Key Insights from Black Hat 2023: RedSeal’s Perspective

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Last week approximately 40,000 cybersecurity professionals, researchers, and experts, met in Las Vegas for the annual Black Hat conference to discuss the latest trends, emerging threats, and groundbreaking technologies in cybersecurity. The RedSeal team engaged in all the event had to offer and left with several key takeaways into the current state of cybersecurity and market transitions that are driving up cyber risk.

GenAI: Pioneering Technologies, Unveiling Novel Vulnerabilities

The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly Generative AI, has ushered in a new era for organizations. Maria Markstedter, the founder of Azeria Labs—a prominent company specializing in ARM exploit development, reverse engineering, vulnerability research, and cybersecurity training—delivered an insightful keynote revolving around the emergence of AI. Confirming that while artificial intelligence and machine learning fuel innovation, they concurrently expose unprecedented security vulnerabilities. This dual nature of AI underscores the imperative for a proactive security approach.

On the heels of our experience at the Omdia Analyst Summit, Maria’s keynote fortified the belief in expanding strategies to deepen proactive measures. This entails educating teams, crafting new policies, deploying innovative cybersecurity technologies, and embracing a forward-thinking perspective. Central to this is the deployment of a robust cybersecurity solution, like RedSeal, to stop breaches by detecting vulnerable attack paths.

2023 White House Cybersecurity Strategy: A Path Forward Amid Challenges

The unveiling of the 2023 White House cybersecurity strategy heralded a new phase for national security initiatives. The prominence of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in this strategy symbolizes the government’s dedication to bolstering cyber defenses.

The introduction of a new rule mandating critical infrastructure entities to promptly report cyber-attacks within 72 hours, alongside ransom payments within 24 hours, holds immense potential for elevating incident response and coordination. The efficacy of this strategy hinges on seamless execution and adaptability in the face of the ever-evolving threat landscape and strives for collaboration across government and commercial accountability for establishing robust cyber defenses. Learn more about RedSeal’s position on the National Cyber Strategy here.

Bridging Silos: Navigating Cloud, OT/IoT, Data Center, and IT Convergence

As organizations embrace cloud migration, adopt IoT/OT devices, and integrate modern data center technologies, challenges arise—including the risks of lateral movement between these domains. Despite the ongoing convergence of these realms, numerous cybersecurity vendors remain entrenched within traditional infrastructure silos. Engaging discussions on enterprise applications and data during Black Hat highlighted the pressing need for product enhancements that streamline the incorporation of applications and data via ports and protocols information. “Attack Path Analysis” and “Security Graph” resonated within all security circles, underscoring the growing emphasis on mapping potential attack vectors, visualizing security postures and their impact within complex, hybrid environments.

Amidst these insights, RedSeal offered demos to hundreds of conference attendees. These demonstrations showcased how the RedSeal platform accurately uncovers potential lateral spread pathways across on-prem and cloud environments, enabling organizations to fortify their defense strategies comprehensively and address vulnerabilities proactively.

RedSeal also announced the unique support for third-party firewalls in public clouds, driven by experience that breaches stem from complexity. The automation of understanding third-party firewalls deployed in public clouds eliminates blind spots arising from distinct security consoles. With a unified view, the fragmentation of defenses is mitigated, preventing potential vulnerabilities. RedSeal’s integrated end-to-end perspective into cloud and on-prem environments calculate attack paths to critical data and applications, offering unparalleled insights to mitigate risk.

CISO Dialogues: Addressing the Cybersecurity Talent Gap

Engaging in conversations with Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), we learned that while traditional IT security concerns and the rise of cloud and OT infrastructures remain top challenges, one concern consistently looms large – the scarcity of cybersecurity talent. As organizations grapple with a growing skills gap, CISOs are compelled to look outside the organization for resources to not only support team development but also have the people and tools required to confront evolving threats head-on.

Promisingly, solutions do exist. Organizations can bridge this gap by engaging with experts, allowing their teams to focus on core competencies. RedSeal’s recent case study, “Regional Health System Increases Network Visibility and Mitigates Cybersecurity Risk,” demonstrates the efficacy of engaging RedSeal’s Fully Managed Services (FMS) team to augment security teams to prioritize and focus on critical security issues, enabling the health network to redirect resources towards pivotal issues, deliverables, and patient care. Read more here.

Black Hat 2023 has our team exploring a myriad of insights into the present and future of cybersecurity challenges and opportunities. From the dynamics of cutting-edge technologies like GenAI to evolving governmental strategies and the indispensable need to bridge security gaps, the conference underscored the need for proactive approaches in securing our digital future with the right tools and the right teams. As we act on these key takeaways, RedSeal remains committed to driving innovation and empowering organizations with the most comprehensive, dynamic model of your hybrid network allowing you to navigate the dynamic cybersecurity landscape with confidence, trust and resilience. Get in touch to see how we can help you stay ahead in today’s fast-evolving digital environment.