What is Digital Rights Management?

DRM stands for Digital Rights Management and is a way to protect copyrighted materials, by limiting the use of these things and using proprietary software.

DRM is a way for publishers and authors to control what people who have paid can do with the content. When companies implement DRM, they are preventing users from accessing or using certain assets. This helps them avoid legal issues that arise when unauthorized use occurs.

With the rise of torrent sites, online piracy has become a problem because it is so hard to catch people who engage in this activity. Instead, DRM technologies make it impossible for others to steal or share content.

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How DRM Works

It usually includes a code that prevents copying or limits the number of devices on which you can access it.

Publishers, authors and other content creators use a software that encrypts any copyrighted material. They can also restrict what users are able to do with their materials.

If you want to protect your content, software or product, there are different ways you can do so and DRM is one of the ways that allows for more protection.

• You can use an app to prevent people from editing or saving your content.
• Do not allow users to share or forward your product.
• Limit or restrict the number of times that a document can be printed. For some, it may only be printed up to a certain limit.
• Make sure your content is not easy to screenshot or screen capture.
• After ten uses or 20 printed copies, the document is revoked.An article in “The Economist” discusses how people are becoming more and more interested in living a healthy lifestyle to avoid obesity. One way that some health experts recommend for weight loss is by using meal-replacement shakes like SlimFast when they feel hungry instead of eating food with high amounts of calories such as pizza or chips. The author says this has been shown to be an effective strategy because it controls hunger cravings while also providing nutrients needed for daily body functions (like protein). They go on to say that these products can help control portions since they’re already portioned out into packets which makes it easier than counting calories from different foods one would eat over time if not used only occasionally throughout the dayweekend etc., but rather consumed solely during designated times each week where food intake tends to spike up due to weekend parties, holidays, vacations etc.. This helps keep calorie consumption under control so long as dieters don
• Lock your content to a specific IP address, location or device. This means that if you are only available in the US then it will not be accessible outside of those parameters.
• Create a watermark on your artwork and documents to establish ownership.

The use of digital rights management allows publishers and authors to see when a particular e-book was downloaded or printed, as well as who accessed it.

DRM Use Cases

In this digital world, DRM is important not only for the people who create and sell content but also for companies and individuals that use these assets. Here are a few common cases:
-A company wants to purchase an ebook from another company’s website.
-An individual has bought or licensed some digital asset (for example, music) on their own computerphonetablet.
-Someone wants to watch a TV show online as it airs live without paying anything extra than what they already pay in subscription fees

• DRM can help protect the interests of creators who are worried about unauthorized use or distribution of their work.
• DRM can be used to restrict access to sensitive data, but still allow it to be shared securely. It also makes it easier for auditors and investigators when they need information.
• DRM is a way to ensure that digital work remains unaltered by outside influences. Creators often want their work to be distributed in its original form for it serve the intended purposes.

Challenges of DRM

There are some who do not agree with digital rights management. For instance, those that pay for music on iTunes would love to be able to listen and use it in any way they want.

Companies that are willing to spend a lot of money, like high-value industries will pay for DRM so that their competitors can’t get the same information they have. Critics argue this creates an unfair advantage because businesses may not be able to afford the reports.

However, DRM technology is not perfect. Even if copyright holders include digital rights management code in their product, the public may find a way to circumvent it.

Benefits of DRM

Despite the drawbacks of DRM, it still offers many benefits to content creators.

• DRM helps people understand copyright and intellectual property. Most people are not concerned with copyrights or DRM, but as long as they can access the content that they want to use for themselves, then it is fine.
• DRM is an important part of content licensing, but it’s not perfect. It’s more restrictive for the user and there are better technologies that can be used instead.
• DRM is a way for authors to keep their work protected. It’s easy for companies or users to copy content from someone else’s e-book and rebrand it as theirs, but with DRM you can stop them.
• DRM ensures that videos are only available to paying customers and can also be used to restrict who is able to watch the video.
• DRM is important because it keeps files private. It prevents unauthorized users from seeing or reading confidential information.

