Cybersecurity

As the variety and volume of cybercrimes grow each year, cybersecurity investigations have become both more common and critical. The investigative process consists of investigating, analyzing, and recovering critical data from the network(s) involved in the attack in order to identify the perpetrators.

Prudential Associates is the leading provider of Cyber Investigations serving clients through Maryland, Washington D.C., and Virginia.

A cybersecurity investigation with Prudential Associates includes the following:

Analyzing Malware: ‘Malware Analysis’ refers to the process by which the purpose and functionality of the given malware samples are analyzed and determined. Information from a malware analysis provides insights into developing an effective detection technique for malicious codes. Additionally, it is an essential aspect for developing efficient tools which can perform malware removal from an infected system.

Digital and Forensic Investigation: Digital forensics is a branch of forensic science focused on the recovery and investigation of artifacts found on digital devices. Any devices that store data (e.g., computers, laptops, smartphones, thumb drives, memory cards, external hard drives, etc.) are within the gambit of digital forensics.

Cyberstalking Investigations: Cyberstalking involves the use of electronic communication devices to threaten, harass, or otherwise stalk an individual. Prudential Associates has several tactical options and numerous resources which may be productive in these matters. Prudential Associates can assist with all stages of a cyber investigation, including:

– Situational assessment and background check.
– Conducting the initial investigation, beginning with information gathering. Questions we aim to answer include:

In the face of mounting threats from malware, phishing, and increasingly advanced high-tech threat actors, a cyber resilient company can position itself as a secure model that customers and clients can trust. With the threat of Covid in 2020, many companies implemented remote work policies that only added greater complexity to managing a company’s information security, resilience management and cybersecurity posture.

Prudential Associates team of cybersecurity experts can help your company implement a cyber resilience framework made up of the following five pillars as outlined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST):

The growth of cloud computing and networking has created faster adoption of third party vendors by organizations, whether it’s managed service providers (or cloud service providers) to carry out essential operations or companies that contract vendors for in-housed IT services. With this comes an increased risk of cyber threats and liability from the possibility of data breaches or any other manner of compromised information.

This is why it’s not only practical, but almost necessary for cybersecurity due diligence by companies. Prudential Associates has the specialized experts and experience to provide due diligence for companies of any size. This process identifies and remediates the cyber risks of third party vendors. This is also a critical step companies should take when considering any merger & acquisition (M&A) target since it will bring to the surface any underlying risks and vulnerabilities you may be inheriting from the acquisition target.

If your company and/or client is actively developing plans to work with a third party or acquire a company, the ROI of investing in due diligence is immense when you don’t have the worry of any costly surprises. Contact Prudential Associates today to begin a discussion around your unique needs and services.

Is there a plan in place for when your company’s network or other systems are breached? For many CISO’s and IT professionals, the day an intrusion occurs or is discovered instills fear of the ramifications. But just like with similar preparations for other worst case scenarios, it’s not only prudent to plan for a breach and incident response, it is likely the difference between survival and insolvency for a business.

If your company is considering developing an incident response (IR) plan, or updating an existing plan in place, Prudential Associates has extensive experience consulting companies at every stage of development of a plan.

We’ll always base our approach off industry-standard frameworks from organizations such as NIST, but our experts will customize a response plan around the operations of your business, as well as future growth plans.

We will guide your team step-by-step through the sequential stages that conclude with the response and recovery and follow-up to a breach. Prudential Associates has certified professionals to assist with the response, as well as any urgent data recovery operations in a time-sensitive manner.

Traditional commercial general liability and property insurance policies typically exclude cyber risks from their terms, leading to the emergence of cybersecurity insurance as a “stand alone” line of coverage. This coverage provides protection from a wide range of cyber incident losses that businesses may suffer directly or cause to others, including: costs arising from data destruction and/or theft, extortion demands, hacking, denial of service attacks, crisis management activity related to data breaches, and legal claims for defamation, fraud, and privacy violations.

Few cybersecurity insurance policies, however, provide businesses with coverage for an area of growing private and public concern: the physical damage and bodily harm that could result from a successful cyber attack against critical infrastructure.

Many companies forgo available policies, however, citing as rationales the perceived high cost of those policies, confusion about what they cover, and uncertainty that their organizations will suffer a cyber attack. Prudential Associates has experience in advising clients not only of available policies to match their risk threat, but also advocating companies on the multitude of benefits in obtaining a policy. Our staff also has experience in working with clients on what to do when there is a claim arising from a covered type of threat or service, and we will walk clients through the process of filing with insurance companies.

