The Coalfire Blog

Welcome to the Coalfire Blog, a resource covering the most important issues in IT security and compliance. You'll also find information on Coalfire's insights into the unique cybersecurity issues that impact the industries we serve, including Cloud Service Providers, Retail, Financial Services, Healthcare, Higher Education, Payments, Government, Restaurants, and Utilities.

The Coalfire blog is written by the company's leadership team and our highly-credentialed security assessment experts. We look forward to your comments, so please join the conversation.

What's Next in Retail IT? The Convergence of Mobile, P2PE and the Cloud

January 15, 2013, Rick Dakin, CEO, Co-founder and Chief Security Strategist

Greetings from the Javits Center in New York City, the site of the National Retail Federation’s Big Show. This year, the theme of NRF is “Next”.

When it comes to Retail technology – and in particular, security and compliance, the most talked about “next” things are:
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P2PE Hybrid, the next best thing since the Prius

January 07, 2013, Dan Fritsche, Principal, Retail and Financial Services

P2PE promises many things, the most coveted being scope reduction for the merchant and a shifting of the compliance burden from the merchant to the service provider. A properly implemented P2PE solution can indeed reduce the risk of compromise for a merchant as well as reduce the scope of what must be done to continue to maintain compliance to the PCI DSS.
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What “Dexter Malware” tells us about the future of POS security (It might just be P2PE)

December 20, 2012, Dan Fritsche, Principal, Retail and Financial Services

The recently announced Dexter malware is targeting POS systems and once in, it collects sensitive credit card data and surreptitiously sends it off to attackers. While the details of this particular attack are not yet available, this is not the first time this general approach has been exploited.
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P2P Encryption Program now available from PCI Council

May 25, 2012, Mike Weber, Vice President, Coalfire Labs

The PCI council has updated the Point-to-Point encryption (P2PE) program requirements (PDF). The update impacts merchants, payment applications, point of sale vendors and service providers. As a participating organization of the PCI P2PE task force, providing input into the standard, I wanted to briefly explain how this affects the various PCI ecosystem participants.

The ultimate goal of the P2PE program is to reduce the PCI DSS scope that merchants experience by shifting the burden away from merchants toward solution providers who are providing validated P2PE solutions. Deploying validated P2PE solutions will simplify PCI DSS validation for merchants while reducing the risk of cardholder data breaches.
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Surprises Ahead for Some Level 2 Merchants

April 12, 2012, Chris Lietz, Vice President, Marketing & Channels

The PCI DSS has been around for years, and most PCI “pro’s” are familiar with the processes needed to validate compliance. However, insiders often forget that small changes to the guidelines can have a big impact on merchants.

One such change is upon us: MasterCard’s new validation guidelines for Level 2 merchants that are scheduled to take effect on June 30, 2012.
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About
Coalfire started in 2001 with a simple idea – cyber threats are increasing, compliance mandates are getting more complicated, and a well-designed cybersecurity program can help fuel your overall success.

Coalfire helps organizations comply with global financial, government, industry and healthcare mandates while helping build the IT infrastructure and security systems that will protect their business from security breaches and data theft. The company is a leading provider of IT advisory services for security in retail, payments, healthcare, financial services, higher education, hospitality, government and utilities.

The Coalfire Board of Directors provides invaluable guidance for the organization and reflects Coalfire’s dedication to achieving success for our customers.

Coalfire’s executive leadership team comprises some of the most knowledgeable professionals in cybersecurity, representing many decades of experience leading and developing teams to outperform in meeting the security challenges of commercial and government clients. With diverse backgrounds in IT systems security, governmental security, compliance, and reducing risk while implementing the latest enabling technologies (such as the Cloud and IoT), our leaders understand the challenges customers face.

With a passion for quality, Coalfire uses a process-driven quality approach to improve the customer experience and deliver unparalleled results.

Created in honor of the late co-founder of Coalfire, the Richard E. Dakin Fund at The Denver Foundation is supporting scholarship programs at several universities for promising college students studying cybersecurity and related fields.

Security is a team game. If your organization values both independence and security, perhaps we should become partners.
Industries
The increased need for cyber security has become a common enterprise priority across the globe. However, industry requirements for effective cyber risk management are as distinct as the individual entities under fire. Enterprises and government organizations need more than an off-the-shelf audit to provide an effective threat assessment. They need industry- and organization-specific insights, tools and processes to protect digital assets and ensure compliance.

Coalfire can help cloud service providers prioritize the cyber risks to the company, and find the right cyber risk management and compliance efforts that keeps customer data secure, and helps differentiate products.

