be what they purport to be. Consequently, each IoT device needs a unique identity that can be authenticated when the device attempts to connect to a gateway or central server. With this unique ID in place, IT system administrators can track each device throughout its lifecycle, communicate securely with it, and prevent it from executing harmful processes. If a device exhibits unexpected behavior, administrators can simply revoke its privileges.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Why is secure manufacturing necessary for IoT devices?</span>\r\nIoT devices produced through unsecured manufacturing processes provide criminals opportunities to change production runs to introduce unauthorized code or produce additional units that are subsequently sold on the black market.\r\nOne way to secure manufacturing processes is to use hardware security modules (HSMs) and supporting security software to inject cryptographic keys and digital certificates and to control the number of units built and the code incorporated into each.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Why is code signing necessary for IoT devices?</span>\r\nTo protect businesses, brands, partners, and users from software that has been infected by malware, software developers have adopted code signing. In the IoT, code signing in the software release process ensures the integrity of IoT device software and firmware updates and defends against the risks associated with code tampering or code that deviates from organizational policies.\r\nIn public key cryptography, code signing is a specific use of certificate-based digital signatures that enables an organization to verify the identity of the software publisher and certify the software has not been changed since it was published.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is IoT PKI?</span>\r\nToday there are more things (devices) online than there are people on the planet! Devices are the number one users of the Internet and need digital identities for secure operation. As enterprises seek to transform their business models to stay competitive, rapid adoption of IoT technologies is creating increasing demand for Public Key Infrastructures (PKIs) to provide digital certificates for the growing number of devices and the software and firmware they run.\r\nSafe IoT deployments require not only trusting the devices to be authentic and to be who they say they are, but also trusting that the data they collect is real and not altered. If one cannot trust the IoT devices and the data, there is no point in collecting, running analytics, and executing decisions based on the information collected.\r\nSecure adoption of IoT requires:\r\n<ul><li>Enabling mutual authentication between connected devices and applications</li><li>Maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of the data collected by devices</li><li>Ensuring the legitimacy and integrity of the software downloaded to devices</li><li>Preserving the privacy of sensitive data in light of stricter security regulations</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/iot.png","alias":"iot-internet-of-things-security"},"840":{"id":840,"title":"ICS/SCADA Cyber Security","description":"SCADA security is the practice of protecting supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) networks, a common framework of control systems used in industrial operations. These networks are responsible for providing automated control and remote human management of essential commodities and services such as water, natural gas, electricity and transportation to millions of people. They can also be used to improve the efficiencies and quality in other less essential (but some would say very important!) real-world processes such as snowmaking for ski resorts and beer brewing. SCADA is one of the most common types of industrial control systems (ICS).\r\nThese networks, just like any other network, are under threat from cyber-attacks that could bring down any part of the nation's critical infrastructure quickly and with dire consequences if the right security is not in place. Capital expenditure is another key concern; SCADA systems can cost an organization from tens of thousands to millions of dollars. For these reasons, it is essential that organizations implement robust SCADA security measures to protect their infrastructure and the millions of people that would be affected by the disruption caused by an external attack or internal error.\r\nSCADA security has evolved dramatically in recent years. Before computers, the only way to monitor a SCADA network was to deploy several people to each station to report back on the state of each system. In busier stations, technicians were stationed permanently to manually operate the network and communicate over telephone wires.\r\nIt wasn't until the introduction of the local area network (LAN) and improvements in system miniaturization that we started to see advances in SCADA development such as the distributed SCADA network. Next came networked systems that were able to communicate over a wide area network (WAN) and connect many more components together.\r\nFrom local companies to federal governments, every business or organization that works with SCADA systems are vulnerable to SCADA security threats. These threats can have wide-reaching effects on both the economy and the community. Specific threats to SCADA networks include the following:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Hackers.</span> Individuals or groups with malicious intent could bring a SCADA network to its knees. By gaining access to key SCADA components, hackers could unleash chaos on an organization that can range from a disruption in services to cyber warfare.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Malware.</span> Malware, including viruses, spyware and ransomware can pose a risk to SCADA systems. While malware may not be able to specifically target the network itself, it can still pose a threat to the key infrastructure that helps to manage the SCADA network. This includes mobile SCADA applications that are used to monitor and manage SCADA systems.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Terrorists.</span> Where hackers are usually motivated by sordid gain, terrorists are driven by the desire to cause as much mayhem and damage as possible.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Employees.</span> Insider threats can be just as damaging as external threats. From human error to a disgruntled employee or contractor, it is essential that SCADA security addresses these risks.\r\nManaging today's SCADA networks can be a challenge without the right security precautions in place. Many networks are still without the necessary detection and monitoring systems and this leaves them vulnerable to attack. Because SCADA network attacks exploit both cyber and physical vulnerabilities, it is critical to align cybersecurity measures accordingly.