SSVM Platinum Case Study

Introduction

Secutor’s Signature Vulnerability Management (SSVM) system is a holistic, risk-based approach to Vulnerability Management that places emphasis on using network security architecture in combination with the award-winning QualysGuard platform to identify critical attack vectors and prioritize vulnerability remediation. We help our clients find the “needle in a haystack”: the risks and vulnerabilities that offer malicious entities the path of least resistance into their secured network.

In combination with GRC for Risk Analysis, Compliance Assessment, and Incident Management, SSVM is a comprehensive solution that serves as a solid foundation upon which a successful cybersecurity can be built.

Situation

A large multi-national SaaS business with more than 50,000 clients, managing nearly 1,500,000 assets in over 70 countries had renewed its focus on cybersecurity and their customers were starting to demand that they provide proof of compliance with a variety of policies and regulations. The new CISO faced a nearly overwhelming challenge to provide the executive board with an overview of the state of their network security: its strengths, weaknesses, compliance with internal and customer-driven policies and metrics to show progress towards achieving their goals of better protecting their IP and customer data.

Challenges

Secutor reviewed and rapidly identified their most pressing challenges, which included:

  • Ad-hoc vulnerability assessments with limited reporting
  • They were critically short-handed on staff with the time and knowledge to implement a Vulnerability Management program
  • No easy way to track vulnerabilities from detection through remediation
  • No up-to-date asset or software inventory
  • Lack of metrics and KPIs to track progres
  • Legacy, internationally distributed network with no current network diagrams
  • A new virtual network infrastructure project running in parallel
  • Lack of effective communication between the network, IT, and security teams

Services Provided

Secutor Cybersecurity experts collaborated with the customer’s IT Security team to provide the following services:

1.
Gap
Analysis

Reviewed the existing security policies and procedures to identify areas for improvement or refinement.

2.
Network Security Architecture Audit

Analyzed every layer 3 network device to build a complete picture of all possible access vectors in to, out of, and within the network.

3.
Continuous Vulnerability Management

Designed and implemented a comprehensive solution around Qualys where scans, ticketing, and reports were optimized and automated.

4.
Vulnerability Prioritization

Merged the network security architecture audit with Qualys scans to identify the highest priority vulnerabilities: the ones exposed to threat sources.

5.
Metrics

Identified usable and understandable metrics that were the most important to the customer and automated them, for the CISO and her team to have continuously updated action items.

6.
Governance, Risk, Compliance

Drafted Vulnerability Management and Remediation policies and procedures.

7.
Integration

Used the Qualys API to integrate with Allgress and ServiceNow for ticketing and asset management.

8.
Training

Provided knowledge transfer to ensure a smooth transition of the new systems and processes to the customer’s staff.

Summary

Secutor helped this customer improve their security posture and significantly reduce risk by:

Identifying all 101,000 internal IP addresses on their network, answering the question: “Am I comprehensively detecting and remediating vulnerabilities in the entirety of my computing environment?”

Obtain a continuously updated asset and software inventory of all 5,000 networked devices, answering the question: “Do I know what I need to protect?”

Focus on the 10 highest severity vulnerabilities out 70,000 “high priority” vulnerabilities that Qualys identified, answering the question: “Do I have the right prioritization in my remediation program?”

Track improvements in information security, answering the question: “Am I getting a Return on Investment from my information security program?”

About Secutor

Secutor Cybersecurity is a trusted partner comprised of industry leading experts in the fields of Cybersecurity and Governance, Risk and Compliance. We partner with our clients to deliver on-demand solutions tailored to expertly navigate the regulatory demands of their specific industries.

Our proven track record of successfully exceeding client expectations is achieved through the combination of our methodical approach, advanced technologies, subject matter experts, and synergy with client team members.

Secutor is your team of world-class problem solvers with vast expertise and experience delivering complete solutions keeping your organization protected, audit-ready, and running smoothly.

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Jason Fruge

Consulting Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

Jason Fruge is an accomplished Consulting Chief Information Security Officer at Secutor Cybersecurity, bringing over 25 years of deep expertise in information security. His storied career includes leading and managing robust security programs for Fortune 500 companies across retail, banking, and fintech sectors. His current role involves providing strategic guidance and advisory services to clients, focusing on security governance, risk management, and compliance.

Apart from his consulting responsibilities, Jason is an active member of the global cybersecurity community. He is a Villager at Team8, a prestigious collective of senior cybersecurity executives and thought leaders. Additionally, he serves as an Advisor at NightDragon, an innovative growth and venture capital firm specializing in cybersecurity and enterprise technologies.

Jason’s tenure as a CISO is marked by a proven track record in developing and implementing comprehensive security policies and procedures. He adeptly leverages security frameworks and industry best practices to mitigate risks, safeguarding sensitive data and assets. His expertise encompasses incident response and root cause analysis, where he has notably managed cyber incidents to prevent breaches and minimize business disruption and customer impact.

A key aspect of Jason’s role has been the creation and facilitation of executive and board-level cyber risk committees, ensuring organizational alignment and awareness. His responsibilities have extended to maintaining compliance programs for standards such as PCI and SOX, as well as leading privacy and business continuity programs. Holding prestigious certifications like CISSP, QSA, and QTE, Jason is also a recognized thought leader, contributing articles on cybersecurity to InformationWeek.

