Security Breach

Send us Fan Mail I’m always tempted to start out each episode by talking about a problem, and then setting up our guest as the solution to that problem. It’s formulaic and a bit redundant, but it’s also effective. So I’ll apologize in advance because I’m about to do that very thing again.  The difference is that Howard Grimes, the CEO of the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyManI...

Send us Fan Mail Insider threats are creating new attack vectors, but old-school solutions could rise to the challenge. Regardless of the situation or dynamic, everyone likes to think that they’re special. However, with experience we learn that appreciating both the shared similarities, as well as some of those unique traits, are how we can best solve problems.  A great example is a recent convers...

Send us Fan Mail In many instances the biggest challenge facing OT cybersecurity practitioners is knowing where to focus resources, especially their time. In other words, what are the priorities for the enterprise, facility and people? I recently sat down with Securin's Lead Threat Intelligence Analyst - Aviral Verma . And while I anticipated a conversation focused on vulnerabilities and the...

Send us Fan Mail One of the great things about covering industrial cybersecurity is the number of reports, studies and white papers being produced right now to help provide intelligence on threats, research on new tools, and data on leading trends. The tough part is sorting through all this data and, at some point, prioritizing it in order to get the most and best information. One source that I lo...

Send us Fan Mail Endpoint security tools worked, but the hackers worked harder for their payday. While everyone likes to know how someone else might have screwed up and what the fallout looks like, the more import elements of episodes like this one come from the in-depth conversations about new tactics and strategies that are being used by the bad guys, and simultaneously, the insight on new best...

Send us Fan Mail We talk a lot about the growing complexity of hacking groups and how their tools and tactics continue to evolve. One such evolution is the ongoing specialization that runs rampant throughout the black hat community – especially when it comes to ransomware.  The rise of initial access brokers, affiliate programs, spoofing domain creators, dark web communities, and more are fueling...

Send us Fan Mail Breaking down silos while securing the cloud and leveraging secure-by-design advancements. The challenges facing the industrial OT landscape that emanate from external sources are … varied, complex and constantly evolving. Smarter hacking groups, AI-driven phishing schemes and deceptive malware viruses head the list of concerns. And while these factors show no signs of fading, the...

Send us Fan Mail One of the goals of the show is to help you better understand all the threats facing your OT assets, your data and your people. In order to do that, we work to identify those individuals with a feel and in-depth understanding of these threats and the evolving network of threat actors. And I can’t think of anyone better to break down the hacker landscape than an individual whose re...

Send us Fan Mail When we talk about the threat landscape for the industrial sector, the eye-catching, headline-grabbing hacking groups with nefarious names typically lead the list of concerns. And while understanding their well-publicized exploits are important, what is often overlooked are all the little things these groups were able to do before dropping malware, shutting down networks, extortin...

Send us Fan Mail While we’re still in the infancy of 2025, the New Year has proven to have no issues in welcoming in a number of pre-existing challenges – whether we’re talking about cybersecurity or … other social topics. So, in continuing this trend, we tapped into a unique collection of voices to discuss a topic that has, and will continue to be, vital to industrial cybersecurity efforts – Arti...

Send us Fan Mail The continued evolution of the CyberAv3ngers hacking group and its IIoT-focused malware. We talk a lot about change on Security Breach. Some of it’s good and obviously some of it makes us want to tear our hair out. Well, this episode, surprisingly, should go easy on the scalp, even though it will focus on the IOCONTROL malware strand recently detected by Noam Moshe and Claroty’s T...

Send us Fan Mail Winston Churchill famously stated that, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”  His concerns about applying lessons learned to post WWII foreign policy initiatives rings just as true in the current cybersecurity climate. So, in an effort to ensure we repeat as few of 2024’s mistakes in 2025, we’re going to take a look at some of the industrial sector’s big...