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is the difference between ICS/SCADA cybersecurity and information security?</span>\r\nAutomated process control systems (SCADA) have a lot of differences from “traditional” corporate information systems: from the destination, specific data transfer protocols and equipment used and ending with the environment in which they operate. In corporate networks and systems, as a rule, the main protected resource is information that is processed, transmitted and stored in automated systems, and the main goal is to ensure its confidentiality. In ICS, the protected resource, first of all, is the technological process itself, and the main goal is to ensure its continuity (accessibility of all nodes) and integrity (including information transmitted between the nodes of the ICS). Moreover, the field of potential risks and threats to ICS, in comparison with corporate systems, expands with risks of potential damage to life and health of personnel and the public, damage to the environment and infrastructure. That is why it is incorrect to talk about “information security” in relation to ICS/SCADA. In English sources, the term “cybersecurity” is used for this, a direct translation of which (cybersecurity) is increasingly found in our market in relation to the protection of process control systems.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Is it really necessary?</span>\r\nIt is necessary. There are a number of myths about process control systems, for example: “process control systems are completely isolated from the outside world”, “process control systems are too specific for someone to crack”, “process control systems are reliably protected by the developer”, or even “No one will ever try us, hacking us is not interesting. ” All this is no longer true. Many modern distributed process control systems have one or another connection with the corporate network, even if the system owners are unaware of this. Communication with the outside world greatly simplifies the task of the attacker, but does not remain the only possible option. Automated process control software and data transfer protocols are, as a rule, very, very insecure against cyber threats. This is evidenced by numerous articles and reports of experts involved in the study of the protection of industrial control systems and penetration tests. The PHDays III section on hacking automated process control systems impressed even ardent skeptics. Well, and, of course, the argument “they have NOT attacked us, therefore they will not” - can hardly be considered seriously. Everyone has heard about Stuxnet, which dispelled almost all the myths about the safety of ICS at once.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Who needs this?</span>\r\nWith the phrase ICS/SCADA, most imagine huge plants, automated CNC machines or something similar. However, the application of process control systems is not limited to these objects - in the modern age of automation, process control systems are used everywhere: from large production facilities, the oil and gas industry, transport management to smart home systems. And, by the way, with the protection of the latter, as a rule, everything can be much worse, because the developer silently and imperceptibly shifts responsibility to the shoulders of the user.\r\nOf course, some of the objects with automated process control systems are more interesting for attackers, others less. But, given the ever-growing number of vulnerabilities discovered and published in the ICS, the spread of "exclusive" (written for specific protocols and ICS software) malware, considering your system safe "by default" is unreasonable.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Are ICS and SCADA the same thing?</span>\r\nNo. SCADA systems (supervisory control and data acquisition, supervisory control and data collection) are part of the control system. Usually, a SCADA system means centralized control and management systems with the participation of a person as a whole system or a complex of industrial control systems. SCADA is the central link between people (human-machine interfaces) and PLC levels (programmable logic controller) or RTU (remote terminal unit).\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is ICS/SCADA cybersecurity?</span>\r\nIn fact, ICS cybersecurity is a process similar to “information security” in a number of properties, but very different in details. And the devil, as you know, lies in them. ICS/SCADA also has similar information security-related processes: asset inventory, risk analysis and assessment, threat analysis, security management, change management, incident response, continuity, etc. But these processes themselves are different.<br />The cyber security of ICSs has the same basic target qualities - confidentiality, integrity and accessibility, but the significance and point of application for them are completely different. It should be remembered that in ICS/SCADA we, first of all, protect the technological process. Beyond this - from the risks of damage to human health and life and the environment.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_SCADA_Cyber_Security.png","alias":"icsscada-cyber-security"},"852":{"id":852,"title":"Network security","description":" Network security consists of the policies and practices adopted to prevent and monitor unauthorized access, misuse, modification, or denial of a computer network and network-accessible resources. Network security involves the authorization of access to data in a network, which is controlled by the network administrator. Users choose or are assigned an ID and password or other authenticating information that allows them access to information and programs within their authority. Network security covers a variety of computer networks, both public and private, that are used in everyday jobs; conducting transactions and communications among businesses, government agencies and individuals. Networks can be private, such as within a company, and others which might be open to public access. Network security is involved in organizations, enterprises, and other types of institutions. It does as its title explains: it secures the network, as well as protecting and overseeing operations being done. The most common and simple way of protecting a network resource is by assigning it a unique name and a corresponding password.\r\nNetwork security starts with authentication, commonly with a username and a password. Since this requires just one detail authenticating the user name — i.e., the password—this is sometimes termed one-factor authentication. With two-factor authentication, something the user 'has' is also used (e.g., a security token or 'dongle', an ATM card, or a mobile phone); and with three-factor authentication, something the user 'is' is also used (e.g., a fingerprint or retinal scan).