As if to cap off an already eventful National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, -- and perhaps proving that there is no honor among thieves -- a hacker breached a forum for hackers last week, and is ransoming fellow cyber-attackers’ user data for $50,000. And there certainly seems to be plenty of occasions to increase our awareness of cybersecurity issues.
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Bad Rabbit is ransomware that’s disrupting government, hospital and other systems internationally. What can we learn from it?
About 1.9 billion data records got exposed in the 918 data breaches that occurred in the first half of 2017 -- up 164 percent from the last half of 2016 -- according to a digital security firm’s study. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a warning last week about the Bad Rabbit ransomware, which is disrupting government, hospital and other systems internationally. And cybersecurity researchers confirmed last week that an enormous botnet has already infected more than one million organizations -- and is on the verge of unleashing “the next cyber-hurricane.”
It’s crucial that we learn from these attacks. And -- just as some are using high-tech for cyberattacks -- others are using blockchain, artificial intelligence and other cutting edge technology to improve cybersecurity.
Blockchain, AI and IoT to the Rescue
With so many cyberattacks targeting centralized services, blockchain’s decentralized technology offers cyber-defenses from many types of attacks, according to PC Magazine last week. Among the benefits are blockchain’s transparency and distributed nature, which eliminate the single failure points that many hackers prey upon. But ...
“The best defense [organizations] have is the same thing that makes them such an appealing target for hackers: a mountain of data,” PC Magazine stated in a different story last week. “By using machine learning algorithms and other artificial intelligence techniques to identify data patterns, vulnerable user behaviors and predictive security trends, companies are mining and analyzing the wealth of data at their disposal to hopefully stop the next breach from happening.”
However, networks and Internet of Things sensors will still require cybersecurity technology, VentureBeat stated this month. Unsecured devices can be terrible liabilities, so organizations should earnestly evaluate the opportunities and vulnerabilities offered by AI and IoT -- and ensure that all users are well trained.