Category: technology

Mandiant Launches Mandiant Academy Providing Security Teams with Training from Frontline Cyber Experts

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Mandiant Cyber Defense Summit – Oct. 6, 2021 – Mandiant, Inc., (NASDAQ: MNDT), the leader in dynamic cyber defense and response, today announced its new training program – Mandiant Academy. Leveraging Mandiant’s leading threat intelligence and cyber security expertise, the program provides education courses, incident response and threat intelligence analysis certifications, and operational skills training to meet the shifting needs of security teams today. Delivered by frontline industry experts, Mandiant Academy is designed to help close the cyber security skills gap by maturing security teams’ on-the-job capabilities and improving their ability to prevent, detect and respond to today’s evolving threat actors.

Closing the cyber security skills gap through trainings​ and certifications

An estimated nearly half a million cyber security jobs remain open. This skills gap is compounded by the fact that cyber criminals’ tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) have become more advanced and unpredictable. Organizations need to implement strategies that involve training their security teams to develop and grow their problem-solving and critical thinking skills to defeat threats at hand. With flexible delivery options to meet specific organizational needs, Mandiant Academy helps ensure that cyber security practitioners are equipped with the right skillsets and latest knowledge on the attacker landscape to be even greater assets to their organizations before, during, and after an incident.

To further the impact of Mandiant’s training program, the company is collaborating with VetSec, Inc., a non-profit organization that helps veterans enter careers in cyber security, to offer 33 VetSec, Inc. members complimentary access to Mandiant Academy’s On-Demand Cyber Threat Intelligence Training courses.

“We’re thrilled to provide a subset of our members this robust program and access to in-depth training from the cyber security experts fighting sophisticated attackers every day,” said Tom Marsland, Board Chairman at VetSec, Inc. “At VetSec, Inc., we work with veterans to help them continue to excel or transition out of the military and secure careers in IT and cyber security. This includes providing the best, free resources like Mandiant Academy.”

More on the work Mandiant and VetSec, Inc. are doing together can be found here: https://mndt.info/3uDJwBK

The On-Demand Cyber Threat Intelligence Training courses provide security practitioners with professional-grade classes to learn critical security skills, including best practice threat intelligence frameworks, attacker tradecraft, RFI analysis and more.

In addition to these courses, Mandiant Academy gives organizations a range of tailored education options, including:

A proctor-based certifications program designed to test security teams’ incident response capabilities and threat intelligence knowledge against real-world cyber threats.

Courses that are instructor-led, dedicated to one organization or delivered remotely to individual security professionals.

On-demand sessions that can be taken from the comfort of a student’s home or other desired space, at their convenience.

Immersive, hands-on experiences customized to validate a team’s capabilities with real-world scenarios in Mandiant’s ThreatSpace cyber range, a three-day cyber simulation exercise that emulates real-world threats.

Security Expertise and Incident Response courses taught by active security practitioners. Leveraging Mandiant’s extensive incident response experience on the frontlines, these instructors offer first-hand knowledge of attacker TTPs, tools and malware to apply on-the-job.

Get started with access to several free Mandiant Academy preview videos: www.mandiant.com/advantage/academy

Introducing the “The Defender’s Advantage” Guidebook

Mandiant is also introducing a new book, “The Defender’s Advantage”, for cyber security professionals and organization leaders as an educational resource. “The Defender’s Advantage” provides expert insights on activating cyber defenses and employing accelerators to gain an advantage in the evolving cyber security landscape. The book includes advice on building security teams with the right people, right processes, and right capabilities to hunt for threats and manage incidents, as well as expertise from leaders in the field including Mandiant’s Threat Intelligence and Strategic Consulting Teams.

