Cybersecurity is a trending topic among boards and executives. Yet, many organizations need more technical capabilities to prepare and respond effectively to cyber incidents and regulatory requirements.
Let’s explore what cybersecurity professional services really are and how they can help take an organization’s security to the next level.
What are cybersecurity professional services?
Cybersecurity professional services provide subject matter experts to help mature and enhance a client’s cybersecurity program and cyber incident response capabilities.
In other words, service providers work with organizations to prevent the disruption to business continuity which may include impact to confidentiality, availability, and integrity of data or loss of stakeholder confidence.
Popular cybersecurity professional services include:
Incident Response – complex set of activities for responding to or managing security incidents.
Digital Forensics – analysis ofcyber incident information and evidence to pursue legal action.
Penetration Testing – designed to access or exploit your computer systems, networks, websites, and applications with the goal of uncovering system vulnerabilities.
Red Team – an exercise that emulates real world tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) employed by threat actors to validate security controls with a focus on people, process, and technology.
Tabletop exercises – exercises focused on improving cyber readiness with real-life incident scenarios and hands-on training
Why cybersecurity professional services are more important than ever
The increasing reliance on digital technologies and the adoption of remote working policies have made cybersecurity an important topic among executives and board members. Cyber incidents are growing in number and scale, as are data regulations and other compliance requirements.
Global attacks rose by 28% in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the same period last year, with the average data breach costing $4.35 million, a 12.7% increase from 2020.
Cybersecurity professional services are necessary to ensure sensitive data is protected to prevent hefty fines,potential ransom payments, and the reputational integrity of organizations. Some organizations take years to recover the reputational damage lost from a data breach.
Professional services can help organizations build a robust and proactive security program while meeting all necessary regulations and best practices. In a cybersecurity incident, professional services can prevent additional data loss, fix vulnerabilities, and implement measures to prevent further attacks.
3 Considerations for a cybersecurity professional service
When exploring different cybersecurity professional services, it’s important to remember that not all professionals have the same experience orindustry-specific knowledge. Before choosing a cybersecurity professional service for your business, consider the following:
Do they have proven experience?
Cybersecurity is an in-demand field, and new professional service providers are springing up daily. It’s important to choose a provider that has years of experience behind them and knows exactly what they’re doing. Newer providers may seem more attractive due to pricing, but may not deliver on expectations.
SecurityScorecard’s professional services team, a global leader in digital forensics and cyber resiliency services, has been active since 2012.
Have they worked with clients in your industry?
Certain nuances exist that create differences in information security landscapes across industries. It’s best to partner with a professional service provider that understands the nuances within your industry and knows best practices and how to navigate regulatory or compliance requirements.
SecurityScorecard’s professional services team has a breadth of experience working with clients across industries, including financial services, government, healthcare, as well as international industries.
Do they promote collaboration?
A cybersecurity professional services engagement ultimately results in a findings report or delivered projects. However, organizations should look for providers who will communicate with them throughout the project lifecycle. Collaboration allows opportunity for feedback and project changes when necessary. Critical to high findings should be reported and mitigated quickly to maximize response time.
With a customer-first approach, SecurityScorecard’s professional services team communicates openly with clients throughout the engagement process.
What are the benefits of a cybersecurity professional service?
Working with an experienced cybersecurity professional service can offer a series of benefits for your organization, including:
Improved cybersecurity posture and streamlined TPRM program
No matter the strength of your current cybersecurity posture, Professional services will help you fill in the gaps and minimize cyber risk.
Third parties are a leading cause of cyber incidents. Professional Services help you streamline your TPRM program through actionable next steps to mature your organization’s TPRM processes and procedures.
Build tailored security architectures
Professional Services provide an actionable maturity report and a roadmap designed to strengthen your security infrastructure based on your industry and specific to your needs.
Lean on cyber experts when an incident occurs
Professional Services will arm you with a team of cyber experts with experience in handling cyber incidents. They will know how to contain the breach, and mitigate its operational and financial impact.
Leverage SecurityScorecard’s Professional Services for your business
SecurityScorecard offers solutions in all spheres of Professional Services, including:
Proactive services
Red Team & Penetration Testing
Test your cyber readiness against threats with penetration testing and red team services. Active testing determines the effectiveness of your security controls and enhances your ability to defend against cyber attacks.
Tabletop Exercises
Bolster your cyber readiness with exercises focused on simulating cyber attacks alongside our cyber experts.
