ETSI OSM launches Release THIRTEEN with a new scalable architecture for massive closed-loop operations

Sophia Antipolis, 15 December 2022

The ETSI Open Source MANO community is proud to announce OSM Release THIRTEEN, meeting the already established cadence of two releases per year, alternating between Long Term Support (LTS) releases such as Release TWELVE (2 years’ support) and Standard releases (6 months support).

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Sophia Antipolis, 9 January 2023

The ETSI group on Experiential Networked Intelligence (ISG ENI) has just published a White Paper describing the design of a novel cognitive network. This White Paper explains how the ETSI ENI novel system architecture (based on ETSI GS ENI-005) intelligently manages, predicts, adjusts and optimises network behaviour using cognition management, thereby enhancing the operator experience.

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New Extension for Disabled People to the ETSI Mobile Emergency App Framework

Sophia Antipolis, 16 January 2023

The ETSI emergency communications technical committee has just released a specification for a Pan-European Mobile Emergency Application framework (PEMEA) Real-Time Text Extension. Real-Time Text (RTT) communications are used extensively by people with hearing and speech disabilities around the world. These systems convey letters as they are typed from the source to the destination.

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Sophia Antipolis, 2 February 2023

ETSI, the organization for globally applicable standards for information and communication technology (ICT), has adopted a new instrument, Software Development Groups (SDGs). This game-changing move will help ETSI adapt to the ever-evolving landscape of technology and standards development. Developing software to accompany standards will accelerate the standardization process, providing faster feedback loops and improving the quality of standards.

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Sophia Antipolis, 2 February 2023

ETSI Open Source Group TeraFlowSDN has just announced the 2nd release of TeraFlowSDN controller, an innovative and robust SDN orchestrator and controller.

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The implementation of Telecom Infra Project (TIP) Open Optical & Packet Transport (OOPT) Mandatory Use Case Requirements for SDN for Transport (MUST) in ETSI TeraFlowSDN cloud native SDN Controller will make it possible to accelerate network innovation in packet-optical networks.

Sophia Antipolis, 22 February 2023

The ETSI TeraFlowSDN community has announced their commitment to the implementation of TIP’s Mandatory Use Case Requirements for SDN for Transport (MUST) Requirements in their innovative cloud native SDN Controller. This will position TeraFlowSDN as a reference implementation in the Telecom Infra Project Open Optical & Packet Transport group (TIP OOPT). This move will also make it possible to accelerate the adoption of SDN standards for IP/MPLS, Optical and Microwave transport technologies, which is one of the main objectives of MUST.

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Sophia Antipolis, 14 March 2023

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of ETSI NFV, ETSI organized a conference on the “Evolution of NFV towards the next decade” on 6 and 7 March at its facilities. The face-to-face event provided a unique opportunity for the NFV community to reflect on their achievements in the past 10 years and on the way forward. Carriers, vendors, SDOs representatives, and stakeholders from the whole ecosystem came together to debate on challenges and opportunities. They also addressed how to increase the cooperation between various SDOs and the open-source communities to enhance interoperability and to smooth the deployment of cloudified network telecom functions.

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Sophia Antipolis, 23 March 2023

Autonomous Networks (AN) are considered one of the most important evolutions to enable Digital Transformation, offering new service opportunities and significant cost saving in network operation. It is one of the most attractive environments where to leverage Artificial Intelligence in the Network and activities around Autonomous Networks have gained momentum in Standards and ICT Industry.

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Sophia Antipolis, 4 April 2023

Organized on 30 March as a hybrid event in ETSI facilities, France, the ETSI Summit on how ICT developments and standards can enable sustainability and have a positive impact on society, focused on the key role of the ICT industry and related standardization activities to support Green initiatives. The event brought a large and global audience of over 220 stakeholders including operators, solution providers, policy makers and standards bodies or fora working on the topic.

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Sophia Antipolis, 18 April 2023

ETSI’s annual flagship event returns in 2023. This new edition of the ETSI IoT Conference - IoT Technologies for Green and Digital Transformation - will take place on 4-5-6 July 2023 in ETSI premises, Sophia Antipolis, France.

