The U.S. government’s intelligence agencies issued a CISA alert during June 2022. This cybersecurity focus warns of exploitation of network providers and devices by Chinese-backed threat actors.
Looking into the matter for Digital Journal is Andrew Kahl, CEO of BackBox (a network automation, security, and management firm).
Kahl begins the analysis by outlining the importance of the government notification and he necessity for state intervention “We applaud CISA for their continued focus on helping organizations protect themselves against attacks by both private and state-sponsored malicious actors.”
Where the business market has not been able to deliver sufficient warning, government agencies have been on message. As Kahl notes: “This continued demonstration of expertise and dedication are some of the reasons we recommend our customers around the world follow CISA’s advice on subjects like this.”
The warning builds upon previous reports. Going back to May 2022, Kahl recollects: “Last month CISA released a joint advisory that recommended prioritizing the patching of software containing known vulnerabilities.”
Putting the strands together, Kahl observes: “These two advisories within a month of each other indicates threat actors are increasingly targeting known vulnerabilities, because they understand many organizations are slow to implement patches”
He adds: “One of the most common vectors for attackers is through known vulnerabilities that otherwise could have been patched. In fact, 87 percent of organizations have experienced an attempted exploit of an already-known, existing vulnerability. Once an attacker successfully exploits a vulnerability they can wreak havoc on a company’s network and bring continuity to a halt.”
In terms of longer-term preventative actions, Kahl advises: “Automation is a critical component of any sound enterprise cybersecurity strategy, enabling organizations to quickly and efficiently deploy updates such as the ones recommended by CISA and ensure a hardened network infrastructure.”
“By automating the implementation of patches and upgrades, network operations teams can make this task achievable across the entire network in minutes, and eliminate the potential for human error”, adds Kahl.
Furthermore, Kahl says: “New patches are then implemented as the system receives them, further reducing the attack surface. What’s more, the right tools will provide detailed reporting on the status of patches – network security teams can rest assured that patches were installed correctly and in a timely manner.”
In terms of final advice, Kahl states: “We recommend organizations leverage their automation tools not only to identify and remediate the issues identified here, but to create an environment that continuously improves the health, performance, and compliance of their network security.”