Digital content is a huge part of what people interact with every day. There’s so much information and digital assets that companies need to protect, including intellectual property.

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What is Endpoint Detection & Response?

In this post, you’ll learn what endpoint detection and response is all about. Its definition, processes, importance and capabilities.

EDR definition

Gartner’s Anton Chuvakin coined the term Endpoint Threat Detection and Response (ETDR) in July 2013 to define “the tools primarily focused on detecting suspicious activities.” This is a relatively new category of solutions, sometimes compared to Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), that has more security capabilities than other endpoint protection providers.

EDR is an emerging technology that helps companies monitor their networks for threats. It could be argued that endpoint detection and response is a form of advanced threat protection.

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How EDR Works

EDR tools work by monitoring endpoint events, storing the information in a central database for further analysis. The software agent installed on the host system is key to this process.

These tools are used to make sure that companies have a better understanding of all the threats they’re facing.

One endpoint detection and response tool might work better than another depending on what your company needs. Some of them are more focused on the agent, while others focus more on backend management through a console.

All endpoint detection and response tools have the same goal: to be able to identify, detect, and prevent advanced threats.

EDR Tools and capabilities

Some tools offer multiple different types of security capabilities, such as endpoint detection and response in addition to application control, data encryption, device control and encryption or network access controls.

There are three broad categories for endpoint visibility:
-Endpoint detection and response tools provide a multitude of use cases.
-The first category is those who offer EDR as part of broader set capabilities, which can be used in many different situations.

• Data search and investigations
• Suspicious activity detection
• Data exploration

A lot of EDR tools can identify patterns or anomalies in processes that are flagged based on comparisons to baselines. These alerts may be automated, but some require further investigation.

Importance of EDR

The field of endpoint detection and response is still relatively new, but it’s quickly becoming an essential element in the enterprise security solution. Organizations should consider EDR capabilities when looking for a company to provide them with their most advanced security system.

If you want to buy a security solution, make sure it has these features.

• False positives are easy to filter out, but alert fatigue can happen because of the many alerts that come in. This leads to a higher chance for real threats slipping through unnoticed.
• A good security solution will block threats the moment they are detected and throughout their lifetime.
• A data leak prevention solution can help prevent a full-blown breach if it includes threat hunting and incident response capabilities. Threat hunting is the process of looking for malicious activity that may lead to an attack, while incident response involves taking action in case one has already occurred.
• Multiple Threat Protection: It’s important to have a security solution that can handle multiple types of threats at the same time, such as ransomware and malware.

When it comes to advanced threats, a lot of companies are in need of endpoint detection and response.

What is Endpoint Detection And Response

Endpoint detection and response (EDR) is a type of endpoint security solution. It combines real-time continuous monitoring with rules-based automated responses.

Sales of EDR solutions are expected to increase significantly over the next few years.

The first sentence is a paraphrase because it’s from an article that talks about what happened in the past. The last two sentences could be either paraphrased or quoted, based on how they’re used within your essay.

The number of endpoints attached to networks has increased, as well as the sophistication of cyber attacks. The latter often targets endpoints because it is easier than infiltrating a network.

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Encrypted Email Meaning

In an attempt to define encrypted email we can say email encryption is simply protecting an email. An email message can be protected by giving an email a password to keep the email from being read by anyone other than the intended recipient. When this is done, we can say the email is encrypted.

As PC World points out, it’s not just those who may email sensitive information that need to encrypt their emails. Hackers can gain unauthorized access and even hijack your entire account if they get ahold of any personal data you send in an email.

You can’t be too careful about email. Even if you send it over a secure network, someone may intercept your login credentials.

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What Should be Encrypted: Email Encryption

PC World recommends three things to encrypt:

• The email provider that you use
• Your actual email messages
• Your old email messages

Encrypting the connection prevents unauthorized users on your network from intercepting and capturing login credentials or email messages as they travel around the Internet.