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Sophia Antipolis, 27 April 2023

ETSI has just released a Protection Profile (PP) for the security evaluation of quantum key distribution (QKD) modules, ETSI GS QKD 016. This Protection Profile is a first and anticipates the need for quantum safe cryptography. The ETSI specification will help manufacturers to submit pairs of QKD modules for evaluation under a security certification process.

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Sophia Antipolis, 28 April 2023

Sustainability was the focus of a high-level meeting of the world’s leading information and communication technologies (ICT) standards bodies. The 23rd meeting of the Global Standards Collaboration (GSC) was hosted by ETSI, in London, 26-27 April 2023. Three sessions were moderated in a workshop format and included interactive discussions.

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Sophia Antipolis, 16 May 2023

ETSI is pleased to announce the release of the first Group Report developed by its Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Industry Specification Group. The ETSI Report ETSI GR RIS-001 identifies and defines relevant RIS use cases, with corresponding general Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). It also describes deployment scenarios as well as potential requirements for each identified use case, to enable interoperability with existing and upcoming wireless technologies and networks.

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Sophia Antipolis, 6 June 2023

In a joint effort to promote spectrum sharing approaches for specific use cases, ETSI and The Wireless Innovation Forum (WinnForum) have developed a joint whitepaper: Spectrum Sharing Frameworks for Temporary, Dynamic, and Flexible Spectrum Access for Local Private Networks.

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Sophia Antipolis, 22 June 2023

On 21 June, a panel debate on ‘30 years of Standards for the Single Market: what way ahead?’ brought together the key stakeholders of the European standardization system. Reflecting on the role of standards in the first 30 years of the Single Market, panelists also discussed challenges ahead in the current geopolitical context.

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Sophia Antipolis, 22 June 2023

ETSI has just released a new White Paper on “MEC Support for Edge Native Design” written by members of the ETSI Multi-access Edge Computing group (ISG MEC). This White Paper provides an overview and vision about the Edge Native approach, as a natural evolution of Cloud Native. 

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Sophia Antipolis, 7 July 2023

The new edition of the ETSI IoT Conference, IoT Technologies for Green and Digital Transformation, ended on 6 July, highlighting through use cases and demonstrations how IoT standards can be real enablers in achieving the green and digital transformation. The programme is available here and the very stimulating presentations from our 54 international speakers are available here.

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Sophia Antipolis, 11 July 2023

ETSI is pleased to announce three new Reports developed by its Securing AI group (ISG SAI). They address explicability and transparency of AI processing and provide an AI computing platform security framework. The last Report is a multi-partner Proofs of Concepts framework.

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Sophia Antipolis, 26 July 2023

The ETSI Open Source MANO community is proud to announce OSM Release FOURTEEN. Release FOURTEEN is a Long-Term-Support (LTS) release of ETSI OSM, providing two years of continuous support with bug fixes and security patches, and including significant improvements in many key areas.

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Sophia Antipolis, 1 September 2023

The Report of the 3rd interoperability Plugtests™ event for the Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) is now available. All executed tests achieved an interoperability success rate of 86%.

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Sophia Antipolis, 20 September 2023

ETSI has published a new standard on “Requirements for trust service providers issuing publicly trusted S/MIME certificates” (ETSI TS 119 411-6 ) helping Trust Service Providers comply with new standards for S/MIME certificates that are enforced since 1 September 2023. Secure MIME (S/MIME) certificates are used to sign, verify, encrypt, and decrypt email messages. 

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Sophia Antipolis, 5 October 2023

ETSI is pleased to announce the extension of its Zero touch network and Service Management group (ISG ZSM) for an additional 2 year-period.

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Sophia Antipolis, 9 November 2023

ETSI is delighted to announce the establishment of a new Software Development Group, called OpenCAPIF. OpenCAPIF is developing an open-source Common API Framework, as defined by 3GPP, allowing for secure and consistent exposure and use of APIs.

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Sophia Antipolis, 14 November 2023

ETSI is happy to announce that at a meeting in October of its technical committee in charge of the TETRA standard (TCCE), a full consensus was reached to make the primitives of all TETRA Air Interface cryptographic algorithms available to the public domain.

