Dive Brief:
- IBM Security announced on Tuesday the creation of IBM X-Force Red, a group of global security professionals that will perform cybersecurity testing for businesses.
- The goal is to use human expertise to help businesses find vulnerabilities in their networks, hardware and software applications before cybercriminals can exploit them, according to the announcement.
- Charles Henderson, a penetration testing expert, will lead the group.
Dive Insight:
Many companies rely on automated security services, but the human element is also important, but IBM is also trying to leverage the human element of security. Human-based security testing services are not new, but IBM has the advantage of leveraging much larger data sets than smaller companies can. X-Force Red will share security intelligence with IBM X-Force Research, IBM X-Force Exchange threat sharing platform and IBM Security AppScan.
X-Force Red will "examine human security vulnerabilities in daily processes and procedures that attackers often use to circumvent security controls, providing an additional layer of security testing through human creativity, insights, and experience," according to the announcement.
"Elite human testers can learn how an environment works and create unique attacks using techniques even more sophisticated than what the criminals have," said Henderson.
The group will include security professionals located throughout the world with expertise in multiple industries.
According to IBM’s own research, there were 64% more malicious attacks against corporate assets reported in 2015 than in 2014.
