Category Archives: DDoS Criminals

Who’s hacking into UK unis? Spies, research-nickers… or rival gamers living in res hall?

Report fingers students and staff for academic cyber-attacks Who’s hacking into university systems? Here’s a clue from the UK higher education tech crew at Jisc: the attacks drop dramatically during summer break. A new study from Jisc (formerly the Joint Information Systems Committee) has suggested that rather than state-backed baddies or common criminals looking to siphon off academic research and personal information, staff or students are often the culprits in attacks against UK higher education institutions. The non-profit body, which provides among other things internet connectivity to universities, analysed 850 attacks in the 2017-18 academic year and found a consistent pattern that occurred during term time and the UK working day. Holidays brought with them a sharp reduction in attacks, from a peak 60-plus incidents a week during periods of the autumn term to a low of just one a week at times in the summer. It acknowledged that part of the virtual halt in summer may be down to cops and Feds cracking down on black hat distributed denial-of-service tools in the months prior, however. Jisc is perhaps better known among Reg readers for providing the Janet network to UK education and research institutions. Its data covered cyber-attacks against almost 190 universities and colleges and focused on denial-of-service and other large-scale infosec hits rather than phishing frauds and malware. Staff and students with a grudge or out to cause mischief are more credible suspects in much of this rather than external hackers or spies. More sophisticated hackers might be inclined to use DDoS as some sort of smokescreen. In a blog post, Jisc security operations centre head John Chapman admitted some of the evidence suggesting staff and students might be behind DDoS attacks is circumstantial. However, he pointed out evidence from law enforcement and detected cyber assaults supported this theory. For example, a four-day DDoS attack the unit was mitigating against was traced back to a university hall of residence – and turned out to be the result of a feud between two rival gamers. Whoever might be behind them, the number of incidents is growing. Attacks are up 42 per cent to reach this year’s 850; the previous academic year (2016-17) witnessed less than 600 attacks against fewer than 140 institutions. Matt Lock, director of solutions engineers at Varonis, said: “This report is another reminder that some of the biggest threats facing organisations today do not involve some hoodie-wearing, elusive computer genius.” Education is targeted more often than even the finance and retail sectors, according to McAfee research (PDF). Nigel Hawthorn, data privacy expert at McAfee, commented in March: “The kind of data held by universities (student records/intellectual property) is a valuable commodity for cyber criminals, so it is crucial that the security and education sectors work together to protect it. Source: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/09/17/cyber_attack_uk_universities/

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Who’s hacking into UK unis? Spies, research-nickers… or rival gamers living in res hall?

DDoS attacks: Students blamed for many university cyber attacks

DDoS attacks against university campuses are more likely in term time. Nation-states and criminal gangs often get the blame for cyber attacks against universities, but a new analysis of campaigns against the education sector suggests that students — or even staff — could be perpetrators of many of these attacks. Attributing cyber attacks is often a difficult task but Jisc, a not-for-profit digital support service for higher education, examined hundreds of DDoS attacks against universities and has come to the conclusion that “clear patterns” show these incidents take place during term-time and during the working day — and dramatically drop when students are on holiday. “This pattern could indicate that attackers are students or staff, or others familiar with the academic cycle. Or perhaps the bad guys simply take holidays at the same time as the education sector,” said John Chapman, head of security operations at Jisc. While the research paper notes that in many cases the reasons behind these DDoS campaigns can only be speculated about, just for fun, for the kudos and to settle grudges are cited as potential reasons. In one case, a DDoS attack against a university network which took place across four nights in a row was found to be specifically targeting halls of residence. In this instance, the attacker was launching an attack in order to disadvantage a rival in online games. The research notes that attacks against universities usually drop off during the summer — when students and staff are away — but that the dip for 2018 started earlier than it did in 2017. “The heat wave weather this year could have been a factor, but it’s more likely due to international law enforcement activity — Operation Power Off took down a ‘stresser’ website at the end of April,” said Chapman. The joint operation by law enforcement agencies around the world took down ‘Webstresser’, a DDoS for hire service which illegally sold kits for overwhelming networks and was, at the time, the world’s largest player in this space. This seemingly led to a downturn in DDoS attacks against universities. But universities ignore more advanced threats “at their peril” said Chapman. “It’s likely that some of these more sophisticated attacks are designed to steal intellectual property, targeting sensitive and valuable information held at universities and research centres.” Despite this, a recent survey by Jisc found that educational establishments weren’t taking cyber attacks seriously, as they weren’t considered a priority issue by many. “When it comes to cyber security, complacency is dangerous. We do everything we can to help keep our members’ safe, but there’s no such thing as a 100% secure network,” said Chapman. Source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/ddos-attacks-students-blamed-for-many-university-cyber-attacks/

