Posts tagged Government

4 min Public Policy

Expanded Protections for Security Researchers Under DMCA Sec. 1201

The Library of Congress announced that it would renew and expand legal protections for security testing under Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

5 min Public Policy

Prioritizing the Fundamentals of Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure

In this post, we aim to distinguish between three broad flavors of CVD processes based on authorization, incentives, and resources required. We also urge wider adoption of foundational processes before moving to more advanced and resource-intensive processes.

3 min Public Policy

Georgia should not authorize "hack back"

Update 05/09/18: Georgia Governor Deal vetoed SB 315. In a thoughtful veto statement, the Governor noted that the legislation raised "concerns regarding national security implications and other potential ramifications," and that "SB 315 may inadvertently hinder the ability of government and private industries" to protect against breaches. The statement expressed interest in working with the cybersecurity and law enforcement communities on a new policy. The Georgia state legislature recently pas

2 min Public Policy

Welcome transparency on US government's process for disclosing vulnerabilities

The White House recently released details on the US government's process for disclosing - or retaining - zero-day vulnerabilities. The new VEP charter provides answers to several key questions, but it remains to be seen how it will operate in practice.

4 min Government

Cybersecurity for NAFTA

When the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was originally negotiated, cybersecurity was not a central focus. NAFTA came into force – removing obstacles to commercial trade activity between the US, Canada, and Mexico – in 1994, well before most digital services existed. Today, cybersecurity is a major economic force – itself a large industry and important source of jobs, as well as an enabler of broader economic health by reducing risk and uncertainty for businesses. Going forward, cybe

5 min Public Policy

Copyright Office Calls For New Cybersecurity Researcher Protections

On Jun. 22, the US Copyright Office released [https://www.copyright.gov/policy/1201/section-1201-full-report.pdf] its long-awaited study on Sec. 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and it has important implications for independent cybersecurity researchers. Mostly the news is very positive. Rapid7 advocated extensively for researcher protections to be built into this report, submitting two sets of detailed comments—see here [/2016/03/15/rapid7-bugcrowd-and-hackerone-file-pro-res

2 min Public Policy

Legislation to Strengthen IoT Marketplace Transparency

Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) is poised to introduce legislation to develop a voluntary cybersecurity standards program for the Internet of Things (IoT). The legislation, called the Cyber Shield Act, would enable IoT products that comply with the standards to display a label indicating a strong level of security to consumers – like an Energy Star rating for IoT. Rapid7 supports this legislation and believes greater transparency in the marketplace will enhance cybersecurity and protect consumers. The

4 min Public Policy

Rapid7 issues comments on NAFTA renegotiation

In April 2017, President Trump issued an executive order directing a review of all trade agreements. This process is now underway: The United States Trade Representative (USTR) – the nation's lead trade agreement negotiator – formally requested [https://www.regulations.gov/docket/USTR-2017-0006] public input on objectives for the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). NAFTA is a trade agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico, that covers a huge range of topics, fr

4 min Public Policy

White House Cybersecurity Executive Order Summary

Yesterday President Trump issued an Executive Order on cybersecurity: “Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure.” [https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/05/16/2017-10004/strengthening-the-cybersecurity-of-federal-networks-and-critical-infrastructure] The Executive Order (EO) appears broadly positive and well thought out, though it is just the beginning of a long process and not a sea change in itself. The EO directs agencies to come up with plans

4 min Public Policy

Rapid7 urges NIST and NTIA to promote coordinated disclosure processes

Rapid7 has long been a champion of coordinated vulnerability disclosure and handling processes as they play a critical role in both strengthening risk management practices and protecting security researchers. We not only use coordinated disclosure processes in our own vulnerability disclosure [https://www.rapid7.com/security/disclosure/] and receiving activities, but also advocate for broader adoption in industry and in government policies. Building on this, we recently joined forces with other

3 min Nexpose

Publishing Nexpose Asset Risk Scores to ePO

Security professionals today face great challenges protecting their assets from breaches by hackers and malware. A good vulnerability management solution [https://www.rapid7.com/solutions/vulnerability-management/] could help mitigate these challenges, but vulnerability management solutions often produce huge volumes of data from scanning and require lots of time spent in differentiating between information and noise. Rapid7 Nexpose [https://www.rapid7.com/products/nexpose/] helps professionals

6 min Government

Vulnerability Disclosure and Handling Surveys - Really, What's the Point?

Maybe I'm being cynical, but I feel like that may well be the thought that a lot of people have when they hear about two surveys posted online this week to investigate perspectives on vulnerability disclosure and handling. Yet despite my natural cynicism, I believe these surveys are a valuable and important step towards understanding the real status quo around vulnerability disclosure and handling so the actions taken to drive adoption of best practices will be more likely to have impact. Hopef

4 min Authentication

Brute Force Attacks Using US Census Bureau Data

Currently one of the most successful methods for compromising an organization is via password-guessing attacks. To gain access to an organization using brute force attack [https://www.rapid7.com/fundamentals/brute-force-and-dictionary-attacks/] methods, there are a minimum of three things a malicious actor needs: A username, a password, and a target. Often the targets are easy to discover, and typically turn out to be email systems such as Outlook Web Access (OWA) or VPN solutions that are expo

2 min Public Policy

I've joined Rapid7!

Hello! My name is Harley Geiger and I joined Rapid7 as director of public policy, based out of our Washington, DC-area office. I actually joined a little more than a month ago, but there's been a lot going on! I'm excited to be a part of a team dedicated to making our interconnected world a safer place. Rapid7 has demonstrated a commitment to helping promote legal protections for the security research community. I am a lawyer, not a technologist, and part of the value I hope to add is as a repr

2 min Metasploit

Federal Friday - 4.25.14 - A Whole Lot of Oops

Happy Friday, Federal friends! I hope all of you enjoyed some nice family time over the respective holidays last week. After a successful Marathon Monday here in Boston we're blessed with chirping birds and blooming flowers (finally)! As you all probably know by now, Verizon released their latest DBIR [http://www.verizonenterprise.com/DBIR/2014/reports/rp_dbir-2014-executive-summary_en_xg.pdf] report earlier this week. While this report covered a wide range of topics in regards to breaches, I