Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) News: 22 July 2021

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

A. Today’s MSSP, MDR and Cybersecurity News Alerts

1. President Biden Plans Cyber Summit: President Biden and members of his national security team plan to meet on August 25 with business executives about cybersecurity, The Associated Press reports.

2. M&A - Microsoft Azure Security: Microsoft has acquired CloudKnox Security to further boost Microsoft Azure identity and access management (IAM) capabilities.

3. Managed Detection and Response (MDR) for Governments: CrowdStrike has released CrowdStrike Falcon for GovCloud — a FedRAMP-authorized endpoint protection platform.

4. Talent - MDR and SASE Services: Open Systems has hired VMware and RSA Security veteran Tom Corn as chief product officer (CPO). Open Systems develops MDR (managed detection and response) and SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) services backed by SOC and NOC services.

5. Investment - Chip Security: Xilinx has invested in Kameleon Security, a semiconductor startup focused on hardware security. Financial terms were not disclosed.

6. APT31 Hackers Allegedly Target France: French cyber-security watchdog ANSSI warned of what it said were ongoing attacks against a large number of French organizations led by the China-linked APT31 hacking group, Reuters reports.

7. Cyberattack vs. Nationwide Logistics: South African state-owned logistics firm Transnet was hit by a suspected cyberattack, which affected some of Transnet's container terminal operations, Reuters reports.

8. Cyberattack vs. Law Firm: An alleged cybercrime gang known as FIN7 deployed malware in a law firm using fake legal complaint against Jack Daniels’ Owner, Brown-Forman Inc., according to eSentire analysis.

9. Arrest In Twitter Hack: A British man named Joseph O'Connor has been charged in the United States in connection with a 2020 Twitter hack that compromised the accounts of prominent politicians, celebrities and technology moguls, The Associated Press reports.

10. Intel Zero Trust Strategy: What is Intel's Zero Trust strategy for silicon? New details and perspectives surfaced in this blog from Intel VP Martin G. Dixon.

B. Cybersecurity Partnerships, Strategic Alliances and Integrations

1. Channel Chief: Digital Hands, a Top 250 MSSP, has hired AT&T Cybersecurity veteran Kim Bilderback as its AVP of channel sales. Bilderback will lead Digital Hands' field sales team and "drive the activation and delivery of sales results through the various Digital Hands go-to-market channel partners," the MSSP says.

2. Partnership - SIEM and Big Data Cloud: Securonix and Snowflake have launched the "Bring your own Snowflake" program. The new program "allows joint customers to seamlessly benefit from Securonix’s fully managed SaaS SIEM solution," the duo asserts.

3. Partnership - Threat Intelligence: Avast and RiskIQ have inked a threat intelligence partnership. Under the agreement, the companies will use their specific areas of expertise to "develop combined threat intelligence that will be offered to their customer bases to enhance their security practices," Avast and RiskIQ said. On a side note, NortonLifeLock has been exploring a potential Avast acquisition, and Microsoft is acquiring RiskIQ.

4. Distribution: Synnex has agreed to distribute Proofpoint's security products.

C. MSSP, MDR and Cybersecurity Virtual Events and Conference Calendar