MUT Bites: Security Perimeters May Not Work Very Well

December 26, 2024

Hopping Dino_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumbThis blog post is the work of an authentic dinobaby. No smart software was used.

I spotted a summary of an item in Ars Technica which recycled a report from Checkmarx and Datadog Security Labs. If you want to read “Yearlong Supply Chain Attack Targeting Security Pros Steals 390,000 Credentials.” I want to skip what is now a soap opera story repeated again and again: Bad actors compromise a system, security professionals are aghast, and cybersecurity firms license more smart, agentic enabled systems. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. That’s how soap operas worked when I was growing up.

Let’s jump to several observations:

  1. Cyber defenses are not working
  2. Cyber security vendors insist their systems are working because numerous threats were blocked. Just believe our log data. See. We protected you … a lot.
  3. Individual cyber security vendors are a cohort which can be compromised, not once in a mad minute of carelessness. No. Compromised for — wait for it — up to a year.

The engineering of software and systems is, one might conclude, rife with vulnerabilities. If the cyber security professionals cannot protect themselves, who can?

Stephen E Arnold, December 26, 2024

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