Unquestionably, we are living through a period of turmoil and uncertainty. As always, I am truly optimistic about our future. That said, we have a difficult journey ahead of us. Now is the time to focus on elevating and enhancing your cybersecurity strategy.
I sincerely believe that cybersecurity is a pre-eminent risk to the modern enterprise. The accelerating convergence of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) raises the stakes significantly. Until fairly recently, data breaches were our main concern. Now we also must prepare ourselves for a world in which bad actors have the capabilities for taking over our physical infrastructure.
We simply cannot afford to ignore the risks posed by a steady rain of cyberattacks, whether they are launched by rogue hackers or nation states. Nor are we willing to endure the hardships that these invasions could impose upon us. We need to be better prepared, and better equipped to deal with the realities of life in the 21s century.
Today, cyber-attacks can come from anywhere – including from within our organizations. For example, Google researchers have uncovered “a sophisticated hacking operation that exploited vulnerabilities in Chrome and Windows to install malware on Android and Windows devices,” writes Dan Goodin of Ars Technica, a trusted source of technology news.
Some of the attacks were zero-day exploits, which means they were aimed at unknown vulnerabilities. Why is that significant? Because when an unknown vulnerability is compromised, it can take weeks or months for cyber security teams to notice it.
Zero-day exploits are also significant because they indicate a higher level of expertise by the attackers. Here’s why: Inexperienced attackers usually don’t have the sophistication required to target unknown weak points in complex cyber systems. Experienced attackers, on the other hand, have the training and support required to mount effective zero-day exploits. But who hires these experienced attackers?
Nation states have the resources necessary for hiring cyber attackers with the specialized skills and training necessary for staging coordinated attacks on systems and infrastructure as evidenced by the recent SolarWinds attack. As the ramifications of the SolarWinds attack continue to unfold, we’re dedicated to helping educate CISOs, CIOs and other executives with a stake in cybersecurity. That’s why we’re hosting a special roundtable discussion on January 27 featuring expert insights from cyber leaders who have classified access to the latest behind-the-scenes intelligence. I strongly encourage security and technology executives to register for this special event.
As an industry, we need to understand and accept the reality of this situation and we need to develop cogent strategies for mitigating the growing risks on a comprehensive scale.
Let’s make our voices heard. We need to play a leading role in the development of robust and effective cybersecurity strategies – or we will all face the consequences.
