Organizations of every size and the kind world over are realizing the importance of digital security in the wake of increased cyber threats and vulnerability exposing them to cyberattacks from anywhere and anytime. On the one hand, businesses must adopt digital transformation, and on the other hand, they must ensure that their digital entity remains invincible to any and every internal and external threat. When invincibility is the prerequisite, instead of making huge investments in developing everything in-house, it is most prudent to partner with the best of the best – Walnut Security Services (WSS).
WSS consists of dedicated, professional experts who constantly aim to offer unique services and support to its clients. Nirav Patel, the Director, informs that the cyber security market in India is forecast to grow more than ₹300 Billion by 2025, owing to the rise in digital adoption, which has resulted in a surge in online attacks. Increasing awareness of cyber security has led to increased investment in cyber security infrastructure across every sector of the organization and government.
Motivated by the transition of businesses into digital infrastructure, many factors can give rise to the rapid increase in investment in cyber security. The global pandemic has shifted most organizations’ services and workforce into a digital environment. These have attracted the attention of most organizations’ boards and governments to safeguard their digital assets and secure their online presence.
Digitally Protecting Your Business
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, various governments and regulatory authorities mandate that public and private organizations implement new remote work practices. Since then, the Business Continuity Plan for multiple organizations has migrated to the digital way. The widespread use of personal devices or networks for work purposes connected to the organization’s data from remote locations created a huge risk for various types of malicious attacks. Endpoint security measures and robust security policies and practices have become a rising demand in every organization.
The need for cyber security has increased enormously since employees are able to access an organization’s data from a remote location. Walnut Security Service is in a position to evaluate and analyze in-depth how a malicious attacker can infiltrate internal resources. Often assets and targets are missed out during testing due to the constraint of time and resources. However, Walnut Security Services allocates specific security professionals for a particular task. Therefore, they can gain in-depth knowledge of the in-scope client’s assets. “Due to the diversity of skillsets among our in-house experienced security professionals, they can always tailor the client’s requirement to the specific needs and goals. It is what makes Walnut Security Services unique in the market.”
According to Nirav, cyber security attacks and breaches have increased exponentially since the pandemic hits us globally. There has been an immense uprise in cyber security threats over recent years. Cyber security research firms and security experts also predicted that cyber-attack cases would likely increase in the coming years in all sectors, including government, manufacturing, finance, education, and healthcare.
Every industry sector is vulnerable to cyber-attack in one form or the others. Walnut Security Services is a cyber-security consulting firm that has helped various organizations in different sectors safeguard their digital assets for such incidents. The employees at Walnut Security Services are highly experienced and has conducted hundreds of penetration testing activities, secure code review and vulnerability assessments for clients ranging from small to major corporation. Cyber security solutions provided by experienced cyber security firms like Walnut Security Services support organizations to monitor, detect, report, and counter cyber threats to maintain data confidentiality, integrity, and availability of an organization. The increase in the number of sophisticated cyber-attacks such as malware, DDOS, and ransomware attacks in different industry sectors is a significant factor driving the implementation of such cyber security solutions.
Securing Your Precious Data
The cybersecurity market is uneven and highly competitive, comprising several local and worldwide players. Supply and demand offer a great insight into the structure of any market. The pandemic has shifted most businesses into untested online operations where innovation can bring firms a sustainable, competitive advantage. Under such circumstances, it is always advisable to consult a security firm that evolves and is equipped with the latest knowledge of emerging threats. With the increase in data breaches and cyber-attacks, the need for cyber security should be highly emphasized at all organizational levels.
Out of the many services conducted by Walnut Security Services, here is a list of services offered to clients with successful outcomes.
Web Application Penetration Testing: Web application penetration testing involves a practical assessment to gather information about the target application, identifying vulnerabilities or flaws in them, researching for exploits that will thrive against those flaws or vulnerabilities, and compromise the web application. It helps to improve the security of your Web Application. Web Application Penetration Testing is advisable for any organization where revenue is dependent on online assets. Also, according to the government, sectors like Banking, FinTech, etc. have mandatory requirement for penetration testing.
Mobile application penetration testing: Mobile application penetration testing is a form of security testing organizations use to evaluate security inside a mobile environment. The application developers need at least a basic knowledge and skill in reverse engineering and penetration testing of an application to find any types of security flaws in it. By conducting mobile penetration testing, the organization can discover vulnerabilities in the mobile application, vectors, loopholes, and bottlenecks before launching the application to the public user. There are two types of mobile application penetration testing based on the platform used: Android application penetration testing and iOS Application penetration testing.
