As organizations around the world continue to trudge through the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, cybercriminals keep coming up with even more menacing ways of dragging them down. According to research conducted by Cybersecurity Ventures, cybersecurity experts have predicted that cybercrimes will cost the global economy $6.1 trillion annually by 2021. With the pandemic serving as a catalyst, cybercrime is expected to soon become the world’s third-largest economy.While the ongoing pandemic has forced an unprecedented number of people to work from home and forgo the security of a well-developed IT infrastructure, cybercriminals have marked the unwary employees as the target of choice. Organizations were compelled to innovate and adapt so swiftly that the security didn’t get enough time to catch up, leaving businesses vulnerable to the cyber threats looming across the horizon.
Statistics on Current Cyber Threat Landscape
Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden transformation to remote work culture, cybercrimes have risen like never before and are expected to rise even more as we move towards 2021. Following are some outrageous statistics showing just how severely these cyber attacks are affecting the global economy:
As per the research conducted by Cybersecurity Ventures, within months of the first lockdown due to the pandemic, more than 4,000 malicious COVID-related sites popped up across the internet.
According to Cybersecurity Ventures, a cyber attack incident will occur every 11 seconds in 2021.This is nearly twice the rate in 2019 (every 19 seconds), and four times what it was in 2016 (every 40 seconds).
As per Cybersecurity Ventures, Cybercrime is expected to cost the global economy $6 trillion annually by 2021, as compared to $3 trillion in 2015. This will soon make it the world’s third-largest economy, after the United States and China.
Cybersecurity Ventures predicted that ransomware damages will cost the world $20 billion by 2021, which is 57 times more than what it was in 2015 ($325 million). This makes ransomware the most rapidly growing kind of cybercrime.
According to Cybersecurity Ventures, 91% of cyberattacks are launched through spear-phishing emails, which infect the organizations with ransomware.
What can Organizations do to Stay Secure?
As the rise in cybercrime is showing no signs of slowing down, it is essential for organizations to take the necessary precautions to avoid suffering any losses. The three most critical aspects of any organization include its people, processes and data. By focusing their resources on protecting these three elements, organizations can arm themselves against all kinds of prevalent and emerging cyber threats.
Protecting People:
The best way of protecting your employees against cyber attacks is by educating them about the prevalent cybersecurity threats. Owing to cybersecurity unawareness, employees can unintentionally cause data breaches, leaving your company at risk. A report has revealed that implementing cybersecurity awareness training amongst employees significantly reduces human error, mitigating up to 90% of cyber risks.
With the dramatic increase in cyber risks due to the transformation to remote work culture, providing your employees with cybersecurity awareness training has become more important than ever. An organization cannot protect its finances, assets and reputation from cybercriminals without spreading awareness amongst its employees.
Protecting Processes:
It is essential for an organization’s IT department to continually monitor, review and update all organizational processes. Employees should be made aware of the consequences of installing applications or software in their systems without the knowledge or approval of the IT department.
Any known vulnerabilities should be constantly monitored by the organization. Companies can provide protected and locked systems to the employees working remotely. This can be an effective way of restricting them from installing any malicious software.
Protecting Data:
An organization must have a firm grasp on the data that it holds, processes and passes on. As per a recent study, companies share sensitive and confidential information with more than 500 third parties. The first and foremost step an organization should take is to conduct an inventory and ensure any information is shared strictly on a need-to-know basis.
Secondly, make sure to encrypt all sensitive data including employee information, all business data and customer information. This ensures that the data becomes useless in case it falls into wrong hands. Also, always create regular backups of all your data and store it securely outside your network.
As the rise in cybercrime is showing no signs of slowing down, individuals and organizations alike are equally at risk. Therefore, it has become extremely important to take the necessary precautions and keep essential cybersecurity tips in mind for defending yourselves and your organizations against these threats.
This year cyber attacks have increased many folds as compared to previous years due to new security challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The third quarter of the year has seen a huge surge in ransomware attacks. Globally, a total of 199.7 million ransomware attacks have been reported in the third quarter of 2020.
According to cyber security experts, ransomware attacks have increased 40% to 199.7 million cases globally in Q3 of this year. Below we have mentioned some staggering statistics which will give you an insight into the present situation:
The US observed 145.2 million ransomware hits in Q3, which is a 139% year-over-year increase.
The cyber security researchers have detected new ransomware, Ryuk, with 5,123 attacks in just Q3 2019.
Ryuk ransomware attacks have increased to 67.3 million in Q3 2020, which is 33.7% of all ransomware attacks this year.
