applied security research
Erik Remmelzwaal - 06 jan 2021

#CES2021 – We Are Ready!

We are very excited to be part of the #CES2021NL mission! Meet us at CES (Januari 11-14) in our online booth 10609 and see how we solve global challenges with NLTech.

Erik Remmelzwaal, Co-Founder & CEO

Yes I indeed think we are ready for CES. At this virtual event we will showcase Zolder.App. I am convinced that this solution is a game-changer to the cybersecurity industry. It depends on who you are and what your role is as to how I need to explain this, because the ‘changing the game’ happens in a couple of ways. So let me simply elaborate on all of them.

By the way, if you were just looking for more info on our solution, I suggest you click onwards to the landing page: https://zolder.app.

Game-Changing for Customers

First of all, the most important viewpoint is that of customers. In my cybersecurity career I have mostly dealt with large enterprises. Including the largest and world-leading ones in The Netherlands. To be clear: a large enterprise in the EU is any organization with over 250 employees. Everything below that is considered SME. And the SME makes up 99.8% of all enterprises in the EU, covering 60% of added gross value.

Source: Eurostat (https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/submitViewTableAction.do

Working with big brands and complex organizations was all fun and games, but as a business owner I have always been looking for ways to give proper support to small & medium businesses as well. That really wasn’t possible, as cybersecurity services are generally very tailor made and labor intensive. And I know – from working with partners/competitors – that I wasn’t the only one: there simply is no proper security service offering available to small & medium businesses. Too expensive to get a good expert in that will help you fix problems.

And so most SME’s rely on generic IT suppliers to – at best – cover security as a side offering. The result is not surprising. in December 2020 the EU published a report stating:

Over two-thirds of companies, in particular SMEs, are considered ‘novices’ in cybersecurity, and European companies are considered less well prepared than companies in Asia and America.

The EU’s cybersecurity strategy for the digital decade, Brussels 16.12.2020

Personally I consider this situation – the “Cyber n00biness of SME” – to be a global challenge, as it undermines any perceived solution coming from digitalization to solve other global challenges at all. If we can solve climate change, pandemics, famine or bifurcation with robotics or what have you, but the organizations driving that innovation are not capable to protect these innovations, we will fail.

Zolder.App changes this situation because it is low-cost and easy to understand. The latter might seem irrelevant in this viewpoint but it is the only way this solution will work. As for business owners of the smallest companies require simple language and explanations with their cyber solutions. Huge dashboards and drill down tables really do not fill that need.

The low-cost feature of Zolder.App of course is the bigger ticket here. For only 20 Euro per month, a business can get on-board. And that is an actual service with actual world-class cybersecurity experts providing actual protection. That’s so cheap that one might think it can’t be good, but they will be surprised. The reason why we are able to do this, is because of hyper-scale…

Game-Changing for Scalability

For the same reasons as set out above, managed security service providers (MSSPs) generally have a hard time scaling their solution. This stems from the old days in which every company had it’s own server room or data center, thus company-specific infrastructure. Supporting such environments as an MSSP results in tailor-made services and labor intensive processes. Once your service organization is setup like that it will be very hard to transform it to make use of the possibilities of the future. After all: employees performing human labor are not automatically able to write code to rule themselves out, nor do they want to.

At Zolder we had the opportunity to start from scratch. And we decided to fully embrace that opportunity to tackle the scalability problem. And so our customer is one that uses Microsoft 365 for office automation. We will support other cloud providers later on, but for the sake of this argument consider it’s all M365. What this allows us to do is build an infrastructure that connects to 1 cloud service, create security content (a bunch of scripts) to assess and monitor that service and then apply it to all customers at once.

So if we – or others, like MITRE ATT&CK – discover a new attack tactic, we build scripts to cover it. Test them in our own tenants, apply them to customers that signed up for early testing, and then roll them out to all others. This is 1 effort supporting all customers whether we have onboarded 1, 10, 100, 1000 or 100000000. The amount of work is no longer depending on the amount of customers, but on the amount of threats we need to protect them from. That’s game changing, as it allows us to rethink positioning.

Game-Changing for Marketing

Marketing? Yes marketing. You see, what we have to sell is expertise. The SERVICES part of the cybersecurity industry has grown used to the idea that this expertise can be monetized either by providing professional or managed services, that’s basically it. I don’t believe that ground belief is in-line with the promises of digital transformation we are in. There’s a lot more we can do with expertise, it however might still need to be invented.

So one of the focal points in talking to my co-owners of how we wanted to setup Zolder was to stress that first and foremost we would need to be experts. And do expert things. So we do what we love most: we research digital stuff, we blog about it, talk about it and podcast about it. In doing so we get into contact with interesting and interested people and they might come up with new ideas in which we could help out and monetize our expertise. That actually already payed off and so have we been able to get to this point without any external investment AND have a couple other ideas under our sleeves.

