APB PANELLISTS
2 EDITORIAL
Protect your content , defend your infrastructure – stop cyberattacks now !
Highly secured bank vaults , or even rudimentary home safes , have long been a manifestation of the desire to keep valuables secured and protected against theft , unauthorised access to documents and other intrusions .
As digitisation continues to re-shape the broadcast and media sectors , are there enough digital bank vaults or safes to protect key digital media assets ?
The recent cyberattack on HBO would seem to suggest that the answer is ‘ NO ’. As Time Warner awaits a potential acquisition by AT & T , the last thing it would have wanted to hear is how one of the most universally popular shows — Game of Thrones — on one of its networks has been leaked prior to broadcast .
Most worryingly , perhaps , is the fact that this is hardly an isolated incident . Other high-profile cyberattacks include a 2014 assault on Sony Pictures Entertainment , where content , personal details and correspondence were stolen .
In 2013 , computer networks in South Korea were paralysed , including those from national broadcasters KBS and MBC .
Where cybersecurity is concerned , broadcasters need to consider two key issues — protecting their assets from theft , and protecting their operations from service outage , Richard Welsh , VP of Education , SMTPE , told APB .
Welsh was part of a panel of speakers who presented a webinar hosted by IBC titled Broadcast under attack : Protecting content and defending infrastructure in July , which served as a prequel to the Cyber Security Forum that will be introduced at IBC2017 .
The HBO attack clearly falls into the first scenario identified by Welsh . Arguably , the second scenario is even more worrisome . While Welsh concedes that putting in place and maintaining a top-of-the-line cybersecurity system can be costly
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Dr Amal Punchihewa
Director , Technology & Innovation Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union
Angeline Poh
Assistant CEO ( Content & Innovation Group ), Info-communications Media Development Authority of Singapore
and disruptive , he urged broadcasters to consider the alternative cost if their operations become compromised because of successful cyber attacks . Or to put this into wider perspective , imagine a scenario where major broadcast services are driven off the air , even for “ just ” a few hours .
This is not to say that broadcasters are intentionally neglectful when it comes to cybersecurity . In the wake of recent destructive attacks and with new privacy regulations on the horizon , more broadcasters are becoming more active in recruiting internal security talent and working alongside external cybersecurity and data breach experts , said Cameron Brown , cyber defence adviser , information security strategist , lawyer and digital forensic investigator , who was also one of the speakers at the IBC webinar .
It is clearly a case of having to do more , as cyberattacks become increasingly sophisticated and complex . Trade shows such as IBC will also have a key role to play in bringing together all stakeholders to discuss how a collective effort can be forged to ameliorate , if not completely eradicate , cyberattacks .
The last thing the broadcast and media industries need in a digitised world is to be paralysed and held ransom by having key digital media assets compromised or being deprived of the ability to broadcast .
It is , perhaps , time to ask ourselves : Are we able to protect our content and defend our infrastructure , or are we just sitting ducks waiting to be blasted ?
SHAWN LIEW MANAGING EDITOR
APB PANELLISTS
Dr Peter Siebert
Executive Director The DVB Project
Stan Moote CTO IABM
Andrew Anderson
Head of Broadcast Operations Seven West Media
September 2017 ( volume 34 issue 7 )
EDITORIAL managing editor Shawn Liew , shawn @ editecintl . com online editor Millette Burgos , millette @ editecintl . com contributing editor ( technology ) Karl K Rossiter , karl @ editecintl . com contributing editor Shirish Nadkarni , shinads @ yahoo . co . uk senior reporter Josephine Tan , josephine @ editecintl . com
CORRESPONDENTS
■ India Shirish Nadkarni , shinads @ yahoo . co . uk
■ USA Mike Feazel , mfeazel @ gmail . com
PRODUCTION production editor Zuraini Ridzwan , zuraini @ editecintl . com sub-editor Genevieve Chan , genevieve @ editecintl . com senior multimedia designer Raymund Jaudian , raymund @ editecintl . com multimedia designer Waldomar Zuniga , waldomar @ editecintl . com ad / office administrator Irene Lok , irene @ editecintl . com accounts manager Tan Hui Min , huimin @ editecintl . com
MARKETING director - sales & marketing Jessie Tan , jessie @ editecintl . com manager - sales & marketing Lynn Chee , lynn @ editecintl . com
CIRCULATION & PROMOTIONS Lynn Chee , lynn @ editecintl . com
PUBLISHING publisher / editorial director Andrew Yeo , andrew @ editecintl . com
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