\r\nOnce authenticated, a firewall enforces access policies such as what services are allowed to be accessed by the network users. Though effective to prevent unauthorized access, this component may fail to check potentially harmful content such as computer worms or Trojans being transmitted over the network. Anti-virus software or an intrusion prevention system (IPS) help detect and inhibit the action of such malware. An anomaly-based intrusion detection system may also monitor the network like wireshark traffic and may be logged for audit purposes and for later high-level analysis. Newer systems combining unsupervised machine learning with full network traffic analysis can detect active network attackers from malicious insiders or targeted external attackers that have compromised a user machine or account.\r\nCommunication between two hosts using a network may be encrypted to maintain privacy.\r\nHoneypots, essentially decoy network-accessible resources, may be deployed in a network as surveillance and early-warning tools, as the honeypots are not normally accessed for legitimate purposes. Techniques used by the attackers that attempt to compromise these decoy resources are studied during and after an attack to keep an eye on new exploitation techniques. Such analysis may be used to further tighten security of the actual network being protected by the honeypot. A honeypot can also direct an attacker's attention away from legitimate servers. A honeypot encourages attackers to spend their time and energy on the decoy server while distracting their attention from the data on the real server. Similar to a honeypot, a honeynet is a network set up with intentional vulnerabilities. Its purpose is also to invite attacks so that the attacker's methods can be studied and that information can be used to increase network security. A honeynet typically contains one or more honeypots.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Network Security?</span>\r\nNetwork security is any action an organization takes to prevent malicious use or accidental damage to the network’s private data, its users, or their devices. The goal of network security is to keep the network running and safe for all legitimate users.\r\nBecause there are so many ways that a network can be vulnerable, network security involves a broad range of practices. These include:\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Deploying active devices:</span> Using software to block malicious programs from entering, or running within, the network. Blocking users from sending or receiving suspicious-looking emails. Blocking unauthorized use of the network. Also, stopping the network's users accessing websites that are known to be dangerous.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Deploying passive devices:</span> For instance, using devices and software that report unauthorized intrusions into the network, or suspicious activity by authorized users.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Using preventative devices:</span> Devices that help identify potential security holes, so that network staff can fix them.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Ensuring users follow safe practices:</span> Even if the software and hardware are set up to be secure, the actions of users can create security holes. Network security staff is responsible for educating members of the organization about how they can stay safe from potential threats.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Why is Network Security Important?</span>\r\nUnless it’s properly secured, any network is vulnerable to malicious use and accidental damage. Hackers, disgruntled employees, or poor security practices within the organization can leave private data exposed, including trade secrets and customers’ private details.\r\nLosing confidential research, for example, can potentially cost an organization millions of dollars by taking away competitive advantages it paid to gain. While hackers stealing customers’ details and selling them to be used in fraud, it creates negative publicity and public mistrust of the organization.\r\nThe majority of common attacks against networks are designed to gain access to information, by spying on the communications and data of users, rather than to damage the network itself.\r\nBut attackers can do more than steal data. They may be able to damage users’ devices or manipulate systems to gain physical access to facilities. This leaves the organization’s property and members at risk of harm.\r\nCompetent network security procedures keep data secure and block vulnerable systems from outside interference. This allows the network’s users to remain safe and focus on achieving the organization’s goals.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Why Do I Need Formal Education to Run a Computer Network?</span>\r\nEven the initial setup of security systems can be difficult for those unfamiliar with the field. A comprehensive security system is made of many pieces, each of which needs specialized knowledge.\r\nBeyond setup, each aspect of security is constantly evolving. New technology creates new opportunities for accidental security leaks, while hackers take advantage of holes in security to do damage as soon as they find them. Whoever is in charge of the network’s security needs to be able to understand the technical news and changes as they happen, so they can implement safety strategies right away.\r\nProperly securing your network using the latest information on vulnerabilities helps minimize the risk that attacks will succeed. Security Week reported that 44% of breaches in 2014 came from exploits that were 2-4 years old.\r\nUnfortunately, many of the technical aspects of network security are beyond those who make hiring decisions. So, the best way an organization can be sure that their network security personnel are able to properly manage the threats is to hire staff with the appropriate qualifications.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Network_security.png","alias":"network-security"}},"branches":"Information Technology","companySizes":"101 to 500 Employees","companyUrl":"https://www.pondurance.com/","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":true,"isSupplier":true,"isVendor":true,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Pondurance","keywords":"","description":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Pondurance </span>is a Managed Detection and Response company that protects organization’s digital assets and technology resources by combining practical solutions, operational excellence, and security expertise. <br /><br />T","og:title":"Pondurance","og:description":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Pondurance </span>is a Managed Detection and Response company that protects organization’s digital assets and technology resources by combining practical solutions, operational excellence, and security expertise. <br /><br />T","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/Pondurance_logo.png"},"eventUrl":"","vendorPartners":[],"supplierPartners":[],"vendoredProducts":[{"id":4610,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Pondurance_logo.png","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Pondurance Enterprise Security Testing","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"0.00","implementationsCount":0,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":0,"alias":"pondurance-enterprise-security-testing","companyTitle":"Pondurance","companyTypes":["supplier","vendor"],"companyId":7003,"companyAlias":"pondurance","description":"Assessing the security posture through Enterprise Security Testing is one of many the steps necessary to protecting the organizations information assets. \r\nWith the advent of new technologies and inherent interconnectivity, an entire digital frontier has become unharnessed. \r\nWith these great conveniences and efficiencies new challenges are presented that increase the complexity of protecting sensitive information before it ends up in the hands of an adversary.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Enterprise Security Testing Service Offerings:</span></p>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Vulnerability Testing & Assessment </span>– Vulnerability testing and assessments examine the underlying systems and resources that make up the infrastructure. Team searches for vulnerabilities and weaknesses that may put the enterprise environment at risk. \r\nThe vulnerability assessment will provide an organization with the discovery, analysis, and controlled exploitation of security vulnerabilities that are accessible from external and internal sources. Identified vulnerabilities are validated through both manual and automated processes to eliminate false positive findings.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Penetration Testing:</span> Penetration tests help to truly quantify the impact of a real-world security incident or an attack against your environment. \r\nLeveraging the same tools and techniques as an attacker, penetration testing activities are performed to fully assess the effectiveness of the organization’s controls. \r\nPondurance approaches penetration testing in a controlled manner by first coordinating with client personnel to identify the goals and objectives of the test, establishing rules of engagement, and expected end results. \r\nFrom an availability perspective denial-of-service (DoS) conditions are never intentionally pursued in penetration testing engagements. \r\nFinally, Pondurance consultants maintain constant communication via our secure portal so that everyone is aware of the activities as they unfold and are completed.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Secure Configuration Review:</span> Pondurance reviews operating systems and network devices for configuration settings that align with industry best practices and vendor-recommended guidelines.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Security Architecture Review:</span> This activity reviews a comprehensive list of the organization’s technical and strategic information security requirements, such as network design, access controls, environment assets, remote access, and monitoring, alerts, and reports of the underlying infrastructure. \r\nThe architecture is then compared against best practices or requirements and any improvements or gaps are documented with recommendations to assist with alleviating the current risk.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Physical Security Testing:</span> This service penetrates the physical security of a targeted facility through the identification of gaps and/or weaknesses in the facility’s physical security controls. This service includes the manipulation of locks, identification systems, and entryways.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Social Engineering:</span> Social Engineering identifies gaps in your employee information security awareness training and pinpoints what changes to your business’s culture will need to be made to continue to conduct business in the modern world. \r\nBased on these needs, the following social engineering tests are available:\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">User Based:</span> This uses various electronic communication mediums (email, telephone, social networking, etc.) to take advantage of the environment’s users in order to gain access to sensitive information or targeted data. Common scenarios include coordinated pre-texted calling scenarios and targeted email phishing campaigns.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Physical Based:</span> A physical based social engineering test takes advantage of weaknesses in the physical security and your user’s security awareness training to attempt to gain unauthorized access to the facility and sensitive data assets.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Wireless Testing:</span> Wireless testing provides examines security vulnerabilities and exposures within the targeted environment through the use of wireless radio analysis and configuration review. This service can target technology and implementation vulnerabilities, as well as user information security awareness.<br /><br />","shortDescription":"Service focuses on the current information security posture of an organization’s information assets. It examines the infrastructure, people, and technologies to identify vulnerabilities.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":0,"sellingCount":0,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Pondurance Enterprise Security Testing","keywords":"","description":"Assessing the security posture through Enterprise Security Testing is one of many the steps necessary to protecting the organizations information assets. \r\nWith the advent of new technologies and inherent interconnectivity, an entire digital frontier has becom","og:title":"Pondurance Enterprise Security Testing","og:description":"Assessing the security posture through Enterprise Security Testing is one of many the steps necessary to protecting the organizations information assets. \r\nWith the advent of new technologies and inherent interconnectivity, an entire digital frontier has becom","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Pondurance_logo.png"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":4610,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":727,"title":"IT Security Audit","alias":"it-security-audit","description":" A <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">computer security audit</span> is a manual or systematic measurable technical assessment of a system or application. Manual assessments include interviewing staff, performing security vulnerability scans, reviewing application and operating system access controls, and analyzing physical access to the systems. Automated assessments, or CAAT's, include system generated audit reports or using software to monitor and report changes to files and settings on a system. Systems can include personal computers, servers, mainframes, network routers, switches.