SonicWall CEO Bill Conner Joins Cyber Security Panel on Capitol Hill

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Cybercrime is a lucrative and booming industry, with recent reports estimating $600 billion in damages to businesses. With the introduction of innovative cyber security technologies and new cyber attack variants, the race is on for private and public organizations to arm themselves for a battle that is being waged in a dynamic threat landscape.

Bill Conner Portrait

On March 6, cyber security experts and policymakers will come together in a panel discussion to address the current threat landscape and its impact on the U.S. economy. Featuring Congressman Lamar Smith, SonicWall CEO Bill Conner and the Honorable Secretary Michael Chertoff, the panel will foster dialogues that focus on the preventative measures organizations should take to thwart cyber attacks, as well as the joint efforts of government and law enforcement agencies combatting modern-day cyber attacks, cybercriminals and threat actors.

Preceding the event, Conner and Chertoff penned an opinion piece, “SEC, Congress take steps toward cyber accountability and transparency,” on The Hill.

Michael Chertoff Portrait

“Cyber risk affects virtually every kind of enterprise. It is not a matter of if, but when,” they wrote on The Hill. “Companies should start with the presumption that they will be attacked and have a comprehensive incident response plan in place. An incident response plan should include a consumer notification process especially when sensitive data such as Social Security numbers and financial information is corrupted.”

Event: Cybersecurity Panel Discussion – 2018 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report
Date: Tuesday, March 6, 12:30 p.m. EST
Location: Committee Room 2325, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington D.C.
Panel:

  • Chairman Lamar Smith, Congressman, 21st Congressional District of Texas
  • Honorable Secretary Michael Chertoff, former head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
  • Bill Conner, President and CEO, SonicWall
  • Michael Crean, CEO, Solutions Granted

The panel also will leverage and discuss the findings and intelligence from the 2018 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report, which provides key advances for the security industry and cybercriminals; exclusive data on the 2017 threat landscape; cyber security predictions for 2018; cyber security guidelines and best practices.

Get the 2018 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report

The cyber arms race is a challenge we face together. And it’s the core reason we’re committed to passing our findings, intelligence, analysis and research to the global public via the SonicWall 2018 Cyber Threat Report.

Get the Report

SonicWall MSSP Program: Blueprint for Filling the Cyber Security Skills Gap

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The demand for experienced cyber security professionals is at an all-time high. These highly skilled assets are essential in helping businesses protect customers, networks, sensitive data and intellectual property in a fast-moving cyber arms race.

But according to a recent ESG study, 51 percent of respondents claimed their organization had a problematic shortage of cyber security skills. I have watched this deficiency consistently grow the last five years.

Organizations are struggling to understand their own risk, which threats to focus on and where to put more of their security, resources and people to protect their environment.

When deploying new software, systems and architecture to run their business, companies find themselves redefining their cyber security strategy. They become focused on combating the cyber criminals and threat actors attacking their vulnerable web applications, systems, networks and connected devices. And they lose focus on their core business.

Annual ESG surveys are identifying an alarming trend in the cyber security skills gap. More than 51 percent of respondents claimed their organization had a problematic shortage of cyber security skills. This figure has more than doubled since 2014, according to CSO Online.

They must procure, implement, manage and optimize numerous cyber security tools and solutions that are running on different platforms and providing data in various formats. Security manageability and accountability becomes an operational challenge.

The absence of coordination, central collection, normalization and analysis of disparate data often leads to an incomplete and incoherent view of what is happening in the organization. This lack of visibility and awareness inside the security environment further impairs an organization’s ability to identify and remediate security gaps.

The absence of an in-house security team often compels organizations to outsource their entire security program to a capable managed security service provider (MSSP). It is all about managing and reducing risks, and responding fast to security events. For a majority or companies, this is a smart approach.

Managed security services (MSS) come in many different flavors and degrees of complexity. In fact, according to Research and Markets, the global MSSP market is predicted to exceed $31 billion by 2019 and the escalating cyber arms race is a primary catalyst.

