Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) Market News: 27 July 2023

Each business day, MSSP Alert delivers a quick lineup of news, analysis and chatter from across the managed security services provider ecosystem.

Today’s MSSP, MSP, MDR, XDR and Cybersecurity Market News

1. Leadership Move: ColorTokens, a unified zero trust platform provider, has appointed Agnidipta Sarkar as vice president, CISO Advisory. He will provide strategic direction for ColorTokens as it continues to innovate and expand in the field of zero trust, the company said.

2. TSA Issues Directive: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced an update to its Security Directive regarding oil and natural gas pipeline cybersecurity. Developed with input from industry stakeholders and federal partners, including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Department of Transportation, the reissued security directive for critical pipeline companies follows the initial directive announced in July 2021 and renewed in July 2022. The directive includes updates that seek to strengthen the industry's defenses against cyberattacks.

3. Company Expansion: Senhasegura, a provider of privileged access management (PAM) solutions, has opened its newest Center of Excellence in Austin, Texas. The Austin Center of Excellence will provide technical training, service and support for Senhasegura’s rapidly growing network of North American channel partners and end users. It joins the company’s existing Center in São Paulo, with additional hubs opening in Germany and Saudi Arabia in the second half of 2023.

4. Funding Boost: MSPbots, an MSP solutions provider, announced that it has raised $5 million in seed funding from Mercury. The new funding will be used to further develop and grow MSPbots with newly emerged AI technologies and accelerate the expansion of its team.

5. Leadership Move: Berkeley Research Group (BRG) has hired FBI Cyber Division Senior Executive Chris Stangl as a managing director in its Cybersecurity and Investigations practice in Washington, D.C. Stangl, who was an FBI Special Agent for more than 20 years, recently led cybersecurity strategy and operations in the agency's Science and Technology Branch.

6. Partner Program Expands: SafeGuard Cyber announced that Aliant has joined its Illuminate Partner Program to provide customers in Latin America with enhanced compliance-as-a-service programs. As SafeGuard Cyber’s newest managed service provider (MSP), Aliant will ensure that joint customers adhere to the dynamic and often ambiguous business conduct and regulatory requirements related to business communications cloud applications, the companies said.

7. Malware Alert: A deeper analysis of a recently discovered malware called Decoy Dog has revealed that it's a significant upgrade over the Pupy RAT, an open-source remote access trojan it's modeled on. "Decoy Dog has a full suite of powerful, previously unknown capabilities, including the ability to move victims to another controller, allowing them to maintain communication with compromised machines and remain hidden for long periods of time," Infoblox said in a Tuesday report. "Some victims have actively communicated with a Decoy Dog server for over a year." (Source: The Hacker News)

8: Ransomware Alert: A new "Nitrogen" initial access malware campaign uses Google and Bing search ads to promote fake software sites that infect unsuspecting users with Cobalt Strike and ransomware payloads. The goal of the Nitrogen malware is to provide the threat actors initial access to corporate networks, allowing them to conduct data-theft, cyberespionage, and ultimately deploying the BlackCat/ALPHV ransomware. (Source: Bleeping Computer)

9. Hawaii School Cyberattack: The University of Hawaii negotiated with the threat actors of a ransomware attack so that confidential data for thousands of people was not released publicly. UH officials say the ransomware attack on the Hawaii Community College network — first reported on June 13 — compromised data for about 28,000 individuals but was not widely posted. (Source: Hawaii News Now)

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