Encrypting email messages before they’re sent means that even if a hacker should intercept your emails, the message is unreadable and useless.

If you have a Microsoft Outlook account, hackers can still gain access to your emails even if they are encrypted.

What Does it Mean to Encrypt an Email

The Symantec 2019 Internet Security Threat Report says that smaller companies are being targeted more often by malicious emails, with one in 323 of them a target.

Both SSL and TLS are application-layer protocols that allow the communication channel between two computers to be encrypted. The protocol encrypts a computer’s information.

Basically, to send and receive emails, you need a client that can make contact with the server. This is done through TCP or Transmission Control Protocol.

The handshake is when the email client tries to communicate with an email server so they can start sending emails. SSL and TLS are kind of interchangeable, but the only difference between them is which version you’re using.

Once they’ve “shaken hands,” the server will verify the client’s identity by sending a certificate to them verifying their authenticity. This also verifies that it is trusted by your software.

This also helps make sure that the emails are going to who they’re supposed to, and it also allows two people from different companies with encryption keys for email correspondence.

TLS and SSL are application layer protocols, so both the sender and recipient need to know that they’re being used in order for it to work.

How Secure is Encrypted Email?

What does email encryption do?

A personal email certificate is one way to protect your emails from spam. Personal certificates sign all of the messages you send, which lets recipients know if they were really sent by you.

Email encryption usually relies on a Public Key Infrastructure or PKI, in most cases. A public key is used to encrypt messages and only the person with the corresponding private key can decrypt them.

Encrypting only the emails containing sensitive information is a bad idea because it points hackers to exactly what they are looking for.

When you encrypt all email messages as a standard practice, hackers wishing to access your personal information have a more difficult time gaining it. Decrypting just one message is an arduous task that even the most dedicated hacker may not see as worth their trouble.

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The State’s Need for the KISS Principle

SecurityStudio is dedicated to serving state and local government.

In our work, we’ve witnessed firsthand the incredible challenges facing state cybersecurity [1] personnel. State Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) are tasked with the mission of securing state information assets, but the challenge is nearly impossible. The challenge is hopeless with limited political/management support, obstructed visibility, inadequate resources, and constant distraction.

We must put state CISOs in the best position to succeed.

Specific cybersecurity challenges are different in each state, but there are common themes like:

1. Technology Adoption – We continue to adopt technology faster than our ability to secure it.
2. Personnel Support – Cybersecurity personnel are asked to do more than they’re capable of.
3. Fundamentals – The fundamentals are fundamentals; it doesn’t matter where they’re applied.
4. Complexity – This is always the worst enemy of information security.

The CISO’s mission may be “nearly” impossible, but we believe the mission can become reality. The path forward (now or later) is the KISS Principle (or something similar).

Introduction to the State KISS Principle

In our context, K.I.S.S. stands for “Keep Information Security Simple [2]”.

Complexity is the worst enemy of security. This is logical. It’s easier to secure three systems versus three hundred. A small organization is easier to secure than a large one, like a state. If complexity is our worst enemy, is it safe to say that “simplicity is our best ally”? We think so.

Simplicity is the key to achieving information security success in state government. Speaking of “success”, this is the first phase of the KISS Principle. There are six simple (not easy) phases to the KISS Principle.

Phase 1: Define Information Security Success

Try this, ask someone to define information security success for you. From the governor, legislators, CIO, agency heads, and citizens, the answers will be different. This is not necessarily a bad thing; this is a great opportunity to lead and unify.

At SecurityStudio we define information security success as “managing information security risk well”. This by itself is too vague without elaboration.

• This is managing information security risk, NOT eliminating information security risk. Eliminating risk is impossible. Managing risk requires understanding risk (assessment), making responsible risk decisions, and acting on the decisions that were made. Just one more thing…

Measurement. We can’t manage what we can’t measure. SecurityStudio’s S2 platform is a risk measurement and management platform that will help.