\r\nAt its root, an <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">IT security audit</span> includes two different assessments. The manual assessment occurs when an internal or external IT security audit companies interview employees, reviews access controls, analyzes physical access to hardware, and performs vulnerability scans. \r\nAudit, performed by IT security audit services or IT security audit software, analyzes individual technical infrastructure components at a detailed level, ensuring that each is functioning in a manner that reinforces appropriate information security. The stakes are made higher with a number of regulatory compliance requirements mandating that IT audits be included in organizational due diligence efforts. These reviews should occur, at a minimum, annually. Some organizations, however, prefer to do them more frequently.\r\nOrganizations should also review system-generated reports. Automated assessments not only incorporate that data, but also respond to software monitoring reports and changes to server and file settings.\r\nSecurity audits, vulnerability assessments, and penetration testing are the <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">three main types of security diagnostics. </span>Each of the three takes a different approach and may be best suited for a particular purpose. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Security audits</span> measure an information system's performance against a list of criteria. \r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">vulnerability assessment,</span> on the other hand, involves a comprehensive study of an entire information system, seeking potential security weaknesses. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Penetration testing</span> is a covert operation, in which a security expert tries a number of attacks to ascertain whether or not a system could withstand the same types of attacks from a malicious hacker. In penetration testing, the feigned attack can include anything a real attacker might try, such as social engineering. Each of the approaches has inherent strengths, and using two or more of them in conjunction may be the most effective approach of all.\r\n\r\n\r\n","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a security audit?</span></h1>\r\nA Security Audit is a process or event where the IT security policy or standards are used as a basis to determine the overall state of existing protection and to verify whether existing protection is being performed properly. It aims to determine whether the current environment is securely protected in accordance with the defined IT security policy.<br />Before performing a security assessment or audit, the organization should define the scope of the security audit, and the budget and duration allowed for the assessment/audit.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">How often should a security audit be performed?</span></h1>\r\nA security audit only provides a snapshot of the vulnerabilities in a system at a particular point in time. As technology and the business environment changes, periodic and ongoing reviews will inevitably be required. Depending on the criticality of the business, a security audit might be conducted yearly, or every two years.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Who should perform a security audit?</span></h1>\r\nA security audit is a complex task requiring skilled and experienced personnel; it must be planned carefully. To perform the audit an independent and trusted third party is recommended. This third party can be another group of in-house staff or an external audit team, dependent on the skills of the internal staff and the criticality/sensitivity of the information being audited.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IT_Security_Audit.png"},{"id":718,"title":"IT Consulting","alias":"it-consulting","description":" In management, information technology consulting (also called IT consulting, computer consultancy, business and technology services, computing consultancy, technology consulting, and IT advisory) as a field of activity focuses on advising organizations on how best to use information technology (IT) in achieving their business objectives.\r\nThe IT consulting industry can be viewed as a Four-tier system:\r\n<ul><li>Professional services firms which maintain large professional workforces and command high bill rates.</li><li>Staffing firms, which place technologists with businesses on a temporary basis, typically in response to employee absences, temporary skill shortages and technical projects.</li><li>Independent consultants, who are self-employed or who function as employees of staffing firms (for US tax purposes, employed on Form W-2), or as independent contractors in their own right (for US tax purposes, on "1099").</li><li>Information Technology security consultants</li></ul>\r\nThere are different reasons why consultants are called in:\r\n<ul><li>To gain external, objective advice and recommendations</li><li>To gain access to the consultants' specialized expertise</li><li>Temporary help during a one-time project where the hiring of a permanent employee(s) is not required or necessary</li><li>To outsource all or part of the IT services from a specific company.</li></ul>\r\nThere is a relatively unclear line between management consulting and IT consulting. There are sometimes overlaps between the two fields, but IT consultants often have degrees in computer science, electronics, technology, or management information systems while management consultants often have degrees in accounting, economics, Industrial Engineering, finance, or a generalized MBA (Masters in Business Administration).\r\nAccording to the Institute for Partner Education & Development, IT consultants' revenues come predominantly from design and planning based consulting with a mixture of IT and business consulting. This is different from a systems integrator in that you do not normally take title to product. Their value comes from their ability to integrate and support technologies as well as determining product and brands. ","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Who is an information technology (IT) consultant?</span>\r\nAn information technology consultant is a third-party service provider who is qualified to advise clients on the best use of IT to meet specific business requirements. IT consultants may work with a professional IT consultancy firm or as independent contractors. They may conduct a business needs assessment and develop an information systems solution that meets the organization's objectives.\r\nSome information technology consultants emphasize technical issues while others help organizations use IT to manage business processes. Still others specialize in a specific IT area such as information security.