Top cyber security conference highlights more advanced threats

A cyber security conference that concluded this week highlighted the more targetted nature of emerging cyber security threats. Previously, it was mostly generic data that was captured, but new methodologies now include targetting specific companies and organisations, with specific information being sought after, and malware also being able to erase tracks.

Speakers at the 6th Annual National Conference on Cyber Security, organised by the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Response Team (SLCERT), also revealed that there were 70 brand new threats to combat every minute and 100,000 new malware samples created every day. Also shared, 85 per cent of network intrusions / breaches took a long time to be detected, giving hostile agents enough time to achieve their goals. Also, 92 per cent of all network intrusions were only detected following the involvement of a specialist third party. Further, 53 per cent of organisations also reported experiencing some type of data loss. Meanwhile, speakers at the conference shared a number of case studies, including ones by Google, Thailand and even host Sri Lanka, according to SLCERT spokesperson Roshan Chandraguptha. He also added that SLCERT's presentation also comprised information that signalled that periodic and frequent operating system and antivirus software updates, as well as changing passwords, was what was important to keep laypersons secure locally.