Media Release
BAE Systems Detica outlines its five key trends in cyber security and intelligence.
1. The battle to stop compromises from occurring is lost
Companies need to shift their IT security strategies from ‘prevention’ to ‘minimising harm’. This is a fundamental change in mindset. Attempts to completely prevent compromise of systems are futile and therefore organisations must concentrate on minimising the ‘dwell time’ and the impact of these compromises. This is a very different way of thinking and currently, investment and threat are not aligned. Companies must re-align focus on achieving resilience, and minimising harm.
2. Technology is a generation ahead of the security controls it needs.
This is most relevant to mobile, social, cloud, etc… Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) remains one of the hottest topics of the moment but also one that is highly vulnerable to attacks. In a country of 20 million people, we now have 30 million mobile services. This has increased by 50 per cent in five years, so it is likely to continue rising. However, end users are unable to defend themselves and therefore end-user devices are cannon-fodder: they are very easily compromised and for many users, probably already are.
3. The skills crisis
There is a severe skills shortage in the information security industry. And, those that are working in that area don’t always have the necessary skills required at the level required. This is partly because there is limited formal education and partly because the industry is moving so fast it’s hard to keep up. The skills crisis will not get any better any time soon. At a national policy level, there is a need for investment in people rather than technology. Technology can help stop technological threat, but humans are required to stop human threats.
Detica has set up the ‘Cyber Academy’, which offers training for IT security professionals, and also sponsors the UNSW Co-op Program which allows undergraduate students to get hands-on experience during their degrees.
4. Cyber-crime threats are not going away
Cyber security used to be an issue that governments or defence companies dealt with, but that is no longer the case. Cyber-threats have moved into the corporate and public domain and cyber-crime will be a persistent trans-national threat. Cyber-attacks are ubiquitous in volume. They are low cost for the attacker and there is a high success rate in obtaining sensitive information or resources. Particularly with the trend of moving data into the Cloud, it will be even more important to look at ways to protect your assets.
5. The potential and danger of the cloud
Hosting network services on Cloud platforms is becoming increasingly popular and there are good and bad things about that. There are a few things to look out for when moving to the Cloud.
· It is important to look for security features such as a high-end firewall and IDS when choosing a Cloud provider. Also, make sure the provider undertakes regular security testing of the environment and that these results can be validated against your expectations. Make sure the security model fits with your enterprise security architecture.
· Think about the services you are planning to host on the Cloud. Do not get temped to over commit just for ease of use and low cost.
· Be aware of a possible botCloud attack (a botCloud is a group of Cloud instances that are commanded and controlled by a malicious entity to initiate cyber-attacks). The traffic that is coming from public Cloud providers might not be safe.