Though ransomware attacks have gained pace this year, malware attacks have fallen significantly. Cyber security researchers have recorded 4.4 billion malware attacks in a year-over-year comparison through Q3 – a 39% drop worldwide.
The experts have detected a 30% rise in IoT (Internet of Things) malware attacks with a total figure of 32.4 billion attacks globally.
The above data shows a considerable decrease in malware attacks but that does not imply the disappearance of malware attacks. Because, this is just a recurring downturn that can easily adjust itself in a short amount of time, as per a cyber security report.
The Strategy Behind Ransomware Attacks
Ransomware is a form of malware that is installed into victims’ computers through malicious emails. It encrypts the victims’ data for which victims need the decryption key. The cyber attackers demand ransom, which can range from a few hundred dollars to thousands, payable in Bitcoin, for the decryption key.
There are a number of attack vectors through which ransomware can gain unauthorized access into victims’ databases. One of the most prominent ways used to access victims’ computers is phishing emails and email attachments. Cyber criminals make these emails look trustable and trick the users to open them. Once these emails are opened and attachments are downloaded, the attackers take over the victims’ computers.
Five Protective Actions Against Ransomware Attacks
By following essential preventive measures, you can easily keep the ransomware attacks at bay. All you need to do is to be careful about what you perform on your computer. Let’s walk through some “must follow” cybersecurity practices:
Avoid clicking untrustable links: Never click on suspicious or untrustable links, attached in unsolicited emails.
Build your data-backup: Create a separate data-backup in an external hard drive that is not connected to your computer, so that you don’t have to pay the ransom if a ransomware attack happens.
Don’t disclose your personal information: Never disclose your personal information if you receive any call, text, or email which is asking for your personal details like banking information or any account information. Always verify the source of those contacts as cybercriminals steal personal data first to misuse it for malicious campaigns or financial frauds.
Use content scanning and filtering software: It is advisable to use content scanning and filtering software on your mail server to prevent a ransomware attack. The software helps in reducing the likelihood of a malicious email reaching your inbox.
Security awareness program for employees: As anorganization, you would always want to secure your confidential data from all types of cyberattacks. Therefore, it is important to conduct a cyber security awareness program among employees that will disseminate detailed knowledge of attack vectors and how to reduce the chances of ransomware attacks.
Accelerating rate of cyber-attacks is no more an unfamiliar situation for us. Web application based cyber attacks are the most common. Akamai Technologies , a content delivery network, released a report in 2017 for quarter 3 which mentioned India at 7th position in the list of top 10 targeted nations for web application attack.
As per recent figures, i.e. for the data from 8th Nov 2018 to 15th Nov, 2018, India still continues to be among top 10 marked nations for web application based attacks.
Countries
Attacks
Russia Federation
18,754,282
United States
15,512,265
Ukraine
5,176,643
Netherlands
3,606,021
India
2,724,440
Canada
2,101,396
Sweden
1,896,300
Germany
1,845,175
Bulgaria
1,538,136
United Kingdom
1,455,023
Source: Akamai Technologies State of the Internet Report
As per World Bank, the number of secured servers in India is 10,350 which, when put against 500 million internet users, is a clear indication of the need for better and secure infrastructure to be able to support the data surge.
Even at the earliest attempt, it will take a few years to remedy this problem. And still, it won’t guarantee an organizations’ safety. According to recent research, 75% of cyber attacks are web application based. Improper coding can stem serious concerns in web applications security. Such vulnerabilities allow attackers to gain direct access to servers to extract sensitive data from the database. In a framework where hackers have access to such sensitive data; with a bout of creativity and some human error, any web application can be susceptible to web attacks.
A web application can be secured by performing a vulnerability assessment and penetrating testing. , Anteelo is an end-to-end cyber security firm provides a complete suite of manual and automated VAPT services.
Digital transformation and enterprise risk management can be thought of as parallel highways. That’s because any transformation effort will introduce new risks and change to the organization’s overall security posture. As organizations continue their digital transformations, the transformation of security and risk management must be an integral part of that journey. Organizations must integrate security and risk management into DevOps and Continuous Delivery (CD) processes. The ultimate goal is to have resilient systems that can not only withstand cyber attacks, but also carry out mission-critical business operations after an attack succeeds.
Taking the analogy further, imagine that each of these highways has three lanes: one for people, another for process, and a third for technology.
People in an organization form its culture. For digital transformation to succeed, many organizations will need to transform the culture around risk. That might include inculcating respect for personal information, and organizations consciously building digital services with privacy in mind. The workforce needs to be adept in using digital tools such as cloud, APIs, big data and machine learning to automate and orchestrate the management of a digital security threat response.
