Crafting a Career in Cybersecurity Leadership: Key Steps and Advice

The other day a neighbor of mine asked for advice. She wanted to know how to become a security executive. She has a few years of experience doing secure web development and currently manages large, diverse teams of developers. She is intelligent, energetic, and personable. What would you say to someone who wanted advice on how to climb the ladder to the top spot in the security industry? How did I respond to her question? Let’s step back and discuss it for a bit.

For many young security professionals who aspire to be cybersecurity leaders, the path to attaining the pinnacle of the industry can be a mystery. How does one determine what they need to be a security executive? Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and Vice Presidents of Security all started at the beginning: learning the industry and gaining the experience necessary to attain leadership positions. How did they do it? Was it luck? Incredible timing? Was it because of someone they knew?

Possibly any of those, or maybe they had the advantage of a successful career timeline of progression that provided the necessary knowledge and experience, elevating them above other job applicants.

Experience and knowledge are certainly key for a successful career, but more important is the specific kind of experience and knowledge that gets you to (and through) those all-important executive interviews. Reaching the top of the resume stack means you need to differentiate yourself from all the other candidates. Being considered for a leadership position takes depth of experience across multiple disciplines and job roles that prove you are capable and ready for the challenge of an executive role. When hired into a top leadership position, you are expected to know the principles, concepts, and yes, the details of everything under your control.

Being successful in one or two roles within the security industry demonstrates the ability to grasp the necessary skills and learn the minute details that translate into staying power within that narrow space. But executive leadership requires a much broader background and view of the overall security industry trends, shifts, and practices. A balanced, broad (yet focused), clear career path is needed to get the experience that is the main selling point in a security executive’s resume. But what does that all really mean?

Let’s think of what I am saying in the context of these two examples

1. Strong, narrow technical acumen does not necessarily translate well when a security professional needs to create strategies and communicate them in terms that the business will understand and adopt. The solution to effective communications is to know the audience and how they process information. A purely technical communication of a solution to a business problem does not usually translate well and can result in a lack of business support, regardless of the value proposition. Often this is a missed opportunity to efficiently improve the security posture of an organization due to a lack of business acumen on the communicator’s part.

2. On the other hand, having a strong background in the “softer” security skills, such as risk or compliance program management, could lead to a deficiency of understanding technical security trends and how to leverage them for integrated, automated, layered protection of the business. A lack of technical acumen can also result in poor purchasing choices. We have all seen the results of strong marketing and high-pressure sales integrated with weak or misunderstood technology—the dreaded “shelfware.” It is often a result of not understanding technology well enough to effectively determine the true value of it (which could be zero). Not understanding technology can also cause other issues. Think of a CISO who tells his peers the company can simply use the machine learning implementation within a customer SaaS solution to perform security tasks. That is simply not how machine learning works on a technical level and can easily result in confusion or degraded professional trust in the CISO’s leadership abilities.

How does EC-Council help you navigate your early career and steer it toward the pinnacle of the security profession? With the Associate C|CISO Program!

The Associate C|CISO Program is modeled after the C|CISO Program but allows young professionals an entry point for gaining a view into executive leadership roles and responsibilities. Associate C|CISO candidates take the same training as the more experienced C|CISO candidates. This training provides that critical look into what it means to be a strategist, portfolio builder, and security thought leader within the industry. The training delivers the critical knowledge of what it takes to be at the executive level, building and leading security functions that support complex, demanding business environments. It delivers that crucial view of the career puzzle.

How does it do that?

Simple. By opening the curtain on the roles and responsibilities of a security leader, you can see where you are in your current career and what you need from a professional experience perspective to attain your goal of becoming a security executive. The Associate C|CISO Program training covers the same information within the 5 C|CISO Domains used to train experienced, executive-level professionals. You gain entry to the knowledge of how to create a security program strategy, deliver the portfolio of security services to the business, integrate the capabilities you’ve built into the operational structure of organizations, lead from the board level down, and much more.

