This document summarizes a presentation given by Gerasimos Moschonas on the evolving threats facing CISOs and the challenges they face. It discusses how threats are becoming more advanced as attacks grow more aggressive and attackers become more professional. It also examines how the role of CISO has evolved from an IT security administrator to an independent and strategic role responsible for information security governance. Specific threats discussed include big data, the internet of things, cybercrime, social engineering, mobility, and an increasingly regulated environment. The challenges for CISOs are aligning security and business strategies, reducing risks to an acceptable level while protecting the business brand, and preparing for security incidents.

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The evolving threats
and
the challenges of the modern CISO
Gerasimos Moschonas
Information Security Professional
2ο Forward Thinking Cyber Security Event
(ISC)² Hellenic Chapter
March 2017

2. 2ο Forward Thinking Cyber Security Event
(ISC)² Hellenic Chapter
March 2017
Information Security Topics
 Big Data
 Internet of Things
 Cyber Crime & Attacks
 Social Engineering
 Mobility
 Regulatory Framework
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(ISC)² Hellenic Chapter
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World keeps changing
 From centralised legacy systems (in premises) to
decentralised interconnected systems (in and out of
premises)
 Outsourcing services
 Cloud computing
 ΙοΤ
 Enterprises become more and more digital, and a
serious target for cyber criminals
 Attacks and attackers become more smart, aggresive
and professionals
 Threats are evolving and cyber security is a top priority
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Incidents keep growing
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 Massive DDoS attack against major DNS service Dyn,
affected a huge portion of Internet users in the US, taking down the
access to major web services, including Twitter, Amazon, Netflix, PayPal
 SWIFT cyber heists (started from the Bank of Bangladesh)
 Yahoo had been hacked ..... again and ... again
 Hospitals, state and local governments, law enforcement
agencies, small & large businesses - these are just some of
the entities impacted recently by ransomware
 Spam email operator's faulty backup leaks 1.37bn addresses
 WikiLeaks Vault 7 : CIA hacking tools revealed

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CISO’s role keeps evolving
From the role of the IT security administrator & the IT Security
Officer inside the IT Unit to the independent role of CISO who:
 Is a decision maker, an influencer
 Has the overall responsibility for the Information Security
Governance, reporting to the Senior Management
 Is Business-oriented and Technology-oriented, talks the
business & the technology language as well. Understands
the business environment, acts as an integrator of people,
business processes and technology
 “Translates” information security risks to business risks
 Is always aware of the evolving threats, the technology
trends and the regulatory framework
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Big Data
 Amount of data is increasing daily
 Data at rest and in transit, in and out of the perimeter
 But, do you know
 Where is your data located?
 How is your data used and exchanged?
 Who has access and for which reason?
 The retention period and how is it destructed?
 If Cloud services are being used?
 Use of cloud services for cost reduction raises several
matters to evaluate
 Data privacy and compliance
 Lack of governance
 Appropriate security controls
 Contractual terms (e.g. Right to Audit)
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Employees & Partners 1/2

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Big Data
 Restrict the user environment (usb media, admin rights)
 Use DLP measures for data in transit (at the endpoints and
the perimeter)
 Enforce Identity & Access Management (staff, partners)
 Use of encryption – segregation of duties
 Apply a retention and destruction policy for both electronic
and physical data
 For cloud services
 Identity – Evaluate the assets
 Perform a risk based assessment
 Define the minimum security controls
 Be compliant with data privacy
regulations
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(ISC)² Hellenic Chapter
March 2017
Internet of Things
 More than 24 billion IoT devices installed on Earth by 2020
 These «things» don’t «look» like traditional computers and
aren’t treated like computers
 Usually no adequate security measures taken
 Could be used as a botnet or as an entry point to a home or
corporate network
 IoT Botnet ‘Mirai’ targeted vulnerable ‘Smart’ IoT devices
turning them into ‘Bots’, used for DDoS
 Implement strong authentication
 Ensure the identity of each device
 Apply device-to-device secure communication
 Minimise the data exchanged, processed and stored
 Secure the data stored on the devices
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Cyber Crime & Attacks
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Cyber Crime & Attacks
 Attacks become more aggresive and intelligent
 Crime as a Service
 Distributed Denial of
Services (DDoS)
 Advanced Persistent
Threats (APTs)
 0-day attacks (malware unknown to traditional controls)
 The era of the Ransomware
Ransomware attacks against businesses increased threefold in 2016. Kaspersky Lab
recorded one ransomware attack every 40 seconds against companies in September.
 ATM attacks (malware, black box)
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AKAMAI REPORT Q4 2016