“Success” at a government entity looks different than at a commercial organization. Create cybersecurity solutions to support your mission goals with a team that understands your unique requirements.

The financial services industry was built upon security and privacy. As cyber-attacks become more sophisticated, a strong vault and a guard at the door won’t offer any protection against phishing, DDoS attacks and IT infrastructure breaches.

The continuum of care is a concept involving an integrated system of care that guides and tracks patients over time through a comprehensive array of health services spanning all levels of care. Interoperability is the central idea to this care continuum making it possible to have the right information at the right time for the right people to make the right decisions.

Maintaining network and data security in any large organization is a major challenge for information systems departments. However, in the higher education environment, the protection of IT assets and sensitive information must be balanced with the need for ‘openness’ and academic freedom; making this a more difficult and complex task.

When it comes to cyber threats, the hospitality industry is not a friendly place. Hotels and resorts have proven to be a favorite target for cyber criminals who are looking for high transaction volume, large databases and low barriers to entry.

The payments industry is undergoing rapid changes and unfortunately, an increasing risk for data breaches. Cyber criminals are growing increasingly businesslike, and payments leaders need to move quickly to cover their cyber risk.

The food and beverage industry is under attack from cyber criminals intent on stealing payment information. The food and beverage industry makes up the highest percentage of breach investigations, at nearly 73 percent, according to Visa.

The global retail industry has become the top target for cyber terrorists, and the impact of this onslaught has been staggering to merchants. To secure the complex IT infrastructure of a retail environment, merchants must embrace enterprise-wide cyber risk management practices that reduces risk, minimizes costs and provides security to their customers and their bottom line.

Private enterprises serving government and state agencies need to be upheld to the same information management practices and standards as the organizations they serve. Coalfire has over 16 years of experience helping companies navigate increasing complex governance and risk standards for public institutions and their IT vendors.

Technology innovations are enabling new methods for corporations and governments to operate and driving changes in consumer behavior. The companies delivering these technology products are facilitating business transformation that provides new operating models, increased efficiency and engagement with consumers as businesses seek a competitive advantage.

Cybersecurity has entered the list of the top five concerns for U.S. electric utilities, and with good reason. According to the Department of Homeland Security, attacks on the utilities industry are rising "at an alarming rate."
Solutions
Cyber risk management, advisory, technology and compliance services. Manage risk and maximize return on investment to prevent data breaches and theft. Coalfire’s solutions are led by a team of industry experts that help enterprise organizations understand a wide range of compliance and risk management initiatives, which enables a consistent cybersecurity framework across the organization.
Assessments
Expert assessments that provide an accurate understanding of what you are trying to protect, the inherent and residual cyber risk to your enterprise and the maturity of the your security program and underlying controls

Advisory
Customized services to help CISOs and Senior Management develop cybersecurity strategy, implement controls, and govern a security program
Cyber Defense
Adopt a proactive approach to cybersecurity

Security Monitoring and Analytics
Make more informed security-related decisions

Security Architecture
Design, engineer, and scale with confidence
DoD RMF
Certification and Accreditation (C&A) process for DoD

FedRAMP
Get FedRAMP authorized with the leading 3PAO

FFIEC
Reducing Financial IT Security Risk

FISMA
Meet your FISMA authorization needs

GDPR
General Data Protection Regulation

HIPAA
Health data protection for all shapes and sizes

HITRUST
The most rigorous approach to meeting HIPAA requirements

ISO 27001
An internationally recognized approach to information security

ITAR EAR DFARS
ITAR, EAR, and DFARS Advisory and Assessment

NERC CIP
Cyber security for electric grid critical infrastructure

NIST SP 800-171
Protect Controlled Unclassified Information for Nonfederal

PA-DSS
Payment Application Security Validation

PCI DSS
PCI Data Security Standard Compliance

P2PE
Point-to-Point Encryption

PCI Forensic Investigator (PFI)
Have you suffered a data breach of cardholder data?

SOC
Establish and report controls to differentiate your organization

White Paper Services
Demonstrate your commitment to cybersecurity
Research and Development
Malware and Vulnerability Research, Open Source Tools, and Opinions

Penetration Testing
Understand vulnerabilities and implement remediation before they’re exploited

Digital Forensics
Obtain, preserve, and examine digital evidence

Application Security
Secure the design, development, and deployment of your applications

Red Team Exercise
Test your organization’s defense against a simulated real-world attack
Secure physical and digital IoT solutions with advisory, assessment and technical testing for makers, operators and users to empower the way we live and work.
CoalfireOne Overview
Control your Compliance

CoalfireOne Scanning Solutions
Easily identify IT vulnerabilities
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