Summary

The Minneapolis Chapter Palo Alto Networks Fuel Users Group Meeting on May 7, 2015, opened with a sobering overview entitled State of Cyber Security, underscoring that breaches are not a question of if but when. Drawing on cultural touchstones from Sesame Streets Oscar the Grouch to BBCs Moriartyi the presenter highlights that even simple lapses (like exposed post-it note credentials) can enable attackers and that motivated adversaries will exploit both technical and human weaknesses.

Hard Data

The bulk of the talk reviewed hard data from the 2015 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, detailing 2014s most significant incidentsranging from Neiman Marcuss 350,000 records to JP Morgan Chases 76 million households and cataloged threat sources, attack vectors, and time-to-compromise metrics. This context stressed that organizations must evolve beyond perimeter defenses and adopt proactive monitoring, rapid patching, and layered controls to limit dwell time and impact.

Information sharing

In response to these challenges, the presentation pivoted to the power of shared intelligence. It outlined the founding of the NorSec ISAO under recent executive orders, described opensource feeds (APTnotes, ShadowServer, REN-ISAC CIF), and defined Indicators of Compromisefrom DNS hosts to file hashesemphasizing that crowd-sourced, expert-vetted threat data is essential for timely detection. Finally, it showcased Palo Alto Networks solutions WildFire for sandbox analysis and Traps for endpoint exploit preventionas integral tools for automating IoC blocking and closing the gap between discovery and defense.

Presentation

State of Cyber Security 2015