\r\nIT consultants need a deep knowledge of both business and information technology. A bachelor's degree in management information systems, computer science, or information science is the typical path into a technical consultancy career. IT certifications supplement this foundation with specialized technical training. Information technology degree and certification programs are available online to accommodate working IT professionals.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are the prerequisites and major obstacles?</span>\r\nOnce a business owner defined the needs to take a business to the next level, a decision maker will define a scope, cost and a time-frame of the project. The role of the IT consultancy company is to support and nurture the company from the very beginning of the project until the end, and deliver the project not only in the scope, time and cost but also with complete customer satisfaction.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Project scoping and planning</span></span>\r\nThe usual problem is that a business owner doesn't know the detail of what the project is going to deliver until it starts the process. In many cases, the incremental effort in some projects can lead to significant financial loss.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Business process and system design</span></span>\r\nThe scope of a project is linked intimately to the proposed business processes and systems that the project is going to deliver. Regardless of whether the project is to launch a new product range or discontinue unprofitable parts of the business, the change will have some impact on business processes and systems. The documentation of your business processes and system requirements are as fundamental to project scoping as an architects plans would be to the costing and scoping of the construction of a building.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Project management support</span></span>\r\nThe most successful business projects are always those that are driven by an employee who has the authority, vision and influence to drive the required changes in a business. It is highly unlikely that a business owner (decision maker or similar) will realize the changes unless one has one of these people in the employment. However, the project leadership role typically requires significant experience and skills which are not usually found within a company focused on day-to-day operations. Due to this requirement within more significant business change projects/programs, outside expertise is often sought from firms which can bring this specific skill set to the company.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the skills of IT-consulting?</span>\r\nAn IT consultant needs to possess the following skills:\r\n<ul><li>Advisory skills</li><li>Technical skills</li><li>Business skills</li><li>Communication skills</li><li>Management skills</li><li>Advisory language skills</li><li>Business and management language skills</li><li>Technical language skills</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IT_Consulting.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"suppliedProducts":[{"id":4610,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Pondurance_logo.png","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Pondurance Enterprise Security Testing","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"0.00","implementationsCount":0,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":0,"alias":"pondurance-enterprise-security-testing","companyTitle":"Pondurance","companyTypes":["supplier","vendor"],"companyId":7003,"companyAlias":"pondurance","description":"Assessing the security posture through Enterprise Security Testing is one of many the steps necessary to protecting the organizations information assets. \r\nWith the advent of new technologies and inherent interconnectivity, an entire digital frontier has become unharnessed. \r\nWith these great conveniences and efficiencies new challenges are presented that increase the complexity of protecting sensitive information before it ends up in the hands of an adversary.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Enterprise Security Testing Service Offerings:</span></p>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Vulnerability Testing & Assessment </span>– Vulnerability testing and assessments examine the underlying systems and resources that make up the infrastructure. Team searches for vulnerabilities and weaknesses that may put the enterprise environment at risk. \r\nThe vulnerability assessment will provide an organization with the discovery, analysis, and controlled exploitation of security vulnerabilities that are accessible from external and internal sources. Identified vulnerabilities are validated through both manual and automated processes to eliminate false positive findings.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Penetration Testing:</span> Penetration tests help to truly quantify the impact of a real-world security incident or an attack against your environment. \r\nLeveraging the same tools and techniques as an attacker, penetration testing activities are performed to fully assess the effectiveness of the organization’s controls. \r\nPondurance approaches penetration testing in a controlled manner by first coordinating with client personnel to identify the goals and objectives of the test, establishing rules of engagement, and expected end results. \r\nFrom an availability perspective denial-of-service (DoS) conditions are never intentionally pursued in penetration testing engagements. \r\nFinally, Pondurance consultants maintain constant communication via our secure portal so that everyone is aware of the activities as they unfold and are completed.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Secure Configuration Review:</span> Pondurance reviews operating systems and network devices for configuration settings that align with industry best practices and vendor-recommended guidelines.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Security Architecture Review:</span> This activity reviews a comprehensive list of the organization’s technical and strategic information security requirements, such as network design, access controls, environment assets, remote access, and monitoring, alerts, and reports of the underlying infrastructure. \r\nThe architecture is then compared against best practices or requirements and any improvements or gaps are documented with recommendations to assist with alleviating the current risk.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Physical Security Testing:</span> This service penetrates the physical security of a targeted facility through the identification of gaps and/or weaknesses in the facility’s physical security controls. This service includes the manipulation of locks, identification systems, and entryways.