Cyber Breaches Will Kill

People's property and life are getting increasingly exposed to cyber-attacks because just about everything today has computing power, an information security expert warns. A world of "smart" devices means the Internet can kill people.

“It used to be what with computer security, we were worried about computers, desktops and laptops,” Bruce Schneier, (pictured) a special advisor to IBM Security, said Tuesday 14th May during the Payments Canada Summit in Toronto.

But cars, appliances, power plants and medical devices are at increased risk from hacking attacks, suggested Schneier, author of Click Here to Kill Everybody.

Everything is a computer. Ovens are computers that make things hot; refrigerators are computers that keep things cold. These computers, from home thermostats to chemical plants, are all online. The Internet, once a virtual abstraction, can now sense and touch the physical world.

As we open our lives to this future, often called the Internet of Things, we are beginning to see its enormous potential in ideas like driverless cars, smart cities, and personal agents equipped with their own behavioral algorithms. But every knife cuts two ways.

“All the lessons from computer security, about vulnerabilities, about hacking, about complexity, about changing technology, become true for everything everywhere, and I am not convinced we are ready for that,” Schneier said during the recent  Payments Canada Summit in Toronto.

“There’s a fundamental difference between ‘my spreadsheet crashes and I lose my data,’ and ‘my embedded heart monitor crashes and I lose my life,'” said Schneier.

But the computer you use for the spreadsheets could have the same type of operating system and central processing unit as one with an embedded heart monitor, added Schneier, and therefore the same method can be used to attack both.

“It’s only what the computer is attached to that makes a difference and that is the world that is coming.”
Conventional computers can be made more secure with patching but this is because the software vendors have teams working on software that addresses security issues and can be installed by the users.

“That fails with low-cost medical devices. The teams don’t exist.”

Schneier suggested that although he worries that someone might hack into his medical records and steal his private health records, he is even more worried about the consequences of a hacker being able to alter his health records and show that he has a different blood type.

Cyber security has three major elements, confidentiality, integrity and availability, said Schneier.

Confidentiality means only certain authorised people can access the data.

Integrity means the data cannot be changed and availability means that one has access to the data. So a corporate data breach means the data is no longer being kept confidentiality, while a ransomware attack means the data is no longer available.

If a criminal can hack into medical records and change what is recorded as the patient’s blood type, then the integrity of the data is compromised.

“When you get to computers that affect the world in a direct physical manner, the integrity and availability attacks are much worse than the confidentiality attacks because there are real risks to life and property,” said Schneier.

He demonstrated the significance by using an example of hackers targeting a connected car. Listening to one’s conversations on a Bluetooth-enabled cellphone or figuring out someone’s location is a confidentiality breach, suggested Schneier.

“I really don’t want them disabling the brakes. That is a data availability attack,” said Schneier, who is also a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University

“Your car used to be a mechanical device. Now it’s a computer with four wheels plus and an engine.”

Canadian Underwriter:

You Might Also Read: 

Security Flaws In Smart City Technology

 

 

« The Worldwide Skills Shortage Is Growing
Iranian Cyber-Espionage Exposed »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Check Point

Directory of Suppliers

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO is the market leader in HPE Non-Stop Security, Risk Management and Compliance.

Jooble

Jooble

Jooble is a job search aggregator operating in 71 countries worldwide. We simplify the job search process by displaying active job ads from major job boards and career sites across the internet.

MIRACL

MIRACL

MIRACL provides the world’s only single step Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) which can replace passwords on 100% of mobiles, desktops or even Smart TVs.

BackupVault

BackupVault

BackupVault is a leading provider of automatic cloud backup and critical data protection against ransomware, insider attacks and hackers for businesses and organisations worldwide.

LockLizard

LockLizard

Locklizard provides PDF DRM software that protects PDF documents from unauthorized access and misuse. Share and sell documents securely - prevent document leakage, sharing and piracy.

Cloud Security Alliance (CSA)

Cloud Security Alliance (CSA)

The CSA is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to promote the use of best practices for providing security assurance within Cloud Computing

The Media Trust

The Media Trust

The Media Trust continuously scans websites, ad tags and mobile apps and alerts on anomalies affecting websites and visitors.

Department of Energy - Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) - USA

Department of Energy - Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) - USA

The Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) addresses the emerging threats of tomorrow while protecting the reliable flow of energy to Americans today.

ISARA Corp

ISARA Corp

ISARA Corporation is a security solutions company specializing in creating class-defining quantum-safe cryptography for today's computing ecosystems.

Plurilock Security Solutions

Plurilock Security Solutions

Plurilock is a real-time cybersecurity solution that uses artificial intelligence to identify, prevent, and eliminate insider threats.

Aspen Insurance

Aspen Insurance

Aspen is a leading diversified specialty insurance and reinsurance company. Products offered include cyber insurance.

Uniwan

Uniwan

Uniwan is an IT services company specializing in networking and security.

Inavate Consulting

Inavate Consulting

Inavate Consulting are experts in defining and implementing information assurance solutions and governance frameworks. Our ISO27001 consultants are the most experienced in the industry.

Forum of Incident Response & Security Teams (FIRST)

Forum of Incident Response & Security Teams (FIRST)

FIRST is the global Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams.

CyberFortress

CyberFortress

CyberFortress is an insuretech startup offering a new kind of online business interruption policy designed for small business.

NexGenT

NexGenT

NexGenT have combined military-style training with decades of network engineering and cyber security experience into an immersive program to get people into cyber security fast and effectively.

SecurityGen

SecurityGen

SecurityGen is a global cybersecurity start-up focused on telecom security, with a focus on 5G networks.

Cryptr

Cryptr

Cryptr provides plug and play authentication to manage all your authentication strategies in one place with just a few lines of code.

Tidal Cyber

Tidal Cyber

We formed Tidal for one simple reason—we believe that defenders need and deserve tools and services that make achieving the benefits of threat-informed defense practical and sustainable.

AgilePQ

AgilePQ

AgilePQ visibly secures IoT devices worldwide to protect the privacy, safety, and well-being of all people.

DeviQA

DeviQA

DeviQA provide best-in-class quality assurance services to companies of all sizes.