Taking that knowledge and deep insight, you can then look at what you have accomplished so far in your career and ask yourself that last, critical question.

What do you do next?

Again, simple. As an Associate C|CISOs you can leverage executive-level training and critical career insight to create your future as a leader. Now you understand where you are today, with a clear perspective of your current experience and capabilities in relation to the bigger picture of security leadership. You have seen what you need for tomorrow. An Associate C|CISO is empowered to take charge of their career and guide their journey, seeing and pursuing positions that create a well-rounded foundation of knowledge and experience. You can visualize your path to executive leadership and act on it now. As an Associate C|CISO, you know what companies look for when seeking strong, capable security leadership. So what are you waiting for?

 

◉ Take the crucial career step.

◉ Map your journey.

◉ Create your career.

◉ Realize your goals and aspirations

Source: eccouncil.org

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Why Cybersecurity Leadership Training and Knowledge is Crucial for Future Career Growth

There are a few old security jokes out there, the most common one being about lions and running shoes. There’s another one that has to do with educating employees. Maybe you’ve heard it, maybe you haven’t:

• Executive 1 - Training our people is expensive. We can save money by eliminating it.
• Executive 2 - True, but it develops skills, helps morale, and is considered an incentive.
• Executive 1 - But what if we train our people and they leave?
• Executive 2 - What if we don’t and they stay?

As security professionals, we visualize the security program as an integrated composition of people, technology, and processes. Delivering security services to businesses effectively and efficiently requires people with skills and knowledge to provide critical support. In larger organizations it is common to see a more diverse security team functionally organized to provide relatively granular security program capabilities, such as metrics collection and reporting. Smaller organizations focus on the ‘bigger pieces’, such as risk management, SecOps delivery, and security compliance management.

Regardless of program size, we look for program efficiency, which relies on resource effectiveness. Technology holds great promise, but we still depend heavily on people with strong capabilities within our corporate security functions. We need a broad range of security skills not only to provide security services delivery to the business, but also to help protect the organization by analyzing the threat landscape and how to counter cyberattacks. As leaders we need to enable our security teams to grow and adapt to the ever-changing security landscape by arming them with knowledge. Training and education are foundational for providing professional growth opportunities to employees, empowering and enriching their careers, and demonstrating their value to the organization by committing resources to their continued professional development.

There are several ways we learn and grow professionally. Obviously on-the-job (sometimes referred to as OJT) experience can be the greatest (and sometimes harshest) teacher, but we typically look at more structured or formal methods to expand the professional knowledge base of our security team members. These primarily include attending classes or conferences and pursuing certifications.

Classes

Classes are effective for learning a skill or gaining knowledge and insight on a topic within a condensed time frame, sometimes even at a single event. They can be narrow in scope, such as a single session on ethical hacking techniques. Classes can also be very broad in nature, such as a week-long class on global privacy compliance laws and general guidance for supporting them operationally. With the availability of knowledge on the Internet, classes can almost seem somewhat archaic or redundant. However, live classroom training has great value because it allows for interactive knowledge sharing and learning assistance. I recently learned how to use an engineering application on my own from Web-based tutorials, but having someone to provide guidance would have made the learning process easier and faster. Whether delivered remotely or in-person, the primary value of an instructor-led class is the ability to learn in an assisted environment. This approach enhances a structured classroom framework when materials are delivered in an orderly manner that follows a natural progression toward the educational goal of the class.

There are some downsides to classes, the primary one being narrow focus. The cost of classes has gone up significantly for some of the more specialized topics, depending on who is delivering the content. A single class can cost as much as a certification. The last thing to think about is the persistent value of the class. This can be heavily impacted by factors such as instructor quality, content cohesiveness, and true knowledge transfer. The true value of a class relies on the recipient’s ability to absorb, retain, and leverage the information provided by the class.

Conferences

Conferences are a little different. They are useful from the live event perspective, and much more dynamic than taking a class. They are also typically focused on a single industry or profession.