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DDoS attacks: Students blamed for many university cyber attacks

DDoS Attacks Increase in Size by 500%

According to the Q2 2018 Threat Report , Nexusguard ’s quarterly report, the average distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack grew to more than 26Gbps, increasing in size by 500%. The research looked at the same period last year and found that the maximum attack size quadrupled to 359Gbps. Evaluating thousands of worldwide DDoS attacks, researchers reportedly gathered real-time attack data from botnet scanning, honeypots, ISPs and traffic moving between attackers and their targets. Data analysis led researchers to attribute the stark surge to IoT botnets and Satori malware exploits, one of many variants of the Mirai malware. “Due to the increase in IoT-related malware exploits and the rampant growth of large-scale DDoS attacks, research conclusions point to the continued use of IoT botnets. Cyber-attacks hit the 2018 FIFA World Cup, as well as cryptocurrency-related businesses, maximizing revenue loss,” Nexusguard wrote in a press release . Additionally, attacks on the Verge Network (XVG) resulted in a significant loss of 35 million XVG tokens. “The biggest zero-day risks can stem from various types of home routers, which attackers can exploit to create expansive DDoS attacks against networks and mission-critical services, resulting in jumbo-sized attacks intended to cripple targets during peak revenue-generating hours,” said Juniman Kasman, chief technology officer for Nexusguard. “Telcos and other communications service providers will need to take extra precautions to guard bandwidth against these super-sized attacks to ensure customer service and operations continue uninterrupted.” Nexusguard analysts advise communications service providers (CSPs) and other potentially vulnerable operations to augment their preparedness so that they are able to maintain their bandwidth, especially if they lack full redundancy and failover plans in their infrastructures. CSPs and vulnerable organizations that enhance bandwidth protection will be better positioned to stay ahead of the surging attack sizes. “In the quarter, increasingly large attacks (a YoY average-size increase of 543.17%) had a severe impact on Communication Service Providers (CSP),” the report said. “Serving as a link between attack sources and victim servers and infrastructures, CSPs bear the burden of the increasing size of traffic, irrespective of its source or destination. As such, Internet service is degraded.” Source: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ddos-attacks-increase-in-size-by/

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DDoS Attacks Increase in Size by 500%

Edinburgh Uni Hit by Major Cyber-Attack

The website of Edinburgh University was still down at the time of writing after the institution suffered a major cyber-attack during its Freshers’ Week. A university spokesman told the Edinburgh Evening News that it has “rigid measures in place” to protect IT systems and data. “Our defenses reacted quickly and no data has been compromised,” he added. “We will continue to work with our internet service provider, [national cybercrime investigators] and with other universities to prevent these network attacks in future.” The main ed.ac.uk site was still down on Thursday morning, nearly 24 hours after the first reports of an attack went online. That would indicate a serious DDoS attack. Jisc, the UK non-profit which runs the super-fast Janet network for research and educational institutions, released a statement claiming that a “number of universities” have been targeted this week and adding that the number of DDoS attacks on them “typically increases at this time of year, when students are enrolling at, or returning to university.” “While Jisc is responsible for protecting connections to the Janet Network for its members (colleges, universities and research centres), members are responsible for protecting their own cyberspace,” it added. “However, Jisc also provides DDoS threat intelligence to its community and provides advice to members affected by cyber-attacks on how to deal with the problem and minimize the impact.” Ironically, Edinburgh University was praised by the government this year for carrying out cutting-edge cybersecurity research. It is one of 14 Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Research, backed by the £1.9bn National Cyber Security Strategy. DDoS attacks grew by 40% year-on-year in the first six months of 2018, according to new figures from Corero Networks. The security firm claimed that attacks are becoming shorter — with 82% lasting less than 10 minutes — and smaller, with 94% under 5Gbps. However, one in five victims are hit with another attack within 24 hours, the report revealed. Source: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/edinburgh-uni-hit-by-major-cyber/

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Edinburgh Uni Hit by Major Cyber-Attack

