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THE TOP 5 SITES TO STAY INFORMED ABOUT CYBER SECURITY THREATS

As an information security professional, we know that you’re usually the one that your colleagues, managers, or shareholders rely on to have an up-to-date understanding of the current threats out there, and advice for how to avoid them.

This blog post aims to list the top 5 sites which help you do this.

WHAT ARE THE TOP 5 SITES TO STAY INFORMED ABOUT CYBER SECURITY THREATS?

1. HTTPS://WWW.US-CERT.GOV/NCAS/ALERTSTHE UNITED STATES

Figure 1: Screenshot from US-CERT

The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team publishes a list of current cyber attacks and potential threats.

Positives:

The alerts are available in RSS format, meaning you can be kept up-to-date with these threats via your RSS Feed Reader on your phone.

Negatives:

The downside is that these update are few and far between. The most recent alert is from June 20, 2018 (correct at time of writing), which is already months ago!

2. HTTPS://WWW.NCSC.GOV.UK/THREATS

The National Cyber Security Center (a part of the UK’s GCHQ) is essentially the UK’s version of US CERT. It issues alert notices regarding cyber attacks detected in the UK. Despite being a UK site, many of these attacks will also have global relevance.

Positives:

The alerts are available via Twitter.

Negatives:

As with US-CERT, the frequency of updates is poor. The most recent update was the 25th of July 2018 (correct at time of writing), several months ago.

3. HTTP://WWW.DIGITALATTACKMAP.COM/

The Digital Attack Map provides a real time map of DDoS attacks showing where the attacks are taking place and the country of origin of those attacks.

Positives:

If you are a visual person, this map is for you. It provides a great visual representation of DDoS attacks, combined with the ability to change the view according to attack type, country, duration, as well as other variables. It is also in real time.

Negatives:

Despite providing a great visual, it’s hard to see the direct benefit to Information Security professionals. The information is on such a macro level (the country being the smallest unit of analysis), the the information is not really usable.

4. HTTP://MAP.NORSECORP.COM/#/

Figure 3: Norse Real Time Cyber Attack Map

This is another map showing real time cyber security attacks. Norse boasts the world’s largest dedicated threat intelligence network with over 8 million servers.

One of the great advantages of this map over the Digital Attach Map, is its specificity when it comes to the source of the attack. With more specific data, cyber security professionals are able to better pinpoint the source of the attached and, therefore, how to stop it.

Positives:

Real time cyber security information with more detail than the Digital Attack Map.

Negatives:

The map is a tool to persuade you to sign up to Norse’s paid-for services.

5. HTTPS://WWW.BBC.COM/NEWS/TOPICS/CP3MVPDP1R2T/CYBER-ATTACK

For those of you looking for a more mainstream, article style newsfeed, the BBC is not a bad option. Based on the last few weeks, it has been publishing 3 to 4 articles a week about cyber security attacks. Of course, these articles will often lack the technical detail many cyber security professionals are accustomed to, however, for a general overview and update of mainstream threats, it is a nice option.

Positives:

Regular updates in article form. Accessible language which can be forwarded to clients or non-technical colleagues.

Negatives:

Lack of technical details and always retrospective, not in real time.