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Sophia Antipolis, 21 November 2023

ETSI is delighted to announce the launch of the Industry Specification Group for Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISG ISAC). This group will establish the technical foundations for ISAC technology development and standardization in 6G. 87 participants from both the industrial sphere and the academic sphere took an active part in the kick-off meeting, which was held at ETSI premises, in Sophia Antipolis, France, on 17 November 2023.

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Sophia Antipolis, 12 January 2024

In a significant step highlighting the critical importance of security for mobile device users, the French National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) has certified ETSI's Consumer Mobile Device Protection Profile under the Common Criteria global certification framework. This represents the first certification by a national administration of a comprehensive suite of specifications for assessing the security of smartphones.

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Sophia Antipolis, 30 April 2024

The ETSI TeraFlowSDN community is proud to announce the third release of TeraFlowSDN, an innovative and robust SDN orchestrator and controller, delivering a fully featured Network Automation Platform. In this latest release, TeraFlowSDN enhances its capabilities with the integration of an Optical SDN controller, expanding device support to include gNMI and OpenConfig protocols. It also features enriched network integrations for end-to-end orchestration like IP over DWDM, L3VPN, MEC, and network topology exposure. The management of network topologies is improved with the addition of a new BGP-LS speaker able to discover the topologies, and a new Forecaster component is introduced, providing predictive insights for network management. These additions substantially augment the versatility and management capabilities of the TeraFlowSDN platform.

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Sophia Antipolis, 24 May 2024

Speakers at the 10th ETSI/IQC Quantum Safe Cryptography Conference have called on organizations to prepare their cybersecurity infrastructures to address the challenges of a post-quantum world.

Organized by ETSI and the Institute for Quantum Computing, this year’s conference was hosted from 14-16 May by the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT), National University of Singapore (NUS), in partnership with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) of Singapore. The event attracted an impressive 235 onsite delegates from 27 countries, reflecting fast-growing interest worldwide in the critical importance of quantum-safe cryptography in today’s cybersecurity strategies.

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Sophia Antipolis, 5 July 2024

ETSI is pleased to announce the successful conclusion of the FRMCS #4 Plugtests event, held at Sophia Antipolis, ETSI HQ, from July 1 – 5, 2024. This event brought together key stakeholders, including railway operators, telecom vendors, system integrators, and industry experts worldwide. ETSI organized the event with the support of the European Union, EFTA, TCCA-Critical Communications, and UIC— International Union of Railways.

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Sophia Antipolis, 9 July 2024

ETSI is excited to announce OpenCAPIF Release 1 is now available in the ETSI Labs.

OpenCAPIF develops a Common API Framework as defined by 3GPP and this new version introduces several improvements and new features to deliver a more robust, secure, and efficient API Management Platform. These advancements are developed in tight collaboration and incorporating feedback from a growing Research Ecosystem including SNS projects such as 6G-SANDBOX, FIDAL, IMAGINEB5G, SAFE6G, ORIGAMI, ENVELOPE and SUNRISE6G.

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Sophia Antipolis, 31 October 2024

Protect Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability of Data as Smart Devices Proliferate.

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Starts: Thu, 14 Nov 2024 22:00:00 -0500
11/14/2024 07:30:00PM
Location: PARIS, Canada

New essay by W. Fitzhugh Brundage, "Reconstruction and the Formerly Enslaved," added to Freedom's Story: Teaching African American Literature and History, TeacherServe from the National Humanities Center.

This document is only available in PDF format.

National Instrument 93-101 Derivatives: Business Conduct (the Rule) will come into force on September 28, 2024 (the Effective Date), pursuant to section 143.4 of the Securities Act (Ontario).

This document is only available in PDF format.

This document is only available in PDF format.

Here is a Storify summary of the SpotOn London session: BrainSpace, a global interest graph for

It ain’t a party if you can’t join us Towards the end of April, SpotOn

Frequently asked questions about a zero-day vulnerability in Fortinet’s FortiManager that has reportedly been exploited in the wild.

Background

The Tenable Security Response Team (SRT) has compiled this blog to answer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) regarding a zero-day vulnerability in Fortinet’s FortiManager.

FAQ

What is FortiJump?