Value Disciplines – Treacy and Wiersema. Image credit: business-to-you.com

For Zolder.App in particular we are able to take another positioning approach. Again for all the reasons above, basically all MSSPs are built on the value discipline of Customer Intimacy. Not surprising as they need to have outstanding customer services and relations to be able to properly support the customer-specific situations they’re dealing with. This way of working of course requires even more human labor and makes these services unaffordable for SME. And so to game-change that situation, we would need to take the opposite route, being a mix of Product Leadership and Operational Excellence. The latter obviously is proven by the low-cost feature of Zolder.App, and the proces-automation as the enabler for it. But the cybersecurity expertise we’re bringing to the table is genuinely world-class. Furthermore the way Zolder.App provides actionable advise is a very important feature as well, unparalleled even. And so the quality of our solution gives it a bit of product leadership taste as well.

Point being: can a service be marketed in any other way than customer intimacy? I believe that digitalization allows us to do so. You only need the capability to make use of the possibilities of the future and get rid of old habits. Like we did 🙂

Come to think of it. I guess what we are launching requires a new term. It is not a managed service. Not a software-as-a-service. But actually it is a Service-as-a-Software. Let me elaborate on that in the next blog 😉 Stay Tuned!

Blogs

Attic versie 2023.9.0 - Release Notes

- 21 sep 2023
Een nieuwe Attic #release bomvol nieuwe checks, geïnspireerd door de #CIS Benchmark voor #Microsoft365. Deze release zit vol met nieuwe Checks en Fixes. Want we zijn hard bezig om te zorgen dat Attic “CIS-certified” raakt als assessment tool voor Microsoft365 en hebben nu bijna alle checks gebouwd die daarvoor nog nodig waren. Daarnaast is er […] Lees verder

Microsoft Sentinel: Wapen tegen Cyberdreigingen

Erik Remmelzwaal - 19 sep 2023
In de wereld van cybersecurity sta je voor een belangrijke uitdaging: het beschermen van je organisatie tegen digitale bedreigingen. Gelukkig is er een krachtig hulpmiddel tot je beschikking: Microsoft Sentinel. Wij praten er veel over vanwege onze dienstverlening, maar wat is het nu eigenlijk? in dit blog deel ik graag mijn inzichten met jou, zodat je een solide basisbegrip krijgt van wat dit product is en hoe je het kunt inzetten. Lees verder

Door NIS2 moet je iets gaan doen wat je nu nog niet doet...

Erik Remmelzwaal - 03 aug 2023
Als je onder een steen hebt geleefd: NIS2 komt eraan. De 2e versie van de Network and Information Security richtlijn van de EU. Het duurt nog even voordat dit in Nederlandse wetgeving is omgezet en daarin kunnen nog belangrijke details gaan schuiven, maar in grote lijnen weten we wat er op ons af komt. Door […] Lees verder

5 tips voor MKB'ers om zichzelf weerbaar te  maken tegen misleiding via internet

- 21 jul 2023
In de digitale wereld worden MKB’ers steeds vaker geconfronteerd met de dreiging van social engineering. In deze blogpost delen we waardevolle inzichten over twee veelvoorkomende vormen van social engineering, phishing en CEO-fraude. We benadrukken echter de praktische tips die MKB’ers kunnen volgen om zichzelf effectief te beschermen tegen deze cyberdreigingen. Phishing en CEO-fraude Phishing omvat […] Lees verder

Using MiTMProxy as a scriptable pre-proxy for BurpSuite

Rik van Duijn - 11 jul 2023
TLDR: you can use mitmproxy to modify stuff before it sent to Burp Proxy. Instruction below. Recently we were asked to asses a oldschool Java client server application. After configuring BurpSuite as a proxy and trusting the CA cert, we noticed the client communication still gave an error. It turned out the client and server […] Lees verder

Wat leren we uit het NCTV Cybersecuritybeeld en Verizon DBIR 2023

Zolder B.V. - 04 jul 2023
De samengestelde conclusie die ik haal uit CSBN en DBIR is dat organisaties (nog steeds) vooral slachtoffer worden via gelekte inloggegevens en e-mail en dat ze datalekken bijna altijd kunnen voorkomen door het implementeren van basismaatregelen. En de basismaatregel die past bij gelekte inloggegevens is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Lees verder

Weerbaar tegen CEO-Fraude met Logs in Microsoft365

Erik Remmelzwaal - 22 jun 2023
Veel organisaties kunnen maar 7 dagen terugkijken in hun Microsoft365 logboeken. Veel te weinig, om adequaat te reageren op incidenten zoals CEO-Fraude en Ransomware. Belangrijk dus om te begrijpen welke mogelijkheden er zijn om die termijn uit te breiden. Lees verder

Attic voor de zorg: De toekomst van beveiliging met partnerschap Z-CERT

- 06 jun 2023
Attic voor de zorg is momenteel in ontwikkeling. We richten ons vooral op de toekomstige beschikbaarheid van deze krachtige beveiligingsoplossing en we nodigen zorginstellingen uit om deel te nemen aan onze beta-testfase. Partnerschap met Z-CERT In samenwerking met Z-CERT, de toonaangevende leverancier van dreigingsinformatie in de Nederlandse zorgsector, biedt Attic voor de zorg een unieke […] Lees verder