Thankfully, I already see that many SonicWall SecureFirst partners have implemented managed security solutions to fill the skills gap. Others are in the process of doing so.

SonicWall continues to be committed to enabling partners to grow their services practices, and it’s the core reason we’ve just rolled out the SecureFirst MSSP Partner Program.

The SonicWall SecureFirst MSSP Partner Program

We designed our MSSP Program with the flexibility to ensure SecureFirst Partners across the spectrum of MSSP maturity models could participate and gain significant value from participation in the program.

Available to SecureFirst Silver, Gold and Platinum Partners, the SecureFirst MSSP Partner Program includes options for monthly billing through SonicWall’s popular Security-as-a-Service pricing model, multi-tenant capabilities and go-to-market branding opportunities. The SecureFirst MSSP Program will help eligible partners:

  • Design, launch and scale their MSSP offerings
  • Defend customers against evolving threats
  • Grow deeper customer relationships that place partners in a position of trust and thought leadership
  • Increase profitability by offering recurring, consistent revenue streams
  • Help customers reduce or eliminate upfront product costs

A constant struggle for MSSPs today is managing their operating costs, which makes security solution selection critical in helping minimize man-hours responding to incidents. With SonicWall Capture Labs threat intelligence data, SonicWall empowers MSSP partners with the critical threat visibility to offer customers real value through automated, ongoing and proactive protection in today’s ever-evolving threat landscape.

The MSSP ‘blueprint’

Recognizing that time to revenue is critical, our MSSP program offers MSS blueprints to help Partners jumpstart their managed security service offerings quickly and cost effectively. These blueprints provide the training, tools and support required to deliver a range of managed service offerings based on SonicWall solutions they already trust.

The program helps SonicWall partners offer a range of managed security service offerings either by implementing SonicWall MSS blueprints for high-demand managed security solutions or by jointly developing custom MSS offerings that build on your existing managed service core competencies and expertise.

Jumpstarting MSSP offerings

I strongly believe that proactive MSSPs are agile, responsive and skilled. They have the mindset to deliver valuable security outcomes, which are more realistic and cost-effective than customers taking their cyber security efforts in-house.

Following the Partner Enabled Services program SonicWall launched in 2017, the SonicWall MSSP Partner program is focused on helping partners — of all MSS maturity stages — jumpstart their managed services offerings to quickly fill their customers’ cyber security skills gap.

One of our trusted partners told me, “More of our customers are looking toward end-to-end managed security services to protect themselves.”

It’s just one of the many candid pieces of feedback I receive when talking to our partners across the board. As a 100 percent channel company, I knew the SonicWall MSSP Partner program was the next step to support our loyal channel community.

Ready to Enroll in the SonicWall MSSP Program?

Eligible SecureFirst Partners may register for the SonicWall SecureFirst MSSP Program online at https://www.sonicwall.com/en-us/partners/mssp-partner-program. For additional information, please download our complimentary program brochure.

6 Ways Malware Evades Detection – And How to Stop Them

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One of the key characteristics of advanced malware is the use of many tactics to evade detection. In addition to defeating signature-based detection products and behavior-based detection tools, there are hundreds of evasion techniques advanced malware uses to avoid detection. Moreover, a malware object will typically deploy multiple tactics.

While there are hundreds of specific tactics to evade detection, they fall into six key categories.