DDoS attacks are getting even larger

Average DDoS attack is five times stronger this year, compared to the year before. The average DDoS attack is five times stronger this year, compared to the year before, and the biggest DDoS attack is four times stronger than last year’s strongest, according to new reports. Nexusguard’s Q2 2018 Threat Report analysed thousands of DDoS attacks worldwide and came to the conclusion that the average DDoS attack is now bigger than 26 Gbps, and the maximum attack size is now 359 Gbps. IoT botnets are still largely in use, mostly because of the increasing number of IoT-related malware exploits, as well as the huge growth in large-scale DDoS attacks. The report says that CSPs and susceptible operations should ‘enhance their preparedness to maintain their bandwidth, especially if their infrastructure don’t have full redundancy and failover plans in place’. “The biggest zero-day risks can stem from various types of home routers, which attackers can exploit to create expansive DDoS attacks against networks and mission-critical services, resulting in jumbo-sized attacks intended to cripple targets during peak revenue-generating hours,” said Juniman Kasman, chief technology officer for Nexusguard. “Telcos and other communications service providers will need to take extra precautions to guard bandwidth against these supersized attacks to ensure customer service and operations continue uninterrupted.” Universal datagram protocol, or UDP, is the hacker’s favourite attack tool, with more than 31 per cent of all attacks using this approach. This is a connectionless protocol which helps launch mass-generated botnets. Top two sources of these attacks are the US and China. Source: https://www.itproportal.com/news/ddos-attacks-are-getting-even-larger/

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DDoS attacks are getting even larger

DDoS attack frequency grows 40%, low volume attacks dominate

The frequency of DDoS attacks have once again risen, this time by 40% year on year, according to Corero Network Security. While frequency has increased, the duration of attacks decreased with 77% lasting ten minutes or less, of which 63% last five minutes or less. Perhaps more concerning is that, having faced one attack, one in five organisations will be targeted again within 24 hours. “With Internet resilience coming down to a fraction of a … More ? The post DDoS attack frequency grows 40%, low volume attacks dominate appeared first on Help Net Security .

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DDoS attack frequency grows 40%, low volume attacks dominate

Banking Trojan attacks increase, large scale Ramnit campaign impacts organizations worldwide

Check Point revealed a significant increase in attacks using the Ramnit banking trojan. Ramnit has doubled its global impact over the past few months, driven by a large scale campaign that has been converting victim’s machines into malicious proxy servers. Ramnit “black” botnet geography During August 2018, Ramnit became the most prevalent banking Trojan in an upward trend in the use of banking Trojans that has more than doubled since June 2018. “This is the … More ? The post Banking Trojan attacks increase, large scale Ramnit campaign impacts organizations worldwide appeared first on Help Net Security .

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Banking Trojan attacks increase, large scale Ramnit campaign impacts organizations worldwide

DDoS Protection is the Foundation for Application, Site and Data Availability

When we think of DDoS protection, we often think about how to keep our website up and running. While searching for a security solution, you’ll find several options that are similar on the surface. The main difference is whether your organization requires a cloud, on-premise or hybrid solution that combines the best of both worlds. Finding a DDoS mitigation/protection solution seems simple, but there are several things to consider. It’s important to remember that DDoS attacks don’t just cause a website to go down. While the majority do cause a service disruption, 90 percent of the time it does not mean a website is completely unavailable, but rather there is a performance degradation. As a result, organizations need to search for a DDoS solution that can optimize application performance and protect from DDoS attacks. The two functions are natural bedfellows. The other thing we often forget is that most traditional DDoS solutions, whether they are on-premise or in the cloud, cannot protect us from an upstream event or a downstream event. If your carrier is hit with a DDoS attack upstream, your link may be fine but your ability to do anything would be limited. You would not receive any traffic from that pipe. If your infrastructure provider goes down due to a DDoS attack on its key infrastructure, your organization’s website will go down regardless of how well your DDoS solution is working. Many DDoS providers will tell you these are not part of a DDoS strategy. I beg to differ. Finding the Right DDoS Solution DDoS protection was born out of the need to improve availability and guarantee performance. Today, this is critical. We have become an application-driven world where digital interactions dominate. A bad experience using an app is worse for customer satisfaction and loyalty than an outage. Most companies are moving into shared infrastructure environments—otherwise known as the “cloud”— where the performance of the underlying infrastructure is no longer controlled by the end user. Keeping the aforementioned points in mind, here are three key features to consider when looking at modern enterprise DDoS solutions: Data center or host infrastructure rerouting capabilities gives organizations the ability to reroute traffic to secondary data centers or application servers if there is a performance problem caused by something that the traditional DDoS prevention solution cannot negate. This may or may not be caused by a traditional DDoS attack, but either way, it’s important to understand how to mitigate the risk from a denial of service caused by infrastructure failure. Simple-to-use link or host availability solutions offer a unified interface for conducting WAN failover in the event that the upstream provider is compromised. Companies can use BGP, but BGP is complex and rigid. The future needs to be simple and flexible. Infrastructure and application performance optimization is critical. If we can limit the amount of compute-per-application transactions, we can reduce the likelihood that a capacity problem with the underlying architecture can cause an outage. Instead of thinking about just avoiding performance degradation, what if we actually improve the performance SLA while also limiting risk? It’s similar to making the decision to invest your money as opposed to burying it in the ground. Today you can look at buying separate products to accomplish these needs but you are then left with an age old problem: a disparate collection of poorly integrated best-of-breed solutions that don’t work well together. These products should work together as part of a holistic solution where each solution can compensate and enhance the performance of the other and ultimately help improve and ensure application availability, performance and reliability. The goal should be to create a resilient architecture to prevent or limit the impact of DoS and DDoS attacks of any kind. Source: https://securityboulevard.com/2018/09/ddos-protection-is-the-foundation-for-application-site-and-data-availability/

