Cybersecurity threats and defenses are constantly changing as hackers refine their methods and technology. Staying ahead requires regular updates for organizations if they wish to stay protected against potential attackers.
Security professionals must educate end users to delete suspicious attachments and not connect unknown USB drives, among other best practices. Furthermore, they should reinforce that attributing fault is often difficult and complicated.
Ransomware Attacks Surge
Latest cyber threat intelligence reports from leading security firms show an alarming surge in ransomware attacks. One analysis concluded that attackers extorted over $612 million from organizations by locking down PCs and servers compared with less than $225 million during the same time last year.
Attackers aren’t simply individual hackers but professional perpetrators operating out of their respective countries. Recently, US government and its allies have made notable arrests; President Joe Biden even issued a challenge to Vladimir Putin to crack down on these criminals operating from their safe havens.
Ransomware gangs frequently threaten to expose information or data belonging to their target if the company doesn’t pay. This can result in significant business disruption as well as irreparable harm to its reputation as an organization unwilling to safeguard data security for customers and clients.
Not only should companies safeguard backups, but they should also take steps to enhance their cybersecurity hygiene – ensuring all third parties and managed service providers follow best practices for cybersecurity. MSPs should only access systems relevant to their core responsibilities and must encrypt all communications between client and provider.
Supply Chain Vulnerabilities
Connectivity between people and things has dramatically expanded our attack surface and made us more susceptible to cyber-attacks. This vulnerability, particularly within sectors like health care, financial services and manufacturing where sensitive data or financial gain exist creates an incentive for hackers to exploit our vulnerabilities.
Criminals are increasingly targeting the global supply chain to gain entry to business systems and steal vital data or cause damage. Criminals use various points of entry available within it – from basic warehouse equipment to Internet of Things devices connected with factories and operational sites – in order to gain entry and cause disruption or cause further harm.
Nation-state hackers pose one of the gravest threats to national security, particularly China and Russia who have adopted malicious cyber activity as part of their strategies of victory. Chinese cyberattacks seek to stimulate their economy through theft of commercial intellectual property while Russian attacks target key infrastructure across America.
Malicious actors have recently shifted their focus from only targeting government entities to also target private sector companies, particularly defense contractors. By breaching defense systems and networks as well as accessing sensitive information or intellectual property stored therein, malicious actors could potentially gain entry to these systems causing irreparable damage, estimated to exceed $6 Trillion by 2021.
Critical Infrastructure Protection
Cyberspace has quickly become one of the world’s most dangerous threat domains due to increasingly complex cybersecurity threats and an expanding attack surface. Innovation, hyperconnectivity, and digital dependencies continue to outstrip our cyber defenses; attacks may now have devastating kinetic and non-kinetic consequences on American lives.
DHS is committed to supporting critical infrastructure owners and operators in safeguarding their assets from cyberattacks, with particular attention paid to protecting the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) and other critical sectors considered vital to national economic security. Such infrastructures have an outsized influence over security, public health or safety or economic wellbeing in America.
Nation-states, their proxies, and transnational criminal organizations engage in malicious cyber activities in order to steal commercial intellectual property, compromise critical defense networks and infrastructure systems, conduct espionage operations against democratic institutions and undermine democratic systems. Furthermore, countries like Iran conduct cyberattacks in support of their foreign policy goals.
Hackers frequently attack defense manufacturers and their contractors. In March 2020, Visser Precision, a supplier to the Defense Department, suffered a four month-long ransomware attack which posted sensitive government data to dark web.
Cybersecurity Workforce Challenges
Even with their best efforts, security professionals face ongoing difficulties within the cybersecurity workforce. Many organizations report staff shortages or inability to fill positions while cyberattacks have become more sophisticated and persistent in nature; nation states and their proxies, criminal groups, hacktivists and terrorists target critical infrastructure systems while nation states target critical infrastructures; criminal groups steal intellectual property and innovation while engaging in espionage while simultaneously endangering democratic institutions and individuals; cyber attacks outstrip cyber defenses creating real risk of “cyber 9/11.”
To meet this challenge, agencies must take proactive measures to recruit, retain and develop their cybersecurity teams. These steps could include training staff for new roles; offering more flexible work environments; expanding recruitment strategies; or even creating career pathways that appeal to younger generations – including women and minorities.