Secure source code review: A secure code review is a specified task performed by a security professional to identify and discover security-related weaknesses and flaws within the application source code involving manual or automated review. It is used as a technique to substantiate if proper security controls are employed throughout the system’s code being under review and identify if there are any logical flaws in the code, exclusively in the architecture and design of the application. There are mainly two methods of secure code review: manual and automated.
Security Operation Centre (SOC) management: A centralized facility for security professionals whose sole responsibilities are to analyze, monitor, and detect cyber threats in an organization is known as a Security Operation Centre (SOC). Managing and employing the required talent can be tedious for an organization. Therefore, services offered by security consulting firms like Walnut Security Services can provide organizations with a response much faster with a minimal cost in the event of cyber-attacks.
Cloud platform penetration testing: Cloud application penetration testing has become very crucial as most of the businesses are moving towards cloud to store sensitive data or hosting their complex applications on cloud to avoid high cost for on-premise servers. These application are highly vulnerable if misconfigured.
Different penetration services offered by Walnut Security services for cloud penetration testing are
- Google Cloud platform penetration testing.
- Amazon web services penetration testing.
- Microsoft Azure penetration testing.
API penetration testing: API, also known as Application Programming Interface penetration testing, where security analyst will evaluate API for potential vulnerabilities and exploit them in a secure environment. While conducting API penetration testing, professional security tests the API function and methods on how they could be manipulated and how a malicious user could evade the security features. Various known and unknown vulnerabilities are also evaluated on how they can be exploited in real-time.
Red Team Engagement: Red Team cybersecurity operations are more advanced penetration tests carried out by security professionals who are well-versed in the field. The main goal of the test is to attain the level of risks and vulnerabilities an organization is exposed to in terms of physical assets, people, and the technology currently in use. Different methods, techniques, and strategies are implemented based on the target.
Network penetration testing: Network penetration testing is identifying and discovering network vulnerabilities in an organization’s system to gain access and a foothold on the network. It can further be escalated to access sensitive data within the organization’s network. Network penetration testing helps in identifying network security flaws before an attacker does.
Container secure review: Container security uses tools, processes, and policies to secure the container’s integrity. Containerization or container technology is the primary technology that has enhanced the adoption of new methodologies to develop, deploy and run applications in the cloud. The vulnerabilities may arise in containers due to some misconfiguration.
Attack and defence training:Â The current cyber security awareness programs conducted by different organization gives information only about what warning signs employees should look out for in the event of cyber-attacks. It is an important subject, yet they often fail to miss out on the main reasons. First, employees in an organization should be educated on why and how these cyber-attacks are happening. They should be aware of what the attackers plan to do and how they might carry it out. The training should be done in such a way that employees understand the mind of the adversary. Educating and empowering the clients and customers in such a way is a vital training method for Walnut Security Services.
Making You InvincibleÂ
With remote work from home becoming a new norm for normal business operations amid the pandemic, cyber-attacks against remote access IT systems have constantly risen over the past year. Some cybercriminals are well organized, and just connecting to the Internet unwraps the probability of cybercriminals targeting an organization. According to the Minister of State for Electronics and Information and Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India witnessed 13.91 Lakh cyber security incidents in 2022. The most recent and alarming aspect of cybersecurity that causes considerable problems for organizations is a type of malware called ransomware. Malicious actors have become more sophisticated, better equipped, and daring in their actions, creating cyber security an ever-growing concern in all businesses now more than ever. However, for many organizations, the outbreak of COVID-19 has changed the paradigm further. The need for cyber security has grown rapidly over the past few months.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly shifted our way of life into a more digital environment. The COVID-19 pandemic has shaped new challenges for any business as they adapt to an operating model in which remote working and working from home have become the new way of office operation. Every organization’s business has a massive digital transformation, making cybersecurity a high concern for all. The legal and economic implications could be substantial if cybersecurity risks are ignored. But on a business level, while economizing measures will be required in many areas, prudent companies may increase their IT spending in the coming months and years. The result of any cyber-attack is a huge cost to any organization. Improved cyber security, better-integrated communications, automation, and enhanced IT management are areas in which organizations should consider making additional investments.
