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guardDog | August 10, 2022
Guard Dog Solutions, Inc., dba guardDog.ai, and VMware are now partnered. guardDog.ai is launching the VMware implementation of its Fido 3 technology at the 2022 VMware Explore event at the Moscone Center in San Francisco Aug. 29 – Sept. 1, in booth 1914.
As the award-winning leader in real-time cyber security protection for business and consumers, guardDog.ai is using VMware’s Tanzu containerization technology to support hardware-free and entirely remote deployment and management of cyber security protection for any size MSSP or organization.
guardDog’s subscription-based Fido technology uses patent-pending artificial intelligence from the company’s cloud-based Autonomous Incident Response (AiR) database to pre-emptively recognize all devices connected to a network (including most especially the IoT and smart device connections device management solutions can’t see). The solution exposes and shuts down most cybersecurity threats before exploits can happen, protecting users and organizations from threats such as ransomware, man-in-the-middle attacks, denial of service, and emerging novel threats, protecting networks and the devices attached to them.
“Full virtualization has been on our product roadmap from the date of our inception, I have had the opportunity to partner with VMware through multiple organizations I have founded and led, and am particularly compelled by the power of the containerization architecture exemplified in VMware Tanzu. We are extremely pleased to provide what we believe is one of the most exemplary use cases for Tanzu implementation, and we look forward to using this technology to protect users and networks and to move the needle on the war against cybersecurity for many seasons to come.”
Peter Bookman, CEO and founder of guardDog.ai
“The implementation of guardDog.ai Fido 3 as a containerized appliance is a game changer, creating opportunities for anyone who wants to keep bad actors out of their systems,” says Industry veteran CIO Steve O'Donnell. “A wide variety of industry colleagues and I have had the opportunity to test Fido pre-launch and can report that it operates as advertised, it is fully automated, simple to implement and provides effective protection that can be deployed anywhere.”
With the VMware implementation of guardDog.ai’s Fido technology, MSSPs and IT departments can now replace the Fido hardware plugins with entirely virtual and remotely manageable implementations. This provides exceptional economy and ability to deploy and manage guardDog’s protection remotely, from a single location, for any size of organization or IT customer base.
guardDog.ai uses AI-driven overlay technology in Fido to find and protect users and networks from attempted cyberattacks in less than two milliseconds, by identifying the threats that device and network management solutions can’t see and proactively halting potential exploits before they begin.
In both wired and Wi-Fi networks, Fido protects network and the device users from the threats across the entire Attack Surface, and most especially within the edge territory outside the perimeter of the network or on attached devices that other solutions cannot see. These include the myriad of IoT (Internet of Things) devices such as specialized health monitoring equipment, printers, doorbells, thermostats, smart refrigerators, smart pens, smart TVs, and game systems that are inherently vulnerable to the networks they join.
Thanks to the VMware partnership and implimentation, the ability to obtain and deploy virtualized Fido technology also eliminates the supply chain issues of availability delays, while allowing for instant and continual updates to the AiR database of known threats and suspicious network behavior.
For all implementations, the virtualized alternatives for guardDog’s Fido v3 technology is making it possible to cover all areas of the potential Attack Surface with far greater economy and ease than before.
About guardDog.ai
Guard Dog Solutions Inc., headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, guardDog.ai has developed a cloud-based Autonomous Incident Response (AiR) cyber security software service that works together with a companion Fido unit to simplify network security. The solution provides protection and visibility as it exposes invisible threats on networks and the devices attached to them, with patented technology to address and prevent cybersecurity threats before they compromise network environments. Every business, government, healthcare institution, home consumer, or other organization, is grappling to find security solutions that are adapting to this changing world. guardDog.ai is pioneering new innovations designed to meet these challenges.
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Avast | August 10, 2022
Avast One, the all-in-one digital protection service from Avast (LSE: AVST), a global leader in digital security and privacy, has extended its cross-platform support by adding its Online Safety Score feature to both the Mac and iOS platforms of Avast One. Previously available on Windows and Android, Online Safety Score helps people take control of their online safety by providing a simple, easy to read score with regular feedback and tips on how to improve it further. Network Inspector, formally known as WiFi Inspector in Avast Free Antivirus, has also been added to the Mac platform so that networks and devices can be scanned for vulnerabilities. The update follows Avast One's recognition by AV-Test as a 'Top Product' in the industry, achieving full points in malware protection, performance and usability.
Earlier this year, Avast bolstered the free and premium versions of Avast One with new and innovative privacy and scam prevention features across all major platforms, including Email Guardian, Private Mode, Scam Protection for mobile, and a Smart VPN which launches automatically for activities such as online banking. In this latest update, Avast has strengthened its cross-platform support further with Online Safety Score and Network Inspector which provide more guidance and user control over online safety for greater peace of mind no matter the device used. Premium customers can benefit from Avast One's leading protection and performance capabilities for up to 30 computers and mobile phones across PC, Mac, Android and iOS, ensuring families and their devices stay private and secure.
Last year, Avast's Digital Citizenship study of over 16,000 people found that despite the internet's increasing importance day-to-day, heightened online safety and privacy concerns are stopping people from fully engaging in online activities. With this in mind, Avast has enhanced the protection capabilities of Avast One across all platforms, to provide online citizens with greater control and confidence at a time of rising online scams, fraud, and other malicious activity.
"Across the world, safe and free access to digital services is increasingly becoming an everyday requirement. Yet our Avast Digital Citizenship Report found that two out of three people decided not to do something online because of security and privacy concerns, It's a wake-up call for us that many people do not feel confident about using critical online services and are abandoning decisions to shop, bank, or register new accounts because of concerns about security, privacy and identity. We understand that effective protection means protection on our customers' terms, and with Avast One we've made sure it's available on every major platform, wherever and whenever it's needed."
