WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THE
EXPECTED INCREASE IN RANSOMWARE
AND CYBER- EXTORTION TOOLS ?
ast year saw
L cyberattacks such as WannaCry and Netya illustrate how adversaries are becoming more creative in how they architect their attacks . The world of cybersecurity has witnessed changes frequently with security experts trying to gain know-how about what is happening and how they can mitigate it .
Scott Manson , Cybersecurity Lead , Middle East and Africa , Cisco , said : “ The universal fact is that we have to accept that we can ’ t protect everything , but we can find a way to control what matters the most . Unfortunately , ransomware attacks will almost certainly become more pervasive and varied during 2018 . Some attacks will adhere to the bruteforce model of infect , lock and extort , while others will be more sophisticated . Evolutions in ransomware , such as the growth of Ransomware-as-a-Service , will make it easier for criminals , regardless of skill set , to carry out these attacks . It turns out that ransomware generated a lot of cash for criminals , an estimated $ 1
?
billion in 2016 . In the future , ransomware will not merely target individual users , but also target entire networks . Reducing the risk of ransomware infections requires a portfolio-based approach , rather than a single product . Often , victims of ransomware choose to pay the ransom , because they have no other means by which to restore their systems and data . Don ’ t pay the ransom . Create strong plans for system and data recovery as soon as possible , including backing up all systems daily .”
It ’ s only a matter of time before every house and company is connected through editor ’ s question
the Internet of Things ( IoT ) and this only adds to the potential for cyberattacks .
“ We predict that as many as one million new connections per hour will be added to the Internet by 2020 expanding the attack surface and making IoT vulnerabilities more critical and more dangerous ,” said Manson . “ To meet the security challenges of the IoT , an attack surface that is both growing rapidly and becoming increasingly difficult to monitor and manage , a proactive and dynamic approach to security and a layered defence strategy are the keys to protecting IoT devices from infection and attack , or at least mitigating the impact when some are inevitably compromised by adversaries .”
The security landscape is expected to see an increase in automation in terms of cybersecurity responses .
“ As our industry faces a talent crisis , automation , machine learning and AI will be critical in ensuring protection , becoming a powerful and effective component of cybersecurity incident response ,” said Manson . www . intelligentciso . com | Issue 01
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