FortiJump is a name given to a zero-day vulnerability in the FortiGate-FortiManager (FGFM) protocol in Fortinet’s FortiManager and FortiManager Cloud. It was named by security researcher Kevin Beaumont in a blog post on October 22. Beaumont also created a logo for FortiJump.

What are the vulnerabilities associated with FortiJump?

On October 23, Fortinet published an advisory (FG-IR-24-423) for FortiJump, assigning a CVE identifier for the flaw.

What is CVE-2024-47575?

CVE-2024-47575 is a missing authentication vulnerability in the FortiGate to FortiManager (FGFM) daemon (fgfmsd) in FortiManager and FortiManager Cloud.

How severe is CVE-2024-47575?

Exploitation of FortiJump could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker using a valid FortiGate certificate to register unauthorized devices in FortiManager. Successful exploitation would grant the attacker the ability to view and modify files, such as configuration files, to obtain sensitive information, as well as the ability to manage other devices.

Obtaining a certificate from a FortiGate device is relatively easy:

Comment
by from discussion
infortinet

According to results from Shodan, there are nearly 60,000 FortiManager devices that are internet-facing, including over 13,000 in the United States, over 5,800 in China, nearly 3,000 in Brazil and 2,300 in India:

When was FortiJump first disclosed?

There were reports on Reddit that Fortinet proactively notified customers using FortiManager about the flaw ahead of the release of patches, though some customers say they never received any notifications. Beaumont posted a warning to Mastodon on October 13:

Post by @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social

View on Mastodon

Was this exploited as a zero-day?

Yes, according to both Beaumont and Fortinet, FortiJump has been exploited in the wild as a zero-day. Additionally, Google Mandiant published a blog post on October 23 highlighting its collaborative investigation with Fortinet into the “mass exploitation” of this zero-day vulnerability. According to Google Mandiant, they’ve discovered over 50 plus “potentially compromised FortiManager devices in various industries.”

Which threat actors are exploiting FortiJump?

Google Mandiant attributed exploitation activity to a new threat cluster called UNC5820, adding that the cluster has been observed exploiting the flaw since “as early as June 27, 2024.”

Is there a proof-of-concept (PoC) available for this vulnerability/these vulnerabilities?

As of October 23, there are no public proof-of-concept exploits available for FortiJump.

Are patches or mitigations available for FortiJump?

The following table contains a list of affected products, versions and fixed versions.

Fortinet’s advisory provides workarounds for specific impacted versions if patching is not feasible. These include blocking unknown devices from attempting to register to FortiManager, creating IP allow lists of approved FortiGate devices that can connect to FortiManager and the creation of custom certificates. Generally speaking, it is advised to ensure FGFM is not internet-facing.

Has Tenable released any product coverage for these vulnerabilities?

A list of Tenable plugins for this vulnerability can be found on the individual CVE page for CVE-2024-47575 as they’re released. This link will display all available plugins for this vulnerability, including upcoming plugins in our Plugins Pipeline.

Get more information

• Burning Zero Days: FortiJump FortiManager vulnerability used by nation state in espionage via MSPs
• FortiGuard Labs PSIRT FG-IR-24-423 Advisory

Join Tenable's Security Response Team on the Tenable Community.
Learn more about Tenable One, the Exposure Management Platform for the modern attack surface.

Looking for help with shadow AI? Want to boost your software updates’ safety? New publications offer valuable tips. Plus, learn why GenAI and data security have become top drivers of cyber strategies. And get the latest on the top “no-nos” for software security; the EU’s new cyber law; and CISOs’ communications with boards.

Dive into six things that are top of mind for the week ending Oct. 25.

1 - CSA: How to prevent “shadow AI” 

As organizations scale up their AI adoption, they must closely track their AI assets to secure them and mitigate their cyber risk. This includes monitoring the usage of unapproved AI tools by employees — an issue known as “shadow AI.”

So how do you identify, manage and prevent shadow AI? You may find useful ideas in the Cloud Security Alliance’s new “AI Organizational Responsibilities: Governance, Risk Management, Compliance and Cultural Aspects” white paper.