Send us Fan Mail As we begin to close out 2024 and look ahead to 2025, I couldn’t resist the urge to revisit some of my favorite guests from the last couple of months. While I’m grateful for everyone we’ve had on the show, and all the support we continue to receive from the industrial cybersecurity community, I felt these comments were worth another listen, with special focus being given to a hand...

Send us Fan Mail According to Fortinet’s 2024 State of Operational Technology and Cybersecurity Report, 43 percent of those surveyed reported a loss of business critical data or intellectual property so far in 2024– a number this is up nearly 10 percent from last year.  And we all know what happens with this hijacked data.  Per the World Economic Forum’s May 2024 white paper, the number of ransomw...

Send us Fan Mail Next to artificial intelligence, one of the biggest buzz terms in industrial cybersecurity right now might be SBOM, or software bill of materials. The term generates equal parts concern and eye roll as those entrusted with enterprise defense look to ensure that there are no embedded vulnerabilities amongst the data platforms they are both sourcing and utilizing within their offeri...

Send us Fan Mail We assembled some "nerds from the basement" to cover a key strategy in combatting evolving threats. Today’s episode is going to take on a little different flavor, as we’re going to show you one particular tool that can impact a number of your security planning, training and discovery strategies. While table top exercises are nothing new, we’re going to demonstrate how th...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode, instead of tapping into one source for feedback and updates on industrial cybersecurity, we’re going to look at some of the key insights previous guests have offered on the evolving threat landscape – from increased risks emanating from technological integrations and an uptick in automation, to the more traditional adversaries responsible for next-generation malw...

Send us Fan Mail While there are plenty of unknowns when it comes to protecting the OT attack surface, there are some things that are undeniably true. We know that the frequency of attacks will continue to increase. We know that it’s not if your ICS will be probed, but when. And we also know that asset and connection visibility is an ongoing challenge due to the implementation of more automated te...

Send us Fan Mail Maybe you’re sick of hearing about phishing schemes and the way hackers are using this strategy to infiltrate your networks, access intellectual data, shut down production, or hold your assets for ransom. If that’s the case, then you’ve made a lot of hackers very happy. And based on Proofpoint’s 2024 State of Phish report, protecting against phishing schemes is simply not being re...

Send us Fan Mail So, my daughters like to give me a hard time about growing old.  Said another way, I’m a legacy asset - just like most of the devices many of you observe, manage and secure every day. Your machines are still in place because they work. While the technology around these assets has evolved, their core functionality and value to the production process has remained constant.  But as s...

Send us Fan Mail While the justifications for additional cybersecurity spending is easy to explain, getting buy-in at the C-level can be difficult. However, some recent research might help you win over those controlling the purse strings. SonicWall’s Mid-Year Cyber Threat Report found that their firewalls were under attack 125 percent of the time during a 40-hour work week. And if that doesn’t get...

Send us Fan Mail One of the most common topics we explore here on Security Breach is the ongoing challenge of asset visibility in the OT landscape. It's frustrating because it would seem that the solution starts with basic inventory management approaches, i.e. the first step in developing frameworks and plans for everything from tool selection to attack response. Of course, this is never simp...

Send us Fan Mail According to Veeam’s 2024 Ransomware Trends Report, cyber victims stated that they were unable to restore 43 percent of whatever data was affected by ransomware attacks. This reaffirms what a number of Security Breach guests have stated about trusting hackers after paying their extortion demands.  Another finding shows that 63 percent of ransomware attack victims restored the comp...

Send us Fan Mail The ongoing theme in industrial cybersecurity centers on two competing dynamics – the desire to expand our implementation of automation and Industry 4.0 technologies with the goal of using more and faster connections, along with the decision-making data each generates to improve the efficiency and quality of production. However, these goals now need to be counter-balanced against...

Send us Fan Mail We’re back to discuss an all-too-familiar topic – ransomware. Ironically enough, it seems the topics we describe in this manner become so familiar because we can’t figure out viable, long-term solutions. I think part of the challenge for industrial organizations dealing with ransomware is that we have to divide our energy and resources between prevention, detection and response. A...