  1. Stalling delays
    With this tactic, the malware remains idle to defeat timer-based recognition. Most virtualized sandboxes can detect if malware calls the OS sleep function, but they can’t spot evasion if the malware performs the delay internally without calling the OS. Full CPU emulations, “bare-metal” detect these behaviors with unrivaled accuracy. This is very effective against a well-known competitor.
  2. Action-required delays
    This tactic delays malicious activity pending a specific user action (e.g., mouse click, open or close a file or app). Most virtualized sandboxes will not detect malware waiting on user action.
  3. Intelligent suspension of malware
    Unlike simple stalling techniques, this category includes sophisticated evasion techniques that discover the presence of a sandbox and suspend malicious actions to avoid detection. Malware waits until it has completed penetration of the host or machine before injecting, modifying or downloading code; decrypting files; moving laterally across network; or connecting to C2 servers.
  4. Fragmentation
    This tactic splits malware into fragments, which only execute when reassembled by the targeted system. As virtualized sandboxes typically evaluate fragments separately, each fragment appears harmless, thus evading detection.
  5. Return-oriented programming (ROP)
    An ROP evasion tactic modifies the stack (memory addresses of code to be executed next), thus injecting functionality without altering the actual code. ROP evasions delegate the execution of its malicious code to other programs, instead of the malware program, thereby hiding it from conventional detection.
  6. Rootkits
    A rootkit is an application (or set of applications) that hides malicious code in the lower OS layers. Most virtualized sandboxes do not monitor what an OS does with calls from applications, so the malicious actions performed by a rootkit will generally go undetected.

Because of the increased focus on developing evasion tactics for malware, organizations should apply a multi-engine approach to analyzing suspicious code, especially to find and stop ransomware and credential theft.

The award-winning SonicWall Capture Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) multi-engine sandbox efficiently discovers what code wants to do from the application, to the OS, to the software that resides on the hardware. This approach includes Lastline® Deep Content Inspection™ technology, along with two other complementary engines.

Learn more about how Lastline technology — which earned the highest achievable score in NSS Labs’ 2017 Breach Detection Systems group test —  adds a key layer to Capture’s unique capabilities. Read our Solution Brief: Overcoming Advanced Evasion of Malware Detection.

Wireless Security: Why You Need to Take It Seriously In 2018

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When waves of cyber attacks hit last year, such as WannaCry and Not Petya ransomwares, businesses lost billions of dollars in high-profile breaches. In addition, more than half of the U.S. population’s Social Security information was compromised in the Equifax breach. It was a record-breaking year.

Perhaps the only good that came out of these fiascos is that users became more aware of the importance of cyber security. But it is no longer sufficient to only care about wired network security. Organizations and businesses also have to pay attention to other aspects of security, such as physical security and wireless security.

In line with multiple cyber security forecasts, such as our 8 Cyber Security Predictions for 2018, organizations need to watch out for more sophisticated attacks in 2018. According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, more than 9 billion wireless devices will be used in 2018. Gartner forecasts connected devices to rise from 11 billion in 2018 to over 20 billion by 2020. With the proliferation of wireless-enabled and IoT devices, wireless network security is vital.

However, not all wireless security solutions are equal. Last year, for example, many dealt with KRACK (Key Reinstallation Attack), which leveraged a WPA2 vulnerability that could lead to man-in-the-middle attacks. While many wireless vendors suffered this vulnerability, SonicWall wireless access points were not vulnerable.

How do I choose a wireless security solution?

It can be easy to get drawn in by sales pitches that show you pretty dashboards, features that you don’t need or seldom use, or super-expensive gear that you pay a premium for just because of the brand name.

Instead, take a step back and think of what you really should care about: a Wi-Fi connection that actually works with unfaltering security. Make sure you are committing yourself to a vendor that takes security, user experience and reliability very seriously.

How can I make my Wi-Fi secure?

Organizations, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMB) and individual users can implement cyber security best practices to drastically reduce Wi-Fi vulnerabilities.

  • First and foremost, make sure that you are not broadcasting an open SSID (how others see and connect to your wireless network)
  • Adjust the transmit power on your access points to serve just the area of coverage that is required
  • For corporate networks, separate guest users from internal users
  • Turn on rogue detection and ensure that firewall settings, such as DPI-SSL/TLS are enabled on your network
  • To further improve security, add a firewall to your network

Wireless is an overlay to your wired network. Adding a firewall with an integrated wireless controller capability to your network will further enhance the security of your entire network. The benefits of adding such a firewall include:

  • Complete management of wireless and wired infrastructure
  • Granular application identification, control and visualization
  • Discover and block advanced threats and vulnerabilities
  • Improved security posture and performance that scale to your business requirements

Though there are many wireless security features that can enhance your wireless security, some are more critical than others. Basic functionalities like Wireless Intrusion Detection System (WIDS) and Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (WIPS) must be supported across wired and wireless infrastructure.