The white paper covers shadow AI topics including:

• Creating a comprehensive inventory of AI systems
• Conducting gap analyses to spot discrepancies between approved and actual AI usage
• Implementing ways to detect unauthorized AI wares
• Establishing effective access controls
• Deploying monitoring techniques

“By focusing on these key areas, organizations can significantly reduce the risks associated with shadow AI, ensuring that all AI systems align with organizational policies, security standards, and regulatory requirements,” the white paper reads.

For example, to create an inventory that offers the required visibility into AI assets, the document explains different elements each record should have, such as:

• The asset’s description
• Information about its AI models
• Information about its data sets and data sources
• Information about the tools used for its development and deployment
• Detailed documentation about its lifecycle, regulatory compliance, ethical considerations and adherence to industry standards
• Records of its access control mechanisms

Shadow AI is one of four topics covered in the publication, which also unpacks risk management; governance and compliance; and safety culture and training.

To get more details, read:

• The full “AI Organizational Responsibilities: Governance, Risk Management, Compliance and Cultural Aspects” white paper
• A complementary slide presentation
• The CSA blog “Shadow AI Prevention: Safeguarding Your Organization’s AI Landscape”

For more information about AI security issues, including shadow AI, check out these Tenable blogs:

• “Do You Think You Have No AI Exposures? Think Again”
• “Securing the AI Attack Surface: Separating the Unknown from the Well Understood”
• “Never Trust User Inputs -- And AI Isn't an Exception: A Security-First Approach”
• “6 Best Practices for Implementing AI Securely and Ethically”
• “Compromising Microsoft's AI Healthcare Chatbot Service”

2 - Best practices for secure software updates

The security and reliability of software updates took center stage in July when an errant update caused massive and unprecedented tech outages globally.

To help prevent such episodes, U.S. and Australian cyber agencies have published “Safe Software Deployment: How Software Manufacturers Can Ensure Reliability for Customers.”

“It is critical for all software manufacturers to implement a safe software deployment program supported by verified processes, including robust testing and measurements,” reads the 12-page document.

Although the guide is aimed primarily at commercial software vendors, its recommendations can be useful for any organization with software development teams that deploy updates internally.

The guide outlines key steps for a secure software development process, including planning; development and testing; internal rollout; and controlled rollout. It also addresses errors and emergency protocols.

“A safe software deployment process should be integrated with the organization’s SDLC, quality program, risk tolerance, and understanding of the customer’s environment and operations,” reads the guide, authored by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the FBI and the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

To get more details, read:

• The “Safe Software Deployment: How Software Manufacturers Can Ensure Reliability for Customers” guide
• The CISA alert “CISA, US, and International Partners Release Joint Guidance to Assist Software Manufacturers with Safe Software Deployment Processes”

For more information about secure software updates:

• “Tenable’s Software Update Process Protects Customers’ Business Continuity with a Safe, Do-No-Harm Design” (Tenable)
• “The critical importance of robust release processes” (Cloud Native Computing Foundation)
• “Software Deployment Security: Risks and Best Practices” (DevOps.com)
• “Software Updates, A Double-Edged Sword for Cybersecurity Professionals” (Infosecurity)
• “DevOps Best Practices for Faster and More Reliable Software Delivery” (DevOps.com)

3 - Report: GenAI, attack variety, data security drive cyber strategies

What issues act as catalysts for organizations’ cybersecurity actions today? Hint: They’re fairly recent concerns. The promise and peril of generative AI ranks first. It’s closely followed by the ever growing variety of cyberattacks; and by the intensifying urgency to protect data.

That’s according to CompTIA’s “State of Cybersecurity 2025” report, based on a survey of almost 1,200 business and IT pros in North America and in parts of Europe and Asia. 

These three key factors, along with others like the scale of attacks, play a critical role in how organizations currently outline their cybersecurity game plans.

“Understanding these drivers is essential for organizations to develop proactive and adaptive cybersecurity strategies that address the evolving threat landscape and safeguard their digital assets,” reads a CompTIA blog about the report.

Organizations are eagerly trying to understand both how generative AI can help their cybersecurity programs and how this technology is being used by malicious actors to make cyberattacks harder to detect and prevent.

Meanwhile, concern about data protection has ballooned in the past couple of years. “As organizations become more data-driven, the need to protect sensitive information has never been more crucial,” reads the blog.