The government should leverage existing authorities to set required cybersecurity requirements for critical sectors and develop a workforce framework, including standards, training, and professional development for its workforce. Furthermore, programs should encourage middle school students, particularly girls, to pursue STEM studies and college-level computer science degrees; expand initiatives like Girl Scouts of the USA’s CyberCorps training for both high-schoolers and community participants; and establish an apprenticeship model nationwide.
Zero-Day Exploits and Advanced Persistent Threats
Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) are undetected cyberattacks which may remain undetected for months or even years without being noticed by victims. APTs are typically carried out by nation-state hackers or criminal organizations and aim to gain entry to networks, collecting sensitive data that will then be exploited later to cause severe financial damages, damaged reputations and information loss. A successful attack can result in massive financial loss as well as irreplaceable information being lost forever. Zero-day vulnerabilities are unknown software flaws which attackers can take advantage of to gain unauthorized access. Advanced Persistent Threat groups often employ zero-day attacks as part of an APT’s infection of computer networks by spreading Trojans that silently execute commands within systems they gain entry to, as well as backdoors which enable them to return at any time and expand their presence within a targeted organization.
APTs use multiple techniques to gain entry to their target networks, including social engineering, malware propagation and phishing attacks. Taking such an aggressive stance increases the odds of successful infiltration while complicating detection efforts; and this sophisticated form of attack is notoriously hard to stop: cybercriminals have developed polymorphic threats which change with each use making them virtually undetectable by traditional defense mechanisms such as next-generation firewalls, IPSs, antivirus solutions or Web gateways; in addition, APTs leverage an increasing pool of data about organizations to launch targeted phishing attacks which specifically attack specific individuals in particular phishing campaigns that attack specific individuals using sophisticated strategies.
National Cybersecurity Policies
The National Cybersecurity Strategy signals a shift towards more regulatory cybersecurity measures, with the government using laws and regulation to pressure businesses and industries into strengthening their defenses. This may involve sharing secret intelligence information with private companies or mandating stricter security standards or encouraging Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to screen out known malware threats.
Nation-states and their agents, transnational criminal organizations, and cyber criminals are using our digital dependencies and the vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure systems to undermine national security and economic prosperity. By 2021 it is expected that cyberattack damages will exceed $6 trillion per year; as innovation and hyperconnectivity continue outpacing cybersecurity defenses, a potential “cyber 9/11” remains ever present.
The Department’s mission is to sustain and enhance deterrence through cyberspace operations that promote responsible behavior by working with Allies to establish consequences for irresponsible behavior, conducting military operations to defend our interests both within cyberspace and beyond, investigating malign influence campaigns online, countering malign influence campaigns online, investigating online propaganda campaigns as well as countering malign influence and propaganda campaigns online. Its cyberspace operations complement concurrent actions taken by diplomatic, law enforcement and intelligence communities; its work in this domain emphasizes two fundamental shifts: realigning responsibility with responsibility while realigning incentives favoring long-term investments.
Emerging Technologies Security
Skilled cyber attackers and nation-states are using an array of technologies to steal data, infiltrate systems with malware or attack critical infrastructure networks. Defense against such threats must constantly evolve in response to new attacks; this requires creating a cybersecurity ecosystem comprised of advanced tools, stringent security policies and regular employee training programs.
As more countries embrace emerging technologies like AI and autonomous systems, it is imperative that they are implemented securely. Furthermore, these technologies must not give access to dangerous actors by giving them technical expertise or tacit knowledge that would allow them to engage in illegal acts. Here, government should collaborate with industry and academia in identifying any threats.
Defense against cyber threats lies with individuals, families, small and large businesses, the Small and Local Technology Transfer Offices (SLTT), as well as federal governments. To combat the threats effectively requires collaboration among all of these parties: individuals, families, SLTT and federal. The key goal should be preventing attacks before they happen or mitigating them quickly so they don’t spread further – which requires continuous monitoring of digital environments as well as using automation and AI/other emerging technologies into security frameworks so as to help bridge cyber skills gaps – with CNAS working alongside security/policy communities towards these solutions by joining up both security/policy communities to develop solutions together.
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