Not understanding the common cyber security threats can often leave you most vulnerable. It has happened many times in the past and will also continue to occur in the future. Implementing a new organization’s protocol is mandatory to keep businesses secure and operating smoothly. These protocols and policies must be comprehensive and reliable. In any cyber-attacks or unprecedented crises, these policies should be firm enough to be relied on.
 The Most Trusted Cybersecurity Partner
Often employees are connected to email and the organization server via their devices, allowing quick access to the organization’s data. Implementing a secure password for authentication based on the employees’ role in the organization is necessary. Whether intentional or unintentional, internal threats or incidents can cause major chaos to any organization. These threats are usually due to the lack of awareness among the employees. Educating and training internal employees by skilled professionals, showing real-world scenarios, can help prevent this kind of adversary to a great extent. Malicious attackers have exploited the security gap created by the shift from secure, centralized office IT systems to the vast collection of personal devices as people have worked from home.
A cybersecurity governance and risk management program should be established which is appropriate for the organization’s size. It will help businesses maintain their assets’ confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Cybersecurity risk must be considered a significant business risk by an appropriate member of the senior executives, such as the board members and directors. It should be considered at the same level of importance with suitable criteria as compliance, financial, operational, and reputational risk, and the results and outcome should be monitored and managed. Some frameworks can be used to consider risk assessment and related best practices, such as NIST, PCI-DSS, etc.
Shielding Your Vital Assets
Due to the rapid digital transformation, new threats emerge, and threat landscapes continue to increase. Each organization needs to ensure that they are equipped to deal with such threats while maintaining the continuity of business flow. As much as technical knowledge helps, it is not sufficient to safeguard the organization’s assets. There is an overabundance of roles to be filled and technical skills to be learned daily as new threats emerge at a high rate. Maintaining a secure business is critical for all organizations.
Walnut Security Services comprises different levels of professionals ranging from cyber security professionals, and application developers, to the marketing teams, each having a separate department for various specific tasks allocated to them. The cyber security teams handle different tasks, from offensive security like penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, secure source code review, etc., to even the blue team responsibilities like risk management, security operation management, and so on.
The Security team in an organization consists of various levels depending on the organization’s operating structure and environment. Digital transformation, Artificial Intelligence, cloud computing, and a sophisticated threat landscape are pushing everyone to re-evaluate the functions of each role on the security teams, from Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) to the last member in the department. Cyber security is a vast domain, so the necessary roles vary from team to team depending on the skillsets they need and their respective responsibilities. Cybersecurity requires engagement from all levels of leadership. Business knowledge and technical knowledge increase as you move up the ladder.
A Solid Expertise in Advanced TechnologiesÂ
A team works together to achieve a common goal or purpose. In the world of corporate business, teams may be gathered to perform specific tasks such as developing an application, assessing clients’ assets for vulnerabilities, developing a marketing plan or finding ways to improve clients’ security.
Several factors decide a team from good to average and average to a bad team. This decision involves people from top to bottom. A strong team is the foundation of a high-performing business, and a good team ethic can be held largely accountable for the success and smooth running of the organization. “Some of the key points that I have observed while working at Walnut Security Services can be broadly classified into five points.”
- Good communication.
- Diversity.
- Unity.
- Good leadership.
- Accountability as a Team.
With the rapid technological advancement, staying on top of the league is often impossible as technology landscapes constantly change rapidly. Adapting and evolving to the changes technology brings to operate smoothly business continuity is important. For businesses to be successful and mature, a roadmap is necessary for delivering competitive services and a strategic plan for continuous growth.
Safeguarding Your Present and Future
Roadmaps are well-documented diagrams that represent different business processes and are built collectively to achieve an organization’s strategic goals. Having a proper roadmap enables all the employees within an organization to clearly understand each business activity and the decisions needed.
Goals are required to accomplish what is on the roadmap. There are different types of goals a business plans to achieve to reach its destination. Based on the amount of time required to complete it can be classified into
Short-Term Goal: Short-term goals are typically goals or targets an organization wants to accomplish over time. It can be a few days to a couple of weeks. Short-term goals help achieve long-term goals; hence they should be evaluated periodically and changes should be made when it is not working as intended. Some of the short-term goals for our organization include:
- Market share.
- Quality Management.
- Client Service.
Long-Term Goal: An organization’s long-term goal is an accomplishment achieved over time – potentially years. A series of short-term goals made up a long-term goal. Depending upon the type of business and size of the organization, long-term goals can vary. “Below is the goal for our organization:”
- Expansion of market.
- Brand recognition.
- Increased sales.
- Securing more organizations.