Not only are organizations focused on securing data at rest, in transit and in use, but they’re also creating foundational data-management practices, according to the report.

“The rise of AI has accelerated the need for robust data practices in order to properly train AI algorithms, and the demand for data science continues to be strong as businesses seek competitive differentiation,” the report reads.

To get more details, read:

• The report’s announcement “Cybersecurity success hinges on full organizational support, new CompTIA report asserts”
• CompTIA’s blogs “Today’s top drivers for cybersecurity strategy” and “Cybersecurity’s maturity: CompTIA’s State of Cybersecurity 2025 report”
• The full “State of Cybersecurity 2025” report

For more information about data security posture management (DSPM) and preventing AI-powered attacks, check out these Tenable resources:

• “Harden Your Cloud Security Posture by Protecting Your Cloud Data and AI Resources” (blog)
• “Know Your Exposure: Is Your Cloud Data Secure in the Age of AI?” (on-demand webinar)
• “The Data-Factor: Why Integrating DSPM Is Key to Your CNAPP Strategy” (blog)
• “Mitigating AI-Related Security Risks” (on-demand webinar)
• “Securing the AI Attack Surface: Separating the Unknown from the Well Understood” (blog)

4 - CISA lists software dev practices most harmful for security

Recommended best practices abound in the cybersecurity world. However, CISA and the FBI are taking the opposite tack in their quest to improve the security of software products: They just released a list of the worst security practices that software manufacturers ought to avoid.

Titled “Product Security Bad Practices,” the document groups the “no-nos” into three main categories: product properties; security features; and organizational processes and policies.

“It’s 2024, and basic, preventable software defects continue to enable crippling attacks against hospitals, schools, and other critical infrastructure. This has to stop,” CISA Director Jen Easterly said in a statement.

“These product security bad practices pose unacceptable risks in this day and age, and yet are all too common,” she added.

Here are some of the worst practices detailed in the document, which is part of CISA’s “Secure by Design” effort:

• Using programming languages considered “memory unsafe”
• Including user-provided input in SQL query strings
• Releasing a product with default passwords
• Releasing a product with known and exploited vulnerabilities
• Not using multi-factor authentication
• Failing to disclose vulnerabilities in a timely manner

Although the guidance is aimed primarily at software makers whose products are used by critical infrastructure organizations, the recommendations apply to all software manufacturers.

If you’re interested in sharing your feedback with CISA and the FBI, you can submit comments about the document until December 16, 2024 on the Federal Register.

To get more details, check out:

• CISA’s announcement “CISA and FBI Release Product Security Bad Practices for Public Comment”
• The full document “Product Security Bad Practices”

For more information about how to develop secure software:

• “Tenable Partners with CISA to Enhance Secure By Design Practices” (Tenable)
• “Ensuring Application Security from Design to Operation with DevSecOps” (DevOps.com)
• “What is application security?” (TechTarget)
• “Guidelines for Software Development (Australian Cyber Security Centre)

5 - New EU law focuses on cybersecurity of connected digital products

Makers of digital products — both software and hardware — that directly or indirectly connect to networks and to other devices will have to comply with specific cybersecurity safeguards in the European Union.

A newly adopted law known as the “Cyber Resilience Act” outlines cybersecurity requirements for the design, development, production and lifecycle maintenance of these types of products, including IoT wares such as connected cars.

For example, it specifies a number of “essential cybersecurity requirements” for these products, including that they:

• Aren’t shipped with known exploitable vulnerabilities
• Feature a “secure by default” configuration
• Can fix their vulnerabilities via automatic software updates
• Offer access protection via control mechanisms, such as authentication and identity management
• Protect the data they store, transmit and process using, for example, at-rest and in-transit encryption

“The new regulation aims to fill the gaps, clarify the links, and make the existing cybersecurity legislative framework more coherent, ensuring that products with digital components (...) are made secure throughout the supply chain and throughout their lifecycle,” reads a statement from the EU’s European Council.

The law will “enter into force” after its publication in the EU’s official journal and will apply and be enforceable 36 months later, so most likely in October 2027 or November 2027. However, some of its provisions will be enforceable a year prior.