I tend to look at the value of attending a conference from two perspectives. The first is being able to listen to experts and industry leaders as they impart their wisdom. Sometimes we can get granular and choose specific tracks within a conference for a narrower focus on topics or functions. Regardless, conferences allow us insight into the thoughts and ideas of industry leaders, expanding our perspective or views within our profession.

The second value of a conference is the ability to interact with our security industry cohorts and peers. Mingling and talking to other security professionals certainly creates social bonds, but more importantly it provides the opportunity to share ideas or integrate people into your trusted circle of professional contacts. Collecting a group of professionals that you can talk to about program implementation challenges, cyber threat management, and a wide range of other issues is extremely valuable. Colleagues provide their insight, ideas, and thoughts, which in turn expands your knowledge base, often without going through the same challenges they did to learn them.

There are a few conference downsides. The first is true knowledge transfer. Most conferences I have attended delivered little in the form of net- new, high-value information. The social aspect can be more of a distraction than a business enabler, resulting in a diminishing return for the cost of attending the event. Conferences can also create vendor fatigue when attendees are overloaded with aggressive marketing methods laden with buzzwords and low-value sales pitches.

Certifications

Certifications are typically thought of as a way of proving what you already know. If that were the case, there would be no study guides or prep classes. When we pursue a certification, we typically gain a great deal of insight from within the wider knowledge scope represented by the certification.

Certifications force us to think across a broader spectrum about our profession. While certifications can be somewhat narrowly focused, such as ethical hacking or business continuity planning, they typically cover a wider and deeper range of knowledge and understanding of what we experience in our day-to-day jobs. Pursuing a certification usually provides an expansion of an individual’s starting base of knowledge.

The second benefit of a certification is that it has persistent, weighted value. They are usually maintained by paying maintenance fees and submitting proof of professional educational credits or additional learning opportunities, resulting in a level of persistence or permanence that does not exist when taking a class or attending a conference.

Certifications also provide recognition and demonstrate a commitment within a professional community, emphasizing a level of expertise within that certification’s scope. Organizations will sometimes list specific certifications as a job applicant requirement, but one thing is always certain: certifications are highly visible on a resume. From a recruiting and professional industry perspective, certifications provide valuable insight into a person’s character, ambition, and capabilities.

The Associate C|CISO

This is somewhat of a sales pitch but hear me out.

EC-Council recently created the Associate C|CISO Program. The idea was to enable aspiring security professionals by giving them access to the knowledge and skills required to be a security executive. If you don’t have the requisite experience required to obtain the C|CISO certification, this path allows you to get the same training and materials provided to candidates with deeper industry experience.

Therein lies the unique aspect of this specific certification. The Associate C|CISO program allows you to gain insight into your current skillset and see what you need from a professional experience perspective. This allows you to envision and implement a career path that will build out your career milestones, allowing you to achieve the goal of executive security industry leadership.

Another bonus of this certification is the exposure it provides to other current or aspiring security executives. The training is the same as that provided for the C|CISO certification, meaning you will sit in classes with experienced security professionals. Some are already executives, and others will be soon. As an Associate C|CISO, you will join the global C|CISO community, comprised of thousands of security program experts.

Source: eccouncil.org

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What Is DevOps and Why Is DevOps Failing?

You’ve probably heard the term countless times, but maybe you’re still wondering: what is DevOps, and why DevOps? DevOps is a software development methodology that aims to break down the barriers between an organization’s development and operations teams, fostering closer collaboration (AWS).

DevOps combines the two functions of software development and IT operations, which have historically been divided into separate teams. The goal of DevOps is to improve the efficiency, speed, quality, and reliability of the software development lifecycle.

Unfortunately, companies may suffer from a number of issues if they fail to implement DevOps effectively. Below, we’ll investigate the problems with DevOps and the increasing support for its replacement: DevSecOps.

