Top 8 CISO (Chief Information Security Officers) Checklist for 2024

The year 2023 has been incredibly busy, and the year 2024 does not seem any better. These worries include the security flaws presented by artificial intelligence (AI) as well as the expanding regulatory obligations placed on chief information security officers (CISOs).

Our security experts at Certera anticipate that the cybersecurity landscape will change in the coming year as CISOs keep wrestling with new global cybersecurity rules, ever-evolving damaging attacks, and the repercussions of artificial intelligence (AI) on software development.

Cyber risks are constantly changing, bringing about unexpected challenges.

Essential Trends and Checklist for CISO in 2024

Let’s Analyze the Key Cybersecurity Trends for the CISO in 2024 to be aware of.

AI’s Effects on Security

The growing influence of AI on cybersecurity was the first theme to be covered. A recent data leakage event within ChatGPT was an example for Magill to highlight the increasing challenges around intentional attacks on AI systems.

Although there have always been data breaches, the fact that researchers could obtain training data from a production system with security measures highlights how important it is for CISOs to operationalize AI technology.

Organizations that use AI for various objectives must be cautious about the data they feed these systems, particularly in risk-averse and regulated contexts.

Since today’s artificial intelligence uses enormous amounts of data to facilitate the creation of realistic text- and voice-based attacks and the generation of records on specific victims to be utilized in complex campaigns, generative AI can increase the potency and likelihood of success of any social engineering endeavor.

AI, for instance, can copy someone’s writing style or reference precise and pertinent information taken from earlier breaches. Even “deep fakes,” in which attackers mimic a person’s speech and vocal patterns using artificial intelligence, could have been produced using it.

Attackers typically try to persuade their target to act, but this could be countered by verifying the request through a different channel of communication, preferably one that is highly regarded.

Improved Approach to Cloud Security

Over one-third of companies reported a data breach in their cloud environment last year. This is a 35% increase over the statistics from 2022. Experts in cloud security state that zero trust will surpass data privacy and compliance as the top cloud security objective by 2024.

Furthermore, it’s critical to secure your SaaS environment. Many times, the SaaS security techniques and procedures used today need to be improved.

68% of businesses spend more on hiring and educating employees about SaaS security. However, much more work must be done; sophisticated threat detection and defense systems are essential.

Focus on Implementing Zero Trust Strategies

ZTAs partially and when used comprehensively erect additional trust barriers that restrict the attacker’s lateral movement, and the comparatively short session durations limit the attacker’s window of opportunity and endurance without requiring extra activity.

Since it presumes that no one can be trusted by default, regardless of their position within the organization, the Zero Trust structure is becoming increasingly popular as a security framework.

It entails implementing many layers of protection for networks, systems, and data rather than relying simply on one. Organizations employ this tactic to strengthen security, which will continue in 2024.

Maintain the Software Supply Chain and Third-party Components

When developing secure web applications and apps for the cloud, third-party libraries and dependencies are free of serious risks. This item is essential for security and to comply with licensing and regulatory regulations.

The following advice might help protect online apps from risks posed by third parties:

Set up a patching schedule and SLA-bound updates. Keep an eye out for vulnerabilities and include them in your tech risk register, and Establish and implement role-based environment access.

Software supply chain security features necessary for any software program include the ability to produce Software Bills of Material (SBOMs). A thorough understanding of open-source components may be gained by using SBOMs, which provide a full view of the libraries and dependencies used by third parties in an application.

Exercises using AI Red Teams

Due to the relatively recent development of AI technology, guidelines for AI red teaming still need to be developed; nonetheless, Microsoft has maintained a specialized AI red team since 2018.

The IT giant claims that testing AI models at both the application and base model levels is essential. As per Microsoft, “each level has its benefits.

For example, red teaming the framework assists in recognizing early on how models can be abused, assessing its capabilities, and comprehending its limitations.”

Technology and Products for Citizen Developers

Those without coding skills can finally build interconnected systems and apps because of the Citizen Developer notion.

Certain technologies enable non-techies to link APIs and build personalized automation without a background in technology.

Organizations must prevent these tools from becoming shadow IT as employee use grows and ensure sufficient cyber security and accountability mechanisms are in place.

Make sure that Machine and Service Accounts are using a Secret Manager

We observed several high-profile breaches in 2023 where the attacker succeeded in getting critical information and machine secrets that let them continue to spread laterally throughout the system.

This frequently translates into having the ability to target clients or tenants on cloud platforms. Additionally, there have been cases when the attacker could build a trust connection between an attacker-controlled device and the environment of the victim company due to the compromised vital material.

These credentials often needed to be sufficiently secured against theft, allowing the attacker to take them out of the system and utilize them for their gain.

The potential of theft is lessened by a secrets manager, which is best supported by a physical HSM but not from misuse. But it will make it necessary for them to launch their attacks inside your space. This should improve our capacity to find security breaches and take appropriate action.

Become Ready for the Anticipated Increase in Post-authentication Potential Hazards

Because MFA has been used more often in recent years, attackers are extending, or at least settling in, their methods of attack. Attacks using social engineering, which deceive victims into downloading and installing malware, have shown up again.

Fake but convincing web pop-ups have also become more common, tricking victims into thinking their device is infected before becoming a standard call center-based technical support scam.

While this is not an entirely new development, there is a growing emphasis on obtaining browser tokens, which enable an attacker to assume the target’s identity. Once authentication is successful, these identifiers, or tokens, are set and used to distinguish the authenticated user inside their online session.

Conclusion

In the year 2023, there were a lot of possibilities to improve security and keep ahead of emerging threats to information security. Still, there were also many recent and past issues to wrestle with.

As cybersecurity postures among businesses and consumers worldwide evolve, attackers will undoubtedly keep changing and evolving, and we must keep up with them. It’s evident that significant progress has been made in thwarting phishing and other cyberattacks, and malicious actors are aggressively altering their tactics.

In 2024, CISOs must maintain robust cybersecurity strategies for their companies by being watchful and aggressive in responding to these developing trends.

Certera can assist if you require assistance navigating the ever-changing environment of security, artificial intelligence (AI), and SBOMs. Talk to Our Cyber Security Experts!

Essential CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) Checklist for 2024