Process relates to how an organization overhauls its business processes to be agile and yet secure at the same time. This might involve moving from ITIL behaviour to DevOps or other proactive operational approaches. Prevention is important, but the ability to respond to manage digital threats is much more relevant, as this proactive behavior coincides with DevOps principles.
Technologycan present new risks, but can also help address risk. Many top technology companies, for example, are using technologies to automate processes in a way that’s secure. Some common best practices include building loosely-coupled components wherever possible on a stateless/shared-nothing architecture, using machine learning to spot anomalies quickly, and using APIs pervasively to orchestrate the security management of digital entities in a scalable manner.
Three paths — people, process and technology — are changing how enterprises reduce risk.
From a CIO’s perspective, each new digital entity and interaction adds risk: Who is this user? Is this device authorized? What levels of access should be allowed? Which data is being accessed?
Leading organizations will securely identify these users, devices and other entities — including software functions and internet of things (IoT) endpoints — and they’ll do so end-to-end in an environment where services are widely distributed.
Will this year be as tumultuous as 2020? Let’s hope not. But one thing won’t change: In 2021, as is the case every year, companies will continue to be challenged by new or evolving cyber security threats.
We expect 5 security trends that emerged or accelerated last year to demand even more attention from organizations this year. Here is a look at key threats, potential vulnerabilities and defense strategies in 2021:
Zero Trust becomes more relevant than ever
While the concept of Zero Trust has been around for over a decade, only now is it becoming a viable defense strategy. Today, every endpoint including remote PCs, smartphones, tablets, IoT sensors, containers, virtual systems and cloud resources is susceptible to attacks.
Traditional defenses are meaningless in an environment where the traditional network perimeter is slowly dissipating. It’s not just a matter if these assets will be compromised, but when. The only safe response is to trust nothing on your network and assume the environment is compromised. The premise of Zero Trust management is that to be secure, organizations must verify and authenticate access in a continuous manner.
In 2021, the rise of machine learning is paving the way for Zero Trust. Machine learning can be used to help document baseline user behavior and detect anomalies in actions. For example, if you normally log in from London, but today you’ve logged in from Hong Kong, the system recognizes this anomalous behavior, blocks access and triggers an alert to raise an investigation.
Applying Zero Trust will become an integral part of every organization’s business behavior as a way to future-proof the protection of data and assets.
As a result of government-mandated stay-at-home orders, remote working grew faster than anyone could have foreseen in 2020. Approximately 40 percent of the global workforce shifted to working from home or other remote locations. What’s more, the transition happened practically overnight and is expected to settle into a long-term trend.
Traditional security strategies, developed for staff working in the office within the same corporate network, are insufficient. In many cases, home routers and networks are not secure, and family members’ computing devices may be easily compromised.
What’s needed in 2021 is a new way of operating to work securely from remote locations. It will require changes in behavior, such as keeping access to corporate data from a home network to a minimum. Organizations must verify access to data and assets using various authentication methods that require human intervention and leverage new technologies, such as remote browsing or remote terminals, where no actual data is transmitted to the computing device at home.
Such changes, once unthinkable and impractical, will be crucial to securing work-from-home environments.
5G wireless offers new opportunities, enables new threats
After being touted for years as wireless networking’s next big thing, 5G is finally becoming mainstream. Apple introduced its first 5G-capable iPhones in late 2020, and telecom providers worldwide have rolled out 5G services.
5G computing with its high-speed connections and improved network reliability should empower organizations to quickly deploy compute servers, IoT sensors and other devices on the edge in remote hubs.
The features of 5G, however, can pose new threats if not well-managed. If infrastructure is not carefully secured, adversaries can exfiltrate information very quickly and in large amounts from compromised environments, thanks to 5G’s blazing-fast bandwidth.
Another concern is that most endpoint devices are not designed to deal with a high-volume network, which means adversaries could use 5G bandwidth to easily overwhelm network assets through denial-of-service attacks.
Ransomware moves one step ahead
Ransomware dominated headlines in 2020 and security experts have developed new tactics for responding to these threats. For example, by studying ransomware campaigns, security teams can deduce the decryption keys needed to unlock systems without having to pay the ransom.
Cyber criminals are aware of such countermeasures and are already developing ransomware encrypted at the code level. This means cyber security teams will have to wait for the code to run before it can be studied, thus slowing the development of countermeasures.
Attackers are also rewriting ransomware code to infect the firmware of computing devices and ensure perpetual presence in the victim’s environment. Code that is running at the firmware level may not be detected, stopped or removed by antimalware software.