Why DevOps Will Become Obsolete in The Future

The history of DevOps dates back to the late 2000s, and the methodology was heavily inspired by similar development philosophies such as agile. Since its beginnings, DevOps has grown to become one of the most widely used software development practices. According to Puppet’s “State of DevOps” survey, 83 percent of IT decision-makers say their organization is currently implementing DevOps practices (Puppet).

Companies adopt DevOps for many different reasons, but all of them seek to improve business processes surrounding software development. Faster software delivery, higher software quality, and stronger communication are just a few reasons why DevOps is important for so many organizations.

Despite the widespread (and increasing) popularity of DevOps, the methodology suffers from some fundamental flaws. The IT research and consulting firm Gartner, for example, estimates that 75 percent of DevOps initiatives will fail due to problems with organizational learning and change (Costello, 2019). As we’ll discuss below, organizations that haven’t effectively implemented the DevOps process effectively suffer from a number of common problems.

Insecure Software

DevOps prioritizes speed during the development process, which may at first sound like a positive. However, this often means that DevOps teams don’t have time to consider security issues. As a result, software applications are riddled with security vulnerabilities and bugs in production.

Slow Releases

Some DevOps teams do consider security issues during software development, using techniques such as vulnerability assessments and penetration testing. Unfortunately, many organizations don’t know how to implement these methods efficiently and automatically. As a result, the speed of software releases slows down.

Budget Overruns

Failing to consider security issues upfront during software development can lead to unexpected costs later. Development teams may be forced to address vulnerabilities later during development or even while the software has been deployed to production. This tends to be significantly more expensive than addressing problems when they crop up during development.

Increased Risk of Attacks and Issues

The DevOps lifecycle often involves a variety of software components and dependencies from vendors and libraries. This creates the risk of supply chain attacks: attackers inject malicious code into third-party plugins or frameworks, creating a downstream effect that allows them to exploit many different applications. Misconfigurations in software, infrastructure, or cloud services can also introduce security flaws.

Difficult and Slow Breach Detection

Due to the lightning-fast pace of DevOps, it can be hard for teams to pay attention to security issues and intrusions. Without tools such as SIEM (security information and event management) platforms and IDS/IPS (intrusion detection/prevention systems), DevOps teams may be unaware of an ongoing attack, letting adversaries continue to exploit vulnerabilities.

Damage to Reputation and Trust

The application security problems that arise due to issues with DevOps can cause long-term damage to a company’s reputation. If sensitive data is compromised or business operations are disrupted, the organization may struggle to regain customers’ trust and can even suffer legal or financial penalties.

DevSecOps: The Need for a Security Layer During Development

Given the issues with DevOps listed above, more and more organizations are looking to include security as a fundamental component of the software development lifecycle. That’s exactly the motivation that has led to the newer alternative to DevOps: DevSecOps. As the name suggests, DevSecOps integrates not only software development and IT operations but also IT security concerns. Rather than being an afterthought once software has already been deployed to production, security is an essential part of the DevSecOps practice. Not only does DevSecOps prioritize speed and efficiency during development, but it also emphasizes the value of high-quality software that is free of security flaws.

For example, DevSecOps encourages businesses to automate their security testing and monitoring workflows throughout the software development lifecycle. This includes techniques such as security scans, penetration testing, and code analysis that uncover hidden flaws in the software before it is released. By detecting these problems early on, DevSecOps teams can save companies valuable time, money, and effort—which is also the goal of standard DevOps as originally envisioned.

The Importance of DevSecOps for Organizations

Businesses of all sizes and industries stand to gain a great deal by switching from DevOps to DevSecOps. Below are just a few reasons why DevSecOps is so important for organizations:

◉ Cost savings: As practitioners of DevOps know, small issues that are unresolved early in the development process can spiral into massive problems later. DevSecOps helps detect and resolve security issues early in development, reducing the cost of fixing them and the likelihood of an expensive data breach.

◉ Regulatory compliance: Depending on their industry and location, organizations may be subject to data privacy and data security laws and regulations such as HIPAA, GDPR, and PCI DSS. By incorporating security into the software development process with DevSecOps, businesses can demonstrate that they are taking adequate measures to comply with these regulations.

