The recent cyber attack on Sony Pictures by North Korean hackers has again put the spotlight on the dangers stalking a world digitally connected like never before. Till now mainly restricted to personal computers and laptops, the threat will only get bigger with smartphones and tablets becoming devices of daily use.
The mysterious attack on the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which was built with US encouragement and despite Russia's reservations, is seen as marking the beginning of a new era of cyber war. It has been blamed on Russian cyber spies who were suspects also in the attack on JP Morgan Chase. The Russian groups have become so emboldened that they targeted several German government websites on Wednesday, including the official page of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The US security establishment itself now boasts of 6,000 cyber warriors — the crack troops who are suspected to be behind the crippling of North Korean internet networks following the Sony attack — and is prepared for a digital Peral Harbour.
Globally, security analysts called 2013 the year of the mega breach, with a 62% increase in the number of data breaches compared to 2012. The year also saw a 91% increase in targeted attacks. Both sophistication and brazenness of cybercrime syndicates or, for that matter, "hactivists" has increased.
'Spearfishing', which involves intelligent emails targeted at individuals, catching targets off guard by making "emotional connection" where criminals back up enticing emails with phone calls to win the victims' trust, focusing on "watering holes" which are frequented by targets and throwing baits like "free" broadband connections show the expanded arsenal of cyber criminals.
Growing incidence of the use of 'Cryptolocker' virus and 'ransom ware' to force victims to buy decryption software or pay up to secure the release of his device and files signals the audacity of the gangs prowling cyber space, whose attacks on leading names in business like Target, Ebay, JP Morgan Chase, Adobe and Home Depot led to huge plunder of credit card and debit card details of their customers. Companies also suffered hugely on account of erosion of trust.
Recently, Symantec, a software security major, uncovered a new piece of malware — Regin — which bears the hallmarks of a state-sponsored operation and is believed to have been in use since at least 2008. It, just like 'Dragonfly', another malware which appears to be a state-sponsored effort, is persistent in seeking access to targets and stealing information and is far more complex than Stuxnet, which was used to target Iran's nuclear plants. Experts at Symantec believe many components of Regin remain undiscovered and it may have more versions and can perform more functions for cyber espionage and sabotage.
Michael Counsel, chief technology officer and vice-president consulting, products & services, Asia Pacific and Japan, said Symantec's cyber threat intelligence had helped the firm identify some significant threats including Regin and other highly adept attack groups like the Dragonfly that was behind several sophisticated attacks on industrial control systems in the energy sector in the US and Europe.
Talking about the need to successfully defend against targeted attacks, Counsel said businesses needed to expand their focus from prevention to detection and response. While the threat of attack on individual targets by immobilizing their cars and medical devices doesn't seem distant anymore, cyber criminals can inflict immense harm on companies by reaching them through their vendors, a soft underbelly according to Symantec, to steal data and intellectual property. There is a gang, ATP Group, which specifically targets hotel guests, while also attacking "smart meters' to disrupt power supply in cities.
'Distributed denial of service' attacks - in which servers are flooded with traffic until they collapse -- have become a tougher challenge. Symantec, which was engaged by FBI and EuroPol Scotland Yard and other government agencies to take down 'Blackshades', a powerful and popular Trojan, Zeus Botnet and Major Cryptolocker, concedes cyber crime networks have become more resilient and taking down new Botnet attacks will be difficult.
The mysterious attack on the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which was built with US encouragement and despite Russia's reservations, is seen as marking the beginning of a new era of cyber war. It has been blamed on Russian cyber spies who were suspects also in the attack on JP Morgan Chase. The Russian groups have become so emboldened that they targeted several German government websites on Wednesday, including the official page of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The US security establishment itself now boasts of 6,000 cyber warriors — the crack troops who are suspected to be behind the crippling of North Korean internet networks following the Sony attack — and is prepared for a digital Peral Harbour.
Globally, security analysts called 2013 the year of the mega breach, with a 62% increase in the number of data breaches compared to 2012. The year also saw a 91% increase in targeted attacks. Both sophistication and brazenness of cybercrime syndicates or, for that matter, "hactivists" has increased.
'Spearfishing', which involves intelligent emails targeted at individuals, catching targets off guard by making "emotional connection" where criminals back up enticing emails with phone calls to win the victims' trust, focusing on "watering holes" which are frequented by targets and throwing baits like "free" broadband connections show the expanded arsenal of cyber criminals.
Growing incidence of the use of 'Cryptolocker' virus and 'ransom ware' to force victims to buy decryption software or pay up to secure the release of his device and files signals the audacity of the gangs prowling cyber space, whose attacks on leading names in business like Target, Ebay, JP Morgan Chase, Adobe and Home Depot led to huge plunder of credit card and debit card details of their customers. Companies also suffered hugely on account of erosion of trust.
Recently, Symantec, a software security major, uncovered a new piece of malware — Regin — which bears the hallmarks of a state-sponsored operation and is believed to have been in use since at least 2008. It, just like 'Dragonfly', another malware which appears to be a state-sponsored effort, is persistent in seeking access to targets and stealing information and is far more complex than Stuxnet, which was used to target Iran's nuclear plants. Experts at Symantec believe many components of Regin remain undiscovered and it may have more versions and can perform more functions for cyber espionage and sabotage.
Michael Counsel, chief technology officer and vice-president consulting, products & services, Asia Pacific and Japan, said Symantec's cyber threat intelligence had helped the firm identify some significant threats including Regin and other highly adept attack groups like the Dragonfly that was behind several sophisticated attacks on industrial control systems in the energy sector in the US and Europe.
Talking about the need to successfully defend against targeted attacks, Counsel said businesses needed to expand their focus from prevention to detection and response. While the threat of attack on individual targets by immobilizing their cars and medical devices doesn't seem distant anymore, cyber criminals can inflict immense harm on companies by reaching them through their vendors, a soft underbelly according to Symantec, to steal data and intellectual property. There is a gang, ATP Group, which specifically targets hotel guests, while also attacking "smart meters' to disrupt power supply in cities.
'Distributed denial of service' attacks - in which servers are flooded with traffic until they collapse -- have become a tougher challenge. Symantec, which was engaged by FBI and EuroPol Scotland Yard and other government agencies to take down 'Blackshades', a powerful and popular Trojan, Zeus Botnet and Major Cryptolocker, concedes cyber crime networks have become more resilient and taking down new Botnet attacks will be difficult.
No comments:
Post a Comment