PCI DSS v3.2 & Exposing Session ID in URL

Passing the session ID in the URL such as QID 150068 “Session ID in URL” will be marked as a Fail for PCI as of April 15, 2018 in accordance with PCI DSS v3.2. QID 150068 is a PCI Fail according to PCI DSS v3.2 Requirement 6.5.10: 6.5.10 Examine software development policies and procedures and...

Cryptomining is all the rage among hackers, as DDoS amplification attacks continue

In this week’s InfoSec news review we’ll dive into cryptomining, get the latest on DDoS amplification, go over recent data breaches, and check out another vendor claiming it can crack iPhones. I, me, mine The freight train that’s cryptomining shows no sign of slowing down, and the cyber security...

GDPR: The Stakes Are High and Time Is of the Essence

With the General Data Protection Regulation GDPR going into effect in under three months, the countdown clock is fast approaching zero for organizations worldwide that handle personal data of EU residents. GDPR is a very broad and wide-ranging regulation that requires organizations to obtain a lo...

TLS 1.0 Deprecation for Qualys Cloud Platform

Qualys will require all connections to our Cloud Platform to use TLS 1.1 or higher beginning April 2nd 2018, in order to align with industry best practices for security and data integrity. Please ensure that you are using TLSv1.1+, or your connectivity to the Cloud Platform will be impacted. This...

Apple in the InfoSec Spotlight, as GitHub Falls Prey to Amplified DDoS Attack

Apple has been all over InfoSec news in the past week or so, along with Spectre / Meltdown developments, a tax season scam alert from the feds, and an apparent solution to the Winter Olympics' hack whodunit. In addition, researchers warned about a new trend of using Memcached servers to...

Recline on the Qualys Couch: Examining Patching Behavior

In a perfect world, organizations would patch vulnerabilities immediately after they’re disclosed, preemptively blocking exploits and dodging most cyber attacks. Of course, reality is far from that hypothetically ideal state. Organizations often leave critical vulnerabilities unpatched for months...

Qualys Cloud Platform 2.32 New Features

This release of the Qualys Cloud Platform version 2.32 includes updates and new features for AssetView, EC2 Connector, File Integrity Monitoring, Indication of Compromise, Security Assessment Questionnaire, Web Application Scanning, and Web Application Firewall, highlights as follows. Post update...

Hackers Hit the Olympics, While Patch Tuesday and Meltdown / Spectre Keep IT Departments On Edge

This week offered a representative sampling of different corners of the cyber security world: The monthly Patch Tuesday, a brazen attack against the Olympics, new Meltdown and Spectre concerns, and a boost for Intel’s bug bounty program. Oh, and the gargantuan Equifax data breach may have been ev...

February Patch Tuesday – 55 Microsoft vulnerabilities patched, 45 for Adobe

For this month's Patch Tuesday, Microsoft has released patches covering 55 vulnerabilities, with 15 ranked as critical. This includes out-of-band Office patches from mid-January as well as patches for Adobe Flash that were released last week. From this list, there are patches for a vulnerability...

Securing IT Assets By Prioritizing Protection And Remediation

As hackers get faster at weaponizing exploits for disclosed bugs, InfoSec teams need — more than ever — automated, continuous and precise IT asset inventorying, vulnerability management, threat prioritization and patch deployment. Critical vulnerabilities that linger unpatched for weeks or months...

Intel Makes Spectre Patch Progress, while Adobe Grapples with Latest Flash Bug

It’s been a busy week in InfoSec land, as Intel released a new Spectre patch, iOS source code was leaked online, and a zero-day Flash bug got exploited in the wild. Also making noise these past few days: A major security hole in the Grammarly web app, WordPress updates tripping over each other, a...

If You Think File Integrity Monitoring is Boring, Think Again

You’ll be hard pressed to find file integrity monitoring on any list of cool, emerging, cutting-edge cybersecurity technologies. But if you choose to ignore this mature, foundational technology, it’ll be at great risk. File integrity monitoring, or FIM, plays a key role in critical security and...