◉ Greater trust and better reputation: Organizations that prioritize building secure, high-quality software are more likely to earn the trust of their partners, stakeholders, and customers. By dedicating themselves to protecting sensitive data and mitigating business risk, these companies demonstrate that they take the security of themselves and others seriously.

Source: eccouncil.org

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3 Initiatives Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) Can Take for Their Security and Resilience Journey

Information technology is now increasingly crucial for businesses of all sizes and industries. This means that the chief information security officer (Certified CISO) plays an essential role in safeguarding organizations’ sensitive digital assets, from software applications to databases. The list of Certified CISO roles and responsibilities ranges from proactively securing the IT environment to investigating cyberattacks and other security incidents.

By adopting the right plans and taking the right steps, Certified CISOs can ensure that their company is best prepared to handle the rapidly evolving IT security landscape. This article will go over three of the most important initiatives that Certified CISOs can take on their organization’s journey to IT security and resilience.

The Importance of Securing the IT Landscape from Cyberthreats

Modern IT ecosystems include hardware devices, software applications, networks, and data, all interacting in a complicated web of relationships. They also involve the people who use the hardware, software, and data, as well as the procedures that govern that usage.

Certified CISO roles and responsibilities, therefore, must include establishing the right technologies and policies for important IT security concerns such as backups, disaster recovery, change management, and user authentication. IT environments don’t operate in a vacuum: they are constantly affected by external forces, many of them malicious. Cyberthreats such as phishing, hacking attempts, data breaches, malware, and ransomware all pose massive problems for organizations that are ill-equipped to handle these dangers.

If businesses fall victim to one of these threats, they can suffer serious financial, reputational, and even legal consequences. According to an IBM report, the average cost of a data breach for businesses is now over $4.35 million (IBM, 2022). Moreover, the report found that too many companies struggle to bolster their defenses after an attack: 83% of organizations say they have suffered multiple data breaches.

Challenges for Certified CISOs in Securing and Migrating Legacy Systems

Legacy systems pose a unique challenge for organizations and Certified CISO cybersecurity professionals. Businesses that continue to use legacy systems are at greater risk of cyber attack: the system may no longer be supported by the manufacturer or suffer from unknown or unpatched security vulnerabilities. Updating legacy systems is, therefore, one of the main Certified CISO roles and responsibilities.

However, although many companies would like to refresh their legacy IT systems, far fewer are putting this desire into practice. The challenges of securing legacy systems and migrating them to the cloud include the following:

◉ Compatibility issues that require organizations to completely rewrite an application’s codebase before integrating it with the rest of the IT environment.

◉ Lack of internal skills, preventing organizations from getting started on the migration project without the right IT modernization partner.

◉ Cost, including the expenses of purchasing new hardware and software, hiring, onboarding, and training new IT personnel.

◉ Technical complexity that has accrued over the years as the legacy system becomes more entrenched, making it harder to find security flaws or replace it with a modern version.

3 Steps Certified CISOs Can Take to Improve Security and Resilience

There are many Certified CISO roles and responsibilities, but among the most important is improving the organization’s IT security and resilience. CISOs must possess the right IT security management skills to successfully govern the business and protect it from external cyberthreats. Below are three ways for Certified CISOs to strengthen their company’s IT security and resilience.

1. Reduce the cost of a breach with cyber defense and recovery plans

Businesses can help reduce the risk of a data breach by creating the right cyber defense and recovery plans. This comprehensive strategy should include the following:

◉ A risk assessment of the IT environment’s threat landscape

◉ An incident response plan that defines in detail the procedures to follow after a breach.

◉ A business continuity plan that outlines how to recover from a breach as quickly and gracefully as possible.

2. Define a zero-trust strategy aligned with governance and compliance

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, “zero trust” means that organizations should “never trust, always verify” (DOD CIO, 2022). Rather than granting indiscriminate access to applications, devices, and other IT assets, businesses should give users only the resources they need when they need them.