• Information security encompasses three domains, operational (or administrative) [3], physical [4], and technical. Information security is NOT an IT issue, it’s everyone’s issue.
• Risk is the likelihood of something bad happening and the impact if it did. Likelihood and impact are dependent upon threats and vulnerabilities (or weaknesses). The goal is to minimize the likelihood and/or impact of compromise in line with what we deem “acceptable”.

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Assuming success in all the above, the word “well” is defined by our decisions and resulting measurement (or score). This is information security success!

Summary

An example:

Information security success in (INSERT_STATE) is attained by achieving and maintaining an overall S2Score of 660 (or higher) while also maintaining S2Scores of 660 (or higher) across operational, physical, and technical security domains.

This definition of success is easily understood, objective, measurable, and comprehensive. Defining success isn’t all that difficult, making success reality is the hard part.

Socialize the definition of success so people can 1) understand it, 2) buy into it, and 3) hold each other accountable for it.

Phase 2: Simple Structures

Securing a complex organization (like a state) can be overwhelming. In some states, the CISO is responsible for controlling (or influencing) information security across agencies, departments, counties, municipalities, education, and much more. Without proper structure and simplification, this is an impossible proposition.

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We can’t boil the ocean, and we can’t tackle the state as a single mammoth entity either. A complex organization, like a state, is made up of many smaller, simple structures (or “entities”). There are three main entity types, aligned with our definition of information security:

• Administrative Entity –maintains its own administrative authority over information security, meaning its own management structure, policies, or way of doing things. Typically, counties, education institutions, municipalities, and larger agencies.
• Physical Entity –maintains its own physical control authority (building security and/or facilities personnel).
• Technical Entity –maintains its own technical control authority. Typically, an entity with its own IT department or function (including “ghost” IT).

Some entities fit nicely into a single type; other entities are combinations of types. Defining entities can be a tedious task, but it must be done and it’s well worth the effort.

Phase 2 Tasks

Answer the following questions:

• What are the entities under the purview of the state? Some are under the authority of the state, and some are supported (or influenced). Give each entity a name.
• Define who’s responsible for each entity. We call these people “Risk Owners”.
• Define the Risk Owner role, inform Risk Owners and provide basic training.

Risk Owners

Keep this simple. Risk Owners commonly have three responsibilities:

1. Obtain quality risk information (assessments) for their entity.
2. Make risk decisions on behalf of their entity.
3. Ensure that risk decisions are carried out.

It’s common for a Risk Owner to not know they are a Risk Owner, and it’s also common for Risk Owners to not know what they’re responsible for. This role must be documented and communicated properly. If you need any assistance, SecurityStudio can offer many free resources (including templates).

Phase 3: Same Language

Not everybody speaks “information security” the same way. It’s important for every entity to use the same methodology and terminology when managing risk. Risk assessments must be done using the same (or similar) tool for consistent context and scoring throughout the state (between entities).

S2Org

S2Org was built to be the simple information security language.

Benefits of using the same language include:

• It’s educational. Most people don’t appreciate the many facets of information security. Improved education leads to more buy-in.
• Measurements are consistent. Consistent measurements allow for rollups, dashboards, and apples-to-apples comparisons. This puts risk into context.
• It becomes cultural. The language becomes part of the culture and people participate more.

Phase 3 Tasks

The S2 platform makes all these tasks simple (and easy).

• Choose your language. At this point, only the Risk Owners need to speak the language.
• Conduct risk assessments. Completed by Risk Owners or delegated by the Risk Owner.
• Compile results on a single dashboard or screen for context.
• Report the results to all interested parties. The language is taught to others throughout this process and buy-in slowly starts.

IMPORTANT: Many people overthink this part of the process, we suggest you don’t.

