NEW: Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report 2022 - Read the Findings of Our Annual Report Read Now

  • Partners
  • Support
  • Careers
  • English
    • Deutsch
    • français
    • español
    • 한국어
    • português
BeyondTrust
  • Products

    Privileged Password Management

    Discover, manage, audit, and monitor privileged accounts and credentials.

    • Password Safe
    • DevOps Secrets Safe
    • Privileged Access Discovery Application

    Endpoint Privilege Management

    Enforce least privilege across Windows, Mac, Linux, and Unix endpoints.

    • Windows and Mac
    • Unix and Linux
    • Active Directory Bridge

    Secure Remote Access

    Centrally manage remote access for service desks, vendors, and operators.

    • Remote Support
    • Privileged Remote Access
    • Privileged Access Discovery Application

    Cloud Security Management

    Automate the management of identities and assets across your multicloud footprint.

    • Cloud Privilege Broker

    BeyondInsight

    Experience the industry’s most innovative, comprehensive platform for privileged access management.

  • Solutions

    Use Cases

    • Cloud Security
    • Compliance
    • Cyber Insurance
    • Digital Transformation
    • Endpoint Security
    • Operational Technology
    • Ransomware
    • Service Desk Efficiency
    • Zero Trust

    Industry Applications

    • Financial Services
    • Government Agencies
    • Healthcare
    • Law Enforcement
    • Manufacturing
    • Schools & Universities

    Solutions

    The BeyondTrust Privileged Access Management portfolio is an integrated solution that provides visibility and control over all privileged accounts and users.

  • Resources

    Learn

    • Blog
    • Customer Stories
    • Competitor Comparisons
    • Datasheets
    • Demos
    • Glossary
    • Podcast
    • Whitepapers

    Attend

    • Events
    • Go Beyond
    • Training
    • Webinars

    Support

    • Changelog
    • Professional Services
    • Technical Documentation

    Universal Privilege Management

    Our innovative Universal Privilege Management approach secures every user, asset, and session across your entire enterprise.

  • Company
    • About
    • Leadership
    • Core Values
    • Partners
    • Careers
  • Watch Demo
  • Contact Sales

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Advanced attacks and the InfoSec dream

October 20, 2017

  • Blog
  • Archive

During August members of the InfoSec community leave the comfort of their ergonomic desks and head out into the Nevada desert on a spiritual pilgrimage to Las Vegas. This mass movement is no coincidence, the draw is clear with Black Hat, DEF CON, BSides Vegas and the Star Trek Convention all occurring within a week. If you have an interest in offensive security, protecting data or ensuring your car cannot be remotely hijacked, Las Vegas is the place to be in August.

As with previous years the briefings were diverse and justified Black Hat’s place as one of the premier InfoSec conferences. Some key themes emerged across the week including car hacking, connected devices and the need for better vulnerability reporting.

Some of the interesting trends that emerged were how many new devices, be that automotive, drone or IOT are suffering from the same problem that plagued desktop and server OS’s for many years, over privilege. On many devices it seemed like you could gain root access in a wide variety of simple, predictable and sometimes amusing ways. Vendors of so many connected devices have yet to realise that running everything with unrestricted access is a bad idea.

As an IT admin you wouldn’t let a user disable security services that protect them so why should a car infotainment system be able to disable the brakes? With many devices running in largely static environments, it still amazes me how few try and implement least privilege and allow listing to secure the environment. Often vendors seem to rely on security through obscurity which as most of the attendees would tell you, is a foolish idea.

Historically Black Hat prides itself as a place to drop as many zero days as possible and this year was no exception with zero days in everything from mobile devices to SCADA systems revealed. There was a lot of discussion in how a number zero days are giving attackers an advantage over traditional defense mechanisms. One analogy that rang particularly true with me was how AV companies are effectively selling the same door lock to every organisation, attackers can then buy a copy of the lock themselves and work out all the vulnerabilities and bypasses before walking up to your door and breaking in undetected.

The challenges of combatting targeted attacks and relying on AV and other reactive technologies were laid bare in a number of sessions from state sponsored malware to bypassing detection. There was a definite increase in talk of new malware defenses and the Avecto stand at Black Hat was inundated with attendees looking to move to a more proactive endpoint defense. If you didn’t get chance to see the Defendpoint demo on the show floor please contact us to arrange a demonstration.

Patrick Wardle of Synack really brought the issues of malware defense home with his presentation on creating malware for OSX. He not only demonstrated how to bypass a number of Apples security features but also showed how current security solutions are easily evaded. This caused a lot of discussion afterwards around how to protect and manage Macs in an enterprise environment.

Now that Black Hat is over for another year I can turn my Wi-Fi back on and reflect over the wide variety of topics I have learned about. If Black Hat and DEF CON have left you worrying about the security of your endpoints, data and users or just curious about how to defend against advanced attacks visit Avecto.com to learn more about proactive endpoint defense.


Photograph of James Maude

James Maude, Lead Cyber Security Researcher

James Maude is the Lead Cyber Security Researcher at BeyondTrust’s Manchester, U.K., office. James has broad experience in security research, conducting in-depth analysis of malware and cyber threats to identify attack vectors and trends in the evolving security landscape. His background in forensic computing and active involvement in the security research community makes him an expert voice on cybersecurity. He regularly presents at international events and hosts webinars to discuss threats and defense strategies.

Stay Up To Date

Get the latest news, ideas, and tactics from BeyondTrust. You may unsubscribe at any time.

I agree to receive product related communications from BeyondTrust as detailed in the Privacy Policy, and I may manage my preferences or withdraw my consent at any time.

You May Also Be Interested In:

Whitepapers

Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report 2022

Whitepapers

Cybersecurity Insurance Checklist

Whitepapers

Privileged Access Management: PAM Checklist

Keep up with BeyondTrust

I agree to receive product related communications from BeyondTrust as detailed in the Privacy Policy, and I may manage my preferences or withdraw my consent at any time.

Customer Support
Contact Sales

Products

  • Endpoint Privilege Management
  • Password Management
  • Privileged Remote Access
  • DevOps Secrets Safe
  • Remote Support
  • Cloud Privilege Broker

Resources

  • Blog
  • Case Studies
  • Competitor Comparisons
  • Datasheets
  • Glossary
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Webcasts
  • Whitepapers

About

  • Company
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Leadership Team
  • Partner Program
  • Press
BeyondTrust Logo
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Privacy
  • Security
  • Manage Cookies
  • WEEE Compliance

Copyright © 1999 — 2022 BeyondTrust Corporation. All rights reserved. Other trademarks identified on this page are owned by their respective owners. BeyondTrust Corporation is not a chartered bank or trust company, or depository institution. It is not authorized to accept deposits or trust accounts and is not licensed or regulated by any state or federal banking authority.