Nick Bennett, Vice President of Mandiant Consulting, added, “Most cyber security organizations are hyper-focused on equipping their Security Operation Centers (SOC) with the latest tools to defend against cyber attacks within their own environment. Creating a strong cyber security team goes beyond implementing the latest tools and solutions. It is about finding and developing the right people to cultivate a high-performance team equipped to navigate the rapidly changing cyber landscape. As such, our team of experts felt it was our duty to educate and bring together the cyber security community by creating a guidebook. Together we can all work to improve cyber defense capabilities and close the industry-wide cyber security skills gap.”

Mandiant Cyber Defense Summit 2021 attendees can pick up their hard copy of “The Defender’s Advantage” at the event. A digital copy may also be downloaded here: www.mandiant.com/defenders-advantage

Cadence Accelerates System Innovation with Breakthrough Integrity 3D-IC Platform

New Delhi, India, October 7, 2021—Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDNS) today announced the delivery of the CadenceÒ IntegrityÔ 3D-IC platform, the industry’s first comprehensive, high-capacity 3D-IC platform that integrates 3D design planning, implementation and system analysis in a single, unified cockpit. The Integrity 3D-IC platform underpins Cadence’s third-generation 3D-IC solution, providing customers with system-driven power, performance and area (PPA) for individual chiplets through integrated thermal, power and static timing analysis capabilities.

Chip designers creating hyperscale computing, consumer, 5G communications, mobile and automotive applications can achieve greater productivity with the Integrity 3D-IC platform versus a disjointed die-by-die implementation approach. The platform uniquely provides system planning, integrated electrothermal, static timing analysis (STA) and physical verification flows, enabling faster, high-quality 3D design closure. It also incorporates 3D exploration flows, which take 2D design netlists to create multiple 3D stacking scenarios based on user input, automatically selecting the optimal, final 3D stacked configuration. Furthermore, the platform database supports all 3D design types, letting engineers create designs at multiple process nodes simultaneously and perform seamless co-design with package design teams and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) companies that use Cadence Allegro® packaging technologies. For more information on the Integrity 3D-IC platform, please visit www.cadence.com/go/integrity.

Customers using the Integrity 3D-IC platform have access to the following features and benefits:

• Common cockpit and database: Lets SoC and package design teams co-optimize the complete system concurrently, allowing system-level feedback to be incorporated efficiently.
• Complete planning system: Incorporates a complete 3D-IC stack planning system for all types of 3D designs, enabling customers to manage and implement native 3D stacking.
• Seamless implementation tool integration: Provides ease of use through direct script-based integration with the Cadence InnovusÔ Implementation System for high-capacity digital designs with 3D die partitioning, optimization and timing flows.
• Integrated system-level analysis capabilities: Enables robust 3D-IC design through early electrothermal and cross-die STA, which allows early system-level feedback for system-driven PPA.
• Co-design with the VirtuosoÒ Design Environment and Allegro packaging technologies: Allows engineers to seamlessly move design data from Cadence analog and packaging environments to different parts of the system through the hierarchical database, enabling faster design closure and improved productivity.
• Easy-to-use interface: Includes a powerful user cockpit with a flow manager that provides designers with a uniform, interactive way to run relevant system-level 3D system analysis flows.

“Cadence has historically offered customers strong 3D-IC packaging solutions through its leading digital, analog and package implementation product lines,” said Dr. Chin-Chi Teng, senior vice president and general manager in the Digital & Signoff Group at Cadence. “With recent developments in advanced packaging technologies, we saw a need to further build upon our successful 3D-IC foundation, providing a more tightly integrated platform that ties our implementation technology with system-level planning and analysis. As the industry continues to move toward different configurations of 3D stacked dies, the new Integrity 3D-IC platform lets customers achieve system-driven PPA, reduced design complexity and faster time to market.”

