Articles
Long-form. Field-tested.
Deep dives on cybersecurity training, scenario walkthroughs, and the patterns that actually move the needle on incident response.
Sep 19, 2023
ThreatGEN® Red vs. Blue Fall Kickoff: New Features, New Maps, and a 50% Off Sale!
TLDR: We are thrilled to announce the latest update to our ThreatGEN® Red vs. Blue Cybersecurity Simulation Platform! And, to celebrate this new release, we're offering a Fall Kickoff 50% sale! (Use Code: WINTERISCOMING – Offer ends September 30). For those unfamiliar with ThreatGEN, we offer a game-based platform that revolutionizes Incident Response (IR) Tabletop…
Aug 22, 2023
Too Important to Skip, Too Broken to Ignore: Fixing the IR Tabletop Exercise
What is an IR Tabletop Exercise? An incident response (IR) tabletop exercise is a discussion-based simulation where participants gather to walk through potential response procedures for a hypothetical cybersecurity incident scenario. The goal is to validate whether the organization's incident response plan and procedures are effective and to identify any gaps that need to be…
Feb 27, 2023
The Real Threat of Ransomware: Why Cyber Criminals Prefer This Attack Method Even for Industrial Organizations
Ransomware attacks have become an increasingly common threat to organizations of all types, from small businesses to large industrial organizations. While cyber-physical attacks are often seen as the greatest threat to industrial organizations, ransomware attacks can still have significant physical and/or life-threatening consequences. As demonstrated by recent incidents such as the attack on a hospital in Germany that caused the death of a patient, and the ransomware attack on a major airline in the United States that resulted in flight cancellations and disruptions to travel, the impact of ransomware on industrial systems can be just as serious as that of cyber-physical attacks, if not more so. Furthermore, many industrial organizations have complex supply chains that rely on interconnected systems and processes, so an attack on one organization can have ripple effects throughout the entire supply chain, as seen in the recent incidents involving the Colonial Pipeline and the world's largest meat supplier, JBS. Given the ease of deployment and potential for profit, ransomware remains a serious threat to organizations, and it is essential for organizations to take steps to protect themselves against these types of attacks.
Feb 17, 2023
Tabletop Exercises in Cybersecurity and Beyond
Learn how tabletop exercises can improve your cybersecurity plans and procedures and discover the next level of innovation in TTX.
Jun 21, 2022
ThreatGEN Increases Cybersecurity Student Engagement Aligned with Key Learning Objectives
ThreatGEN® Red vs. Blue provides a mapping to Bloom's Taxonomy for student learning objectives.
May 4, 2022
Achieving a Stronger Cybersecurity Workforce
Despite a skills shortage in the cybersecurity industry, simply having a college degree is no longer enough. It’s still a competitive industry and employers are looking for candidates that are well qualified. Students need an educational program that prepares them for real-world cybersecurity and a successful career path. Unfortunately, traditional training methods just might not make the grade any longer. So, how do educators provide students with a solid cybersecurity foundation and set them up for success in the real world?
Jul 26, 2021
OT Cyber Risk Management – You’re Probably Doing It Wrong
The 3 Most Common Problems That Nearly ALL Cyber Risk Management Programs Have, and How to Solve Them In this article, I will discuss the 3 most common mistakes people still make when assessing and addressing OT cyber risk management (hint: most of you are still doing it backwards), and ways that you can make…
Apr 22, 2021
Florida Water Treatment Plant Attack
Since there are plenty of threat monitoring sources throughout our industry, we thought it best not to repeat those concerning the Florida water treatment plant attack. ThreatGEN believes it is worthwhile to have a lessons learned after the the dust settles though. The reason we didn't release immediately after the event, like everyone else, is…
Mar 17, 2021
CTF – "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
Capture the flag (CTF) competitions are played in the cybersecurity community all over the world. What is its history? What are we missing?
Mar 8, 2021
What Could the SolarWinds Attack Mean for OT?
Jonathan Bundy reviews the SUNBURST malware attack on SolarWinds clients.
Feb 3, 2021
Gamification vs. Games
ThreatGEN's Aaron Shbeeb delves into the differences between games and gamification as well as defining good gamification attributes.
Jan 25, 2021
Lies, Damned Lies, and Cybersecurity Statistics
ThreatGEN brings together multiples sources for its list of cybersecurity statistics, their sources, and some of our own.
Jul 2, 2020
OT/ICS Cybersecurity Kill Chain video released
In this video, Pascal Ackerman demonstrates an OT/ICS cybersecurity attack on a control system, from start to finish, through the entire ICS Cybersecurity Kill Chain. While this is an in-depth technical demo, no technical experience or knowledge is required to understand it.
Oct 16, 2019
Checking for ICS Internet Exposure Using Shodan.io
Pascal Ackerman takes the reader through the process of performing an internet exposure check for your ICS.
Aug 27, 2019
Design for Security – Why Proper Architecture Matters to ICS Security
Pascal Ackerman reviews some fundamental ICS Cybersecurity. A never ending battle in an ever changing landscape – start from the bottom up with a security-minded and security friendly design of the ICS network architecture.
Aug 21, 2019
Taking a closer look at the LookBack Malware Campaign
Pascal Ackerman goes into more depth from a LinkedIn article on a new malware campaign that was uncovered, targeting ICS companies in the US utilities industry.
Aug 13, 2019
Another day, more data breaches – where the data goes
ThreatGEN welcomes Pascal Ackerman with his first article on our website as our principal threat analyst. Articles will ensue with a technical flare, especially the elephant in the room today – data breaches.