Bolster your cyber readiness with simulated practice of cyber attacks alongside our cyber experts
Digital Forensics & Incident Response
Digital forensics
SecurityScorecard’s digital forensics lab in New York City was established in collaboration with the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Secret Service. The lab can analyze advanced malware engineered by sophisticated state-sponsored attackers. It uses reverse engineering and sandbox testing capabilities to analyze and dissect malware samples collected for incidents where keyloggers, ransomware programs, trojans, worms, botnets, and command and control channels are used by a threat actor. We ensure that all evidence we gather and analyze is admissible in court.
Incident Response
Has your organization suffered a data breach? With offices in NYC and Europe, we can deploy our team virtually anywhere in the world. The initial 24 hours after the discovery are critical. We’ll find the root cause and eliminate it. Afterwards, our detailed forensics services can discover all compromised information. Our team will provide you with expertise to:
Reduce additional data loss
Mitigate vulnerabilities and implement measures to prevent further attacks
Collect and preserve court-admissible evidence
Document and record the incident and the process
Assist with involving law enforcement/regulators
Notify affected parties under your industry requirements
Cyber Risk Intelligence
Delivered by SecurityScorecard’s STRIKE Threat Intelligence team, Cyber Risk Intelligence combines expert-led human analysis with deep and dark intelligence sources to deliver customized and actionable reports to reduce an organization’s cyber risk exposure.
Third-party risk management
Our subject matter experts will help elevate the effectiveness of your TPRM program by helping you gain executive-level buy-in, identify program gaps, and amplify your team’s impact on securing the overall vendor ecosystem.
Case study: SecurityScorecard Professional Services
Here is an example of a SecurityScorecard Penetration Testing engagement involving session hijacking:
Our client requested the SecurityScorecard Active Security Team to perform a penetration test on their network as a part of a due diligence exercise. The intent of this engagement was to identify weaknesses in the company’s website and to detail how these vulnerabilities could impact the organization.
The SecurityScorecard team used Session Hijacking as the main target for mounting other attacks. Session hijacking is a technique used to take control of another user’s session and gain unauthorized access to data or resources.
Our first step was a detailed enumeration and analysis of the client’s website. SecurityScorecard spidered directories and files using Burp Suite, dirbuster and dirb. After this phase, we scraped files (mostly JavaScript) to uncover additional URLs. In the process, we found several possible post-authentication URLs.
We started to replay found URLs and found some interesting behavior.
Figure 1: Request
Figure 2: Response
In this case, the server disclosed the full session information of another authenticated user. During testing, we successfully obtained the username and session cookies of logged-in users and gained access without knowing the credentials. Sessions of multiple users could be hijacked by requesting the information at different times.
An attacker could connect to the service as a random authenticated user. During the active session, they could perform any actions that the original user is authorized to do, like accessing protected services.
One particular danger for larger organizations is that cookies can also be used to identify authenticated users in single sign-on systems (SSO). A successful session hijack can give the attacker SSO access to multiple web applications, from financial systems and customer records to line-of-business systems potentially containing valuable intellectual property.
For individual users, similar risks also exist when using external services to log into applications. However, due to additional safeguards when you log in using your Facebook or Google account, hijacking the session cookie won’t be enough to hijack the session.
The SecurityScorecard professional services team has conducted many other engagements where we helped the client uncover critical vulnerabilities in their systems.
Contact us to learn more.
Cybersecurity professional services FAQs
What is the role of a cybersecurity professional?
At a high level, the cybersecurity professional’s role is to prevent data breaches and monitor and respond to attacks. The way cybersecurity professionals achieve that varies based on their specialization. For example, a penetration tester helps prevent data breaches by identifying system vulnerabilities and providing a prioritized mitigation strategy.
What are professional services in cybersecurity?
Cyber professional services provide on-demand or ongoing services to respond to or prevent cybersecurity incidents and attacks.
What do cybersecurity professionals need to know?
Cybersecurity professionals must be well-versed in all aspects of cybersecurity. They need hands-on experience using various security tools, such as firewalls to prevent unauthorized access to a network. They should have deep knowledge of the most popular operating systems, cloud environments, applications, identity access management (IAM) and working with virtual machines.
How does a cybersecurity professional help eliminate cyber risk?
Cybersecurity professionals help eliminate or reduce cyber risk by leveraging their technical expertise to implement security measures. Some examples of security measures are:
Ensuring all systems are regularly updated
Conducting employee security awareness training
Encrypting sensitive data and creating backups
Mapping out password creation and data handling policies, etc.