The Integrity 3D-IC platform is part of the broader Cadence 3D-IC solution portfolio, which goes beyond digital and includes system and verification and IP features. The broader solution provides hardware and software co-verification and power analysis of the full system via the Dynamic Duo, which consists of the PalladiumÒ Z2 and ProtiumÔ X2 platforms. It also provides connectivity via chiplet-based PHY IP with PPA optimized for latency, bandwidth and power. The Integrity 3D-IC platform offers co-design capabilities with the Virtuoso Design Environment and Allegro technologies, integrated IC signoff extraction and STA with the QuantusÔ Extraction Solution and Tempus™ Timing Signoff Solution, and integrated signal integrity/power integrity (SI/PI), electromagnetic interference (EMI) and thermal analysis with the SigrityÔ technology portfolio, ClarityÔ 3D Transient Solver and CelsiusÔ Thermal Solver. Both the new Integrity 3D-IC platform and the broader 3D-IC solution portfolio are built on a solid foundation of SoC design excellence and system-level innovation, supporting the company’s Intelligent System Design™ strategy. For more information on the Cadence 3D-IC solution, visit www.cadence.com/go/3DIC.

Endorsements

“With 3D-IC design continuing to gain momentum, there is an increased need to automate the planning and partitioning of a 3D stack die system more efficiently. As the world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies and through our longstanding collaboration with Cadence, we’ve successfully found automated ways to partition designs to build an optimal 3D stack with increased accessible memory bandwidth that pushes performance and lowers power in advanced-node designs. The integrated memory on the logic flow included in Cadence’s Integrity 3D-IC platform enables cross-die planning, implementation and multi-die STA, which our research teams demonstrated on a multi-core high-performance design.”

-Eric Beyne, senior fellow and program director, 3D System Integration, imec

“To push AI acceleration using optical computing, we’ve consistently leveraged all the latest, innovative trends in the chip design industry—a key innovation being multi-chiplet stacking. In order to build a heterogenous multi-chiplet stacked design, it is important to have a fully integrated planning and implementation system, which can represent multiple technology nodes in a single cockpit. The Cadence Integrity 3D-IC platform provides a unified database solution with implementation and early system-level analysis capabilities, including timing signoff and electrothermal analysis. It helps us deliver next-generation innovation using optical computing for AI acceleration.”

– Ph.D Yichen Shen, founder and CEO of Lightelligence Inc.

“There are increased requirements for building 2.5D/3D-IC designs with multiple chiplets like logic dies and high-bandwidth memories that are connected with silicon interposer technology. To meet our performance criteria, interposer routing needs automation to be correct-by-construction while taking into account location, shielding and system integrity requirements. The Cadence Integrity 3D-IC platform is well integrated for optimal interposer implementation and system analysis and offers fast, complete system analysis, enabling us to deliver designs that meet memory bandwidth demands for hyperscale computing and 5G communications.”

-Tuobei Sun, R&D head, Department of Packaging and Testing, SaneChips

About Cadence

Cadence is a pivotal leader in electronic design, building upon more than 30 years of computational software expertise. The company applies its underlying Intelligent System Design strategy to deliver software, hardware and IP that turn design concepts into reality. Cadence customers are the world’s most innovative companies, delivering extraordinary electronic products from chips to boards to systems for the most dynamic market applications, including consumer, hyperscale computing, 5G communications, automotive, mobile, aerospace, industrial and healthcare. For seven years in a row, Fortune magazine has named Cadence one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. Learn more at cadence.com.

Mandiant Accelerates Operational Use of its Leading Threat Intelligence with First-of-their-kind SaaS Offerings

India – Oct. 7, 2021 – Mandiant, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNDT), the leader in dynamic cyber defense and response, today announced two new, first-of-their-kind SaaS offerings – Active Breach & Intel Monitoring and Ransomware Defense Validation. The new products bolster the multi-vendor Extended Detection and Response (XDR) capabilities of the Mandiant Advantage platform by accelerating operational use of Mandiant’s leading up-to-the-minute threat intelligence and validating whether an organization’s security controls could alert, contain, or block prevalent ransomware attacks. These offerings are designed with organizations of all sizes in mind to improve their security effectiveness and confidence in their readiness to defend against cyber attacks. The two new offerings are expected to be generally available in January 2022.

