The Internet of Things (IoT) industry is growing rapidly with the number of IoT-connected devices projected to surpass 20 billion by 2020. It’s an amazing number, but a number that wouldn’t be possible without the concurrent growth and availability of WiFi and cellular. However, even with all this growth, industry leaders don’t believe existing WiFi and cellular capabilities can keep up with IoT’s trajectory.
If the first war was fought with sticks and stones, the next one likely will be fought with data. Cyber threats both big and small are increasing around the world, and they come with serious implications for governments and businesses that struggle to stay a step ahead of digital criminals.
The infrastructure around the world becomes more connected each day. We can thank the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for this connectedness, which stretches far beyond fitness bands to connecting machines and devices in industries such as transportation, manufacturing, healthcare, construction and more.
Traditional signature-based antivirus is notoriously bad at stopping newer threats such as zero-day exploits and ransomware, but it still has a place in the enterprise, experts say, as part of a multi-layer endpoint security protection strategy. The best antivirus products act as the first layer of defense, stopping the vast majority of malware attacks and leaving the broader endpoint protection software with a smaller workload to deal with.
According to Verizon’s 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report, espionage-related cyber attacks are growing in popularity, with malware and phishing still go-to tools for hackers as well.
There are 2 myths that stand in the way of boards understanding the threats posed by cyberattacks and ensuring their businesses can be safe against cybercriminals and hackers.
Recently, Scott County Schools, in Kentucky, fell victim to a $3.7 million fraud phishing scam. According to Superintendent Dr. Kevin Hub, a vendor informed the district that an invoice sent to the district had not been paid. In looking into the matter, the district found that someone else had been paid instead, via a fraudulent email disguised as the vendor.
“This is a process that we use currently in Scott County Schools. It’s a way that we pay our vendors. And it was in this specific case, a single case, that we can verify, and this fraudulent email and fraudulent documentation is what caused this crime to happen.”
Recently a vulnerability was disclosed that affected millions of Huawei-manufactured laptops. The Chinese manufacturer claimed the vulnerability was a mistake and, in January, patched the affected software. Speculation was rife that this vulnerability might have been injected intentionally with the goal of allowing the Chinese government to exploit it in order to take control of laptops globally at a time of their choosing.
Does the offer to “Never pay for cable again” sound tantalizing?
It shouldn’t. It should sound abhorrent, not only because of piracy is illegal and unfair to content creators, but also because researchers have found that pirated streaming devices are stuffed with malware and/or open the door for it to come streaming in.
Threat detection and response is difficult and only getting more complicated. According to ESG research, 76% of cybersecurity professionals claim that threat detection and response is more difficult today than it was 2 years ago, so this situation may only get worse in the future.
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