Playing Catch Up - Law Enforcement & The Mountains of Forensic Evidence
In Alabama, Training for Cyber Crime and Competing in War Games

The Secret Service's National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI) Training Law Enforcement

In a nondescript building in a Birmingham suburb, the Secret Service is hosting hundreds of police and National Guard officers to pump up cyberforensics around the country.

In weeklong events include sessions on incident response and practical education on ransomware response, destructive malware variants, and how the malware goes to work in real time.

The Secret Service is one of many federal agencies and regulators moving forcefully against hackers, as the Biden administration has taken a laser interest in ransomware. The Justice Department, for instance, has put in place a ransomware task force to go after hackers who strike at U.S. companies, while federal contractors are now being held to specific cybersecurity standards, under a threat of heavy fines.

The Treasury Department has already sanctioned individuals and cryptocurrency exchanges for their alleged role in facilitating payments to cybercriminals. Congressional bills and provisions in Mr. Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan promise federal funding to state and local governments to stiffen cybersecurity measures. The president signed the bill into law on Monday.

But where the Secret Service is focusing its efforts, and millions of dollars, is on local law enforcement.

The NCFI launched in 2007 after the state of Alabama approached the Secret Service about training its police officers, prosecutors and judges in digital forensics, and offered it space to do so in Hoover, a suburb of Birmingham. The request came after the state police had faced monthslong waits for digital forensics, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s regional labs and just a handful of specialists around the country overwhelmed.

The Secret Service agreed on one condition: that the training include officers from all 50 states. With a nod from Alabama, the institute got rolling. In 2008, Congress gave the NCFI $4 million, and the facility trained around 200 officers. This year’s budget topped $34 million, helping NCFI train more than 3,700 officers. NCFI officials have requested $37.1 million for next year.

For many police departments, familiarity with cyber techniques is becoming crucial to tackling a broad range of crimes, said Mr. Sheridan, the Secret Service assistant director.

About 24% of crimes investigated by officers who take NCFI courses are against children, he said, and 21% are violent crimes that people don’t usually associate with cyber, yet require digital forensic skills to obtain evidence.

“From our perspective, there is no element of criminality anymore that isn’t cybercrime,” said Jeremy Sheridan, assistant director of the agency’s Office of Investigations. “Whether it’s the opportunity to commit the crime, the methods to execute it, the means to profit from it, it all involves some element of cyber.” wsj.com

DHS Steps Up Cybersecurity Hiring & Training Efforts
US launches effort to recruit, retain top cybersecurity talent to fight escalating cybercrime threats
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Monday announced a new program to help attract and retain top cybersecurity professionals, as the Biden administration escalates its response to ransomware and other cybercrime.

The department launched the Cyber Talent Management System (CTMS), which will help better screen potential talent and streamline the application process. Employees hired through this system will join the new DHS Cybersecurity Service, a federal team that will work to protect critical U.S. infrastructure from cybersecurity threats.

The White House in recent weeks has escalated its response to such crimes, which it regards as an urgent economic and national security threat. The U.S. has endured a "steady drumbeat" of attacks since at least last summer, according to Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who recently announced arrests and other actions.

Specifically, ransomware attacks — in which hackers lock up and encrypt data and demand often-exorbitant sums to release it to victims — have exploded in the last year with breaches affecting vital infrastructure and global corporations.

The attacks elevated ransomware as an urgent national security priority — but holding foreign hackers accountable in the U.S. is also notoriously difficult, and ransomware gangs are abundant.

While the new hiring system will initially be used to fill high-priority jobs at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the DHS Office of the Chief Information Officer, it will also be used across several other DHS agencies with a similar mission starting in 2022.

Mayorkas added that the new DHS hiring system "fundamentally re-imagines how the Department hires, develops, and retains top-tier and diverse cybersecurity talent."

A senior DHS official told reporters ahead of the announcement that the department currently has around 1,500 cybersecurity-related vacancies, of which around 1,000 would likely fit into CTMS, according to The Hill. The official added that there is a range of roles from entry-level to expert level. fox5atlanta.com

Walmart's Tech & Data Success
How technology and data make Walmart shine amid supply chain issues, inflation
Inflation, supply chain turmoil and a holiday season where consumers will be as worried about inventory as much as price are likely to mean Walmart is going to have a strong fourth quarter. Technology and data will be a big reason why.

It's not surprising that Walmart, a long-time low cost provider, will be popular as inflation in the US spikes. But what may be a surprise is how much Walmart's technology prowess has improved and how the retailer leverages its data stack.

Here's why this is Walmart's moment amid inflation, supply chain issues and consumer demand that's strong but fluid.

Walmart has become a technology company. While Walmart has always been savvy about deploying technology, the COVID-19 pandemic sped up the retailer's digital transformation. Walmart had to innovate on the fly and now is uniquely positioned.

Walmart has retooled its approach to be digital first and omnichannel. McMillon outlined how Walmart has adopted an approach that revolves around designing omnichannel outcomes. He said: "We use a phrase here that's called 4-in-a-box which is an agile way of working with customer, product, design, technology, engineering, all around the table, designing omnichannel outcomes for customers and members."

Walmart has better models to predict how customers will react to inflation. McMillon noted that "fighting inflation is in our DNA" and that the company's models and algorithms have been able to navigate supply chain woes, inventory needs and how consumers may react. Why? Walmart operates globally including a few regions where inflation has been far worse than what the US is currently seeing. Those data points can inform how consumers will react.

Walmart is able to leverage its data from its marketplace, supply chain and other services. The end result is that the real benefit to Walmart is the data generated from its assortment and retail operations. zdnet.com

This mysterious malware could threaten millions of routers and IoT devices

Sen. Ossoff working to pass bill to fund Cybersecurity training at HBCUs

March Networks Achieves Certification for Cybersecure Business Practices

OTTAWA, ON, November 16, 2021 –– March Networks is pleased to announce that it has achieved CyberSecure Canada certification, developed by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, Canada’s authority on cybersecurity.

In order to become certified, an organization must put into place the requirements of the 13 security control areas developed by the Centre. Examples of these control areas include developing an incident response plan, implementing strong user authentication, providing employee training, implementing data recovery methods, and ensuring encryption across all data. After implementing the requirements, an organization must go through a rigorous audit by an accredited certification body. March Networks is pleased to have been successful in the implementation of these stringent requirements.

Read more here
 

COVID Update