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DDoS Protection is the Foundation for Application, Site and Data Availability

Cyber policies: More than just risk transfer

Digital connectivity continues apace – but brings with it increased cyber risks. These relatively new and complex risk profiles require approaches that go far beyond traditional insurance, argues Munich Re’s reinsurance boss Torsten Jeworrek. Self-learning machines, cloud computing, digital ecosystems: in the steadily expanding Internet of Things, all objects communicate with others. In 2017, 27 billion devices around the world were online, but this number is set to increase five-fold to 125 billion by the year 2030. And many industries are profiting from the connectivity megatrend. In virtually every sector, automated processes are delivering greater efficiency and therefore higher productivity. By analysing a wide range of data, businesses also hope to gain new insights into existing and prospective customers, their purchasing behaviour, or the risk that they might represent. This will facilitate a more targeted customer approach. At the same time, greater levels of interconnection are leading to new business models. Examples include successful sharing concepts and online platforms. Growing risk of ransomware But just as there are benefits to growing connectivity, there are also risks. Ensuring data security at all times is a serious challenge in this complex world. When setting up and developing digital infrastructure, companies must constantly invest in data-security expertise and in technical security systems, not least to protect themselves against cyber attacks. This became clear in 2017, when the WannaCry and NotPetya malware attacks caused business interruption and production stoppages around the world. T he costs of WannaCry in the form of lost data and business interruption were many times greater than the losses from ransom demands. With other attacks, the objective was not even extortion – but rather to sabotage business operations or destroy data. Phishing, which is the attempted capture of sensitive personal and log-in data, and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, which take down entire servers by systematically overloading them, also cause billions of dollars in damage each year. It is difficult to calculate the exact amounts involved, but business losses from cyber attacks are currently estimated at between $400bn and $1tn each year. And the number of cyber attacks continues to rise – as do the resulting losses. According to estimates from market research institute Cybersecurity Ventures, companies around the world will fall victim to such attacks every 14 seconds on average in 2019. Europol also notes that there have been attacks on critical national infrastructure in the past, in which people could have died had the attacks succeeded. Increasing demand for cyber covers from SMEs as well As the risks increase, so too does the number of companies that attach importance to effective prevention measures and that seek insurance cover. The pressure to improve data protection has also increased as a result of legal requirements such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, which came into force in May 2018 and provides for severe penalties in the event of violations. In a world of digital dependency, automated processes, and networked supply chains, small- and medium- sized companies in particular realise that it is no longer enough to focus on IT security within their own four walls. For the insurance industry, cyber policies are gradually becoming an important field of business in their own right. According to estimates, further significant increases in premium volume are on their way. In 2017, premium volume was at between $3.5bn and $4bn. That figure is expected to increase to between $8bn and $9bn by 2020. So there will be good growth opportunities over the next few years, particularly in Europe. Cyber risks difficult to assess Cyber risks pose unique challenges for the insurance industry, above all in connection with accumulation risk: a single cyber event can impact many different companies at the same time, as well as leading to business interruption for other companies. How can the market opportunities be exploited, while at the same time managing the new risks? Are cyber risks ultimately uninsurable, as many industry representatives have said? One thing is certain: there are a number of extreme risks that the insurance industry cannot bear alone. At present, these include network outages that interrupt the electricity supply, or internet and telecommunication connections. Scenarios like these, and the costs that come with them, should be borne jointly by governments and companies, for example in the form of pool solutions. Cyber as a new type of risk There are key differences between cyber risks and traditional risks. Historical data such as that applied to calculate future natural hazards, for example, cannot tell us much about future cyber events. Data from more than ten years ago, when there was no such thing as cloud computing and smartphones had not yet taken off, are of little use when assessing risks from today’s technologies. Insurers and reinsurers must be able to recognise and model the constantly evolving risks over the course of these rapid advances in technology. An approach that relies on insurance expertise alone will rapidly reach its limits. Instead, the objective of all participants should be to create as much transparency as possible with regard to cyber risks. IT specialists, authorities, and the scientific and research communities can all help to raise awareness of the risks and contribute their expertise for the development of appropriate cyber covers. Working together to enhance security Munich Re relies on collaboration with technology companies and IT security providers to develop solutions for cyber risks. This is because the requirements for comprehensive protection are complex, and safeguarding against financial losses is only one component of an overall concept. Accordingly, in consultation with our technology partners, we are developing highly effective, automated prevention services for our clients. These are designed to permanently monitor the client infrastructure, identify risks promptly, and prevent losses. And – importantly – a company needs to respond quickly to limit the loss from an event and allow it to resume normal operations without delay. In this context, we assist our clients with a network of experts. But cyber risks remain a challenge, and one that the insurance industry needs to tackle. Insurers can only remain relevant for their clients if they constantly adapt their offerings to new or changed risks and requirements. Opportunities for new fields of business are arising. Source: https://www.re-insurance.com/opinion/cyber-policies-more-than-just-risk-transfer/1687.article

