CTFL_Foundation approach - ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level Updated: 2024

Technology changes faster than most business can keep up with. The proliferation of mobile technology, the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing has changed the types of “assets” connected to networks. Implementing cybersecurity “best practices” across an increasingly unstructured and decentralized network is one of the most vexing challenges facing companies today.

Traditional cybersecurity approaches revolved around the medieval concept of “protecting the crown jewels” – a concentric circle view of layered security focused on protecting the important data at the center through successive layers of defenses such as application, host-based, network (internal and external perimeter) and physical controls. This defensive strategy works in a centralized, controlled and managed-device network, which is becoming increasingly extinct.

Companies have the most control over devices that they purchase, configure and issue to users. But as consumer-driven technology drives new devices and systems, organizations are losing control over devices their users and network interacts with.

For example, with IoT devices it isn’t possible to change or install software. In an enterprise context, IoT includes medical devices in hospitals or monitoring devices deployed in manufacturing or agriculture. This technology is particularly attractive for these traditionally unconnected industries as it offers new leaps into interconnected systems and monitoring what was once impractical due to safety or geographical reasons.

The question then becomes how to apply “best practices” to this new ecosystem? Organizations need to rethink how they view capabilities in terms of security controls. Companies need to reevaluate and establish the context of the users and actions taken on their systems. And, most importantly, businesses need to challenge themselves through constant improvement that provides the necessary feedback loop to make real changes.

Companies can address current network challenges with a future-proof cybersecurity strategy for 2017 and beyond by integrating the following concepts into their near-term plans.

Build your foundation. Approach your security capabilities from a device-level, bottom-up perspective instead of the centrally-controlled, top-down view. Security capabilities have not dramatically changed — traditional controls such as firewalls, intrusion prevention systems (IPS) and two-factor authentication (2FA) remain relevant. It’s the application of these controls that needs to be re-applied depending on the context of the device or node.

Context is king. Context helps a company understand what a device is, whether it can be trusted, and how the network can interact with it. The more control over the device, the higher ability you have to interrogate it and establish context. When you have more control over your nodes, you can establish paths of access and consider devices more trusted. But if you have less control, you can only observe behavior.

For IoT devices, which offer the least control, consider the larger “ring-fence” approach. Drawing a perimeter around devices that require access to similar resources can help categorize their abilities, even though the devices cannot ultimately be controlled. Context is not about getting all the available data, but getting the right data.

Play offense and defense. Consistently challenge your organization through proactive testing, often referred to as “red team, blue team exercises.” Develop a continual feedback process between these teams to test your assumptions and prioritize or close each discovered attack avenue. Through exercises such as penetration tests and threat modeling, a red team will pinpoint residual and unaddressed attack vectors as well as assist in remediation efforts. Your defensive side blue team can help Improve on what was previously missed, increase available information over time, and develop metrics to demonstrate improvement.

In this rapidly changing technology landscape, the mindful decentralization of your organization’s security controls becomes an asset. It’s security by (known) obscurity, where the obscurity is only seen as such by external entities and attackers. What could resemble an unraveling of controls transforms into a stronger web of both traditional and new technical capabilities. This allows for a more customized approach to security in the face of new technologies and more vectors over which you have less control.

The fight against pediatric cancer has been one of the Blue Jackets Foundation's primary areas of focus since the team's inception in 2000. Hats For Heroes and additional fundraising programs have raised more than $4 million to fund a variety of support programs for pediatric cancer patients and their families, including therapy through distraction, critical research projects and assistance in providing palliative care for youth.

The new film The Cost of Inheritance weighs in on one of the nation’s most divisive but essential Topics — reparations — but doesn’t mention government solutions. Instead, it introduces viewers to descendants of slave owners and enslaved persons and profiles their complicated, intertwined histories and their quests to seek repair together. 

The Cost of Inheritance, which also explores the ripple effects of the racial wealth gap, will debut on GBH 2 as an America ReFramed special on January 8 at 10pm and launch on WORLD on January 15, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

“This film elevates reparations from being a political issue to being a human issue,” said WORLD Executive Producer Chris Hastings. “The film isn’t about what the government should do — it’s the story of personal accountability. I think it starts the process of healing something that we haven’t reckoned with.” 

