Cybersecurity vs. Data Privacy – What’s The Difference?

The cybersecurity world is more vulnerable than ever; every day, cyber-threats are evolving into more advanced and sophisticated versions of themselves. And with the introduction of data regulation acts such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it’s crucial for every organization to pay attention to each and every aspect—no matter how trivial—pertaining to cybersecurity.

Most companies can’t distinguish between cybersecurity and data privacy. However, it’s important to learn about the disparities between these two terminologies.

It’s equally significant to understand why the effectiveness of a privacy program is heavily dependent upon a cogent security plan and how they complement each other.

Definition

Both terminologies—security and privacy—are used interchangeably and in conjunction with each other. However, in reality, they’re quite different.

Security refers to the state of personal freedom, i.e., being safe from potential threats. On the other hand, privacy is a state of being free from unwanted or unnecessary attention.

Principles

When it comes to principles, the term “privacy” is more granular with regard to rights—of both individuals as well as organizations—to personal information.

On the other hand, the term “security” is built on three core principles: preserving the integrity of information assets, protecting confidentiality, and promoting the availability of data and information.

Objectives

Privacy has one sole objective: to provide an individual or organization with the ability to keep their personal information private.

On the other hand, when it comes to security, its primary objective is to safeguard confidential data and informational assets from unauthorized access.

Security has three established sub-objectives: availability, confidentiality, and integrity. All cybersecurity protocols concentrate on at least one of these three goals.

 Programs

Privacy programs focus on protecting the personal information of a user, which may include their login credentials, credit card details, passwords, among other private details.

On the contrary, a security program is not limited to personal information, but extends to protect all digital assets, confidential information, and resources that are stored in the databases of an organization.

A security program focuses on total data and information stored in a system rather than only providing protection to the personal information of individuals or business entities.

Is there a correlation between privacy and security?

Broadly speaking, there’s a possibility that security can be achieved without privacy. However, it’s not possible to achieve privacy without having an effective security system in place. A lapse in security will inevitably affect privacy.

That being said, privacy and security are strongly interlinked, as privacy can be achieved by taking security initiates and the effectiveness of security may depend on the privacy of credentials—which might not always be the case, but true in most cases.

Manage your cybersecurity and data privacy

If you’re looking for dedicated managed security and IT solutions to safeguard your business against potential cyber attacks, consider hiring the services of Lean Security.

We’re an Australian-based security firm that provides dynamic and effective solutions to our customers including penetration testing services among several others.

We’re also a reliable penetration testing provider that offers complete security risk assessment to ensure that every modicum of your business application remains protected.

Contact us by calling +61 (2) 8078 6952 or send us an Email at INFO@LEANSECURITY.COM.AU for more information on data privacy and cybersecurity.

Latest Malwares in 2019 That Pose a Threat to Your Data Security

Every year, cybercriminals employ more sophisticated online attacks than the last, innovating with new malware software to execute cyberattacks on organizations. Considering we’re well into the first quarter of the year, it’s imperative that you familiarise yourself with the latest malwares that pose a threat to your data security. Let’s begin!

Malvertising

Last year, a massive malvertising campaign which targeted iOS devices hijacked an astounding 300 million browser sessions in just 48 hours. This trend continues to be a popular avenue for hackers to inject malware into your computer.

Malvertising campaigns involve injecting malicious code into legitimate web pages, which—once clicked by the user—redirects them to a malicious page. Some examples include web banners that show, “You’ve won a gift card or X amount.”

Wipers

We’ve witnessed several wipers this year, including Black Energy, Destover, Olympic Destroyer, and the infamous Shamoon, all of which were used to destroy data and system integrity, leading to great losses for companies.

Common reasons behind these malware attacks are sending a political or opinionated message. In some cases, the hackers orchestrated these attacks to cover their tracks after data ex-filtration.

Fileless Malware

Fileless malware, also known as a zero-footprint attack, can infect targeted computers without leaving any traces on the local hard drive, making it possible to bypass forensic tools and generic security measures.

This type of malware attack takes advantage of vulnerabilities in web browsers or execute via phishing efforts. This plague is growing each year; it nearly doubled in 2018, and continues to present a major cyber threat in 2019 as well.

Emotet

Once a simple banking Trojan, Emotet has paved its way to become a full-scale malware threat and evolved to become one of the most prevalent malwares of 2019. This Trojanware is used to steal financial data using malicious link, script, macro-enabled document files.

It prompts the victim by showing enticing messages to users, such as upcoming shipment or payment details by impersonating a reputable brand or company. With the advances in technology, it’s expected to become more dangerous and powerful in the years to come.

Ransomware

Ransomware is one of the oldest malware techniques, it’s used to—as the name suggests—seek ransom from victims. It’s a malware that takes control of a computer and encrypts its data. Victims are provided with a link to make a payment in order to restore access to their data.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have made it easier for hackers to perform financial transactions without getting caught. In 2019, businesses—especially SMEs—require protection against ransomware by strengthening their IT controls, or they face the risk of losing out their valuable data.

