People made aware of risks cyber-security faces always
The most prevalent is Distributed Denial-of-service (DDOS) uncovered to occur 150,000 times or ‘roughly once every three minutes in 365 days’
Cyber-security risks are real. These are grave challenges which would continue thriving when even the simplest personal information and password hygiene are ignored; and when one yields in to the atackers’ demands.
On Tuesday aternoon and ahead of the official release of the Help AG “State of the Market Report 2023,” Chief Technology officer Nicolai Solling admited that Artificial Intelligence (AI), used to dissipate cyber-security threats, have as well contributed to its flourishing because as “AI is helping cyber-security protectors, AI is also used by the atackers for fun. They may have something against the organisation and they may (ask or assign) someone else to do it.”
“Cyber is such a lucrative business by cyberatackers (who have evolved from being mere computer nerds to professionalised domestic and transnational syndicates) from a commercial perspective. They are making so much money and so are successful in what they are achieving. They are highly motivated to make sure they could have more,” he continued.
Solling, in the Information Technology and network industry for at least two decades, added: “So, we see these atacks happening. As long as organisations are impacted and are willing to pay the ransom, we will still have cyber-atacks.”
Help AG is the cyber-security arm of e& enterprise (formerly Etisalat Digital) which provides innovative digital vertical value propositions by enabling more sustainable developments, safer cities, beter government services, connected healthcare, enriched education, including the future of banking, highly-automated industries, manufacturing and logistics. It shall soon operate in Egypt as it has been in Saudi Arabia and in the UAE since a quarter century back.
Enquired of how anyone avoids being the prey to cyber-security predators, Solling replied: “Just keep your passwords unique and strong. Change these the moment you feel these are compromised. Have different passwords for all your accounts so that if ever the atacker (is able to hack one he cannot easily penetrate the rest). Buy sotware from reputable agents and not from the cheaper third party sources. If it is too good to be true, then it is fake or a scam. Be sceptic in giving out details.”
Tips which may have been around for years and yet remain to be valuable; for, from Solling’s discussion on the three commonest perils Help AG had collated throughout 2022 from 50 of its public sector as well as large enterprises clients in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, he specified hety losses due to ignorance, neglect and unmindfulness.
From their observational data as these clients had asked them “to take care and listen to the data that their systems are telling us about (the) risks,” Help AG had discovered “every single year about two trillion unique security-related data. Vast amount of data.”
The most prevalent are Distributed Denialof-service (DDOS) uncovered to occur 150,000 times or “roughly once every three minutes in 365 days,” Ransomware and Business Email Compromise (BEC).
DDOS happens when atackers over-capacitate or overload the systems of an organisation bogging down the operations until these are inaccessible, resulting in losses.
In the case of a chain of supermarkets into heavy online shopping, consumers who fail to log in thrice in a row go elsewhere, said Solling.
Ransomware is data thet by the installation of a sotware into a system. The culprit then may demand “a mere $50.00 (Dhs183.60) from an ordinary person to as high as billions or trillions of dollars for a huge company.” The catch is the consequent huge expenditure just to clean up the corruptedsystem/swhichmaytakeplaceformonths.
Solling cited the January to June 2021 USA Treasury-financial Crimes Enforcement Network showing that $5.2 billion (Dhs19.1 billion) in “Bitcoin transactions were tied up to top 10 Ransomware variants: “Cyber-security atackers do not have any bank accounts. The data is a bit out of date and only shows a small part of the problem. But the problem is (massive).”
BEC is impersonation which could be used for criminal purposes or any illegitimate activity such as money laundering.
Solling said it is best to inform all concerning these cyber-security threats for their welfare and the protection of their organisations. He is hopeful that the legislation of data privacy regulations, at least minimises the problems.