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Social Engineering:</span> Social Engineering identifies gaps in your employee information security awareness training and pinpoints what changes to your business’s culture will need to be made to continue to conduct business in the modern world. \r\nBased on these needs, the following social engineering tests are available:\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">User Based:</span> This uses various electronic communication mediums (email, telephone, social networking, etc.) to take advantage of the environment’s users in order to gain access to sensitive information or targeted data. Common scenarios include coordinated pre-texted calling scenarios and targeted email phishing campaigns.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Physical Based:</span> A physical based social engineering test takes advantage of weaknesses in the physical security and your user’s security awareness training to attempt to gain unauthorized access to the facility and sensitive data assets.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Wireless Testing:</span> Wireless testing provides examines security vulnerabilities and exposures within the targeted environment through the use of wireless radio analysis and configuration review. This service can target technology and implementation vulnerabilities, as well as user information security awareness.<br /><br />","shortDescription":"Service focuses on the current information security posture of an organization’s information assets. It examines the infrastructure, people, and technologies to identify vulnerabilities.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":0,"sellingCount":0,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Pondurance Enterprise Security Testing","keywords":"","description":"Assessing the security posture through Enterprise Security Testing is one of many the steps necessary to protecting the organizations information assets. \r\nWith the advent of new technologies and inherent interconnectivity, an entire digital frontier has becom","og:title":"Pondurance Enterprise Security Testing","og:description":"Assessing the security posture through Enterprise Security Testing is one of many the steps necessary to protecting the organizations information assets. \r\nWith the advent of new technologies and inherent interconnectivity, an entire digital frontier has becom","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Pondurance_logo.png"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":4610,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":727,"title":"IT Security Audit","alias":"it-security-audit","description":" A <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">computer security audit</span> is a manual or systematic measurable technical assessment of a system or application. Manual assessments include interviewing staff, performing security vulnerability scans, reviewing application and operating system access controls, and analyzing physical access to the systems. Automated assessments, or CAAT's, include system generated audit reports or using software to monitor and report changes to files and settings on a system. Systems can include personal computers, servers, mainframes, network routers, switches.\r\nAt its root, an <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">IT security audit</span> includes two different assessments. The manual assessment occurs when an internal or external IT security audit companies interview employees, reviews access controls, analyzes physical access to hardware, and performs vulnerability scans. \r\nAudit, performed by IT security audit services or IT security audit software, analyzes individual technical infrastructure components at a detailed level, ensuring that each is functioning in a manner that reinforces appropriate information security. The stakes are made higher with a number of regulatory compliance requirements mandating that IT audits be included in organizational due diligence efforts. These reviews should occur, at a minimum, annually. Some organizations, however, prefer to do them more frequently.\r\nOrganizations should also review system-generated reports. Automated assessments not only incorporate that data, but also respond to software monitoring reports and changes to server and file settings.\r\nSecurity audits, vulnerability assessments, and penetration testing are the <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">three main types of security diagnostics. </span>Each of the three takes a different approach and may be best suited for a particular purpose. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Security audits</span> measure an information system's performance against a list of criteria. \r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">vulnerability assessment,</span> on the other hand, involves a comprehensive study of an entire information system, seeking potential security weaknesses. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Penetration testing</span> is a covert operation, in which a security expert tries a number of attacks to ascertain whether or not a system could withstand the same types of attacks from a malicious hacker. In penetration testing, the feigned attack can include anything a real attacker might try, such as social engineering. Each of the approaches has inherent strengths, and using two or more of them in conjunction may be the most effective approach of all.\r\n\r\n\r\n","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a security audit?</span></h1>\r\nA Security Audit is a process or event where the IT security policy or standards are used as a basis to determine the overall state of existing protection and to verify whether existing protection is being performed properly. It aims to determine whether the current environment is securely protected in accordance with the defined IT security policy.<br />Before performing a security assessment or audit, the organization should define the scope of the security audit, and the budget and duration allowed for the assessment/audit.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">How often should a security audit be performed?</span></h1>\r\nA security audit only provides a snapshot of the vulnerabilities in a system at a particular point in time. As technology and the business environment changes, periodic and ongoing reviews will inevitably be required. Depending on the criticality of the business, a security audit might be conducted yearly, or every two years.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Who should perform a security audit?</span></h1>\r\nA security audit is a complex task requiring skilled and experienced personnel; it must be planned carefully. To perform the audit an independent and trusted third party is recommended. This third party can be another group of in-house staff or an external audit team, dependent on the skills of the internal staff and the criticality/sensitivity of the information being audited.