Directed and produced by Emmy® nominee and Peabody Award–winner Yoruba Richen, the film features insights from experts, activists and historians; archival material; and personal stories from communities that are launching grassroots initiatives to redress economic inequalities that stem from racial injustice. 

One story in the film is Lotte Lieb Dula’s, a White woman who discovered an old family journal that contained a list of Black enslaved people listed by name, age and value. 

“There were 44 souls listed in this ledger,” she says in the film. “If our family enslaved others, I’ve got some repair work I’ve got to do.” She went on to co-found Reparations4Slavery with Briayna Cuffie, an African American. 

“I hope viewers will be surprised at the balance and truth-telling that emerges in this film,” said Emmy© Award–winning Executive Producer Darryl Ford Williams, former vice president of content for WQED-Pittsburgh. She also produced PBS’s Harbor from the Holocaust, which told the story of European Jews who fled Nazi persecution and sought refuge in Shanghai. 

The new film is a natural fit for America ReFramed, which has featured the award-winning Buffalo Soldiers: Fighting on Two Fronts and Fannie Lou Hamer’s America, said Hastings. 

“At WORLD we work really hard to find those relevant, important stories from independent, often marginalized filmmakers, who don’t have the infrastructure available that more established producers do,” he said. “We want to accelerate them and move them to the next level.” 

Making the human connection is essential when addressing issues like reparations, said Ford Williams. 

“Storytelling is at the heart of any compelling social narrative,” she said. “You can talk about any issue with experts and at meetings, but until you start telling personal stories, you don’t get to the ’why should I care?’ connection.” 

She hopes the film paves the way for more understanding and conversations between White and Black Americans. “The divide between us as Americans is so fraught with so many issues with so much complexity. If we don’t examine this issue, the rest of our issues are in large part compounded,” she said. 

Hastings agrees. “I hope this film gets people talking. I think the problem with race in America today is we don’t talk enough. We yell. And that just makes us more divided.” 

The film doesn’t advocate for any position or opinion, said Ford Williams. Instead, it presents a nuanced view of the key issues and scope and rationale of the reparations debate from a number of perspectives. 

“I hope viewers come away understanding that reparations can take many forms, not necessarily in the form of money,” she said. “There are many aspects to reparations, but they all begin with truth. They all begin with acknowledgement.” 

And they all begin with relationships and ending the silence.

Huntsman Cancer Foundation (HCF) was founded by the Jon and Karen Huntsman family in 1995. HCF’s singular mission is to certain the future of cutting-edge research at Huntsman Cancer Institute. Thanks to the support of our community of donors and fundraisers, advancements at Huntsman Cancer Institute pave the way for new clinical trials, safer and more effective treatments, and hope for an end to cancer

By funding efforts to understand the beginnings of cancer better and more effectively treat cancer, you help relieve suffering and Improve the quality of life for cancer patients, survivors, and their families.

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UW Giving Day

The University of Wyoming’s 2023 Giving Day was a huge success -- in just 24 hours, reaching almost double the donors of last year and raising $3.6 million that goes directly to students and the faculty and programs that support them.

UW Giving Day, spearheaded by the UW Foundation, took place Oct. 25-26, noon to noon, on social media and across campus. This year, a record 8,978 donors from all 50 states and 13 countries gave a total of $3,605,192 to support students, faculty and organizations across campus. The theme was Make My Day, which encouraged UW supporters to make someone’s day by showing their philanthropic spirit. 

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Since inception in 2003, the Boston Bruins Foundation has raised over $62 million through various events and community initiatives. During the 2022-23 season, the Foundation raised $7.3 million, donating $3.7 million to non-profit organizations across New England. In celebration of 20 years of impact, the Boston Bruins Foundation will donate $50,000 to a minimum 20 charities and will celebrate it's 20th Anniversary on March 19, 2024 at the Bruins vs. Senators game, which will highlight the rich 20-year history of the Foundation, featuring charities, partners and supporters who have impacted the Foundation throughout the years.

To date, LYF has funded a school teaching garden, 3 STEM Lab Projects, 15 studying and Learning Centers, and 40+ basketball courts throughout Los Angeles and Hawaii. The team has also contributed millions of dollars through ticket donations, autographed memorabilia, Lakers merchandise, and countless appearances made by current players, Lakers Legends and the Laker Girls.