Countdown to GDPR: For GDPR Compliance, Web App Security Is a Must

With web and mobile apps becoming a preferred vector for data breaches, organizations must include application security in their plans for complying with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation GDPR. First discussed in the 1990s and turned into law in 2016, GDPR goes into effect in May of thi...

SSL Labs Grading Update: Forward Secrecy, Authenticated Encryption and ROBOT

Update March 1, 2018: The completion of these changes is documented under Version 1.31.0 in the SSL Labs Changelog. We are giving advance notification for following grading criteria changes applying from March 1, 2018: Not using forward secrecy, not using AEAD suites, and vulnerability to ROBOT...

Meltdown / Spectre: New Concerns Over Intel Patches, as Hackers Test Exploits

This week brought new developments in the Meltdown / Spectre saga, including more concerns about Intel’s buggy patches, and mounting evidence that hackers are trying to create exploits for the vulnerabilities. It seemed that after weeks of complaints and confusion, Intel’s issue had hit bottom an...

Continuous Security and Compliance Monitoring for Global IT Assets

In today’s information security world, all assets everywhere must be detected, visible, protected and compliant -- all the time. It’s no longer enough to rely on “point in time” security and compliance assessments, such as scheduled weekly or monthly scans on handpicked critical servers. “You mus...

Meltdown/Spectre: Intel Nixes Patches, Tech CEOs Questioned on Information Blackout

IT departments and tech vendors continued grappling with Spectre and Meltdown this week, as Intel pulled its glitchy patches and the U.S. Congress questioned the vulnerability disclosures' timing and scope. Spectre and Meltdown aren't typical vulnerabilities for a number of reasons, and as a...

Qualys Cloud Suite 8.12 New Features

This new release of the Qualys Cloud Suite, version 8.12 adds new reporting options for the PC Report, allowing you to include new summaries in the remediation section of the report for control failures. Feature Highlights Qualys Policy Compliance PC/SCAP PC Report: Failure Summary Section – You...

Meltdown and Spectre Aren’t Business as Usual

The new year brought a new vulnerability type — the CPU-based Meltdown and Spectre bugs — that’s forcing vendors and IT departments to modify long-standing ways of identifying threats, prioritizing remediation, managing patches and evaluating risk. “Meltdown and Spectre are different...

Meltdown / Spectre Mitigation Is a Work in Progress

Since researchers disclosed the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities on Jan. 3, vendors and IT departments have been consumed trying to figure out how to properly address the potentially devastating effects of these kernel-level bugs. By now, one thing we know for sure is that dealing with the...

Continuous Security & Compliance Demo Series

This series shows you how to effectively navigate security risks, new regulations and new technologies in support of a secure and compliant digital transformation. Qualys product managers walk you through the new features of Qualys Cloud Platform and Apps and show you how to get maximum leverage...

Qualys Policy Compliance Notification: Policy Library Update

Qualys’ library of built-in policies makes it easy to comply with the security standards and regulations that are most commonly used and adhered to. Qualys provides a wide range of policies, including many that have been certified by CIS as well as the ones based on security guidelines from vendo...

January Patch Tuesday – Meltdown/Spectre, 16 Critical Microsoft Patches, 1 Adobe Patch

Due to the disclosure of Meltdown and Spectre, Microsoft released several patches last week with the ranking "Important." While there are no active attacks against these vulnerabilities, a special focus should be placed on any of the browser patches, due to potential attacks using JavaScript. It ...

Meltdown/Spectre and Qualys Cloud Platform

In light of the recently released information about two security vulnerabilities, Qualys has considered the impact on the Qualys Cloud Platform and associated services. Qualys released a detailed advisory for customers of the Qualys Cloud Platform to help customers identify these vulnerabilities...

PCI DSS v3.2 & Private IP Address Disclosure

Private IP addresses disclosure such as QID 86247 “Web Server Internal IP Address/Internal Network Name Disclosure Vulnerability” will be marked as a Fail for PCI as of February 1, 2018 in accordance with PCI DSS v3.2. QID 86247 is a PCI Fail according to PCI DSS v3.2 Requirement 1.3.7: 1.3.7 Do...