As this malware cannot be simply overwritten, once a device is infected, the hardware must be either replaced or sent back to the factory to reinstall the firmware.
Cyber analytics drives more data-driven decisions
Organizations are starting to understand the importance of using data to improve business decisions. Operational data can give insights about potential growth and cost-savings opportunities, and how to optimize business process.
Security operations, like other parts of business, are harnessing operational data to understand how business events tie to security events. Organizations can use cyber analytics and AI to predict when and where attacks are most likely to occur so they can then focus their investments to achieve the greatest protection.
AI systems must target aspects of operations unrelated to security that can be correlated with past security events. For example, an AI system might determine that most attacks occur 3 days before quarterly financial results are due to be publicly reported. With that information, organizations can proactively bolster security protections prior to the next public disclosure.
In 2021, such pre-emptive knowledge will help organizations plan ahead. However, to succeed they must thoroughly analyze and understand all the data they collect about operations and business behavior.
Thankfully, 2020 is behind us, but new threats await. Protecting enterprises this year will require new cyber defense strategies and tactics, and better threat intelligence.
No enterprise is completely immune to cyber security attacks. Instead of focusing solely on preventing attacks, organizations should ensure they are able to respond quickly, recover and maintain operations. In other words, they should become cyber resilient.
Cyber resiliency requires establishing policies and processes that help an organization to survive and continue to execute its long-term strategy in the face of evolving security threats. Cyber resiliency should be part of a holistic approach to security that takes all aspects of the business into consideration, from employees and partners to the board of directors. Improving security is not a one-time project, but instead is a program of continuous improvement.
To become cyber resilient, enterprises must strike a balance between these three actions: protecting critical assets, detecting compromises and responding to incidents. Making the IT landscape cyber resilient requires investments in infrastructure, design and development of systems, applications and networks. At the same time, organizations must create and foster a resilience-conscious culture, of which security is an essential part.
An enterprise cyber resilience strategy includes three main components:
Adapt business and IT systems to next-generation threats. Enterprises must prepare for global malware and ransomware attacks, as well as more subtle attacks, where the adversary lurks inside the network. Begin by defining your enterprise security architecture to address prioritized risks. Get a fresh baseline of your current security stance. For example, find out how your enterprise would recover from ransomware if multiple sites, the Active Directory, and backup platforms were to become encrypted. Evaluate critical applications and their dependencies on infrastructure; then define a communications and command structure to ensure business continuity.
Update your security governance strategy. Governance is essential to successful security planning and key to attaining cyber resiliency. To ensure that your strategy measures up, incorporate strategies for protection, detection and response. Update and test business continuity and crisis management plans to cover new models of sourcing. Expand crisis management requirements to include all partners and suppliers. Make board members aware of cyber risks and the steps to effective cyber resiliency. Review and refine older access and software-patching policies and consider adopting role-based access control (RBAC) to more efficiently regulate access to computer and network resources.
Create a resilience-conscious culture. Encourage all employees — not just the cybersecurity team — to adopt a cyber resilient mindset. Stress that employees are the first line of defense when it comes to threats such as phishing and malware. Promote collaboration across teams with pertinent information about security and threats. Coach employees to share knowledge with appropriate authorities and peers both within and outside of the enterprise.
Keep looking ahead
New threats are emerging as organizations adopt new technologies as part of ongoing digital transformation. Enterprises must be prepared and properly staffed to address these challenges:
Internet of things (IoT) vulnerabilities. Consider system cyber and physical security requirements and resilience before widely deploying and depending on IoT systems. Use IoT gateways and edge devices to segregate and provide layers of protection between insecure devices and the internet to help manage the overall lack of IoT security.
Blockchain complexities.Blockchain technology, by its nature, is distributed and resilient. But blockchain moves transactions toward a decentralized model, making it essential to control private cryptography keys. When embedding security into blockchain transactions, use role-based authentication and end-to-end encryption to properly protect data.
Lack of Security Operations Centers (SOCs) resources. Examine the important role SOCs play in bringing together the resources needed to direct the defense. Define what constitutes suspicious activity, identify vulnerabilities, configure detection technologies, search for and validate active threats and ultimately notify affected parties. SOCs must manage and monitor identities, as well as ensure compliance with policies and regulatory requirements.
Transition to DevSecOps. Consider adopting a comprehensive DevSecOps model that incorporates review and governance and supports faster release schedules and innovation. Determine whether your organization can commit to the requirements necessary for success, which include changing to a culture of collaboration, building security throughout the development life cycle and evaluating technical and business risks.