In a zero-trust approach, all users, devices, and applications are treated as potentially compromised, with the organization’s defenses locked down accordingly. Techniques may include strict access controls, multifactor authentication (MFA), and monitoring user activities. Certified CISOs should act to define a zero-trust strategy that aligns with the organization’s IT governance and compliance requirements.

3. Protect legacy and hybrid systems

Legacy systems (and hybrid systems that combine modernized and legacy tech) can pose substantial cybersecurity risks — but this doesn’t mean that CISOs are helpless. If the business plans to continue its use of legacy or hybrid technology for the foreseeable future, Certified CISOs can take steps such as:

◉ Mapping critical legacy IT assets and thoroughly assessing the risks and vulnerabilities.

◉ Implementing alternative security measures such as intrusion detection systems (IDS) and access controls

◉ Walling off legacy systems from the rest of the IT environment to halt the motion of attackers.

Source: eccouncil.org

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What is DevSecOps and How it works

By now, DevOps is a clear best practice for software development. According to a 2021 survey by Redgate Software, 74 percent of organizations have now adopted DevOps in some form (Redgate, 2021).

Within the broader practice of DevOps, the use of DevSecOps is also surging. Data Bridge Market Research estimates that the global DevSecOps market will expand from $2.59 billion in 2021 to $23.16 billion in 2029, with an annual growth rate of 31.5 percent (Data Bridge Market Research, 2022).

DevSecOps adds security concepts to the development and operations teams which form the foundation of DevOps. The primary purpose of DevSecOps is to make security a vital part of the software development process, considering security issues at each stage of the pipeline.

With DevSecOps a hot topic in IT and software development, it’s no surprise that many IT professionals are looking to move into the field. One of the best ways to become a DevSecOps engineer is by obtaining one of the various DevSecOps certifications. But with multiple options available, how can you choose the right DevSecOps course for you? This article will go over essential tips for selecting the best DevSecOps certification.

Tip #1: Understand Your DevSecOps Goals

The first question to ask when choosing the proper DevSecOps certification is: what are your goals when obtaining this certification? For many prospective students, the answer will be to obtain a job in the DevSecOps field or to facilitate their move from DevOps to DevSecOps. In this case, you should carefully examine the program’s curriculum to determine whether it has what you need for career success.

The best DevSecOps and DevOps certifications will offer a mix of theoretical knowledge and hands-on labs to help students gain real-world experience with DevOps tools and technologies. There are many DevOps platforms and solutions that practitioners should know about, including:

• Automation tools and practices
• Continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) tools
• Penetration testing software
• Compliance as code tools
• Threat modeling tools
• Vulnerability scanning tools
• Logging and monitoring software

At the same time, DevSecOps engineers need to have a solid theoretical underpinning of the field. This will help you not only put DevOps and DevSecOps concepts into practice but understand why they are necessary and how they help improve the software development life cycle.

For example, EC-Council’s Certified DevSecOps Engineer (E|CDE) program strikes a balance between theoretical and practical instruction with more than 80 hands-on labs and seven different modules covering the eight stages of the DevSecOps pipeline, from planning to operations and monitoring.

Tip #2: Find a Multi-Platform DevSecOps Course

DevOps and DevSecOps are both methodologies that are well-suited for cloud computing environments. This is for multiple reasons, including:

◉ Automation: DevSecOps heavily uses automation to improve speed, efficiency, and accuracy. This aligns well with public cloud environments, which provide many tools and services for automating infrastructure, applications, and resources.

◉ Security: DevSecOps adds security to the standard set of DevOps concerns, making it a priority at every stage of the software development life cycle. This makes it a good match for the cloud, where security is likewise critical to protect sensitive data and other assets.

◉ Collaboration: DevOps and DevSecOps aim to foster closer collaboration between the development, security, and operations teams within an organization. As such, they fit well in the cloud, which offers a common platform for these teams to communicate and share information about changes to the codebase.

