Strengthening Cybersecurity and Compliance

The cybersecurity landscape is ever-evolving, and this past summer, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new rules requiring comprehensive disclosure of cybersecurity incidents and information regarding cybersecurity risk management, strategy, and governance. These regulations pose new challenges for enterprises, emphasizing the need for a robust solution that not only fortifies network security, but now also supports timely disclosure of a cyber incident following detection and materiality assessment.

Understanding the New Rules

The SEC's stringent regulations demand detailed disclosures about cybersecurity risk management and the material aspects of the nature, scope, and timing of cyberattacks. Among the many requirements, enterprises are now obligated to articulate how they assess, identify, and manage cybersecurity threats. Moreover, the rules necessitate prompt reporting of cyber incidents within four business days if they have a material impact on the company. Given this increased compliance risk, public companies should reassess their security tools and consider how NETSCOUT OCI can better enable compliance with these new reporting requirements.

Meeting the Mandate with Support from Omnis Cyber Intelligence (OCI)

Timely incident disclosure occurs following rapid threat detection and mitigation. Here's how NETSCOUT OCI aligns seamlessly with these new SEC requirements for risk management and incident disclosure:

• Cybersecurity measures and oversight: OCI offers comprehensive visibility into network infrastructures, capturing packet-level data across diverse environments, (on-premises, virtual, hybrid cloud). This data provides insights into cybersecurity measures implemented, including intrusion detection, network policy compliance, and vulnerability assessments.
• Incident reporting and response: OCI serves as a central console for managing incidents, enabling real-time threat identification, proactive hunting, and unified security event displays. Its historical investigation feature aids in promptly validating or minimizing false positives, reducing mean time to resolution (MTTR).
• Compliance with frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK: OCI offers prebuilt threat detection programs aligned with MITRE ATT&CK, employing advanced machine learning (ML) techniques and multidimensional threat detection methods such as indicators of compromise (IOCs), policies, signatures, and behavior analytics.
• Robust network visibility and compliance monitoring: OCI’s Adaptive Service Intelligence (ASI) deep packet inspection (DPI) technology ensures robust network visibility, monitoring network traffic, compliance violations, intrusion detection, and changes in attack surfaces.

How OCI Produces Required Information

OCI’s functionalities align perfectly with the information needed to comply with the SEC rules:

• Real-time threat detection: Employing various techniques in real time, OCI identifies threats and provides actionable insights to enable prompt incident response and compliance monitoring in a powerful network detection and response (NDR) platform.
• MITRE ATT&CK alignment and behavioral analytics: OCI’s prebuilt threat detection programs aligned with MITRE ATT&CK, combined with behavioral analytics, ensure accurate threat identification in line with industry frameworks.
• Incident reporting and historical investigation: OCI facilitates incident reporting within tight windows and aids in prompt validation or dismissal of potential incidents through historical investigation capabilities.
• Compliance monitoring and reporting: OCI continuously monitors compliance, generating reports on attack surface changes, policy violations, and compliance status for comprehensive reporting and management.

Example Scenario: Unveiling a Suspected Breach

Imagine a suspected breach in an enterprise network. OCI’s capabilities enable a comprehensive dissection of the incident, including the following:

• Who: Identification of intruders—OCI helps identify the source of an intrusion or unauthorized access attempt, pinpointing the IP address, location, or specific device involved.
• What: Nature of breach—packet data inspection reveals details about the nature of the breach, including the type of attack, data accessed, and actions taken by the attacker.
• When: Time-stamped analysis—time stamps on network packets allow determination of breach timing, duration, and patterns in the attacker’s activities.
• Where: Origin and destination—analyzing packet data reveals the breach’s origin, traversal path, and affected areas.
• How: Method of breach—DPI uncovers breach methods, vulnerabilities exploited, attack vectors, and intruder techniques.

OCI’s DPI and advanced threat detection capabilities empower enterprises to dissect a breach comprehensively, providing detailed insights into the “who, what, when, where, and how” of a cybersecurity incident. This depth of analysis assists in swift incident response, forensic investigations, and proactive security measures to prevent future breaches.

Learn more about NETSCOUT’s Omnis Cyber Intelligence.