Achieving cyber resiliency should be a modular transformation that evolves from a well-defined strategy to a project roadmap. Make sure you define a strategic direction aligned with business objectives, outline a plan to achieve that direction, and ensure proper execution of that plan, including decision making based on risk management.
Digital transformation represents the greatest opportunity for the enterprise in the 21st century. CEOs across the globe have digital innovation on their agenda as they seek to deliver innovative new business models, create new digital customer experiences, and optimize and automate their processes to enhance business performance.
BUT…digital technologies and the rapid pace of change in a digital world also threaten the enterprise through a growing cyberthreat landscape with a widening attack surface that exploits the very same digital technologies being used to transform the business.
To prevent cyberattacks from derailing your digital initiatives, we need to build security into the very fabric of the digital enterprise. Delivering secure digital transformation is about building security into the digital core platform which is the foundation for how we transform the business…put simply, we must become “Secure to the Core” and have a consistent framework for digital security transformation.
Deploying the right Cyber Defense
One of the key imperatives for secure digital transformation is the ability to monitor every aspect of technology (both IT and OT) across the business. In short, we need to Monitor Everything.
The modern enterprise requires a plethora of security tools to secure their infrastructure and endpoints (networks, firewalls, servers, storage, devices, applications, data, etc). These tools generate an enormous volume of data each day, making it almost impossible to identify and respond to true cyberthreats in a timely manner.
Intelligent Security Operations can detect threats quickly, respond to attacks rapidly, and defend the enterprise from security breaches by applying intelligence and automation to handle the enormous volume of incidents we see across the globe.
To ensure a secure core, Anteelo’s approach is to provide next-generation digital services with a high degree of automation through a Security Platform that applies lean process, deep analytics and intelligent automation to the security information and event management (SIEM) process.
We often describe the underlying technologies within this platform as SOAR (security, orchestration, automation and response).
IDC, meanwhile, describes these cybersecurity technologies as AIRO (Analytics, Incident, Response, and Orchestration). The AIRO technologies trace what is required in the Security Operations Center (SOC) to protect the enterprise network through to threat detection and formal remediation.
Whether your approach is “SOAR” or “AIRO,” either way we must apply automation and orchestration to cyber defences in order to keep up with the sheer volume of data and incidents generated across a wide array of infrastructure and endpoints.
In addition to monitoring everything with SOAR (or AIRO), we also believe in two more critical imperatives that are needed to secure the enterprise: Verify Everything and Encrypt Everything.
Verify Everything is about adopting a zero-trust approach to digital identity and access management. Enterprises engaged in digital transformation need a new approach if they are going to thrive in the digital world. The principle for security is no longer about the “where” it’s about the “who.” Success requires a comprehensive focus on digital identity management. Identity and access management can effectively establish a logical perimeter that enables digital transformation. The right identity and access management solutions prevent unauthorized access to enterprise information using multiple authentication methods with user access management and provisioning.
Privacy by Design
Encrypt Everything is about minimizing the risk of unauthorized or unlawful processing of business-critical data and avoiding accidental loss and destruction or damage to data. All sensitive data requires encryption and/or tokenization using trust services (PKI, certificate and key management), encryption solutions, and rights management. The right data protection and privacy solutions encrypt sensitive data and prevents data loss from malicious cyberattacks.
So, to enable your digital transformation journey, remember these three key security principles: Monitor Everything (with cyber defense solutions), Verify Everything (with digital identity solutions) and Encrypt Everything (with data protection solutions).
Without adequate security, all connected devices provide a direct gateway into our personal & professional networks. Is it possible to avoid theft of data?
Considering the pace we are all moving at, companies are continually striving to make everything connected virtually. Devices connected to IoT can ‘communicate’ with each other be it tech gadgets, smart phones, smart home equipment and machines, etc. But, without adequate security, these connected devices provide a direct gateway into our personal, corporate, and governmental networks where confidential data can be either stolen or destroyed.
Now that IoT has become a complete game-changer, cybersecurity is more relevant than ever and challenging at the same time. The question still remains, are we ready for such an increased level of connectivity? What are the IoT security risks?
Before we dive into the glaring security issues, let’s look at some IoT market statistics, shall we?
Essential Internet Of Things Statistics To Keep You Up to Speed
Overview of the IoT market
1. The global market for the Internet of things (IoT) reached $100 billion in revenue for the first time in 2017, and forecasts suggest that this figure will grow to around $1.6 trillion by 2025.