Jason’s passion lies in driving innovation and fostering collaboration in the cybersecurity field. He is currently seeking an executive CISO role in a leading retail, finance, or fintech organization, where he can continue to make significant contributions to the cybersecurity landscape.

Jennifer Bayuk

Cybersecurity Risk Management Expert

Jennifer Bayuk is a highly esteemed cybersecurity risk management thought leader and subject matter expert at Secutor Cybersecurity. Her extensive experience encompasses managing and measuring large-scale cybersecurity programs, system security architecture, and a wide array of cybersecurity tools and techniques. Jennifer’s expertise is further deepened with her proficiency in cybersecurity forensics, the audit of information systems and networks, and technology control processes.

Jennifer’s skill set is comprehensive, including specialization in cybersecurity risk and performance indicators, technology risk awareness education, risk management training curriculum, and system security research. Her academic achievements are noteworthy, holding Masters degrees in Philosophy and Computer Science, and a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering. This strong academic background provides a solid foundation for her practical and strategic approach to cybersecurity challenges.

Certified in Information Systems Audit, Information Systems Security, Information Security Management, and IT Governance, Jennifer is a well-rounded professional in the field. Her credentials are further enhanced by her license as a New Jersey Private Investigator, adding a unique dimension to her cybersecurity expertise.

At Secutor, Jennifer plays a pivotal role in steering cybersecurity initiatives, aligning them with organizational risk appetites and strategic objectives. Her ability to educate and train in the realm of technology risk has been instrumental in raising awareness and enhancing the cybersecurity posture of our clients. Her dedication to research and continual learning makes her an invaluable resource in navigating the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape.

Jennifer Bayuk’s blend of academic prowess, practical experience, and certifications make her an indispensable part of our team, as she continues to drive forward-thinking cybersecurity solutions and risk management strategies.

Steve Blanding

CISO Consultant

CISSP, CISA, CGEIT, CRISC

Steve is an IT management consultant living in Dallas, TX. Steve has over 35 years of experience in executive IT leadership, IT governance, risk and compliance (GRC), systems auditing, quality assurance, information security, and business resumption planning for large corporations in the Big-4 professional services, financial services, manufacturing, retail electronics, and defense contract industries. He has extensive experience with industry best practices for adopting and implementing new technologies, IT service management frameworks, and GRC solutions that have dramatically improved customer satisfaction while reducing cost.

Industry Experience

  • State Government: 5 years
  • Retail: 5 years
  • Defense Contract: 5 years
  • Manufacturing: 2 years
  • Health Care: 2 years
  • Local Government: 2 years
  • Public Accounting (Big 4): 7 years
  • Insurance: 3 years
  • Financial Services: 5 years

Key Career Accomplishments

  • Conducted a full-scale ISO27000 audit 4 times over the past 6 years.  Also, conducted a “light” ISO27000 review of a small Dallas-based company in 2007.
  • Developed and authored a comprehensive IT security policy manual, incident response plans, training programs, security contingency plans and configuration management plans for FedRAMP regulatory compliance.
  • Conducted multiple DR and operational backup and recovery IT risk assessments of critical business systems on mainframe, LAN, and distributed system networks located across North America.
  • Conducted data centers audits for Tyco Corporation (Brussels, 2005 and Denver, 2006), Farmers Insurance (Los Angeles, 2006), Zurich Financial Services (Chicago, Kansas City, and Grand Rapids, 2006), and Convergys Corporation (Dallas, 2010, 2011, and 2012).
  • Led a project to remediate segregation of duties and streamline user access system security and HIPAA compliance administration across 5 regions in North America, resulting in cost savings of $700,000 per year (Kaiser Permanente).
  • Implemented Sarbanes-Oxley Section 302 and 404 IT general and application controls, reducing security administration costs and improving operational performance by 50% or $500,000 annually (Tyco Corporation).
  • Led the global SAP business-IT alignment, process re-design implementation initiative for financial accounting, materials management, production planning, quality management, sales and distribution, warehouse management, and plant maintenance, which resulted in creating $2,000,000 in cost savings.
  • Engaged by Arthur Andersen in Houston to transform the local IT organization and then direct 3 organizational mergers/consolidations, which resulted in a 25% reduction in operating costs, or $3,250,000, while improving customer satisfaction by 30%, and improving employee morale, technology availability and the quality of IT infrastructure and service delivery.
  • Assigned by Arthur Andersen global leadership to lead global project teams responsible for data center and customer support call center consolidation, which resulted in annual operational cost savings of 45% or $4,000,000.
  • Implemented ITIL service management practices for problem management, incident management, help desk, project management, and operations management.
  • Conducted SOX 404 audits at Duke Energy (6 months), Red Hat (3 months), Tyco (9 months), Zeon Chemicals (4 months), and Convergys (2 months). Experience includes control design/documentation and effectiveness testing.

Publications:

Author, various articles in EDPACS and Auerbach’s IT Audit Portfolio Series, 1981 – 2001

Author, various articles in the Handbook of Information Security Management, 1993 – 1995

Editor, Auerbach’s Enterprise Operations Management, 2002

Editor, Auerbach’s IT Audit Portfolio Series, 2000 – 2002

Consulting Editor, Auerbach’s EOM Portfolio Series, 1998 -2001

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