Vita Santrucek, Chief Product Officer at Avast
In addition to Online Safety Score, the features available in the latest update of Avast One include:
Network Inspector: automatically scans networks and connected devices for vulnerabilities, and offers recommendations to improve device security when connected to public networks, as well as tips to strengthen the protection of home networks so that intruders are unable to access them and obtain personal data
App Lock: locks sensitive apps and photos with a PIN, pattern, or fingerprint that's different to the authentication used to unlock a phone, providing the user with an additional layer of protection. Available on Avast One Individual and Family for Android. For individuals or families with iOS devices, the Photo Vault feature secures photos in an encrypted folder inside the Avast One app, protected by a PIN, Touch ID or Face ID to improve privacy on shared mobile devices.
Avast One is available in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It is available for download now at www.avast.com and is compatible with Android, iOS, macOS and Windows.
About Avast:
Avast a FTSE 100 company, is a global leader in digital security and privacy, headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic. With over 435 million users online, Avast offers products under the Avast and AVG brands that protect people from threats on the internet and the evolving IoT threat landscape. The company's threat detection network is among the most advanced in the world, using machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to detect and stop threats in real time. Avast digital security products for Mobile, PC or Mac are top-ranked and certified by VB100, AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, SE Labs and others.
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VMware | August 09, 2022
At Black Hat USA 2022, VMware, Inc. released its eighth annual Global Incident Response Threat Report, which takes a deep dive into the challenges faced by security teams amid pandemic disruptions, burnout, and geopolitically motivated cyberattacks. Sixty-five percent of defenders state that cyberattacks have increased since Russia invaded Ukraine, according to report findings. The report also shines a light on emerging threats such as deepfakes, attacks on APIs, and cybercriminals targeting incident responders themselves.
“Cybercriminals are now incorporating deepfakes into their attack methods to evade security controls,” said Rick McElroy, principal cybersecurity strategist at VMware. “Two out of three respondents in our report saw malicious deepfakes used as part of an attack, a 13% increase from last year, with email as the top delivery method. Cybercriminals have evolved beyond using synthetic video and audio simply for influence operations or disinformation campaigns. Their new goal is to use deepfake technology to compromise organizations and gain access to their environment.”
Additional key findings from the report include:
Cyber pro burnout remains a critical issue. Forty-seven percent of incident responders said they experienced burnout or extreme stress in the past 12 months, down slightly from 51% last year. Of this group, 69% (versus 65% in 2021) of respondents have considered leaving their job as a result. Organizations are working to combat this, however, with more than two-thirds of respondents stating their workplaces have implemented wellness programs to address burnout.
Ransomware actors incorporate cyber extortion strategies. The predominance of ransomware attacks, often buttressed by e-crime groups’ collaborations on the dark web, has yet to let up. Fifty-seven percent of respondents have encountered such attacks in the past 12 months, and two-thirds (66%) have encountered affiliate programs and/or partnerships between ransomware groups as prominent cyber cartels continue to extort organizations through double extortion techniques, data auctions, and blackmail.
APIs are the new endpoint, representing the next frontier for attackers. As workloads and applications proliferate, 23% of attacks now compromise API security. The top types of API attacks include data exposure (encountered by 42% of respondents in the past year), SQL and API injection attacks (37% and 34%, respectively), and distributed Denial-of-Service attacks (33%).
Lateral movement is the new battleground. Lateral movement was seen in 25% of all attacks, with cybercriminals leveraging everything from script hosts (49%) and file storage (46%) to PowerShell (45%), business communications platforms (41%), and .NET (39%) to rummage around inside networks. An analysis of the telemetry within VMware Contexa, a full-fidelity threat intelligence cloud that’s built into VMware security products, discovered that in April and May of 2022 alone, nearly half of intrusions contained a lateral movement event.
“In order to defend against the broadening attack surface, security teams need an adequate level of visibility across workloads, devices, users and networks to detect, protect, and respond to cyber threats, When security teams are making decisions based on incomplete and inaccurate data, it inhibits their ability to implement a granular security strategy, while their efforts to detect and stop lateral movement of attacks are stymied due to the limited context of their systems.”
Chad Skipper, global security technologist at VMware
Despite the turbulent threat landscape and rising threats detailed in the report, incident responders are fighting back with 87% saying that they are able to disrupt a cybercriminal’s activities sometimes (50%) or very often (37%). They’re also using new techniques to do so. Three-quarters of respondents (75%) say they are now deploying virtual patching as an emergency mechanism. In every case, the more visibility defenders have across today’s widening attack surface, the better equipped they’ll be to weather the storm.
Methodology
VMware conducted an online survey about trends in the incident response landscape in June 2022, and 125 cybersecurity and incident response professionals from around the world participated. Percentages in certain questions exceed 100 percent because respondents were asked to check all that apply. Due to rounding, percentages in all questions may not add up to 100 percent.
VMware Explore
In addition to VMware’s presence at Black Hat USA 2022, there will be more than 100 security talks at VMware Explore, the global multi-cloud industry event taking place August 29 – September 1, 2022 at Moscone Center in San Francisco. Register today to begin building your agenda.
About VMware
VMware is a leading provider of multi-cloud services for all apps, enabling digital innovation with enterprise control. As a trusted foundation to accelerate innovation, VMware software gives businesses the flexibility and choice they need to build the future. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, VMware is committed to building a better future through the company’s 2030 Agenda.
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