2. The total number of connected devices to IoT is projected to reach to 30.9 billion worldwide by 2025. Do note that this number includes active nodes/devices or gateways that concentrate the end-sensors, rather than consumer devices such as computers and cell phones.
3. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the IoT adoption rate has increased, especially in the IoT in healthcare setup.
According to Microsoft’s 2020 IoT signals report, one-in-three decision-makers plan to up their IoT investments while 41% say their existing investments will remain the same.
Statistics about IoT security threats
1. SonicWall, which blocks an average of 26 million malware attacks globally each day, recorded 40% rise in malware attacks during the third quarter of 2020 as compared to 151.9 million ransomware attacks globally through the first three quarters of 2019, marking 15% and 5% year-over-year declines, respectively. The report clearly indicates how IoT cyber security is compromised.
2. According to the 2020 Unit 42 IoT threat report, 98% of all IoT device traffic is unencrypted, exposing personal and confidential data on the network. This is one huge example of IoT cyber risk.
3. The same report also points out that 57% of IoT devices are vulnerable to medium- or high-severity attacks. Also, 41% of attacks exploit device vulnerabilities that again shows IoT security challenges.
Now that you are up to date with all the data that revolves around security aspects in IoT, let’s discuss the challenges of securing IoT devices.
Internet Of Things Security Vulnerabilities And Challenges
1. Insufficient testing and updating
The major issue that comes with companies while developing IoT devices is that no one takes care of the security issue unless some major problem hits. Once IoT manufacturers launch a device they ensure that it is secure but over time it becomes prone to hackers and other security issues due to the lack of constant testing and updating. Hence, opening the door to IoT security challenges.
2. Lack of compliance on the part of IoT manufacturers
Let me explain this with examples you see in your day to day life. If you use fitness trackers, you must have noticed that bluetooth remains visible after the first pairing. A smart refrigerator can expose gmail credentials and a smart fingerprint padlock can be accessed with a Bluetooth key that has the same MAC address as the padlock device.
This can be labeled as one of the biggest IoT cyber security threats! Below are some security issues in IoT devices from manufacturers:
Weak and easily guessable passwords
Usage of old operating systems and software
Insecure and unprotected data storage and transfer
Technical issues in the hardware
3. Botnet attacks
Cyber security for IoT devices is very crucial since they are highly vulnerable to Malware attacks. They do not have the regular software security updates that a computer does. To perform a botnet attack, a hacker first creates an army of bots by infecting them with malware. Further, directs them to send thousands of requests per second to bring down the target.
Cyber security and IoT should go hand in hand in order to avoid a situation of attack. A botnet attack can easily cause a security threat for transportation systems, manufacturing plants, water treatment facilities and electrical grids, which can threaten big groups of people.
For example: A hacker can create spikes on the power grid by triggering a cooling and heating system at the same time. If this attack is planned on a big-scale it can create a nation-wide power outage.
4. Data security and privacy issues
Did you know that hackers did not spare a visionary like Elon Musk and a company like Apple which is known for its proud security claims. ? If such data comes in the wrong hands, it will not only lead to loss of money but also compromise intellectual property.
It was predicted that the Internet of Things will become a target-rich environment for hackers by 2020, attracting more than 25% of all cyberattacks. According to Microsoft, security aspects in IoT are lagging because 60% of employees use their personal devices for work purposes, and more than 80% admit to using unsanctioned web apps for work.
5. Financial crimes
Electronic payment companies that deploy Internet of Things may experience a wave of financial crimes. It will be a challenge to ensure the timely detection of fraud.
Also, due to compliance and operational issues, it will be difficult for all financial companies to launch new models of workflow. That is, unless they improve their project lifecycle and risk management strategies that include a rising threat of IoT security breaches.
6. Home invasions
You must be familiar with the concept of ‘smart homes’, which is a by-product of IoT. Cyber security for IoT becomes a huge issue when it comes to home automation. Due to unsafe devices and poor defense mechanisms, your IP addresses are trackable and it makes it easy for hackers to locate the address of the device.
7. Remote smart vehicle access
An IoT security challenge that is close to home invasion is the hijacking of your smart vehicles. This can lead to theft of personal data, vehicle theft, manipulation of safety-critical systems, etc.
Also, remote vehicle access can be a subject to ransomware, as a hacker may demand a hefty fee to unlock the car or to enable the engine. These malicious intrusions are obviously a huge threat to public safety as they can cause accidents.
Now that you have walked through the vulnerabilities and challenges that come with IoT, it’s time to talk about cyber security strategies that can help you overcome them.
