Security Roundup: KB4-CON, Proofpoint M&A, Exabeam and More
… natural disasters, to try to get users to click, she said.
“Anything can be weaponized,” she said.
KnowBe4’s phish alert button, which allows users to forward email threats to its security team for analysis and deletes the email from the user’s inbox, has been helpful in keeping its phishing template up to date, Brennan said.
“Over 3 million emails have been reviewed, we’ve received 10,000-12,000 reported emails every day,” she said. “It really helps us see the kind of attacks hitting users and trends. It’s doubled since last year, so it’s an exponential amount.”
Some companies don’t like phishing their users, but they have to to keep up with bad guys, Brennan said.
“After a baseline test, get everyone trained up and then continue phishing,” she said. “I like weekly phishing, but you can do bimonthly and monthly. With weekly, you’re really questioning every email you receive.”
Some of the latest threats include sextortion emails that now include real email addresses to make it look more authentic, Brennan said. Also, the bad guys are using file sharing to share malicious files with emails that have no red flags and look like authentic file share emails, she said.
“There’s also the man-in-the-middle variation,” she said. “The bad guys are being more targeted with attacks. They’re finding out what vendors you do business with, contacting your vendors and asking for a copy of your last invoice, saying they want to pay you, and they may respond with an actual invoice that includes the account number, amounts owe, and then they can target you. All would be identical to exactly what you owe.”
Proofpoint Shelling Out $120 Million for Meta Networks
Proofpoint is acquiring Meta Networks, an Israel-based startup that develops cloud-native security tools for enterprise wide area networks (WAN).
Proofpoint said the acquisition will strengthen its cloud-based architecture and people-centric security platform, allowing customers to better protect their people and the applications and data they access beyond the traditional perimeter. The deal is expected to close this quarter.
Ryan Kalember, Proofpoint’s executive vice president of cybersecurity strategy, tells us the acquisition will add about 20 Meta Networks contributors to Proofpoint’s R&D center in Israel. The Meta Networks sales, technical and channel initiatives will be integrated following the close,” he said.
“From a cloud perspective, our cloud access security broker (CASB) and email products help channel partners provide security teams with necessary visibility and control over cloud apps, to ensure cloud services are deployed with confidence,” he said. “The integration of Meta Networks’ cloud-based, zero-trust network access platform with Proofpoint’s CASB and web-isolation solutions will make it far simpler for enterprises to precisely control employee and contractor access to on-premises, cloud, and consumer applications and resources. This enables channel partners to help their customers ensure that an errant click that compromises a single user does not lead to …