With decades of years of collective experience and information assurance on staff, Prudential Associates stands ready to provide new and current clients with strategic cybersecurity advisory services. We employ a collaborative approach that ensures we tailor a proposal and scope of work to uniquely solve your challenges and achieve your goals. From an initial risk assessment, our team of experts can also conduct investigations when the need arises, and work with your team to develop and implement a policy and procedure framework to maximize uptime and eliminate risk.

Whether you are seeking advice before beginning a project to strengthen your cybersecurity protocols, or you have experienced an attack and are in need of urgent action, Prudential Associates’ experience will provide a steady hand at the wheel to support your team at every turn.

Malicious software (Malware) has been and continues to be a primary transport tool infecting computers and servers with viruses, trojans, worms, and rootkits. These outbreak types can vary from password recording, boot sector corrupting, website redirecting, to device performance attacks or intentional software corruption infections that can cripple or steal your local data, applications, or operating system.

Prudential Associates’ Malware experts can provide the latest countermeasure procedures, from browsers to firewalls, for your business to take advantage of using the latest cyber-criminal attack techniques to help adequately protect your environment from Malware breakouts.Malware analysis is frequently initiated after an occurrence has been detected. Prudential can implement Malware threat analysis techniques based on the type of breach that occurred.

In the frenetic world of advanced threats omnipresent to companies of all sizes, one of the most proven and effective preventive measures a client can invest in is a network vulnerability assessment. Most malicious hackers attempt to map a network by scanning the system and trying to find possible vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access into your systems.

When you engage with Prudential Associates for an assessment, our team of security experts perform a series of steps designed to give clients actionable information and results. A thorough assessment includes:

While most organizations have documented policies and protocols governing IT security, no single company is immune to a targeted attack from a determined cybercriminal. A security assessment, when coordinated by a third party like Prudential Associates in tandem with your company’s IT team, will help you evaluate your current security posture, identify potential risks and vulnerabilities, and provide the groundwork for a comprehensive incident response plan. This type of assessment is more of a managerial review. It is intended to lay the foundation for a robust strategy to mitigate the business risk of a network intrusion or cyber-related incident.

We follow standards recommended by NIST for an assessment of your environment, and rely on our experience and expertise to help protect your business:

In the frenetic world of advanced threats omnipresent to companies of all sizes, one of the most proven and effective preventive measures a client can invest in is a network vulnerability assessment. In this type of assessment, we scan your network for devices and vulnerabilities that could be leveraged by an attacker. Based on the level of access you grant us, we can determine the devices on your network, whether they are fully patched with the latest security updates and look for misconfigurations that can be leveraged by an attacker.

Depending on the extent of the assessment, we can also scan and look for vulnerabilities in cloud environments and internet facing systems.

Our pricing is customized to your needs and is based on the size and complexity of your network. We do not supply a list of findings – our goal is to apply any findings to your specific environment and help you maximize the impact of a vulnerability scan and minimize the risk of a cyber-incident to your business.

For businesses concerned with Personal Identifiable Information (PII), Payment Card Industry (PCI), or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), our services can be used to scan and audit your environment to determine compliance with the appropriate standard.

Network Penetration Testing usually occurs after performing a vulnerability assessment. The key difference is that Penetration Testing, or a Pen test (as it can sometimes be referred to as) actually simulates attacks that behave as if they came from a real attacker. By simulating actual attacks, a Network Penetration Test will uncover exactly how systems respond to an actual cybersecurity threat.

Prudential Associates team of security experts will work with the appropriate team responsible for cybersecurity at your company to set up the penetration testing based on current system design and protocols. In addition, they can provide a clear remediation plan. The benefits of partnering with Prudential Associates for this type of security testing are clear: identify company network security flaws, understand risk levels, and map out your organization’s overall security posture.

Let Prudential Associates Help You

Prudential Associates offers extensive cybersecurity solutions to help you and your organization stay ahead of cyber threats, and cyber investigations. If you are looking for a skilled and efficient team of security experts in Washington DC, Maryland, or Virginia, we can help you.

Feel free to contact Prudential Associates with questions or to discuss your cyber security services and needs.