How Can You Make IoT Connections Secure?
1. Secure the network
It is extremely important to secure the network that is a connecting bridge between the IoT devices and the back-end systems. This can be achieved by implementing security features like antivirus, anti-malware, firewalls and intrusion detection and prevention systems.
That being said, in order to sustain a smooth operation, there is a need for the IoT network to be protected and secured. You can effectively protect the network and secure it against attacks with the help of the above mentioned systems.
2. Authenticate the IoT devices
One of the cyber security solutions can be device authentication features for the IoT devices. Features like- multi-factor authentication and biometric systems ensure that nobody can access your devices. A potential attacker will need personal information to gain access to information and this is where you have leverage.
It is of great significance to secure your devices and reduce the probability of your data getting into the wrong hands. When you implement the suggested security options, your IoT devices become well secured against external breach of security. Thus, you will be able to enjoy the numerous benefits of having IoT devices at home, in the office, in your automobile, and anywhere you want.
3. Public key infrastructure strategy
A public key infrastructure (PKI) allows the users to engage in secure forms of communication, data exchange, and money exchange. This type of engagement is carried out using public and private cryptographic key pairs.
PKI ensures the encryption of data through two — asymmetric and symmetric encryption — processes. In asymmetric, we need two keys, one key is the public key and the other key is the private key. If something is encrypted with the public key, then decryption can only be done with the private key and vice-versa.
On the other hand for symmetric both the data encryption and decryption is done with the same key. The data encryption and decryption ensure that data privacy is maintained and the chances of data theft are reduced to the bare minimum.
4. Use IoT security analytics
You can drastically change the number of security issues you face by implementing security analytics. This involves collecting, correlating, and analyzing the data from multiple sources and can help IoT security providers by assisting in identification of potential threats.
Final Say
There is a lot of scope in IoT today and it is safe to say that the market will increase as per the projections, so now is the time to dive deep into the subject and understand it’s what’s and how’s. Also, with the discussion on IoT security challenges and solutions, we can conclude that securing applications is of paramount importance.
The security challenges must be managed, monitored and avoided by taking certain measures. You can go ahead and hire an IoT app development company that can help you overcome all your security risks, you can also choose the company based on the location, for example if you reside in the USA, then finding an iot app development company USA is better choice, as you will be able to know whether the company is genuine and knows its clients and customers choice.
You have your eye on a new piece of security technology or service and you want to evaluate it before deciding whether to commit to the effort of a full deployment. Alternatively, you may already be committed to full-scale deployment but wondering where to start. So where should you deploy it first to test it most effectively and have the greatest impact?
Human nature, caution and conventional wisdom dictate that you should put it in a lab environment or in a low-importance section of your network. That is sensible, isn’t it? The change board will give you less hassle and if there is a problem, you are going to get less flack, aren’t you?
But will that approach give you most information and practical experience about the new system’s deployment difficulties, effectiveness in your environment and what it will detect? Will it give you the maximum protection as soon as possible?
Any tool that gives you fresh insight on the behavior of your systems tends to find something interesting. Those of us who have deployed such things have the stories to go with them – from mundane discoveries such as finding that all servers in one network had the wrong DNS settings and were thus being slowed down, to critical detections of previously unobserved persistent attackers.
However, there is an argument to be made for deploying this new tool on your production systems, close to your crown jewels. These are the things you really want to protect and the environment in which it really needs to work. Yes, this approach is higher risk, but it is also higher benefit. Will a deployment on a low throughput, obscure bit of network really tell you much? On the other hand, couldn’t one real detection on your primary systems during the evaluation period convince you and your management of the system’s value?
Granted, this may not be a sensible suggestion for inline systems that process all traffic, but with the right technology it can work. Many security technologies monitor traffic and provide alerts rather than enforce actions — or at least they have a mode in which they can act in this way. A new security solution deployed on a span port or network tap may actually pose more risk to production traffic in terms of confidentiality than in disruption or performance. It is also easy to turn off or detach such solutions by removing the span connection. Other security tools rely on collecting logs from your existing devices. Building an architecture that allows forking and diverting the streams of log events can support easy introduction of such types of new security tooling.
As an example, consider the evaluation of a new security monitoring tool, perhaps one with user and entity behaviour analytics (UEBA). Will you get much information from deploying it on a test/staging environment that will typically have a small number of users and occasional traffic? Or would you get a better sense of its value from connecting it to your production active directory, primary applications and remote access system? Wouldn’t that give you a better idea of how easily it can be connected, how well it copes with actual production loads and whether it can really differentiate between normal and suspicious behaviour?
