Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) & Cyber Essentials

Do you have a VDI solution in use at your business? Be that something like CITRIX, VMware View or Remote Desktop Services (VDI mode or Server Based Computing SBC) mode?

Well let’s consider this with regard to cyber essentials.

In a recent update post:

The January changes to the Cyber Essentials scheme reflect the changing cyber threats in today’s digital environment – Iasme

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Technology in the Wild

Whilst every marketing person will talk about the latest and greatest tech innovation and product, how much does that reflect the reality of technology deployed in the world? Everyone is running Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022 right?! They also don’t use computers, because everything is cloud and mobile first right! and security, well everyone has that down as well! Great… let’s just go and check those statements out… oh wait…. no maybe err.. let’s take a look with our friends at shodan.io

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It’s 2023 and people’s passwords are still really really…

If you work in marketing you are probably walking around telling everyone that we all live in a ZERO trust era, that PASSWORDS are DEAD! Ransomware is DEAD and AI is the FUTURE and we should be doing that NOW!

Meanwhile back on CYBER PLANET EARTH, most organisation do NOT have or need AI, they use passwords and well they passwords they use are shockingly bad! Howe do I know this? I do password audits and security testing, but I also look at breach data! (and we have other people publish password audit reports etc.)

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Current State Cyber Challenges and why communication is important

Currently I’d list some of the major challenges we face as a civilisation as the following (clearly not exhaustive etc.)

  • The general population largely don’t understand cyber
  • Lots of people think there is nothing they can really do
  • People have shockingly bad personal cyber security
  • A large number of organisations have shockingly poor cyber security postures
  • People’s passwords are often ridiculously weak
  • People re-use passwords all the time
  • People seem to believe we have “magic nation state cyber shields”
  • Organisation’s largely do not invest adequately in cyber security
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The Cyber Acid Test

I’ve been working with all kinds of different organisations over the years, and I keep running into similar scenarios.  The current state of the majority of organisations security postures are simply (as a broad-brush statement) far riskier than they need to be.

Conversely there are a range of common challenges I find in almost every org:

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What is a “Winning Cyber Security Strategy”?

A winning cyber security strategy should have several key components.

First, it should involve a thorough assessment of your organization’s current security posture, including identifying any potential vulnerabilities or weaknesses. This assessment should be ongoing, with regular updates to ensure that your security measures are keeping pace with the evolving threat landscape.

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How to not lose your job as a CISO

A mRr3b00t Adventure

Join me on an adventure of rambling and exploring the idea that you can in fact not lose the security leadership game! This blog is WIP, it’s just my brain wondering around the question of: can we win the in the face of a seemingly insurmountable force? What do we do as a security leader to protect ourselves and the organisation? How do we start?

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Red Team Readiness Assessment

I am seeing lots of “debate” about the value in red teaming, so I thought I would put together my thought process of how I look at as a broad stroke when I consider a generic starting position in an organisation. When I’m defending a business, I tend to ask myself (and the team/customers etc.) these kind of questions (they are not exhaustive):

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