Visualizing Spectre/Meltdown Impact and Remediation Progress

In order to determine the impact of Spectre/Meltdown and track remediation progress across your entire environment, it is important to visualize vulnerability detections in a dynamic dashboard. For more information on Spectre and Meltdown, please see our previous blog. Using Qualys AssetView, we...

Qualys Cloud Platform 2.31 New Features

This release of the Qualys Cloud Platform version 2.31 includes updates and new features for AssetView, Cloud Agent, EC2 Connector, Web Application Scanning, Web Application Firewall, and Security Assessment Questionnaire, highlights as follows. AssetView Use custom severities in AV searches and...

Processor Vulnerabilities – Meltdown and Spectre

UPDATE 1/4/2018: Qualys has released several QIDs for detecting missing patches for these vulnerabilities. UPDATE 1/5/2018: Pre-built AssetView dashboards to visualize impact and remediation progress. Vulnerabilities potentially impacting all major processor vendors were disclosed today by Google...

Cloud Security Improves, But Much Work Still Remains to Be Done

As cloud computing adoption accelerates among businesses, InfoSec teams are struggling to fully protect cloud workloads due to a lack of visibility into these environments, and to hackers’ increasingly effective attacks. That’s the main finding from SANS Institute’s “Cloud Security: Defense in...

Call For Customer Presentations at RSA Conference 2018!

Tell your security story to your peers at RSA Conference 2018 San Francisco! Qualys is looking for customers excited to share their security and DevSecOps successes, best practices and case studies leveraging the use of the Qualys Cloud Platform. Take the stage in the Qualys booth to share your...

December Patch Tuesday: Quiet End to the Year

This December Patch Tuesday is considerably lighter than last month’s patch releases. While only three of the fixes were for Windows operating systems, the majority of the vulnerabilities to pay attention to are Browser/Scripting Engine-based. Overall, this month's updates address are fixes for 3...

Implementing the CIS 20 Critical Security Controls: Make Your InfoSec Foundation Rock Solid

For almost 10 years, thousands of organizations eager to solidify their security and compliance foundations have found clarity and direction in the the Center for Internet Security’s Critical Security Controls CSCs. This structured set of 20 foundational InfoSec best practices, first published in...

Implementing the CIS 20 Critical Security Controls: Delving into More Sophisticated Techniques

Corden Pharma needed a standardized security program to meet customer requirements. Link3 Technologies wanted to prioritize its network security improvements. Telenet was looking for a road map to implement its ISO-27000 compliance program. These three companies — a German pharmaceutical contract...

Qualys Policy Compliance Notification: Policy Library Update

The Qualys library of built-in policies makes it easy to comply with the security standards and regulations that are most commonly used and adhered to. Qualys provides a wide range of policies, including many that have been certified by CIS as well as the ones based on security guidelines from...

Qualys Cloud Platform 8.11.2 New Features

This new patch release of the Qualys Cloud Platform, version 8.11.2, includes updates to shared platform features, Qualys Vulnerability Management and Qualys Policy Compliance SCAP scanning. Update 12/1/2017: New Vulnerability Management feature added below. Feature Highlights Cloud Platform User...

Qualys WAS: New Detections for XML External Entities (XXE)

In the new 2017 edition of the OWASP Top 10, XML External Entities XXE make their first appearance at A4 on the list. Qualys is pleased to announce that Qualys Web Application Scanning WAS engine 4.4 includes new detection capabilities for XXE vulnerabilities. About XML External Entities XXE If...

Implementing the CIS 20 Critical Security Controls: Building Upon Foundational Cyber Hygiene

Most successful cyber attacks exploit known vulnerabilities for which patches are available, or take advantage of weak configuration settings that could have been easily hardened. You can significantly lower the risk of being victimized by this type of common, preventable attack by adopting the...

