CISA’s Cybersecurity Comedy of Errors: Lessons from 2023’s SILENTSHIELD Red Team Failures
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) conducted a SILENTSHIELD red team assessment in 2023, revealing that defense-in-depth is crucial for cybersecurity. The assessment highlighted the importance of diversified layers of protection, as the red team successfully mimicked sophisticated cyber threats, exposing significant security gaps.
Hot Take:
Looks like the CISA just dropped the cybersecurity equivalent of a reality check on this Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) organization. Their SILENTSHIELD red team assessment proves that when it comes to security, even Uncle Sam can get phished! Time to patch up those vulnerabilities, folks—or risk getting schooled by nation-state actors.
Key Points:
– **Initial Access:** Exploited an unpatched vulnerability and phishing.
– **Full Domain Compromise:** Achieved through credential harvesting and lateral movement.
– **Weak Controls:** Insufficient logging, network segmentation, and trust relationships.
– **Behavior Over Indicators:** Emphasized behavior-based detection over known IOCs.
– **Collaborative Phase:** Worked with the organization to improve detection and response capabilities.