Page 25 - CARAHSOFT, September/October 2021

There is no silver bullet in cybersecurity. Rather, it takes a layered defense and proactive collaboration to prevent threats against critical systems.
actionable mitigation guidance about that activity and critical vulnerabilities by sharing advisory standards and indicators of compromise. Importantly, threat information between NSA and cybersecurity partners is focused on partner-generated threat assessments and indicators of compromise.
In addition, we often collaborate with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which secures all the classified .gov sites and is responsible for big portions of domestic critical infrastructure. As federal partners, we work together to form solutions because we have found that foreign adversaries use the same tactics, techniques and procedures to target all those sectors.
By sharing this information across federal agencies and industry partners, we’re jointly developing mitigation and tradecraft, and we’re building a stronger defense. Staying ahead of adversaries requires innovation, though. Our adversaries constantly adapt to gain access to our networks and evade detection. This calls for continuous collaboration on our part.
The threats to our nation’s security are pervasive. China has used a staggering degree of intellectual property to
build its economy and military with
global ambitions. Russia has waged an information war often by using U.S. infrastructure and technologies to sow
and amplify divisions in society with an ultimate goal of eroding trust in democratic institutions. Iran is a volatile threat and
has attacked the U.S. and our allies
either directly or via proxies. Meanwhile, North Korea uses cyber operations most notably to steal money to fund its weapons
development programs.
Our adversaries exploit gaps and seams
between government organizations and authorities. They’re able to gain and maintain access in a manner that mitigates detection or response. We have to improve our collective understanding of how
actors manipulate trust and leverage other techniques to achieve their objectives.
Cybersecurity standards for commercial technology
The Cybersecurity Collaboration Center
is actively working on appropriate mechanisms to share more threat information that others can use to defend their networks. In addition to tracking adversaries, we’re working on initiatives that will improve the digital ecosystem and ensure our collective security. And we’re working with the private sector to detect and counter malicious activity directed at the private sector.
We’ve released more than 40 cybersecurity products and guidance to support our
NSS, DOD and DIB customers. We have also released several joint advisories with
the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre, CISA and the FBI to publicly call out our adversaries so they know that we know what they’re doing. We’re also partnering with CISA and the FBI to release an advisory
on Chinese state-sponsored actions with mitigation guidance to defend against more than 50 tactics, techniques and procedures used by those cyber actors when targeting critical infrastructure in the U.S. and among our allies.
As a community, sharing information, actively patching and making sure your systems are updated regularly continue to be the most effective ways to remediate
current and potential threats. When we do those simple things, we make it harder for the adversaries. There is also a long game to be played, and we can’t lose sight of it. As technology advances, NSA has an interest in the security of commercial products used to protect NSS, critical infrastructure, weapons systems and the DIB.
Within the Cybersecurity Collaboration Center, the Center for Cybersecurity Standards amplifies NSA’s ability to prevent threats by partnering with vendors to ensure cybersecurity standards are baked into the development of the commercial products on which we all rely.
Currently, we are focusing on preventing adversaries from exploiting 5G networks, automating security in U.S. government and DIB cloud interfaces and underlying network architectures, and developing cryptographic standards that will satisfy current requirements, support future environments and protect against emerging threats.
Standards cannot be developed
in a vacuum, though. The Center for Cybersecurity Standards relies on partnerships with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and with industry to build security into those products and standards.
It’s through this kind of public/private collaboration that we continue to make it increasingly difficult for our adversaries to traverse across systems, software, cloud environments or network traffic, and keep our nation safer.
Cybersecurity is multidimensional. We can’t afford to just share information. We are all targeted at different angles, and we must defend from all angles.
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