Verbeteringen in API's en toekomstige wijzigingen bij Attic

- 24 mei 2023
Microsoft heeft recentelijk enkele verbeteringen doorgevoerd in de API’s die toegang verlenen tot uw tenant. GDAP Op dit moment maakt Attic gebruik van DAP, oftewel Delegated Admin Privileges, om toegang te verkrijgen tot uw omgeving. Microsoft heeft onlangs een verbeterde versie van deze functionaliteit geïntroduceerd, genaamd GDAP, oftewel granular delegated admin privileges. Deze nieuwe versie […] Lees verder

Attic voegt website clone monitor toe

Wesley Neelen - 08 mei 2023
Attic is een krachtig platform wat heel veel mogelijkheden biedt. Attic is modulair opgebouwd zodat het platform aangevuld kan worden met extra diensten, ontwikkeld door Zolder, maar in de toekomst ook door externe leveranciers. Enkele maanden geleden heb ik een gratis applicatie gelanceerd genaamd didsomeoneclone.me. Deze service is gebaseerd op Microsoft Azure en volledig cloud […] Lees verder

Attic als SOC

Zolder B.V. - 11 apr 2023
Bijna is het zover: roadmap-technisch naderen we het punt dat we de koppeling van Attic met Microsoft Sentinel gaan afronden. En daarmee de gelegenheid om op grote schaal organisaties te voorzien van een betaalbare SOC dienst. Tijdens onze deelname aan de RSA conferentie zullen we bezoekers van onze stand en website aanbieden zich alvast te […] Lees verder

Internetoplichters richten pijlen op Hockeyvereniging

Erik Remmelzwaal - 10 mrt 2023
De penningmeester van Hockeyclub Zevenbergen ontving een poging tot oplichting. Gelukkig werd het herkend, maar zal dat overal gebeuren, nu internetoplichters hun pijlen blijkbaar op sportverenigingen hebben gericht? Lees verder

Microsoft Digital Defense Report

Erik Remmelzwaal - 14 nov 2022
Het Digital Defense Report 2022 van Microsoft is uitgekomen. Wat zijn de highlights en key takeaways? Lees verder

TBX2022 Throwback & Masterclass

Erik Remmelzwaal - 07 nov 2022
Op 2 en 3 november vond in de Jaarbeurs Utrecht de TBX2022 beurs plaats. Zolder was net als vorig jaar aanwezig als exposant, en was op beide dagen de host van een masterclass. Ons voornaamste doel was om ons nieuwe propositie van Attic for MSPs bekend te maken. Met deze nieuwe release, stellen we andere […] Lees verder

Hacking my Helium Crypto Miner

Wesley Neelen - 05 sep 2022
Recently I came across an interesting cryptocurrency project called Helium. Its a wireless network built by people all around the world. The people that help expanding the network by adding a hotspot receive the Helium cryptocurrency coin by providing the coverage. During my research I decided to order one of those Helium miners. I ordered […] Lees verder

PEN-300 / OSEP review

Wesley Neelen - 19 jul 2022
This year I decided to start a new study, the PEN-300 course of Offensive Security. In 2012 I did the OSCP course and in 2013 OSCE. In 2016 I took the OSEE class in Vegas, unfortunately never took the exam (one of my biggest mistakes ever🥴). I liked all the courses very much at that […] Lees verder

Deze 3 misverstanden blokkeren het ontwikkelen van cyberweerbaarheid

Zolder B.V. - 04 jul 2022
Het NCTV heeft weer het jaarlijkse Cybersecuritybeeld Nederland gepubliceerd. Het CSBN-2022. Mooie aanleiding om eens op te schrijven waar ik al langer mee in mijn hoofd zit. Drie hardnekkige en foute aannames die mensen hebben bij digitale dreigingen. Drie misverstanden dus, die in mijn ervaring de belangrijkste reden zijn dat we nauwelijks vooruit komen met […] Lees verder

Cyberweerbaarheid en Operational Technology

Erik Remmelzwaal - 02 jun 2022
Onlangs nam Erik Remmelzwaal, co-owner en Managing Director van Zolder BV, deel aan een tafelgesprek van Data Value Center – Smart Industry (DVC-SI). Het thema was Cyberweerbaarheid en Operational Technology, en het gesprek werd opgenomen in de campus van Breda Robotics, waar Zolder lid van is. De opname is inmiddels beschikbaar en terug te kijken […] Lees verder

Detecting MFASweep using Azure Sentinel

Zolder B.V. - 01 nov 2021
Many companies are using cloud services such as Microsoft 365 for email, file sharing and communicating. If an attacker gains access to valid credentials that allows them to authenticate to the account, all information within the account is usually instantly accessible. Therefor, implementing multi factor authentication is one of the most important steps while securing […] Lees verder

Public SharePoint sites - the new open shares

Wesley Neelen - 16 sep 2021
During one of our engagements we were investigating a Microsoft 365 environment. My colleague Rik discovered that many SharePoint sites were publicly available within the organization. We were surprised by the amount sites that were wide open this way. A lot of sensitive information was located on those sites, for example PII-information and passwords for […] Lees verder