Nivdort 

Nivdort—also referred to as Bayrob—is a multipurpose malware that is employed to steal passwords, alter system settings and pave the way for additional malware. The most common method of infecting Nivdort is spam emails. As the victims’ addresses are encoded in the binary form, each file has a unique identity, making it an extremely dangerous malware.

Secure your digital assets

If you are looking for dedicated managed security and IT solutions to safeguard your business against potential cyber attacks, consider hiring the services of Lean Security.

We’re an Australian-based security firm that provides dynamic and effective solutions to our customers, including penetration testing services, among several others.

We’re a reliable penetration testing provider that offers complete security risk assessment to ensure that every modicum of your business application remains protected.

Contact us by calling +61 (2) 8078 6952 or send us an Email at INFO@LEANSECURITY.COM.AU for more information on the latest malwares that pose a threat to your data security.

Why Network Security is Important For Your Business

Steps Involved In Web Application Vulnerability Assessment

Web application vulnerability assessment is a type of security test used to evaluate an application’s vulnerabilities such as, faulty coding, weak configuration management, or input validation.

Businesses in all kinds of industries can benefit from web application vulnerability assessment. It can be performed both, manually and automatically to monitor an application’s security and protecting it against all kinds of threats.

Here are the steps involved in web application vulnerability assessment.

Step 1: Information Collection

To conduct effective web application security assessments, testers first have to gather information regarding the target web application. It’s important to understand the architecture, technology, user base, and the code size of the application.

Step 2: Risk Profiling

This step falls into the planning phase of the security assessment. Considering factors such as application size, data, users and more, the tester estimates efforts and divides them for different stages such as scanning, manual testing, mapping findings, and reporting. This step requires the tester to meticulously prioritize and assign efforts to different phases accordingly.

Step 3: Define Scope and Objectives

Before running the web application vulnerability assessment, it’s important to define the objectives of the test. The tester determines what components of the application should be included in the test and which ones should be excluded. This helps the security personnel of an organization understand what sorts of results they can expect from the assessment.

Step 4: Perform the Vulnerability Scan

Before running the test, the tester chooses the security assessment tools that would work best for the target web application. Several factors can influence the choice of a security tool, which include the web application’s dynamics, the performance of the tools, their characteristics, etc.

Moreover, for a successful assessment, it’s important to create a checklist of vulnerabilities and test the web application against all of them. The list should be updated to cover the latest vulnerabilities and all sorts of potential cyber attacks.

Lastly, the scan is performed in a way that targets critical data and functionalities in the beginning to identify high-risk factors early.  

Step 5: Report Creation

The last step entails creating a comprehensive report of the identified potential risks and threats. This will discuss the possible impact of the found vulnerabilities on the business and the appropriate course of action that should be taken by the organization to mitigate them.

If you’re looking for web application security testing for your business, get in touch with Lean Security!

We’ll help evaluate your web app’s security and identify potential risks by using the most comprehensive methodologies. We also offer other IT solutions, including cloud infrastructure testing and penetration testing.

Contact us today for more information.

The Benefits Of Source Code Analysis

Computer programs function according to a source code. A source code is a set of instructions, comments, and declarations, which are devised by the creator of a program with the use of a computer programming language, such as Java, Python, etc.

The number of source codes depends on the size of a program. While a small one can use just one source code, a larger program can have hundreds and thousands of files. Source codes can be stored in a system’s database, on a hard disk or in printed form as a book.

What Is Source Code Analysis?

Before an application is sold or distributed, it’s subjected to an automated test called source code analysis. The test is also known as static code analysis, and its purpose is to check a program for any faults and bugs that might have been overlooked by the programmer. The analysis focuses on finding loopholes that might cause the application to crash or hinder the program from running smoothly.

Benefits of Source Code Analysis

For all businesses, small or large, performing a source code analysis of their applications is highly recommended. Here’s why.

Secure Software Development

All software is created in different stages. To have a more secure development process an organization should run a source code analysis at all stages. This enables developers to identify vulnerabilities during the process and to solve them right away. Source code analysis ensures a more robust product at the end.

Pinpoints Exact Locations of Errors

Source code analysis makes the remediation process faster and easier by pinpointing the exact locations of vulnerabilities in the program code. This is especially helpful in larger programs in which hundreds of faults are scanned out with every test.

The detection isolates the bug, and helps the organization save time and money in the remediation process.

Improves Coding Standards

Source code analysis can improve an organization’s coding standards and a developer’s coding ability. After performing the analysis several times on different programs, a programmer becomes familiar with common bugs and errors. This enables organizations and programmers to develop more stables applications.

Supports Cloud Language

Due to the prevalence of cloud computing, programmers have to create source codes in specific languages that are compatible with PaaS (Platform as a Service). In cloud computing, the programmer doesn’t have control over execution, validation and proprietary compilation of a program. Instead, the PaaS is responsible for all these factors. In this situation, source code analysis helps the developer identify faults and bugs in a program before it’s sold or distributed.

If you’re looking for source code analysis for your application, get in touch with Lean Security.

Along with source code analysis, we also offer other expert IT solutions including Cloud Infrastructure testing, vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, and more.

You can call us at +61 (2) 8078 6952 for more information.