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March 2017
Cyber Crime & Attacks
 Bypassing the perimeter e.g. a malware is spreaded via a
usb / a laptop connected to a workstation / the network
 Do you really know if someone or “something” malicious is
already inside your network?
 How do you monitor the inside behavior to have alerts for
any abnormal activity?
 What constitutes normal and abnormal activity?
Preventing known threats is not enough : detect and prepare
for the Unknown
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Cyber Crime & Attacks
 Threat intelligence for monitoring both the incoming traffic
(web & email) and the corporate network, detecting any
malicious activity which points to viable threats
 Implement centralised Advanced Threat Protection
technologies for simulating the behavior of the
malicious/suspicious traffic (sandboxing)
 Implement multi-layered protection for the endpoints
(reputation analysis, advanced machine learning, behavior
emulation, memory exploit mitigation)
 Sign a Cyber Insurance contract
 Educate the incident response team to react accordingly
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Social Engineering
Methods of manipulating / tricking people to disclose
confidential information, breaking the security procedures
 CEO Fraud
 Spear Phishing (targeting Companies or
group of people) via email, sms, voice
 Social Media masquerade, Fake Apps/Sites:
Fraudsters can masquerade your brand - across
your digital channels - and bait your customers with scams, phishing
and offers for counterfeit products and services (Sony Twitter account
hacked)
 Educate and train the personnel (and the clients)
 Security awareness program - Metrics
 Protect your Brand – Internet monitoring
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Mobility
 Mobile apps
 m-wallets, m-banking, …
 Contactless and NFC payments
 Abuse of privacy : where the app has access to?
 Mixing of personal and corporate data on the device
 Remote working for troubleshooting
 Remote access to corporate resources
 Emails, Intranet Sites, Documents sharing
 Data stored in the cloud (e.g. iCloud)
 «Rooted» / «jailbroken» operating systems override the
security of the mobile device
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Mobility
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 Privacy by design
 Application security assessment
 BYOD policy – Mobile Data Management
 Security policy (password, idle timeout), encryption
 Check for “rooted” devices / Remote Wipe
 Malware protection
 WiFi – Bluetooth not always on
 Secure remote access procedure
 Guest – WiFi LAN not connected to corporate network
 Control each device connected to the corporate network
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 Information Security becomes more and more regulated
 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
 The Directive on security of network and information
systems (NIS Directive)
 The EU Regulation on electronic identification and trust
services for electronic transactions in the internal market
(eIDAS Regulation)
 The 2nd Payment Services Directive (PSD2)
 Be ahead of the Regulatory Requirements – Act proactively
 Inform the Enterprise for the new obligations – Act for being
compliant in time
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Regulatory Framework

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 Build a understandable and robust (cyber) security strategy
 Align security strategy to business strategy, supporting the
business success
 Engage the Board. “Translate” information security risks to
business risks
 Reduce information security risks to an acceptable level.
Adopt appropriate security measures and procedures
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The challenges of CISO
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 Protect business brand and keep customers’ & shareholders’
confidence high
 Be ahead of the Regulatory Requirements – Act proactively
 Be prepared for an incident – Assume you’ll be compromised
 Educate the personnel – Raise awareness
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The challenges of CISO
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Managing information security risks while
delivering value
to the digital enterprise
The role of CISO is more vital than ever
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The role of CISO

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March 2017
Q & A
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