Going Digital? Don't Forget To Build Cyber Citadels

As technologies get weaponised, users must adopt a multilayer approach that anticipates cyberattacks and safeguards critical assets before they are exploited

- Tim Grieveson

The exponential development of computing devices has expanded access capabilities for cybercriminals to detect and exploit vulnerabilities in innovative ways. With a medium-grade smartphone now more powerful than the most advanced computers were only a few years ago, for example, cybercriminals can launch powerful and sophisticated attacks at a relatively low cost from a mobile unit while also working from home.

That ease of access goes some way to explain why there is a cyberattack every 39 seconds. As industrial organisations embrace digitalisation, inadequate security protection can open up their systems to malicious actors. Criminals today use a wide variety of methods, from commonly used techniques such as phishing and computerised password hacking to more sophisticated operations such as watering hole attacks that deliver malware to visitors.

Increasingly, the technology that is being used to deliver innovative solutions for common benefit is being deployed in destructive ways to inflict catastrophic damage to infrastructure, business systems, and ultimately, the citizenry.

TWO SIDES TO THE SAME COIN

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is just such an example of dual-use expertise. While the technology has improved business operations in several ways, Al is already being weaponised for illicit gain.