My Cyber Warning Was Validated
At a recent speaking event, one point I highlighted involved how many people misunderstand their opponent in the cyber world. I had cautioned people five years ago that we'd see worse compromises based on the patterns I observed and that's exactly what's happened I think that FinTek Development's full interview with Milena Rodban captured one reason why perfectly:
There is someone, somewhere, looking to use every development for unintended or nefarious purposes- whether criminal, activist, terrorist, or state-sponsored hacker.
Unfortunately, the portrayal of hackers is often a kid at a computer (though kids can be sophisticated hackers in some situations - don't underestimate them). When it comes to state-sponsored or other entities that could be attackers, people don't like to think in those terms, so they pretend their development couldn't possibly benefit those two entities. These risks then get overlooked while firms are exposed to more powerful hackers than they're prepared for (though self-motivated hackers can be quite powerful too).
In the webinar, What Everyone Should Know About Hackers - Who and Why, covers answers related information that everyone from C-suite to development should watch:
- 4 main category of hackers and why you should consider these categories of hackers in the context of your company, development approach and business ideas
- Diving into the incentives (the why) of hackers and tying these incentives to the main categories
- Covering misconceptions about hackers involving competitive hacks, intelligence agencies, and more
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This risk is increasing, especially in one growing industry. Five years ago, I spoke at the same event and warned that the compromises would only get worse partially because I understood how our enemies were evolving relative to our industry and who some of our enemies were in the bigger context. This time, I predicted that the scale will get worse, as hackers are innovating at a faster rate than all of the technical community and the costs will be higher with the technology being built that very few people understand.
Consider the security event with Exactis alone. The dismissive attitude that it was overlooked is easily refuted when reading the company's blog and their information about what they perceive as strong security. I like to ask people in the tech field - what was wrong with Exactis' assumption? Sadly, most people don't know. In addition, how long was this information exposed and who could have possibly gained access and used it?
We see yet another instance where people are misunderstanding and underestimating their opponent.
We used some of the quotes in this post from with permission from the original author.