November Patch Tuesday: 53 Vulnerabilities and a Massive Adobe Update

This November Patch Tuesday is moderate in volume and severity. Microsoft released patches to address 53 unique vulnerabilities, with 25 focused on Remote Code Execution fixes. Windows OS receives 14 patches, while the lion's share is focused on Browsers, Microsoft Office, and Adobe. According to...

Implementing the CIS 20 Critical Security Controls: Slash Risk of Cyber Attacks by 85%

If a CISO needed to cut cyber attack risk by 85%, how would this security chief go about accomplishing that? Would the CISO even know where to begin? It’s safe to say that such a mandate would be considered daunting, and maybe even overwhelming. CISOs are scrambling to protect IT infrastructures...

Webcast Q&A: DevSecOps – Building Continuous Security Into IT and App Infrastructures

As organizations adopt DevOps to create and deliver software quickly and continuously — a key step for supporting their digital transformation initiatives — they must not overlook security. In DevOps, development and operations teams add agility and efficiency to software lifecycles with automati...

New ‘Silence’ Banking Trojan copies Carbanak to Steal from Banks (Analysis with IOCs)

Dark Reading is reporting on a new banking trojan called 'Silence' that mimics techniques similar to the Carbanak hacker group targeting banks and financial institutions. The attack vector is similar – target individuals using spear-phish emails to trick them into running a malicious attachment...

Case Study: Cisco Group Bakes Security into Web App Dev Process

“To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice.” That phrase was uttered by Confucius 2,500 years ago, but reflects the spirit behind a recent revamp of a Cisco web app development process that made it more effective and secure. “This is important as we talk about the secure software...

DevSecOps: Building Continuous Security Into IT and App Infrastructures

With software now at the heart of essential business processes, organizations must build security into their IT and application development pipeline to prevent breaches, avoid compliance violations, and protect digital transformation initiatives. This especially applies to organizations creating...

InfoSec Pros Must Fasten Their Seatbelts for Digital Transformation Ride

The IT industry has gone through multiple revolutions – client-server computing, the Internet’s rise, virtualization, mobility – but none rivals the unprecedented impact of today’s digital transformation. The implications for InfoSec professionals are broad, requiring that they adapt quickly to t...

Webcast Q&A: Automating the CIS Critical Security Controls

Qualys Product Management Director Tim White and SANS Institute Analyst John Pescatore did a deep dive into the Center for Internet Security’s Critical Security Controls during a recent webcast, and answered questions from audience members about these 20 foundational security practices, and about...

Bad Rabbit – Ransomware

updated: 10/26/2017 with additional file hashes and mitigations A new ransomware campaign has affected at least three Russian media companies in a fast-spreading malware attack. Fontanka and Interfax are among the companies affected by the Bad Rabbit ransomware named by the researchers who first...

ACLU Attorney: U.S. Citizens Legally Unsheltered from Abusive Surveillance

U.S. law has failed to protect Americans from widespread and excessive surveillance, a dire situation that requires immediate attention from citizens, lawmakers, attorneys, privacy experts and the courts. That was the urgent warning Jennifer S. Granick, Surveillance and Cybersecurity Counsel at t...

Gartner: The Pursuit of Perfection Weakens InfoSec Effectiveness

While malicious hackers are the obvious enemies of InfoSec pros, there’s something else that puts IT environments in danger: Perfectionism. When applied to security, perfectionism becomes detrimental, creating a false certainty that all bases are covered and yielding a fundamentally flawed approa...

QSC17: Qualys Battles the Silos, Helps Protect Digital Transformation Efforts

Digital transformation initiatives, if properly implemented, must go way beyond deploying the latest shiny IT systems. Instead, they must aim to fundamentally disrupt and reinvent business processes throughout the entire organization. That was the message Qualys Chief Product Officer Sumedh Thaka...

The Shift from Securing our Networks to Enabling the Digital Transformation of our Enterprises

It’s not yet Thursday, but attendees at Qualys Security Conference 2017 were treated to a major “throwback” as CEO and Chairman Philippe Courtot journeyed back centuries during QSC17’s opening keynote to illustrate the seismic changes of today’s digital revolution. Courtot cited some of history’s...