Threat actors have continued to become more sophisticated – especially during the COVID-19 pandemic – and are targeting organizations of all sizes and industries. As organizations invest in talent and technology to stop these potential threats, they require solutions that quickly identify targeted attacks and gaps in security informed by up-to-date, relevant threat intelligence.

To address the growing need of organizations to protect themselves against cyber attacks, Mandiant is launching Active Breach & Intel Monitoring and Ransomware Defense Validation. Leveraging the most accurate and relevant threat intelligence, these SaaS-based solutions allow organizations to detect the presence of active Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) in their environment and test their readiness to withstand the latest ransomware attacks.

Active Breach & Intel Monitoring

Active Breach & Intel Monitoring, powered by insights gained from Mandiant’s global incident response engagements and comprehensive threat intelligence research, is designed to identify the presence of relevant Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) within organizations’ IT environments based on the latest information from real, active breach investigations performed worldwide. With this data, Active Breach & Intel Monitoring module searches customers’ data for IOC matches from the present to the previous 30+ days.

As a SaaS-based solution, Mandiant Active Breach & Intel Monitoring is easy to deploy and immediately begins detecting and prioritizing IOC matches. To help security teams and leaders focus on the highest priority alerts, the solution goes beyond simple matching, by analyzing and evaluating IOCs with a data science-based score and numerous contextual factors, such as direction of travel and indicator type. Security teams can then more efficiently address and respond to threat alerts.

With Active Breach & Intel Monitoring, security teams of all sizes can rapidly identify potential attacks that match IOCs for cyber attacks and reduce threat actor dwell time to reduce the impact of targeted attacks.

Ransomware Defense Validation

Ransomware Defense Validation tests organizations’ critical security controls against prevalent ransomware and informs security teams of capabilities that require immediate attention.

“Organizations of all sizes are struggling to answer basic questions as ransomware attacks are on the rise and they’re working to determine if they’re prepared or have been breached,” said Chris Key, Chief Product Officer, Mandiant. “With Ransomware Defense Validation, we are providing a solution that will arm organizations with the tools and Mandiant’s knowledge to measure and improve ransomware preparedness like never before. Organizations no matter their size can within hours test their defenses against ransomware attacks utilizing current and relevant threat intelligence.”

Powered by Mandiant frontline threat intelligence on active ransomware attackers and their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), Ransomware Defense Validation tests an organization’s critical security controls and identifies changes required to be made to their defenses to block or contain modern and prevalent known ransomware attacks.

With Ransomware Defense Validation, security teams have 24×7 access to reports with quantitative data and readouts from Mandiant experts to inform key stakeholders of the organization’s state of readiness against the threat of ransomware.

Together, Ransomware Defense Validation and Active Breach & Intel Monitoring prepare organizations of all sizes to defend against the most sophisticated threats of today.

Mandiant Cyber Defense Summit 2021 attendees are invited to join Chief Product Officer Chris Key, livestreamed and in-person, during his keynote on Tuesday, October 5th at 10:05am E.T.

AWS re/Start India Prepares Local Talent for Cloud Careers

BANGALORE – October 6, 2021 – Today, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the launch of AWS re/Start in India. AWS re/Start is a free skills-development and job training program that prepares learners for cloud computing careers. The 12-week program is offered with no cost to learners, and previous technology experience is not required to apply.

Research from AlphaBeta (a strategy and economics consulting firm) indicates that digitally skilled workers currently represent 12% of India’s workforce. By 2025, the number of workers in India requiring digital skills will need to increase nine times. In India today, 76% of digital workers expect cloud computing will be a required competency for them to perform their jobs proficiently by 2025.[1] AWS re/Start helps address this challenge by delivering free training and also supporting participants as they launch cloud computing careers.