Potential DevSecOps practitioners would do well to learn about cloud environments. This may include specializing in a particular public cloud provider, such as Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure. However, many organizations are still running DevOps either on-premises or in a hybrid setup that combines on-premises and cloud workloads.

For these reasons, DevSecOps courses should ideally be multi-platform. First, a vendor-agnostic approach will help students learn about general cloud computing principles, regardless of which cloud platform they work with. Second, your DevSecOps certification should address issues that pertain to both on-premises and the cloud. EC-Council’s E|CDE course, for example, covers DevSecOps topics in various environments: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and on-premises.

Tip #3: Review the DevSecOps Course Requirements and Schedule

Even the best DevSecOps course won’t be the right fit if it doesn’t align with your personal needs. When finalizing your choice of the proper DevSecOps certification, review the course’s requirements and schedule to ensure that you can complete it on time.

For example, many potential students are looking for a course they can take with a full-time job as they transition into the DevSecOps field. These students would do their best to find a DevSecOps course with an online or hybrid learning model and where the course lectures and assignments can be completed asynchronously (i.e., without fixed times or with flexible or loose deadlines).

EC-Council’s E|CDE course gives students multiple learning options, letting them choose the best fit for their situation. E|CDE students can choose from:

◉ Self-study: E|CDE is available in an asynchronous, self-study environment delivered online via streaming video.

◉ Live online: Motivated students can follow the E|CDE course in a synchronous online learning format, with live lectures by an instructor.

Why EC-Council’s E|CDE Course is the Best DevSecOps Certification

DevSecOps certifications are an excellent way to break into the field of DevSecOps or advance your career. When choosing from among the various DevSecOps courses, there are several criteria you can use to evaluate them. Some students are primarily concerned with the cost or return on investment, others are looking for a flexible program that they can accommodate with a full-time job, and still, others want certification with a rich curriculum that will best prepare them for a job as a DevSecOps engineer.

If you’re wondering which is the best DevSecOps course for you, consider EC-Council’s E|CDE program that teaches students the essential skills to design, develop, and maintain secure applications and infrastructure.

With more than 80 practical, hands-on labs and seven modules covering the entire DevSecOps pipeline, the E|CDE course prepares IT professionals for real-world DevSecOps challenges. The benefits of EC-Council’s E|CDE certification include the following:

◉ Designed by experts: E|CDE was built from the ground up by DevSecOps professionals and subject matter experts worldwide.

◉ Cloud and on-premises: E|CDE provides thorough coverage of on-premises environments and the Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure public clouds.

◉ Highly versatile toolkit: E|CDE teaches students about dozens of tools, services, and platforms they will use in their real-world work as DevSecOps engineers, from threat modeling and security testing to automation and CI/CD.

Source: eccouncil.org

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IoT Penetration Testing: How to Perform Pentesting on a Connected Device

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a vast, interconnected web of devices that communicate and exchange data via the internet. Any instrument that uses sensors to collect and transmit information can be an IoT device, which includes everything from smartphones and wearable technology to household appliances and industrial equipment. However, the connectivity of IoT devices also raises security concerns—and that’s where IoT penetration testing comes in.

According to a report by Palo Alto Networks, 98 percent of IoT device traffic is unencrypted, potentially exposing sensitive information to eavesdroppers. Moreover, the report finds that 57 percent of IoT devices are susceptible to medium- and high-severity exploits, making them an extremely appealing target for an attacker (Palo Alto Networks, 2020).

Despite the security risks, the number of IoT devices is soaring. Statista estimates that the number of devices connected to the Internet of Things will more than double between 2022 and 2030—from 13.1 billion to 29.4 billion (Statista, 2022).

Many IoT devices are used in homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure such as hospitals and power plants, and to help protect this massive array of devices, organizations need to perform IoT pen testing. This article will discuss the definition and purpose of IoT penetration testing, as well as how to perform pentesting on IoT devices.