Phase 4: Baselines

There are certain risks that are unacceptable to the entire organization, from top to bottom. Determining these risks will help establish the global baseline by which all entities should abide. Local baselines are set by the Risk Owners, where they decide the following:

• What is the risk decision? The are only four options: accept, mitigate, transfer, or avoid. Undecided risks become accepted ones by default.
• Who will enact the risk decision? Someone must be accountable, or it won’t get done.
• When will the risk decision be enacted?
• How much will it cost? This is the objective and justified budget we all covet.

The local baselines become road maps.

Budget

Risk Owners have weighed in, deciding which risks are acceptable and which are not. All decisions were made using objective criteria and all budget items are tied to specific risks. Getting budget approval is more likely when decisions are quantified, distributed, and put into context. The classic “what will this money get us?” is an easy discussion.

There will be multiple budgets affected, depending on how things break down fiscally.

Ultimately, budget approvers/stakeholders (usually the legislature) can begin to understand:

1. The current state of the state’s information security program.
2. The future/planned state of the state’s information security program.
3. When the state can expect to reach the future/planned state.
4. How much the future/planned state will cost.

Some expenditures will be state expenditures, and some will be local. Costs can be distributed, and resources can be pooled, saving money in the end. In addition to the four important metrics (above), we can communicate what our most significant risk is now.

Phase 4 Tasks

Four simple, but certainly NOT easy tasks in Phase 4:

• Establish global, or universal standards of what’s acceptable and what’s not.
• Coach Risk Owners to make good risk decisions, then let them.
• Finalize roadmaps with Risk Owners.
• Establish and obtain budget.

At this point, distributed risk management will start becoming operationalized and people will begin to see the vision.

Phase 5: Progress

This is all about execution. Joint, coordinate progress is made building the state’s information security program together. All entities have roadmaps, and execution continues until the end of the roadmap.

Many things will happen at once during this phase (CISOs are used to this anyway). Every entity should be busy managing to their roadmap, and the CISO has visibility into it all. As things are completed, scores (S2Scores on S2) change. Current status can be provided to any/all interested parties.

Phase 5 Tasks

Manage the roadmap process, ensuring that people complete what they agreed to complete. If/when roadmap projects and tasks don’t get completed, the Risk Owner should be held accountable.

Phase 6: Improvement

This phase is about review and improvement before beginning the cycle again. Review the successes and challenges in the first cycle, Phase 1 through Phase 5. Adjust and run the entire process again. The second, and each successive time through the cycle gets easier because the processes become operationalized and cultural.

In each cycle, risk assessments are completed in Phase 3. These assessments are like stakes in the ground where the state (and entities) measure themselves from. In each pass, the stake gets set again with newer, more relevant risk data.

Phase 6 Tasks

There are only two tasks in Phase 6:

• Conduct a formal review of the entire KISS Principle as it was applied. In the review, focus on simplification and resist the urge to add more things.
• Suggest and make improvements, as necessary.

That’s it. Start at Phase 1 again. The six phases of the State KISS Principle. At each phase, complex concepts were simplified. The work was not easy, but nobody said it would be. What was removed (even if just a little) was confusion and complexity.

Conclusion

SecurityStudio is here to help those who serve in our state governments. We focus on our mission, to fix the broken information security industry, before all else. Our mission forces us to look at things from the perspective of those who are served (usually individual people) and those who serve (our information security compatriots).

The truth is complexity in state government has never been greater, and state cybersecurity personnel are asked to do more than they’re capable of.

These things are the purpose behind SecurityStudio’s S2 platform.

Contact us to see a demonstration, register trial accounts, and/or arrange for a proof of concept (POC).

We are always here to serve. SecurityStudio CEO Evan Francen, email: efrancen@stg-securitystudio-staging.kinsta.cloud.

To learn more about SecurityStudio, our tools, or our #MissionBeforeMoney, visit us online at https://securitystudio.com.

[1] “It’s easier to go through your secretary than it is to go through your firewall.”

[2] “Your firewall doesn’t help when someone steals the server.”

[3] “It’s easier to go through your secretary than it is to go through your firewall.”

[4] “Your firewall doesn’t help when someone steals the server.”

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