cybersecurity

Note-to-self: 2019 …cost of a data breach…

Many InfoSec and data protection or privacy courses reference 3 authoritative yearly reports that show interesting numbers, statistics and trends about breaches year over year.

And these are extremely useful to talk about to your management…

Interesting to know they all have been updated for 2019.

1. Verizon DBIR

(The Verizon Data breach Investigations Report, DBIR)

https://enterprise.verizon.com/resources/reports/2019-data-breach-investigations-report.pdf (click the view only option)

2. IBM-Ponemon – Cost of a data breach report 2019

https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/ZBZLY7KL

(You can always use the official link and give away your privacy…at https://www.ibm.com/security/data-breach)

3. IAPP-EY Annual Governance Report 2019

(IAPP members get it for free)

Hint: the IAPP link below also shows reports of previous years.

https://iapp.org/resources/article/iapp-ey-annual-governance-report-2019/

V2018 also available from the EY website: https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_gl/topics/financial-services/ey-iapp-ey-annual-privacy-gov-report-2018.pdf

Using SPF to block mail account spoofing

Introduction

Did you ever got a mail from yourself, but you’re sure you did not send it?

This week I got that mail from a mail alias I’m using, so it’s actually not a native mailbox, but a mail forwarder address, which makes the claim that “the mailbox is hacked” pretty silly…

But if you got this message from a native mailbox, it does sound scary, isn’t it?

I already had some similar symptoms on other mail addresses in the same domain.

Symptoms

You get a mail from your own mail address… which is called mail spoofing.
And it looks like:

mailspoof

Spoofed mail message content

Hi!

As you may have noticed, I sent you an email from your account.
This means that I have full access to your account.

I’ve been watching you for a few months now.
The fact is that you were infected with malware through an adult site that you visited.

If you are not familiar with this, I will explain.
Trojan Virus gives me full access and control over a computer or other device.
This means that I can see everything on your screen, turn on the camera and microphone, but you do not know about it.

I also have access to all your contacts and all your correspondence.

Why your antivirus did not detect malware?
Answer: My malware uses the driver, I update its signatures every 4 hours so that your antivirus is silent.

I made a video showing how you satisfy yourself in the left half of the screen, and in the right half you see the video that you watched.
With one click of the mouse, I can send this video to all your emails and contacts on social networks.
I can also post access to all your e-mail correspondence and messengers that you use.

If you want to prevent this,
transfer the amount of $778 to my bitcoin address (if you do not know how to do this, write to Google: “Buy Bitcoin”).

My bitcoin address (BTC Wallet) is: 1GoWy5yMzh3XXBiYxLU9tKCBMgibpznGio

After receiving the payment, I will delete the video and you will never hear me again.
I give you 48 hours to pay.
I have a notice reading this letter, and the timer will work when you see this letter.

Filing a complaint somewhere does not make sense because this email cannot be tracked like my bitcoin address.
I do not make any mistakes.

If I find that you have shared this message with someone else, the video will be immediately distributed.

Best regards!

Root cause

The DNS setting of your domain is missing SPF records, that counter mail spoofing (an unauthorized mail server, user or hacker sending mail as “you”)…

Troubleshooting

When looking at the mail properties it’s pretty difficult (if not impossible) to find out who actually has sent the mail….

Solution

Basic domain settings

Add an SPF record to your domain DNS settings.

To get started, look up your mail provider or hosting provider’s name + SFP.

FYI, I’m hosting my domains at one.com, they’ve got some straight forward advise to configure the DNS. For any other domain, at any other provider it’s similar.

Office 365

When you buy a domain, but host your mail on O365, there are some additional settings to configure. But Office 365 will explain.

The easy part, logon to your O365 tenant, and check your domain health (see video below)

For more info, check these documents:

References

SPF tooling

Other security options

See also

Hotmail/Outlook.com Solving Mass Mailing Delivery Issues

Short URL: Http://aka.ms/outlook.com/help

While SPF is the first step, you should also consider DMARC and DKIM.

