Industries

At Cyber Squared, we started out working for one of the toughest and most demanding clients around—the U.S. government. As cyber threats expanded from the government and defense arenas into the commercial realm so did our experience which, over time, has grown to include public corporations, private companies, non-profits, associations and think tanks. We know commercial espionage does not discriminate and affects every industry. While each sector, industry and organization is different, the need to protect vital information and to safeguard long-term competitiveness is universal. And because no one is safe, you can rest assured we bring the same rigor and tenacity to cyber security as cyber criminals bring to their activities.

We recognize that each industry has unique concerns and needs, but we also know that threats are not industry specific, rather, one incident can, and often does, affect victims across a spectrum of industries. Click here to learn more about Project Enlightenment – A Modern Cyber Espionage Case Study. This multi-industry case study examines how the report of a single incident uncovered adversaries who using unwitting, intermediate hosts conducted a sustained espionage campaign against dozens of private sector targets.

The industries listed below are reporting increased attacks. If you would like to have a confidential conversation about your cyber security questions, feel free to contact us.

The Oil/Energy industry is unique. In addition to large physical infrastructure facilities, most companies in this field also possess extensive digital assets worth billions of dollars: complex technologies, research plans and valuable contract information to name a few. Protecting this vital information is now more important than ever.
The Communications sector provides critical infrastructure to deliver essential services and is closely linked to other industries, such as, public safety, energy, transportation and banking. The rapid growth of mobile technologies, integration of the telecommunications infrastructure and complex supply-chain logistics have created unprecedented risks and vulnerabilities.
Protecting individual’s private financial information, as well as, the integrity of the financial system’s in general are absolute requirements in the Financial Services industry in an era where mobile technologies threaten to make the system more vulnerable. .
Reputation-based businesses, such as, International Law Firms and Public Relations Agencies, particularly those with dealings in China, are considered highly vulnerable to cyber attacks by most cyber security experts. Keepers of sensitive corporate data, confidential information on mergers and acquisitions and on-going litigation, they have the utmost responsibility to protect and safeguard their networks.
Think tanks, NGOs and research organizations are prime targets for cyber attacks. Even though in most instances they are not-for-profit, they hold in their networks years of detailed research, policy analysis and strategic knowledge, in many instances, from some of the brightest minds in their fields. That information is valuable and deserves to be protected.
Safeguarding an individual’s privacy and medical records is critical in the Healthcare industry. At the same time, Pharmaceutical and Medical Technology companies invest tremendous resources each year researching and developing new drugs and new technologies. Those advancements signify billions of dollars in future sales and profits. At Cyber Squared, our cyber security strategies are designed around these unique needs.

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  • News and Events
    May 23, 2013 - The Register: The Register: China's exposed crack cyberspy crew dumps 'most' of its kit - The infamous APT1 cyberespionage crew is diminished but not defeated following its public exposure three months ago. Cyber Squared, another threat intelligence firm, reported a month ago that APT1 was still in business. However, at the time it said there was no discernible difference in the group's implant technologies or command and control capabilities. The group's target selection process also remained unaltered, according to Cyber Squared.

    April 30, 2013 - Dark Reading: Chinese Cyberespionage: Brazen, Prolific, And Persistent - The APT1/Comment Crew appears to have done little to change its tactics and methods of attack even after it was unmasked with key intelligence from Mandiant. Cyber Squared last week unveiled new evidence of the group targeting the defense and aerospace community using many of the same techniques and command-and-control (C&C) capabilities as before.

    April 29, 2013 - The Register: Chinese cyber-spook crew back in business, say security watchers - Cyber Squared has been tracking numerous Chinese cyber espionage threat groups within ThreatConnect.com and crowd-sourcing threat intelligence with nearly 400 global security researchers. All signs suggest that “Comment Crew" and other Chinese APT threat groups are still conducting exploitation operations. In fact, there has been little change detected within "Comment Crew" operations.

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    News and Events
    April 26, 2013 - USA Today: Cyberspying from North Korean IP addresses spike - Speaking of which, security start-up Cyber Squared on Thursday reported that the "Comment Crew" also known as "APT1" is back in action. You may recall this spy gang with ties to the Chinese military grabbed headlines a couple of months ago when forensics firm Mandiant released a detailed report of how the gang's day-to-day activities.

    Register to attend Cyber Squared’s Threat Intelligence quarterly update webinar. Spend your lunch hour with our intelligence team on Wednesday, April 17th as they review noteworthy events, case studies, and ThreatConnect updates from the first quarter.

    April 13, 2013 - CSO: Targeted social media attacks said to be underreported - Security company Cyber Squared reported this week how three Chinese political activists in and outside of the country were sent tweets from Twitter that contained links to two compromised websites.

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    News and Events
    April 10, 2013 - ThreatPost: Rogue Twitter Account Used in Targeted Attacks Against Free Tibet Supporters - Researchers at Cyber Squared, an Arlington, Va.-based security company, published their findings this week. The links in the tweets, analyst Wes Hurd wrote, led to a Tibet WordPress blog and a Chinese-language forum; both served up Adobe Flash exploits used in the past to attack aerospace companies as well as an online payroll provider.

    March 21, 2013 - Alienvault Labs: New Sykipot developments - Cyber Squared Sykipot research was mentioned in this Alienvault Labs blog post. In the post, Alienvault Labs exposes several campaigns and new versions of the backdoor they have used to access the compromised systems.

    March 21, 2013 - The Register: Cyberspies send ZOMBIES to steal DRUGS from medical research firms - Cyber-espionage crews have been targeting the lucrative medical and life science industries using custom malware and spear-phishing, according to new research. Security intelligence firm Cyber Squared said that at least three distinct groups have targeted the industry for more than two years since 2010.

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    News and Events
    March 14, 2013 - Dark Reading: Medical Industry Under Attack By Chinese Hackers - Multiple gangs of Chinese cyberespionage hackers are now targeting the healthcare and medical/life sciences industries. Most every industry is fair game for cyberespionage these days -- so it's no surprise that the healthcare and medical industry would come up on the list -- but, to date, it has been a field more abused by cybercriminals motivated by medical identity theft and other financial fraud.

    March 15, 2013 - Tenable Blog: Searching for Custom Malicious File Hashes with Nessus - Cyber Squared mentioned in Tenable blog on Nessus malicious process detection plugins were recently enhanced to allow for searching with custom file hash lists. This allows organizations to add their own sources of malicious file hashes into Tenable's set of cloud-based hashes and botnet checks.

    February 27, 2013 - USA Today: Security tools reveal cyberintruders' trickery - Cyber Squared, for one, has built openness into its business model. The security start-up recently launched ThreatConnect.com, an online exchange where some 150 security researchers and 45 organizations convene around the clock to share data and brainstorm.

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