The Department of Homeland Security offers businesses - mostly banks and energy firms - a chance to test their cyber defenses against attacks. This little-known program called National Cybersecurity Assessment and Technical Services (NCATS) is free of charge and a great way for businesses to ensure their systems and data are safe.
NCATS is composed of two programs, Cyber Hygiene and Risk Vulnerability Assessment (RVA). Cyber Hygiene is an automated scan of a company's network to suss out any known vulnerabilities. RVA, loans companies four to five security experts for a two-week period
during which they conduct onsite assessments, launch targeted trial
attacks and test incident response plans. They also conduct a spear phishing campaign on employees to see how often they fall for fraudulent emails.
NCATS is a great program for these businesses because these are the businesses that affect us all. Banks are responsible for keeping OUR money safe so I'm glad DHS offers this program. DHS deals with cyber attacks on a daily basis so they are consistently keeping up with the different types of attacks and vulnerabilities out there. Knowing that these businesses are going through these tests and fixing holes in their cyber defenses somewhat puts my mind a little more at ease. I say this because there's no way to be 100% secure. Hackers are constantly finding ways around. As we're finding a way to protect ourselves from an attack, they're already working on a new one.
References
http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/261658-dhs-hacks-businesses-for-free-to-test-cybersecurity
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