A Scoville Heat Scale For Measuring Cybersecurity

The Scoville Scale is a measurement chart used to rate the heat of peppers or other spicy foods. It can also can have a useful application for measuring cybersecurity threats. Cyber-threats are also red hot as the human attack surface is projected to reach over 6 billion people by 2022. In addition, cyber-crime damage costs are estimated to reach $6 trillion annually by 2021. The cybersecurity firm RiskIQ states that every minute approximately 1,861 people fall victim to cyber-attacks, while some $1.14 million is stolen. In recognition of these alarming stats, perhaps it would be useful to categorize cyber-threats in a similar scale to the hot peppers we consume. I have provided my own Scoville Scale-like heat characterizations of the cyber threats we are facing below. Data Breaches: According to Juniper Research, over The Next 5 Years, 146 Billion Records Will Be Breached. The 2017 Annual Data Breach Year-end Review (Identity Theft Resource Center) found that 1,946,181,599 of records containing personal and other sensitive data that have been in compromised between Jan. 1, 2017, and March 20, 2018. The true tally of victims is likely much greater as many breaches go unreported. According to the Pew Research Center, a majority of Americans (65%) have already personally experienced a major data breach. On the Scoville scale, data breaches, by the nature of their growing exponential threat can be easily categorized at a “Ghost Pepper ” level. Malware: According to Forrester Research’s 2017 global security survey, there are 430 million types of malware online—up 40 percent from just three years ago. The Malware Tech Blog cited that 100,000 groups in at least 150 countries and more than 400,000 machines were infected by the Wannacry virus in 2017, at a total cost of around $4 billion. Malware is ubiquitous and we deal with it. It is a steady “Jalepeno Pepper” on the scale. Ransomware: Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that ransomware damage costs will rise to $11.5 billion in 2019 with an attack occurring every 14 seconds. According to McAfee Lab’s Threat Report covering Q4 2017, eight new malware samples were recorded every second during the final three months of 2017. Cisco finds that Ransomware attacks are growing more than 350 percent annually. Experts estimate that there are more than 125 separate families of ransomware and hackers have become very adept at hiding malicious code. Ransomware is scary and there is reason to panic, seems like a ”Fatali Pepper.” Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS): In 2016, DDoS attacks were launched against a Domain Name System (DNS) called Dyn. The attack directed thousands of IoT connected devices to overload and take out internet platforms and services. The attack used a simple exploit of a default password to target home surveillance cameras, and routers. DDoS is like a “Trinidad Pepper” as it can do quick massive damage and stop commerce cold. DDoS is particularly a frightening scenario for the retail, financial. and healthcare communities. Phishing: Phishing is a tool to infect malware, ransomware, and DDoS. The 2017 Ponemon State of Endpoint Security Risk Report found that 56% of organizations in a survey of 1,300 IT decision makers identified targeted phishing attacks as their biggest current cybersecurity threat. According to an analysis by Health Information Privacy/Security Alert, 46,000 new phishing sites are created every day. According to Webroot, An average of 1.385 million new, unique phishing sites are created each month. The bottom line it is easy anyone to be fooled by a targeted phish. No one is invulnerable to a crafty spear-phish, especially the C-Suite. On the Scoville Scale, Phishing is prolific, persistent, and often causes harm. I rate it at the “Habanero Pepper” level. Protecting The Internet of Things : The task of securing IoT is increasingly more difficult as mobility, connectivity and the cyber surface attack space grows. Most analysts conclude that there will be more than 20 billion connected Internet devices by 2020. According to a study conducted in April of 2017 by The Altman Vilandrie & Company, neary half of U.S. firms using The Internet of Things experienced cybersecurity breaches. Last year, Symantec noted that IoT attacks were up 600 percent. Analysts predict 25 percent