CyberScape – The Growing Influence of Cyber (£)

Cyber issues have entered most of the areas of any organisation’s systems and often, routine working methods and communications. 

Therefore the whole operational process requires far more strategic management involvement and much more sophisticated Cyber security engagement from very senior levels of an organisation’s management. The process also requires far more technical planning and precise tactical understanding than these issues did even a few years ago.

In manufacturing for instance a number of remarkable technologies are converging from sophisticated software, innovative materials, robotic manufacture, cognitive computing and pioneering industrial processes, one example of which is three-dimensional printing and where these areas interconnect with an organisation’s IT systems which might give hackers ways into the organisation’s private data and copyrights. 

Cyber Threat – Denial to Hacks

The Cyber-threat landscape has also significantly evolved in recent years moving from a denial of service and website disruption to far more advanced hacking. Hackers (Hackers are named as such in the IT security arena as someone attempting to steal and or exploit weaknesses in a computer system or network) are now using sophisticated and more complex technologies to achieve data, financial and political benefit. 

This new global revolution has influenced almost all aspects of modern society and has opened a mass of new developments and opportunities. It has created a knowledge society that personalises many areas of the economy and across markets it is changing jobs and specialisations and globally it is substantially increasing our ability to use enormous amounts of data and knowledge. 

Tactical Cyber Security

Serious Cyber Attacks and Security Tactics

Global research suggests that cyber attacks become much more costly and problematic when they are not detected and stopped quickly as the focus and intensity of the crime increases.

At present some of the three most serious threats are as follows:
A: Fast Flux - which is a Domain Name System (DNS) 
The Fast Flux concept is to have a lot of IP addresses connected to one domain name. Then the IP address is often altered, by changing the DNS information.
Fast Flux is used by Botnets to conceal malware delivery to web sites. This can also be used in criminal phishing attacks. The effective way of countering Fast Flux is to shut down the domain name but registrars often do not want to shut down domains, as this can be their main source of income. 
B: Trojan Horses and Zombie Computers
A Trojan horse malware is a computer program that contains malicious code that allows data to be stolen. 
Zombie computer is one linked to the Net that has been hacked. It has possibly been attacked by a trojan horse or has contracted a digital virus via malware, so that it can be controlled and used to work for a remote operator without the knowledge of the legal owner.
C: Social Engineering - gaining computer information by deception
This begins with focusing on a hacker tactic in both the physical and digital worlds of social engineering. 
Before the computer age, this meant creeping past a company’s defenses with clever verbal discussion on a telephone line as opposed to a shrewdly worded email, which is now used to gain access. Currently aspects of social engineering have moved into networks, like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.