NCSC-UK Releases Guidance on Using MSP for Administering Cloud Services

January 11, 2023

Original release date: January 11, 2023

The United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-UK) has released a blog post, Using MSPs to administer your cloud services, that provides organizations security considerations for using a third party, such as a managed service provider (MSP), to administer cloud services. Contracting with an MSP for cloud service management has become an increasingly appealing option for organizations.

The post discusses the trade-offs involved as well as specific security checks organizations should make to confirm the MSP’s ability to defend against cyber threats.

CISA encourages organizations using MSPs for administering cloud services to implement the guidance NCSC-UK provides in the blog post.

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CISA Releases One Industrial Control Systems Advisory

CISA released one Critical Industrial Control Systems (ICS) advisory on July 12, 2023. This advisory provides timely information about current security issues, vulnerabilities, and exploits surrounding ICS.
ICSA-23-193-01 Rockwell Automation Select Communication Modules
CISA encourages users and administrators to review the newly released ICS advisories for technical details and mitigations.

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CISA and FBI Release Cybersecurity Advisory on Enhanced Monitoring to Detect APT Activity Targeting Outlook Online

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA), Enhanced Monitoring to Detect APT Activity Targeting Outlook Online, to provide guidance to agencies and critical infrastructure organizations on enhancing monitoring in Microsoft Exchange Online environments.
In June 2023, a Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agency observed unexpected events in Microsoft 365 (M365) audit logs. After reporting the incident to Microsoft, network defenders deemed the activity malicious. The goal of this CSA is to enhance organizational cybersecurity posture and position organizations to detect similar malicious activity via implementing the listed logging recommendations.
Organizations that identify suspicious, anomalous activity should contact Microsoft for proceeding with mitigation actions due to the cloud-based infrastructure affected, as well as report to CISA and the FBI. For mitigations that are classified as preventative measures (e.g., steps to take to reduce the risk of network categorized exposure), CISA and FBI strongly encourage that FCEB agencies and critical infrastructure organizations ensure Audit Logging is enabled. Note: See CISA’s Microsoft Exchange Online Microsoft 365 Minimum Viable Secure Configuration Baselines. These minimum viable secure configuration baselines are part of CISA’s Secure Cloud Business Applications (SCuBA) project.
For additional information and guidance, CISA and the FBI encourage network defenders to take the measures listed in this CSA to reduce the likelihood of similar activity and posture for detection.