 

Risk treatment options parody

The orginal meme on risk analysis is around for a while on the internet.

(sorry, can’t find the original credits, feel free to claim and prove the credit, happy to comply)

risk classification

But risk management is only complete with risk treatment.

(original quality below)

risk_treatment_options.png

Please be aware of EUDT. BE unethical and dirty domain sales tricks (EN version)

fraudwarning

For the last 2 months I have been receiving some fraudulent, unethical and threatening mails from a company named “European Domains & Trademarks”, with the e-mail domain EUDT.BE, registered company name “Domeinnaam Register”.

The company is linked to: http://www.domeinnaamregister.com/ en http://www.nederlandsdomeinregister.nl/
In the Netherlands the company is registered as KVK: 64626679 and VAT: NL201158802B01. (as published on their website, the commerce register and DNS registrar).

The company is making false claims and is using unethical practices, and scaring people to extort money and scamming people into ridiculous expensive and fraudulent contracts.

The official registration owner of this URL and company is a Dutch company that is a very well known for very bad scamming practices.
And also the Belgian domain registration authority is warning for this company:
https://www.dnsbelgium.be/en/news/watch-out-domain-name-offers-domeinnaamregistercom

This is not their first warning, it already was reported in 2013 and 2016 (see below).

Also in the Netherlands, this organization is known and has been reported for the same malpractices before, like:

What it is about?

See full text at end of this post.

In short, he company contacts people, entrepreneurs, company owners pretending that they received a request to register a domain name (like company.nl) similar to the company domain you already registered (like company.com) and that they are legally forced to contact you to offer the first registration.

Next they say that they are obliged to register and protect the domain name for 10 year for €19.75 (ex VAT!) per year. And you need to pay this in one shot.

And a lot more bullshit in the mail…

What should you do?

  • DO NOT react to the mail, and ignore the mail,
  • before deleting the mail: report these practices to the authorities (eg Ministry of Economic Affairs)

If you really want that domain

  • DO NOT react to the mail, ignore the mail, delete the mail
  • contact your favorite, official and trusted registrar and by the domain via the regular / official channel

Why is this bullshit?

Please be aware that

  • domain registration is on a “first come, first serve” basis (unless it’s a malicious registration to harm a target company)
  • domains like .BE,  .NL, EU… cost about €6, €8, … 12 EUR per year.
  • Some registrars offer decent discounts, so it can be even cheaper.
  • You can renew domains YEARLY, no need to pay 10 years upfront.

See also

(BE-NL) Verkooptrucs met domeinnamen (*) (Credits: Dries Van Giel op 15 juni 2018)

More information

Credits: Dries Van Giel (*)

Belgium

Official warnings by DNS.BE

Official registrars

Warnings from official domain registrars and site hosters (no strings attached!)

Log a complaint at

If you’re already been caught by these #holes, you can register a complaint at: https://meldpunt.belgie.be/meldpunt/nl/welkommeldpunt.belgie.be

Netherlands

Full text (NL)

(Source: Happywebsites)

Geachte heer/mevrouw ,

Recent hebben wij telefonisch contact met u op proberen te nemen. Dit is tot op heden nog niet gelukt. We sturen u dus een email met daarin informatie over het volgende:
We hebben een aanvraag binnen gekregen om de website http://www.questforsecurity.eu te laten registreren. We zien in ons systeem dat u de eigenaar bent van http://www.questforsecurity.be. Helaas kan dit voor u in de toekomst verstrekkende gevolgen hebben. We zijn daarom dus wettelijk verplicht om contact met u op te nemen om u het eerste registratierecht te bieden. Dit houdt in dat wij de aanvraag van de derde partij afwijzen en de website:

http://www.questforsecurity.eu

Na een akkoord zullen doorlinken naar:

http://www.questforsecurity.be

Het komt er op neer dat u de eerste optie op de domeinnaam krijgt, dit om eventuele problemen in de toekomst te voorkomen. De aanvraag is gedaan vanuit de regio Antwerpen.
Doorgaans zijn wij verplicht om de domeinnaam voor 10 jaar vast te leggen en te beschermen. De jaarlijkse prijs voor de .EU extensie is € 19,75 per jaar. Dit betekent dus een eenmalig bedrag van €197,50. Wanneer de doorlink voltooid is, zal al het verkeer wat naar de .EU extensie gaat, automatisch op uw .BE extensie terecht komen. De verwerking hiervan duurt maximaal 24 uur. Deze domeinnaam is dan wereldwijd bereikbaar. De derde partij wordt afgewezen en deze kan niks met uw domeinnaam doen.
Overige informatie:

U ontvangt een eenmalige factuur van €197,50 exclusief BTW voor een looptijd van 10 jaar.

Na een jaar kan het ten alle tijden geannuleerd worden. U krijgt dan het resterende aantal jaren op uw rekening teruggestort.

Indien u hiermee akkoord gaat, stuur dan binnen 24 uur na ontvangen van deze email een akkoord per mail naar met daarin uw naam, en factuurgegevens naar; bart@eudt.be
Hierop volgend gaan wij de derde partij afwijzen en de doorlink in orde maken. U krijgt dezelfde dag nog alles per mail toegestuurd met alle informatie die u nodig heeft.

Met vriendelijke groeten,

Bart Mulder
European Domains & Trademarks
http://www.eudt.be
bart@eudt.be

And also

…
Reynaud Laurent
European Domains & Trademarks
http://www.eudt.be
reynaud.laurent@eudt.be

Better be smart.
Be safe.

And I hope these ### will be stopped sooner than later.

Note-to-self: prepping for CSA CCSK v4 upgrade

Note-to-self: extended reprint of a LinkedIn post…

I might have mentioned it already, but if you have passed the CCSK exam before, better logon to your CCSK profile on the CSA website and check if you still have an exam token left.

By default you get 2 tokens each exam registration, so…

If you pass your exam the first time, the “second try” backup token is left unused in your profile.

And (if not yet expired) you can use it to upgrade your CCSK to v4.

Tokens stay valid for 2 years after purchase.

More info: https://ccsk.cloudsecurityalliance.org/en/faq

On that page you can also find the required study material for the exam.

You can download the CCSK v4 prep kit from : https://downloads.cloudsecurityalliance.org/ccsk/CCSKv4_Exam_Preparation_Kit.zip

It’s an online exam and thus open book exam, using the below reference guides.

But realise:  60 questions in 90 minutes still is hard work, so better do some prep work up front to maximize your chances.

Once you pass this one, you can go for the (ISC)² CCSP with more confidence…

Useful resources for GDPR starters

I realise, this braindump will never be finished, so come back once in a while to check for updates. Work in progress…

But let’s turn around the thing a bit, you certainly must have smart ideas or articles on GDPR for starters that belong on this list! Let me know and I’ll add it to the list.
Of course, with the proper credits!

DISCLAIMER: These resources are provided / authored by different people, companies, vendors, each of them copyrighted by the original owner.
The resources below are just a collection or interesting documentation, need to have, without any preference or commercial interest for any party.

Table of contents

First of all, before you start with GDPR you must have read the GDPR text.
It’s not as bad (you mean: legalese) as you might suspect.

GDPR official text

You might want to have it a bit more condensed to start.

Vocabulary / Grammar

Do not get confused: European Council vs Council of the European Union vs Council of Europe

More info at:

– http://www.caneurope.org/publications/blogs/1295-what-is-the-european-council-or-the-council-of-the-european-union%C2%A0

– https://www.coe.int/en/web/about-us/do-not-get-confused

GDPR Table of contents

Once you get through the legal texts… you’ll quickly understand that the GDPR text itself at least lacks 1 important thing: A table of contents (TOC).

This TOC by Intersoft Consulting might help: bookmark https://gdpr-info.eu/

It provides a nice overview of the GDPR Recitals (= reasons the articles of the GDPR have been adopted).