For more information and analysis about the EU’s Cyber Resilience Act:

• “Cyber Resilience Act Requirements Standards Mapping” (ENISA)
• “The Cyber Resilience Act, an Accidental European Alien Torts Statute?” (Lawfare)
• “EU Cybersecurity Regulation Adopted, Impacts Connected Products” (National Law Review)
• “Open source foundations unite on common standards for EU’s Cyber Resilience Act” (TechCrunch)
• “The Cyber Resilience Act: A New Era for Mobile App Developers” (DevOps.com)

VIDEO

The EU Cyber Resilience Act: A New Era for Business Engagement in Open Source Software (Linux Foundation) 

6 - UK cyber agency: CISOs must communicate better with boards

CISOs and boards of directors are struggling to understand each other, and this is increasing their organizations’ cyber risk, new research from the U.K.’s cyber agency has found.

For example, in one alarming finding, 80% of respondents, which included board members, CISOs and other cyber leaders in medium and large enterprises, confessed to being unsure of who is ultimately accountable for cybersecurity in their organizations.

“We found that in many organisations, the CISO (or equivalent role) thought that the Board was accountable, whilst the Board thought it was the CISO,” reads a blog about the research titled “How to talk to board members about cyber.”

As a result, the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has released new guidance aimed at helping CISOs better communicate with their organizations’ boards titled “Engaging with Boards to improve the management of cyber security risk.”

“Cyber security is a strategic issue, which means you must engage with Boards on their terms and in their language to ensure the cyber risk is understood, managed and mitigated,” the document reads.

Here’s a small sampling of the advice:

• Understand your audience, including who are the board’s members and their areas of expertise; and how the board works, such as its meeting formats and its committees.
• Talk about cybersecurity in terms of risks, and outline these risks concretely and precisely, presenting them in a matter-of-fact way.
• Don’t limit your communication with board members to formal board meetings. Look for opportunities to talk to them individually or in small groups outside of these board meetings.
• Elevate the discussions so that you link cybersecurity with your organization’s business challenges, goals and context.
• Aim to provide a holistic view, and avoid using technical jargon.
• Aim to advise instead of to educate.

The CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog and enhanced logging guidelines are among the new measurement tools added for the 2024 State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program.

Last month, the Department of Homeland Security announced the availability of $279.9 million in grant funding for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP). Now in its third year, the four-year, $1 billion program provides funding for State, Local and Territorial (SLT) governments to implement cybersecurity solutions that address the growing threats and risks to their information systems. Applications must be submitted by December 3, 2024.

While there are no significant modifications to the program for FY 2024, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which administers SLCGP in coordination with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), identified key changes, some of which we highlight below:

The FY 2024 NOFO adds CISA’s KEV catalog as a new performance measure and recommended resource

The FY 2024 notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) adds the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog as a recommended resource to encourage governments to regularly view information related to cybersecurity vulnerabilities confirmed by CISA, prioritizing those exploited in the wild. In addition, CISA has added “Addressing CISA-identified cybersecurity vulnerabilities” to the list of performance measures it will collect through the duration of the program.

Tenable offers fastest, broadest coverage of CISA’s KEV catalog

At Tenable, our goal is to help organizations identify their cyber exposure gaps as accurately and quickly as possible. To achieve this goal, we have research teams around the globe working to provide precise and prompt coverage for new threats as they are discovered. Tenable monitors and tracks additions to the CISA KEV catalog on a daily basis and prioritizes developing new detections where they do not already exist.

Tenable updates the KEV coverage of its vulnerability management products — Tenable Nessus, Tenable Security Center and Tenable Vulnerability Management — allowing organizations to use KEV catalog data as an additional prioritization metric when figuring out what to fix first. The ready availability of this data in Tenable products can help agencies meet the SLCGP performance measures. This blog offers additional information on Tenable’s coverage of CISA’s KEV catalog.

FY 2024 NOFO adds “Adopting Enhanced Logging” as a new performance measure

The FY 2024 NOFO also adds “Adopting Enhanced Logging” to the list of performance measures CISA will collect throughout the program duration.

