By now I’m sure that you are well aware of the latest critical vulnerability Log4j or Log4Shell that has put IT Teams and MSPs on high alert. In short Log4j vulnerability allowed unauthenticated remote code execution on any Java application running a vulnerable version of Apache’s Log4j 2.
For many businesses incidents just like this are almost impossible to deal with using the resources that they have at their disposal. IT Teams can be small in nature, stretched as thin as possible in many situations, and can lack the expertise to deal with incidents like Log4j. This leaves a business extremely exposed to issues like this because they might not have the available bandwidth and knowledge on staff to know there is an issue let alone respond in a timely manner.
So, what can businesses do to make sure they are not severely impacted by events like this? One option is to partner with a Managed Service Provider (MSP). There are several ways partnering with the right MSP will ensure you’re at less risk in these situations:
- A good MSP will have feeds and alerts set up with key vendors to get instant information when incidents like this occur. This gives them the ability to jump into action more quickly to investigate the impact that it may or may not have on your business. For example, the Logically team was immediately monitoring software vendor communication for fix releases and began implementing as soon as they were available.
- Also, an MSP will already have an Incident Response Plan (IRP) in place where today many businesses struggle because there is no defined IRP and they don’t know where to start or what to do next. Logically’s immediate focus based on this threat was to scan all public IPs for vulnerabilities secure public-facing servers for clients.
- Most importantly you can rest assured that your MSP has the talent on staff to handle these incidents in a rapid, secure, and highly experienced manner with industry tools and expertise on their team.
With technology being injected into all aspects of business and our personal lives it is next to impossible to be aware of all the vulnerabilities that are out there, especially if you are not working with the technology consistently. I would advise that you not go it alone and look to partner with someone to keep your business up to date and secure.
Incidents like Log4j are a great reminder that partnering with a managed service provider to be an extension of your IT Team or business can pay great dividends.
CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) also provided the following Log4j vulnerability mitigation guidance this week:
- Review the latest CISA current activity alert and upgrade to log4j version 2.17, or apply their appropriate vendor recommended mitigations immediately.
- Enumerate any external-facing devices that have log4j installed.
- Make sure that your security operations center is actioning every single alert on the devices that fall into the category above.
- Install a web application firewall (WAF) with rules that automatically update so that your SOC can concentrate on fewer alerts.
To learn more about this vulnerability or what you can do to stay secure, reach out to our experts today.