Others cyber security capabilities, like application control, content filtering and deep-packet inspection (DPI) even over encrypted traffic, are all essential.

Adding multi-layered security protection to your overall network infrastructure will help minimize network breach success. In order to support the next-generation mobile workforce, BYOD and ability to implement wireless guest services is significant. Site tools can be used to survey wireless signals to optimize the required area of coverage.

These wireless security capabilities, coupled with single-pane-of-glass management, makes it effective and efficient for network admins to have visibility into the network and detect threats on a real-time basis.

Should I buy a SonicWall wireless access point?

SonicWall is a pioneering leader in cyber security, providing seamless security and comprehensive breach detection across wired, wireless, cloud and mobile networks. Best-in-class security latest 802.11ac Wave 2 technology, and an attractive price point make SonicWave wireless access point solutions a sound choice for organizations of all sizes and industries.

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SonicWave wireless access points come in three options:

  • SonicWave 432i (internal antenna version)
  • SonicWave 432e (external antenna version)
  • SonicWave 432o (outdoor access point)

The SonicWave 432 Series comes with a built-in third radio for dedicated security scanning. While many companies provide security and wireless products, SonicWall offers a true end-to-end secure wireless solution.

Need more information about wireless access security? Read our executive brief, “Why You Need Complete Wireless and Mobile Access Security.” Together, let’s make sure your network is ready to face these challenges, and create a fail-proof network for a secure, next-generation user experience.

SonicWall’s Steve Pataky, Chris Auger Named to CRN’s 2018 Channel Chiefs List

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Today CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, named two SonicWall executives, Chris Auger and Steve Pataky, to its exclusive 2018 list of Channel Chiefs.

CRN’s editorial staff chose the executives on this elite annual list on the basis of their professional accomplishments, industry reputation and dedication to the channel partner community. Each of the 2018 Channel Chiefs have distinguished themselves by building strong partner programs and evangelizing the importance of channel partnerships.

Robert Falerta, Executive Chairman of The Channel Company, shares insight into how the list was finalized:

“The executives on CRN’s 2018 Channel Chiefs list stand out for their exceptional leadership, vision and commitment to the channel. These individuals deserve special recognition for their development and support of robust partner programs, innovative business strategy and significant contribution to the overall health of a vigorously growing channel. We applaud each Channel Chief’s impressive record of accomplishments and look forward to their future successes.”

Since Pataky and his team launched the SecureFirst Partner Program in November 2016, SonicWall has seen record partner growth numbers with an increase of 500 percent since May 2017 with more than 21,000 registered partners, 7,700 of which are new to SonicWall. In 2017, Pataky oversaw the launch of the Partner Enabled Services Program, which equips partners to deliver specialized security services including design, implementation, configuration and training to optimize customers’ SonicWall investments. Through the program, partners are vetted, granted status as a SonicWall Authorized Services Partner and given access to exclusive training, tools, sales, marketing and technical resources.

In addition to being named on the 2018 Channel Chiefs list, Steve Pataky has the additional honor of being named on CRN’s exclusive 50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs list.

Steve Pataky
SVP, Chief Revenue Officer

Chris Auger

Chris Auger joined SonicWall in December 2015 and has been instrumental in reestablishing SonicWall as a 100 percent channel company. Just four months after launching SecureFirst, Auger’s team launched SonicWall University to equip partners with the sales and technical skills needed to provide industry leading cybersecurity expertise. SonicWall University is a key component of SecureFirst, with curriculum based on intelligence gathered from SonicWall Capture Labs and threat researchers who analyze real-time data analytics derived from more than 1 million sensors worldwide.

Chris Auger
Vice President, Sales, Americas

The 2018 CRN Channel Chiefs list, including the 50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs, is featured online at www.crn.com/channelchiefs and will appear in the February 2018 issue of CRN.