Designing taps such as those mentioned above into your network and log architectures future-proofs your environment, making it easier to evaluate other products down the road and deploy them into final production. It can also help in emergencies, as incident response teams wishing to deploy their tooling will be looking for very similar facilities overseeing your most critical systems.
So next time you have a new security system to test, think about ignoring conventional wisdom and throwing (some) caution to the wind. Sometimes the radical step is the right one. Deploying security tools on your crown jewels first may be the optimal approach.
There has been a long-held assumption that data security threats originate from nefarious external forces seeking to steal an organization’s most sensitive data. Traditional security models were therefore designed with this view in mind and on the mistaken belief that everything within the internal network is trustworthy. But there is evidence that a majority of attacks come from internal sources, with healthcare, manufacturing and financial services firms at the greatest risk.
An insider threat may be intentional or accidental but, in either case, the risk can be that much greater because it is often difficult to detect and can continue to spread.
In healthcare, having electronic health records (EHRs) that collect a patient’s data in a single record is hugely beneficial to managing patient care and to patients’ ability to gain insights into their overall health and manage their own care. Securing sensitive data is of paramount importance to prevent data theft, identity theft and reputational damage to the provider. Therefore, access must be secure and accountable, regardless of whether the data resides on hospital servers, mobile devices or cloud services.
As the healthcare industry continues to digitize — bringing together EHR data with other data about the patient, including from smart devices — and as it shifts to care without borders, interoperability of data will become even more crucial, but so too will cyber resilience. Organizations will need to focus on hardening access to digital assets as opposed to making them inaccessible.
In an era of patient-driven care, patients expect to be able to trust those caring for them to safeguard their data. Violation of that trust with security breaches affects the quality of care those patients receive. If a reputable hospital suffers a breach, it will influence where a patient will go for care, which could affect the continuity and quality of care.
This is where the security approach known as zero trust comes into its own. With zero trust, there is no assumed trust of corporate devices or networks versus untrusted public networks or personal devices. The same security checks are performed on users and devices. Everybody is equally suspect, but everybody is also equally enabled to gain the access they need. Access policies are applied wherever data is held and across the interfaces of all systems when they are being accessed.
Such a system might sound onerous to operate, but zero trust is not about putting roadblocks on innovation, collaboration and open exchange. Rather, it’s about increasing cyber defense.
In healthcare, zero trust is about finding a solution that can preserve the sharing and giving of information in a patient’s best interest but that will safeguard the information at the same time. The zero trust approach does just that and is a viable option to support digital healthcare.
To achieve the objectives of data security through a zero trust approach, healthcare organizations need to consider three key elements.
Ensure that zero trust encompasses security at multiple levels. Applications need to be subject to strict login and monitoring rules and complete API security. This is one way an application can be executed, and these interfaces are vulnerable to attacks unless they are properly protected. The network must have strong security measures, such as physical segmentation and firewalls, plus security monitoring across all users and IT systems. Multilevel security programs should also address training for staff and patients to spot phishing attempts and practice good security hygiene, such as setting strong passwords. And the infrastructure needs to monitor all users logged into the overall system. Patients who read reports that their hospital is being investigated for security breaches will choose to go elsewhere. Once a hospital’s reputation is damaged, the stigma is hard to overcome.
Ensure that all patient data and resources are accessed securely with the appropriate permissions. Knowing where data is held allows controls to be extended to wrap and protect data on-premises, in the cloud and on personal devices. Once the data is classified, the correct access policies can be enforced when that data is being accessed. Healthcare organizations need to be able to audit who has accessed information to ensure accountability.
Have in place a “least access” strategy through an identity and access management solution, and grant access only to people authorized to access data. For example, if a physician is allowed to access a patient record, only that physician should be able to do so, not other clinical staff involved in caring for the patient. The objective is to ensure that the hospital is running an environment with the proper protection in place. Zero trust needs to be ingrained in human resources policies. Since hospitals typically have a large temporary workforce and a lot of personnel changes, the identity management system can automate safeguards to identify new employees and those moving into different roles or leaving the organization. So, if a nurse or doctor leaves the hospital, that person’s authorized access will be automatically revoked.
The patients’ trust and confidence in the healthcare system rely on healthcare organizations being able to safeguard their data and ensure that it is only used legitimately. Trust drives all consumers’ experiences in terms of whom they engage with. And in an era of patient-centered care, patients expect their hospital or clinician to also care for their personal data.
![Possible Best Buy Breach In [24]7.ai Hack | PYMNTS.com](https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/shutterstock_418940485.jpg)
