Thread: Microsoft forges new global partnerships to fight cybercrime

Microsoft forges new global partnerships to fight cybercrime

Mon, 2014-02-17 04:00 PM

Microsoft has announced three new global partnerships with theOrganization of American States(OAS), Europol, and FIS to increase cooperation between international law enforcement and the private sector to combat cybercrime and improve Internet safety.

Microsoft officials signed memorandums of understanding with representatives of the three organizations during the company's first annual Cybercrime Enforcement Summit, which brought together more than 60 leaders and experts from law enforcement, academia, and the private sector to share legal and technical solutions to combat cybercrime. The conference followed the opening last fall of the Microsoft Cybercrime Center, a facility designed to fight global cybercrime.

The agreements establish a framework for cooperation and are intended to help Microsoft work with each of the three organizations to pursue criminal enterprises engaged in cybercrime. Microsoft, the Washington-based OAS, Europol, and FIS, of Jacksonville, FL, anticipate that the collaboration will help them strengthen their forensic and technical analysis of malware and botnets; assessment and investigation of emerging malware threats; enforcement actions against cybercriminals; and the ultimate dismantling of criminal organizations.

"Cybercriminals are increasingly sophisticated in preying on consumers, including children and senior citizens," said Brad Smith, Microsoft executive vice president and general counsel. "These agreements will help the private and public sectors fight cybercrime more effectively, while protecting our customers' privacy."

This is Microsoft’s first collaboration with the OAS. The OAS was established in part to strengthen collaboration among its member states, which currently include all 34 independent states of the Americas. OAS is committed to developing a culture of cybersecurity by taking effective, preventative measures to anticipate, address, and respond to cyberattacks.

"There are no borders when it comes to cybercrime, and the criminals are located worldwide, making it impossible for any one organization to fight cybercrime alone," said OAS Ambassador Adam Blackwell. "We must harness the power of partnerships to have a greater impact against these criminals and keep the Internet safer for everyone."

Microsoft often collaborates with law enforcement organizations. One example is the recent partnership with Europol to successfully disrupt the dangerous ZeroAccess botnet, which infected up to 2 million computers and stole millions of dollars from online advertisers. Europol, which has its own European Cybercrime Centre based at Europol headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, has supported numerous major cybercrime operations involving malicious software and online child exploitation.

Financial crimes in particular pose a serious cybersecurity threat. As a leading provider of financial technology, FIS works to maintain the security of payments and financial transactions worldwide. "This partnership with Microsoft will help FIS to better protect its clients from cybercrime and make global financial transactions safer for our clients and their customers," said Greg Montana, FIS executive vice president and chief risk officer. FIS serves more than 14,000 institutions in over 110 countries.

http://www.gsnmagazine.com/node/40251?c=cyber_security

Cyber Squared launches ThreatConnect partner program to automate cyber defenses

Fri, 2014-02-14 05:35 PM

Cyber Squared recently unveiled a partnership program for its ThreatConnect intelligence platform designed to help organizations identify and eliminate cybersecurity threats. The new partnership program will support key integrations with other systems for vulnerability management, breach detection, Intrusion Prevention Systems/Intrusion Detection Systems (IPS/IDS), and incident response.

Arlington, VA-based Cyber Squared’s ThreatConnect platform is designed to be accessible to everyone, yet provide a high level of security and allow companies to identify cybersecurity threats through its automated and dynamic threat intelligence features.

Cyber Squared CEO Adam Vincent explained, “We are making existing cyber defense products smarter, supporting the ability to integrate intelligence into defense or visibility, then feed that new-found intelligence back into ThreatConnect. Through these strategic partnerships, we are empowering our users to immediately act on the valuable data out of ThreatConnect.”

The partnerships will include integrations from Sourcefire, General Dynamics Fidelis Cybersecurity Solutions, Carbon Black, and Tenable Network Security. The Fidelis XPS integration provides breach detection systems, the Sourcefire integration offers IPS/IDS and firewall support, the Carbon Black integration offers incident response, and the Tenable/Nessus integration provides continuous monitoring features.

Regarding the Carbon Black integration, Vincent said, “Carbon Black is really pushing the envelope of integration with ThreatConnect. They are interacting with our data in a whole new way. The Carbon Black and ThreatConnect community is integrated using our ThreatConnect API and allows Carbon Black customers to work together within the Carbon Black product, gain more comprehensive knowledge through ThreatConnect, and ultimately leverage their shared intelligence to take action in defending against threats.”

Please visit ThreatConnect’s Website at www.Threatconnect.com. More information about Cyber Squared Inc. is available atwww.CyberSquared.com.

http://www.gsnmagazine.com/node/40231?c=cyber_security