of cyber-attacks in 2020 will target IoT environments. Protect IoT can be the “ Carolina Reaper” as everything connected is vulnerable and the consequences can be devastating. Lack of Skilled Cybersecurity Workers : Both the public and private sectors are facing major challenges from a dearth of cybersecurity talent. As companies evolve toward digital business, people with cybersecurity skills are becoming more difficult to find and more expensive for companies to hire and keep . A report out from Cybersecurity Ventures estimates there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs by 2021. A 2017 research project by the industry analyst firm Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG ) and the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) found that 70 percent of cybersecurity professionals claimed their organization was impacted by the cybersecurity skills shortage. On the Scoville Scale, I rate the skills shortage as a “Scotch Bonett,” dangerous but perhaps automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence can ease the pain. Insider Threats: Insider threats can impact a company’s operational capabilities, cause significant financial damages, and harm a reputation. The IBM Cyber Security Index found that 60% of all cyber- attacks were carried out by insiders. And according to a recent Accenture HfS Research report 69% of enterprise security executives reported experiencing an attempted theft or corruption of data by insiders over one year. Malicious insider intrusions can involve theft of IP, social engineering; spear-phishing attacks, malware, ransomware, and in some cases sabotage. Often overlooked, insider threats correlate to a “Red Savina Habanero.” Identity Theft : Nearly 60 million Americans have been affected by identity theft, according to a 2018 online survey by The Harris Poll. The reason for the increased rate of identity fraud is clear. As we become more and more connected, the more visible and vulnerable we become to those who want to hack our accounts and steal our identities. We are often enticed via social media or email phishing. Digital fraud and stealing of our identities is all too common and associated closely to data breaches, a “Chocolate Habanero.” Crypto-mining and Theft : Crypto poses relatively new threats to the cybersecurity ecosystem. Hackers need computing power to find and “mine” for coins and can hijack your computer processor while you are online. Hackers place algorithm scripts on popular websites that people innocently visit. You might not even know you are being hijacked. Trend Micro disclosed that Crypto-mining malware detections jumped 956% in the first half of 2018 versus the whole of last year. Also, paying ransomware in crypto currencies seems to be a growing trend. The recent WannaCry and the Petya ransomware attackers demanded payment in bitcoin. On The Scoville Scale, it’s still early for crypto and the threats may evolve but right now a “Tabasco Pepper.” Potential Remedies: Cybersecurity at its core essence is guided by risk management: people, process, policies, and technologies. Nothing is completely invulnerable, but there are some potential remedies that can help us navigate the increasingly malicious cyber threat landscape. Some of these include: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Automation and Adaptive Networks Biometrics and Authentication Technologies Blockchain Cloud Computing Cryptography/Encryption Cyber-hygiene Cyber Insurance Incident Response Plans Information Threat Sharing Managed Security Services Predictive Analytics Quantum-computing and Super-Computing And … Cold Milk The bottom line is that as we try to keep pace with rising cybersecurity threat levels, we are all going to get burned in one way or another. But we can be prepared and resilient to help mitigate the fire. Keeping track of threats on any sale can be useful toward those goals. Chuck Brooks is the Principal Market Growth Strategist for General Dynamics Mission Systems for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies. He is also Adjunct Faculty in Georgetown University’s Graduate Applied Intelligence program. Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2018/09/05/a-scoville-heat-scale-for-measuring-cybersecurity/#15abda233275

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A Scoville Heat Scale For Measuring Cybersecurity