What is IoT Pentesting?

Penetration testing (also called pentesting) evaluates the security of a computer system or network by simulating a cyberattack. Penetration testing aims to discover security vulnerabilities and flaws that can then be corrected or mitigated before malicious actors take advantage of them.

IoT penetration testing is the act of penetration testing for Internet of Things devices and networks. This involves the security of the IoT device itself and the communications it sends and receives (e.g., with other IoT devices and cloud computing platforms).

The techniques used in IoT pen testing include:

◉ Analyzing network traffic.

◉ Reverse-engineering the device’s firmware.

◉ Exploiting vulnerabilities in IoT web interfaces.

These methods enable IoT penetration testers to find security flaws such as weak passwords, unencrypted data, insecure firmware, and a lack of proper authentication or access control.

What is the Objective of an IoT Pen Tester?

IoT penetration testing is an essential component of a strong, comprehensive IT security program for an organization’s devices and networks. IoT pen testing aims to identify and address issues with an organization’s IoT security posture that could allow attackers to steal confidential data or gain unauthorized access to an IoT device or network. By fixing these vulnerabilities, IoT pen testers help improve the security and resilience of their systems and significantly reduce the chance of cyberattacks.

How to Approach IoT Security

IoT security is a complex and evolving field, with organizations constantly trying to stay one step ahead of their attackers. Besides IoT penetration testing, there are several ways that businesses can strengthen their IoT security:

◉ Authentication and access control: IoT devices should be protected by authentication methods such as strong passwords and multi-factor authentication. In addition, users should be granted only the permissions necessary for them.

◉ Encryption: Data transmitted between IoT devices or between the device and the cloud should be encrypted to protect against interception and tampering. If the device stores confidential or sensitive data, this information should also be encrypted at rest.

◉ Software updates: IoT device manufacturers often release updates to address security vulnerabilities and other issues. Businesses should have processes in place to regularly update IoT firmware and software.

◉ Logging and monitoring: Monitoring IoT devices for unusual activity and anomalies can help detect signs of compromise by a malicious actor. Organizations can use security analytics and threat intelligence tools to detect and respond to threats in real time.

Why is an IoT Audit Required?

IT security auditing is an important methodology for understanding and improving the effectiveness of an organization’s IT security posture. Within the broader field of IT security, businesses may have vulnerabilities in certain aspects, such as network security or application security.

With more organizations using more IoT devices, an IoT audit can help assess the security of these devices and networks. IoT audits may be required for reasons such as:

◉ Asset management: Organizations with many IoT devices can help keep track of these devices and assess their functionality with an audit.

◉ Performance management: Audits can evaluate the performance of IoT devices, ensuring that they are functioning properly and delivering the expected business value.

◉ Risk management: IoT audits can help identify unsecured devices and determine the risk of an IoT security incident.

◉ Compliance: Laws and regulations like the European Union’s GDPR and HIPAA for healthcare organizations may require companies to keep IoT data secure and private.

IoT Pentesting Methodology: How to Pentest an IoT Device

What does the IoT penetration testing process look like? The steps of IoT pen testing are as follows:

1. Planning and reconnaissance: First, penetration testers gather information about the target system or network. This may include the number and types of IoT devices, the network architecture, and any security controls in place.

2. Vulnerability scanning: Pen testers use vulnerability scanning tools to identify potential flaws in the IoT device or network, from misconfigurations to access control issues.

3. Exploitation: Once penetration testers have identified security issues, they attempt to fully exploit them possible, using them to enter and launch an attack on the network.

4. Post-exploitation: After gaining access via a particular security vulnerability, pen testers seek to extend their reach throughout the network, gathering more information or escalating their privilege. This may include installing malware or exfiltrating sensitive data.

5. Reporting and remediation: At the end of the process, IoT penetration testers produce a report detailing the vulnerabilities discovered, the extent of the attack, and the recommendations for solving or mitigating the issue.

Source: eccouncil.org

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