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IT_Security_Audit.png"},{"id":718,"title":"IT Consulting","alias":"it-consulting","description":" In management, information technology consulting (also called IT consulting, computer consultancy, business and technology services, computing consultancy, technology consulting, and IT advisory) as a field of activity focuses on advising organizations on how best to use information technology (IT) in achieving their business objectives.\r\nThe IT consulting industry can be viewed as a Four-tier system:\r\n<ul><li>Professional services firms which maintain large professional workforces and command high bill rates.</li><li>Staffing firms, which place technologists with businesses on a temporary basis, typically in response to employee absences, temporary skill shortages and technical projects.</li><li>Independent consultants, who are self-employed or who function as employees of staffing firms (for US tax purposes, employed on Form W-2), or as independent contractors in their own right (for US tax purposes, on "1099").</li><li>Information Technology security consultants</li></ul>\r\nThere are different reasons why consultants are called in:\r\n<ul><li>To gain external, objective advice and recommendations</li><li>To gain access to the consultants' specialized expertise</li><li>Temporary help during a one-time project where the hiring of a permanent employee(s) is not required or necessary</li><li>To outsource all or part of the IT services from a specific company.</li></ul>\r\nThere is a relatively unclear line between management consulting and IT consulting. There are sometimes overlaps between the two fields, but IT consultants often have degrees in computer science, electronics, technology, or management information systems while management consultants often have degrees in accounting, economics, Industrial Engineering, finance, or a generalized MBA (Masters in Business Administration).\r\nAccording to the Institute for Partner Education & Development, IT consultants' revenues come predominantly from design and planning based consulting with a mixture of IT and business consulting. This is different from a systems integrator in that you do not normally take title to product. Their value comes from their ability to integrate and support technologies as well as determining product and brands. ","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Who is an information technology (IT) consultant?</span>\r\nAn information technology consultant is a third-party service provider who is qualified to advise clients on the best use of IT to meet specific business requirements. IT consultants may work with a professional IT consultancy firm or as independent contractors. They may conduct a business needs assessment and develop an information systems solution that meets the organization's objectives.\r\nSome information technology consultants emphasize technical issues while others help organizations use IT to manage business processes. Still others specialize in a specific IT area such as information security.\r\nIT consultants need a deep knowledge of both business and information technology. A bachelor's degree in management information systems, computer science, or information science is the typical path into a technical consultancy career. IT certifications supplement this foundation with specialized technical training. Information technology degree and certification programs are available online to accommodate working IT professionals.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are the prerequisites and major obstacles?</span>\r\nOnce a business owner defined the needs to take a business to the next level, a decision maker will define a scope, cost and a time-frame of the project. The role of the IT consultancy company is to support and nurture the company from the very beginning of the project until the end, and deliver the project not only in the scope, time and cost but also with complete customer satisfaction.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Project scoping and planning</span></span>\r\nThe usual problem is that a business owner doesn't know the detail of what the project is going to deliver until it starts the process. In many cases, the incremental effort in some projects can lead to significant financial loss.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Business process and system design</span></span>\r\nThe scope of a project is linked intimately to the proposed business processes and systems that the project is going to deliver. Regardless of whether the project is to launch a new product range or discontinue unprofitable parts of the business, the change will have some impact on business processes and systems. The documentation of your business processes and system requirements are as fundamental to project scoping as an architects plans would be to the costing and scoping of the construction of a building.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Project management support</span></span>\r\nThe most successful business projects are always those that are driven by an employee who has the authority, vision and influence to drive the required changes in a business. It is highly unlikely that a business owner (decision maker or similar) will realize the changes unless one has one of these people in the employment. However, the project leadership role typically requires significant experience and skills which are not usually found within a company focused on day-to-day operations. Due to this requirement within more significant business change projects/programs, outside expertise is often sought from firms which can bring this specific skill set to the company.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the skills of IT-consulting?</span>\r\nAn IT consultant needs to possess the following skills:\r\n<ul><li>Advisory skills</li><li>Technical skills</li><li>Business skills</li><li>Communication skills</li><li>Management skills</li><li>Advisory language skills</li><li>Business and management language skills</li><li>Technical language skills</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IT_Consulting.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"partnershipProgramme":null}},"aliases":{},"links":{},"meta":{},"loading":false,"error":null},"implementations":{"implementationsByAlias":{},"aliases":{},"links":{},"meta":{},"loading":false,"error":null},"agreements":{"agreementById":{},"ids":{},"links":{},"meta":{},"loading":false,"error":null},"comparison":{"loading":false,"error":false,"templatesById":{},"comparisonByTemplateId":{},"products":[],"selectedTemplateId":null},"presentation":{"type":null,"company":{},"products":[],"partners":[],"formData":{},"dataLoading":false,"dataError":false,"loading":false,"error":false},"catalogsGlobal":{"subMenuItemTitle":""}}