AWS re/Start is a skills-based training program that covers fundamental AWS Cloud skills and practical career skills, such as interviewing and resume writing. Through real-world, scenario-based exercises, labs, and coursework, students build Linux, Python, networking, security, and relational database skills. The program prepares participants for entry-level cloud roles in operations, site reliability, infrastructure support, and more.

In addition, the program prepares and covers the cost for participants to take the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification exam, so they can validate cloud skills with an industry-recognized credential.

In India, AWS re/Start will host cohorts based in six cities, including Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, and Thiruvananthapuram. The program collaborates with five local education organizations, including EduBridge Learning, Edujobs Academy, iPrimed Education, Rooman.Net, and Vinsys IT Services, to deliver virtual training by an expert instructor. AWS re/Start will work with these organizations to connect program graduates to potential employers.

Amit Mehta, Head of AWS Training and Certification – India, Amazon Internet Services Pvt. Ltd (AISPL), said, “The industry demand for cloud adoption is far outpacing the number cloud-skilled workers available, leaving organizations struggling to find and hire the talent needed to implement cloud services. To overcome the lack of supply, cloud talent must be cultivated from non-traditional sources. AWS re/Start brings new talent into the cloud ecosystem by skilling unemployed and underemployed individuals with little or no technology experience and preparing them to launch a cloud career.”

Capgemini, a global leader in consulting, digital transformation, technology, and engineering services with approximately 150,000 employees in India, is providing financial assistance for AWS re/Start, and plans to interview and hire select program graduates into various cloud roles. Capgemini, an AWS Partner, will work closely with EduBridge Learning to facilitate this.

Pallavi Tyagi, CHRO of India at Capgemini, said, “At Capgemini, we are committed to shaping the talent landscape in India by providing opportunities for individuals to transition into high-demand roles while building their careers. AWS re/Start aligns with that focus, and reflects our commitment to help new recruits get the future they want. As AWS re/Start scales in the country, we believe it will be game-changing for more and more Indians looking to reskill, and take advantage of opportunities in a dynamic and evolving cloud and technology services job market.”

 Girish Singhania, CEO at EduBridge Learning, said, “We seized on the opportunity to be part of this program with AWS because we believe technology skills are critical to India’s future workforce. We are excited to engage non-tech learners through AWS re/Start, as they have not previously considered a career in tech. This program also ties in well with EduBridge’s high-level goal to bridge the gap between skilled talent and organizations looking to hire.”

 Vikrant Patil, CEO at Vinsys IT Services Pvt. Ltd., said, “As an AWS Training Partner, Vinsys IT has three years of experience delivering AWS Training to IT professionals. With a vision to make learning accessible to learners with a curious mind, we are excited to now bring free foundational cloud training to individuals who aren’t yet working in technology, and help them build a career in this exciting space. This thoughtful initiative can help people in India who are interested to learn about cloud computing, but fall short of resources.”

AWS re/Start is delivered in 25 countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Tunisia, UK, and U.S.

AAC-IEC Alliance Provides Enterprise Cloud Transformation Strategy, with Cybersecurity, for Regional Water Authority

Columbia, SC, October 05, 2021 –(PR.com)– AAC Utility Partners and Israel Electric Corporation (IEC), through their recently formed North American Alliance, partner with South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (RWA) to successfully develop an enterprise cloud transformation strategy focused on a “Cloud Smart” approach addressing risk mitigation from a cybersecurity perspective.

The Regional Water Authority (RWA) is a forward-thinking water utility and environmental services organization recognizing that the cloud is an operational model not a place. So, the convergence of the IT/OT components of its nonprofit corporation are a necessary operational modification in today’s – and, more importantly, tomorrow’s – complex cyber-sensitive climate. The RWA set out to develop a cloud strategy that would encompass the totality of the company’s operations regarding not only digital transformation, but complete information systems security.