There are 173 recitals, the and the TOC provides a quick topic overview at https://gdpr-info.eu/recitals/.

Also the site provides an overview of the GDPR structure

  • 11 Chapters
  • Sections per chapter
  • 99 Articles (spread over sections / chapters

GDPR Library by EC

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/justice-and-fundamental-rights/data-protection/2018-reform-eu-data-protection-rules_en

GDPR Adequacy decisions

Working Party 29

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:31995L0046

“The composition and purpose of Art. 29 WP was set out in Article 29 of the Data Protection Directive, and it was launched in 1996.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_29_Data_Protection_Working_Party

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) will replace the Article 29 Working Party under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation (EU) 2016/679).

WP29 articles

Newsroom overview: http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/article29/news.cfm
Guidelines: http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/article29/news.cfm?item_type=1360

WP 29 Advisory

The Article 29 Working Party Issues Final Guidelines on Data Protection Officers (“DPO”) is available here.

More info

  • Bird & Bird article, explaining
    1. Accountability means that DPO assessments need to be kept up-to-date and can be requested at anytime
    2. No “a la carte” DPO appointments
    3. Big data now an example of ‘regular and systematic monitoring’
    4. Preferably, the DPO should be located within this EU
    5. There can only be one DPO, but supported by a team
    6. Duty to ensure the confidentiality of communications between the DPO and employees
    7. Senior managers including Head of HR, Marketing or IT individuals are barred from serving as the DPO
    8. The GDPR does not prevent the DPO from maintaining records of processing
  • For a redline comparison with the earlier draft, click here.

ISO Standards related to GDPR

ISO29100 (Privacy Framework)

PIA: ISO 29134

Get the ISO29100 privacy standard for free at:

http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/c045123_ISO_IEC_29100_2011.zip

ISO27001 (Information Security)

Mandatory ISO27001 documents: ISMS mandatory documentation checklist

Mapping GDPR to ISO27001 schema

Implementing GDPR with ISO27001

https://pecb.com/oldwebinar/26-may-2018-from-gdpr-to-sustainable-gdp

GDPR at a glance

https://www.twobirds.com/~/media/pdfs/gdpr-pdfs/bird–bird–guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation.pdf (Credits for Moritz Anders).

Data access request

As published on LinkedIn: The Nightmare Letter: A Subject Access Request under GDPR (By: Constantine Karbaliotis)

You can download the docx Word version in EN (here) and in NL translated version (here).

Useful Tools

Open Source

Monarc – Risk Assessment: http://Monarc.lu

CNIL – DPIA Tool 

CNIL guides for PIA: https://www.cnil.fr/en/PIA-privacy-impact-assessment-en

Implementation Guidance

Visualisation sheet

Have a look what Jonas Holdensen has published, a marvelous sheet to provide a visualization on GDPR.

Also he has provided a nice overview on the DPO requirements & tasks under GDPR.

If you prefer the file in pdf or word, then download the file here: www.kortlink.dk/rhpx

GDPR Privacy Courses (work in progress)

Region Provider Course URL
WW IAPP CIPT, CIPP/E, CIPM, https://iapp.org/train/gdprready/
WW PECB PECB Certified Data protection Officer https://pecb.com/en/education-and-certification-for-individuals/gdpr
BE DP Institute Data Protection Officer Certificatie Training https://www.dp-institute.eu/nl/opleidingen/
WW IT Governance GDPR https://www.itgovernance.co.uk/data-protection-dpa-and-eu-data-protection-regulation
WW Cranium GDPR & Privacy

And some more

Legislative background

 

Microsoft resources for GDPR

The page below is a (growing) overview of resources for GDPR info and compliance by Microsoft. The page is updated with other sources I find on my quest for GDPR.

General Resources

Trust Center

Microsoft 365 Enterprise

Online

Assess your readiness for GDPR now

MS partner network

https://partner.microsoft.com/en-us/marketing/details/gdpr#/

Compliance manager

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Blogs

Videos

Tools

Downloads