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Security Automation Live Webcast!

UPDATE: Webcast information is also now available at the Cisco Live 365 site Many network security administrators are struggling to keep their network “up-to-date” with the constant release of new vulnerabilities and software fixes. At the same time, they’re under pressure to provide near 100% availability of key business services and systems. Every time a […]

April 19, 2013 • 1 min read
Blog post

I Can’t Keep Up with All These Cisco Security Advisories: Do I Have to Upgrade?

"A security advisory was just published! Should I hurry and upgrade all my Cisco devices now?" This is a question that I am being asked by customers on a regular basis. In fact, I am also asked why there are so many security vulnerability advisories. To start with the second question: Cisco is committed to protecting customers by sharing critical security-related information in a very transparent way. Even if security vulnerabilities are found internally, the Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) – which is my team – investigates, drives to resolution, and discloses such vulnerabilities. To quickly answer the first question, don't panic, as you may not have to immediately upgrade your device. However, in this article I will discuss some of the guidelines and best practices for responding to Cisco security vulnerability reports.

April 2, 2013 • 11 min read
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Happy New Exploit Kits! (I mean Happy Belated New Year!)

This article discusses the increasing prevalence of exploit kits and drive-by exploits being leveraged by cyber criminals to spread malware quickly and effectively. It also highlights the use of Cisco Cloud Web Security, particularly in conjunction with Cisco ASAs, to reduce the risk of your networks and users falling victim to these exploit kits.

January 22, 2013 • 4 min read
Blog post

Red October in January: The Cyber Espionage Era

Researchers from Kaspersky Lab have released information about a large-scale cyber espionage campaign called Operation Red October (otherwise known as Rocra). The report has garnered the attention of multiple news agencies and generated many published articles since the Kaspersky report has claimed that attackers were targeting hundreds of diplomatic, governmental, and scientific organizations in numerous countries. These reports indicate that the command-and-control (C&C) infrastructure that is used on these attacks receives stolen information using more than 60 domain names to hide its identity. Furthermore, this information appears to be funneled into a second tier of proxy servers. These are very clever attacks that many are now claiming have been taking place for more than five years! Red October is being compared with other malware that has been associated with cyber espionage such as Duqu, Flame, and Gauss.

January 15, 2013 • 6 min read
Blog post

New Java Vulnerability Being Exploited in the Wild

The new Oracle Java arbitrary code execution vulnerability  has not only hit many news wires and social media outlets, but many victims as well, and it has been incorporated into several exploit kits. This critical vulnerability, as documented in IntelliShield alert 27845, could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on a targeted system with the […]

January 11, 2013 • 2 min read