Choose from several options for complete web, email and data security.
Learn more
Evaluate Websense products by watching demos and installing evaluation software.
Learn how Websense solutions help keep our customer safe, secure and productive
Get information on product updates, support resources and more.
Get the most out of support in five simple steps.
Find tools and assets to help sell Websense solutions.
Come work for the global leader in unified information security. Go
we want to hear from you >
“Patch Java and you’ll be protected against Java threats”
We seem to hear this constantly, not just in the last few months, but for years. Way back in Nov. 2011, we were told that if we had Java 6 Update 29 or Java 7 update 1, we wouldn’t be vulnerable to the security weaknesses in the headlines. Yet, with each update vulnerabilities continue to be discovered and exploited. We even had two Java 0-day exploits included in kits before Oracle had patches prepared. Yet despite the patches, we continue to hear about new vulnerabilities...
So what to do? Based on my discussions with other pros and my own experience I’ll be presenting a series on how to mitigate Java risks to protect your endpoints. We’ll look at: Proactive; Immediate; and Long-Term prophylactic measures. Here’s what you can start acting on now:
Every day, organizations worldwide are targeted by data-stealing attacks. While these attacks have evolved in frequency and sophistication, many security defenses have failed to adapt. Old techniques don’t address containment against data theft and cybercrime call-home communications. The growing prevalence of cloud apps, along with increases in SSL traffic, mobility and remote users are also adding more blind spots to traditional defenses.
It’s imperative that we continue to stay up-to-date on the latest tactics and tricks. Join me this Wednesday, August 8, 2012 from 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. PT for a webinar on the seven stages of data theft. We’ll be covering each of these steps:
Reconnaissance - Targeted attackers access credentials and research online profiles, email IDs, org. chart information, hobbies and interests from social profiles to gain insight on their victims.
Lures - Designed to prey on human curiosity, web lures often link to videos or breaking news, while email lures are more business-focused on transaction and fake delivery notices.
Redirects - Users are usually directed to a survey, rogue anti virus offer or a fake web page where an exploit kit is waiting. Traditional redirects are injection attacks, while newer ones focus on social networking wall postings, fake plug-ins, fake certificates and heavily obfuscated java script.
Exploit Kits - The exploit kit objective is like that of a sniper: take the shot with a malware dropper file only when an open door for tested vulnerabilities is found.
Dropper Files - This stage is what most people consider the focus of their forward-facing defenses: analyze every file that comes into the network for malware. The problem is dropper files use dynamic packers, so known signatures and patterns are not available.
Call-Home - This stage involves calling home for malware downloads and tools, and for sending back information, standard procedure for any successful online attack. The problem is that most defenses are only forward-facing and do not analyze the outbound traffic from infected systems.
Data Theft - This is what they are after. The ability to contain an attack and stop data theft raises many questions that we will address. Can your defenses detect password files leaving your network or the use of custom encryption on outbound files?
In addition, we’ll be covering: why current defenses are failing; today’s new security requirements; and the newest, bleeding edge advanced threat and data theft defenses to emerge thus far.
We look forward to having you join the webinar. Bring your questions and be ready to talk threats!
Time for Black Hat again! Day one is almost complete and I’ve seen some big themes.
There’s some of the usual. Vulnerability scanning and pen testing are definitely present and the topics of identifying and learning from data breaches are still big—especially around the area of SIEM. There are also some new developments. For example, more exhibitors are simply about education, including your typical certification schools, but general higher learning institutions, like the University of Maryland, are also here.
As usual, Black Hat USA is full of security vendors and their products, but there seem to be more ‘service’ offerings showcased this year. This may not be surprising to those who have heard analysts increasingly discuss the weaknesses assumed by an organization that is overly dependent on purely in-house resources.
Education, services and research tools are obviously taking center stage in the battleagainst cybercrime. All this focus on education is precisely why we’ve developed a few new tools and resources to help resource-strapped customers tap into the expertise of the Websense® Security Labs™ researchers.
Sometimes you need more than what you have on-hand—especially when you are dealing with highly advanced malware and complex data stealing attacks. That’s when you need an expert security researcher to help. Our Websense Security Labs have morethan one hundred team members worldwide, hip–deep in the latest threats. The new Websense CyberSecurity Intelligence™ (CSI) services, announced today, help extend their expertise and educational benefits right into your organization.
Websense CSI services offer both online and 1:1 time with our researchers, through tools, training, in-person guidance and malware forensics.
All Websense CSI customers will have access to ThreatScope™, an online sandbox environment, to safely test potential malware. It uses our Websense Advanced Classification Engine (ACE) analytics to compile an extensive report of observed behavior on an uploaded file. Insights include the infection process; post-infection activities (such as calling home); system-level events and processes; registry changes and filemodifications.
Think about it, Black Hat USA only comes around once a year, but every day needs to be about education in the security field. Websense CSI services can be an extension of your learning process— giving you access to our researchers and the necessary tools to help you become more educated on the threats of today.
If you could study one aspect of today’s threats, what would you dive into?
When we were looking at putting out our Websense Security Labs predictions for 2012, we knew that mobile threats were going to be big this year. While we included one prediction on it, there was one piece that I had thought of, but didn’t include. It’s still a ways away, but Paul Henry has an excellent write up on “QR Codes – Leading Lambs To the Slaughter.”
He correctly points out that these “ultimate url-obfuscators” can be a serious threat down the line.
It’s a good reminder that any applications on workforce mobile devices need to be properly sandboxed from the operating system. We’ve already noted in Websense Security Labs research that there are challenges with certain platforms and there are a number of mobile malware variants, including Trojans on handhelds.
It’s interesting to think QR codes as threats continue to evolve in the mobile landscape. What’s funny is as I was writing this, our Security Labs researches discovered QR codes being used a new way – through a spam campaign.
What do you think about QR codes?