How Tenable’s library of compliance audits can help with Enhanced Logging

Tenable's library of Compliance Audits, including Center for Internet Security (CIS) and Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), allows organizations to assess systems for compliance, including ensuring Enhanced Logging is enabled. Tenable's vulnerability management tools enable customers to easily schedule compliance scans. Users can choose from a continuously updated library of built-in audits or upload custom audits. By conducting these scans regularly, organizations can ensure their systems are secure and maintain compliance with required frameworks.

FY 2024 NOFO continues to require applicants to address program objectives in their applications

As with previous years, the FY 2024 NOFO sets four program objectives. Applicants must address at least one of the following in their applications:

• Objective 1: Develop and establish appropriate governance structures, including by developing, implementing, or revising Cybersecurity Plans, to improve capabilities to respond to cybersecurity incidents, and ensure operations.
• Objective 2: Understand their current cybersecurity posture and areas for improvement based on continuous testing, evaluation, and structured assessments.
• Objective 3: Implement security protections commensurate with risk.
• Objective 4: Ensure organization personnel are appropriately trained in cybersecurity, commensurate with responsibility.

How Tenable can help agencies meet Objective 2 of the program

Tenable is uniquely positioned to help SLTs meet Objective 2 through the Tenable One Exposure Management Platform. In addition to analyzing traditional IT environments, Tenable One analyzes cloud instances, web applications, critical infrastructure environments, identity access and privilege solutions such as Active Directory and more — including highly dynamic assets like mobile devices, virtual machines and containers. Once the complete attack surface is understood, the Tenable One platform applies a proactive risk-based approach to managing exposure, allowing SLT agencies to successfully meet each of the sub-objectives outlined in Objective 2 (see table below).

Source: Tenable, October 2024

Tenable One deployment options offer flexibility for SLT agencies

Tenable offers SLT agencies flexibility in their implementation models to help them best meet the requirements and objectives outlined as part of the SLCGP. Deployment models include:

• Centralized risk-based vulnerability program managed by a state Department of Information Technology (DoIT)
• Multi-entity projects
• Decentralized deployments of Tenable One managed by individual municipalities,
• Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) models that allow agencies to rapidly adopt solutions by utilizing Tenable’s Technology Partner network.

Whole-of-state approach enables state-wide collaboration and cooperation

A “whole-of-state” approach — which enables state-wide collaboration to improve the cybersecurity posture of all stakeholders — allows state governments to share resources to support cybersecurity programs for local government entities, educational institutions and other organizations. Shared resources increase the level of defense for SLTs both individually and as a community and reduce duplication of work and effort. States get real-time visibility into all threats and deploy a standard strategy and toolset to improve cyber hygiene, accelerate incident response and reduce statewide risk. For more information, read Protecting Local Government Agencies with a Whole-of-State Cybersecurity Approach.

FY 2024 NOFO advises SLT agencies to adopt key cybersecurity best practices

As in previous years, the FY 2024 NOFO again recommends SLT agencies adopt key cybersecurity best practices. To do this, they are required to consult the CISA Cross-Sector Cybersecurity Performance Goals (CPGs) throughout their development of plans and projects within the program. This is also a statutory requirement for receiving grant funding.

How Tenable One can help agencies meet the CISA CPGs

The CISA CPGs are a prioritized subset of cybersecurity practices aimed at meaningfully reducing risk to critical infrastructure operations and the American people. They provide a common set of IT and operational technology (OT) fundamental cybersecurity best practices to help SLT agencies address some of the most common and impactful cyber risks. Learn more about how Tenable One can help agencies meet the CISA CPGs here.

Learn more

• $1 Billion State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program Now Open for Applicants
• Protecting Local Government Agencies with a Whole-of-State Cybersecurity Approach
• How to Meet FY 2023 U.S. State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program Objectives
• New U.S. SLCGP Cybersecurity Plan Requirement: Adopt Cybersecurity Best Practices Using CISA's CPGs
• Study: Tenable Offers Fastest, Broadest Coverage of CISA's KEV Catalog

To tie in with this month’s SoNYC birthday celebrations, we are hosting a collection of case

A twitter TeachIn about marine protected areas, hosted by @RJ_Dunlap on 4/8/2013

Selected responses categorized into 'helped', 'helped and harmed' and 'harmed'.