EDITORS DESK
The way we do business has changed a lot. Of course, technology has driven most of these changes, but at times I wonder if technology has done enough good for businesses and even on ordinary people’s lives.
As we store our personal information online, we are getting exposed to cybercriminals who are out to take advantage of our personal data for their own benefit. Information, whether personal or business, has become a precious commodity.
Thus, tech-driven technologies open an avenue for terrorism and a new kind of criminal. Cybercrime is a wide range of criminal activities that are carried out using digital devices and/or networks. These crimes involve the use of technology to commit fraud, identity theft, data breaches, computer viruses, scams, and expanded upon in other malicious acts.
Cybercriminals attack establishments or individuals. A cyberattack is any offensive maneuver that targets computer information systems, computer networks, infrastructures, personal computer devices, or smartphones. Worse, cyberattacks are not only carried by individual crime groups but others are also state-sponsored.
Cybercriminals target your information and take you hostage as they demand ransom in exchange or steal your identity. It can paralyze an establishment and put an individual’s precious time on hold that could result in staggering losses. We’ve known of government agencies whose systems have been hacked and so many sad stories of individuals who lost their money online.
The recent IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2024 showed how pervasive the operations of cybercriminals nowadays.
According to X-Force, for the first time ever, abuse of valid accounts topped as cybercriminals’ most common entry point into the victim environment, posting a dramatic 71 percent increase in 2023 over 2022.
It noted that 2023 was the first time on record where abuse of attacks using valid accounts became rampant. In fact, the report said that abuse of valid accounts represented 30 percent of all incidents X-Force responded to in 2023.
Corollary to this, X-Force has observed a 266 percent upsurge in the use of info stealers with a number of prominent new info stealers recently introduced which demonstrated increased activity in 2023.
What is alarming is that 32 percent of incidents were using legitimate tools for malicious purposes, such as credential theft, reconnaissance, remote access or data exfiltration. Legitimate tools for malicious purposes, really the work of a criminal mind.
As attacks on valid accounts went up significantly, the report also highlighted an 11.5 percent decline in enterprise ransomware incidents. However, despite the drop in attack, the report pointed out that ransomware still remains the most common action on objectives, which can include data theft, compromising data integrity, destroying data and infrastructure, disrupting operations, and perpetrating attacks on other victims.
Meanwhile, data theft and data leak rose as the most common impact on organizations, accounting for 32 percent, indicating more groups are favoring this method to obtain financial gains.
The AI is not a safe haven. X-Force said that once a single AI technology approaches 50 percent market share, or when the market consolidates to three or less technologies, the cybercriminal ecosystem will be incentivized to invest in developing tools and attack paths targeting AI technologies.
Renne Barcelona, cybersecurity leader, IBM Philippines, and Warren S. Herrero, vice-president and chief information officer of Public Safety Savings & Loan Association Inc. (PSSLAI), cited the need for companies, establishments and organizations to invest in cybersecurity protection.
Barcelona and Herrero said there are tools available to counter these attacks, but there is no one size fits all. However, if you are earning millions using the latest technologies, then the more that you should make investments against cyberattacks. But both agreed that the best line of defense is your own people.
“The simplest investment is if we invest in our people: invest on security awareness, training and programs,” said Barcelona. This is because even if you have very sophisticated tools, the cyber criminals will just keep evolving and later on find loopholes to attack.
But, if a company invests in people and programs, implements table top exercises to keep them informed and aware that will somehow improve detection and prevent attacks, he said.
“Human firewalls are the people within the organization. And they act as the first line of defense against cyberattacks. It's a very, very effective way in strengthening the organization's security posture,” he added.
At the same time, Barcelona said they should likewise strengthen the process standpoint by adopting different security frameworks and boost the technology aspect as well. ”It's the holistic approach to strengthen each organization's cybersecurity posture,” he added.
For his part, Herrero said that since organizations rely on technology, then investment to secure this technology should never be the last in priorities. He noted of colleagues who invest in low quality service, only to pay higher price when they get attacked.
Herrero said this also goes with the business process outsourcing (BPO) firms operating in the country to invest more now, because the traditional cybersecurity in the past won't work anymore with the types of attacks that are happening right now.
“The most important thing is continuous training of end users, campaigns, and upskilling on latest cyberattacks. Human firewalls and trained people within the organization as first line of cyberattacks,” he also said.
This only goes to show that even if you have the best technologies, you still rely on your people to make things work.
(Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat is the business editor of Manila Bulletin.)