The RWA’s project objectives and the mission of the AAC-IEC Alliance align perfectly, in pursuit of a strategic approach that embraces how each major vertical of the organization will be impacted by decisions made in the two major areas of focus: 1) business-focused technology services (traditional and cloud); and 2) cybersecurity. Utilizing the NavigateOne™ and SOPHIC™ methodologies, AAC and IECyber (the Cyber Entrepreneurship and Business Development Department of IEC) examined the RWA’s operations, infrastructure, cybersecurity and compliance, governance, program management and people.

The team reviewed numerous artifacts provided by the RWA and conducted a number of working sessions with key resources from the RWA’s Technology and Business transformation & Strategy Groups. The team also conducted a cybersecurity pre-assessment exercise using the Rapid Cyber Assessment methodology (RCMA), a core component of the SOPHIC Pro™ suite. The engagement culminated in creation of a strategy, with actionable recommendations, providing overall direction for moving IT functions to the cloud, as well as continued improvement in the RWA’s organizational cybersecurity maturity level. This included recommending adoption of a “Cloud Smart” strategy. Adopting this strategy will provide the RWA with a roadmap to evaluate safe, secure, cloud computing options before making any new investment decisions, not just with IT but also with OT in the long-term.

Premjith Lakshman Singh, RWA’s Chief Information Digital Officer and Vice President of Customer Care, commented, “Every organization has to go through a journey to understand their business capabilities and identify how they can use technology to enable their business efficiently and safely both now and into the future. This Enterprise Cloud Transformation Strategy provides the RWA with actionable recommendations to move our organization forward.”

AAC and IEC are excited to report the successful completion of this first project undertaken by the Alliance team. The client-expressed value of the strategy developed for the RWA is a testament to the need for such a consolidated resource to help utilities navigate the ever-changing areas of technology and cybersecurity.

“In the exponential world of paradigm change in most of our life processes, alliance with AAC is timely, as the market is calling for the unique combination of expertise, we collectively offer in the utility cloud and cybersecurity space. We are looking forward to taking advantage of the IEC-AAC alliance to serve utility companies across the globe,” stated Yosi Shneck, Head of Cyber Entrepreneurship and Business Development, Israel Electric Corp.

Spearheading this service offering for AAC, Lyndal Haddox, Vice President, Innovative Solutions commented, “We are extremely excited about our alliance with IEC to offer utilities a unique approach to strategically assess their combined systems of IT and OT operations, with a focused view of ensuring cyber safety across all platforms – Cloud/Hybrid/On-Premise.”

Regional Water Authority supplies on average nearly 43 million gallons of water a day to a population of approximately 430,000 people in 15 South Central Connecticut municipalities. It runs four state-of-the-art surface water treatment plants, maintains over 1,700 miles of underground pipes, manages more than 27,000 acres of watershed land, conducts approximately 110,000 drinking water tests per year, and safely operates a myriad of equipment with a team of dedicated, skilled employees that work 24/7 to produce and deliver reliable, affordable, high-quality drinking water.

AAC Utility Partners, LLC provides consulting services exclusively to utilities for the transformation of mission-critical systems. AAC is a vendor-independent consulting firm providing services for CIS and other mission-critical systems in the areas of Strategy, Selection, Cloud Adoption, and Project Implementation Leadership Services (utility-side only). AAC is the leading independent Cloud consulting firm focused on utility industry-specific applications and business process services.

NavigateOne™ is a foundational methodology pioneered by AAC Utility Partners that includes an industry-leading set of proprietary processes, tools, templates, and software completely scalable and customizable to the unique needs of utilities’ software initiatives.

SOPHIC™ – Israel Electric Company’s 25 years of battle-proven cyber experience, insights, practices, and tools formulate a unique game-changing cyber defense and resilience SUITE. This cyber entrepreneurship and business development unit in IEC provides a sophisticated portfolio of cyber solutions based on vast, real-life experience gained in a challenging geopolitical environment facing 24/7/365 Cyber challenges, with the sole purpose of protecting critical infrastructure.