The Cyber Defense eMagazine January Edition for 2024

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Evolution and Escalation of Cybersecurity Threats The Darwinian Effect in the Threat Community By Augusto Barros, Vice President Cyber Security Evangelist at Securonix Among the typical predictions for the upcoming new year, we often see something like “threats will keep growing.” A prediction like this is like saying there will be some rainy days next year, or that some place in the world will suffer from drought. But with all the investment we do in security, why do we keep seeing threats growing? First, it is important to understand the nature of threats. Threat existence and intensity is mostly independent from an organization’s security effort. Those efforts can reduce the risk from a threat causing harm, but they won’t reduce the threat itself. Sometimes, if a large portion of the potential targets implement a certain control, that “herd immunity” can affect the overall threat intensity: If there are no chances to be successful with a certain approach, threat actors are likely to abandon that approach to try something else. Cyber Defense eMagazine – January 2024 Edition 88 Copyright © 2024, Cyber Defense Magazine. All rights reserved worldwide.
Another reason why threats keep growing is related to how threat actors evolve their capabilities. Threat actors are good at advancing their capabilities because they operate as a syndicate. The level of information sharing in the "threat community" is far higher than what we have on the defense side. Why? Threat actors do not have concerns about legal implications, mandates, privacy or IP protection. If sharing information makes sense for them to achieve their goal, they will do it, regardless of the implications. Threat actors also advance their capabilities to counteract the evolution of defense practices, but they don't necessarily need to produce more advanced attack techniques. They need to produce more effective techniques. If there's low hanging fruit, they will go for it; no need for a high tech alternative when simple and manual will do it. They optimize towards their final objective, not towards a specific path to it. If they want to make money, they can move from trying to steal it directly from bank accounts to simple extortion when that produces more money at a lower cost. They don't need to evolve to break all the barriers put up by defenders around those bank accounts if there is a cheaper and more efficient manner to get money. Because of all points above, the threat community acquires a certain evolutionary, Darwinian aspect. Just as species will not necessarily evolve towards better, advanced eyesight, speed and strength to survive, threat actors may not produce more advanced TTPs either: They just need to survive - or, in their context, achieve their objectives. While objectives are easily reachable, no evolution is necessary. Finally, the potential outcome of threat activity is also something that grows continually. Cyber-attacks are one of the ways criminals can perform financial fraud, for example. If there is more money circulating, it will attract more criminal activity, and criminal activity these days is one of the major drivers behind cyberthreats. There are more potential targets, as the world becomes increasingly connected. It is natural to see more attempts to cause harm online when there are more things that can be harmed that way. The ability of threat actors to evolve their practices, more and bigger targets available, combined with how limited the target organizations are in affecting threat presence or intensity are clear explanations about why it is so easy to predict that threats will keep growing. So don’t be surprised if you see it, but also there is no need for defeatism. Common criminal activity has been around for years, but it doesn’t mean that our law enforcement does not work. Threats, just like crime, are part of our existence in the connected world. We must do as much as possible to keep the risk of suffering from those threats under control, but at the same time, keep in mind that it will be a continuous effort that will never reach a point where the problem is “solved”. Cyber Defense eMagazine – January 2024 Edition 89 Copyright © 2024, Cyber Defense Magazine. All rights reserved worldwide.
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3 New Risks That CISOs Will Face in
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Top 6 Security Challenges of SMEs -
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Reducing Burnout and Increasing SOC
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@CYBERDEFENSEMAG CYBER DEFENSE eMAG
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Cyber Defense eMagazine - January 2
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1. AI development and use will dema
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How Small and Mid-Sized Businesses
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Achieving SOC 2 Type 2 attestation
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lights can be turned on at the flip
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About the Author Victor Atkins is a
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The Distinct OT Cybersecurity Envir
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About the Author Dave Purdy is the
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Two critical enablers for autonomou
Page 37 and 38: In conclusion, while the parallels
Page 39 and 40: Advanced AI-Powered Attack Methods
Page 41 and 42: Why Cybersecurity Maturity Model Ce
Page 43 and 44: What CMMC Accomplishes It’s essen
Page 45 and 46: AI: The Human Touch in Cybersecurit
Page 47 and 48: with human intuition creates a powe
Page 49 and 50: How does shifting from a reactive a
Page 51 and 52: About the Author Paul Brucianni, Cy
Page 53 and 54: AI and cybersecurity Cybercriminals
Page 55 and 56: Conclusion In conclusion, combining
Page 57 and 58: 2. Selective Attention: Concentrati
Page 59 and 60: NIS 2: From Obligation to Opportuni
Page 61 and 62: Once the risks and challenges are i
Page 63 and 64: Top 6 Security Challenges of SMEs B
Page 65 and 66: Proactive Remediation is the Way Fo
Page 67 and 68: Is 2024 the Year of Cloud Repatriat
Page 69 and 70: Resource optimization: Workloads th
Page 71 and 72: What to expect in the metaverse The
Page 73 and 74: SolarWinds Lawsuit Reinforces the N
Page 75 and 76: Inviting Others to the Table By inc
Page 77 and 78: e used for an information protectio
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Page 81 and 82: terrorism. The criminal groups most
Page 83 and 84: statement, and the other actions it
Page 85 and 86: MGM & Caesars Cyberattacks: Lessons
Page 87: Companies must also adopt a zero-tr
Page 91 and 92: Cyber Insurance: A Smart Investment
Page 93 and 94: data protection. However, the two a
Page 95 and 96: Cyber Resilience - Beyond Cyber Sec
Page 97 and 98: • Leveraging External Expertise:
Page 99 and 100: Cybersecurity Preparedness 2024 By
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Page 103 and 104: enabled hacker groups to increase t
Page 105 and 106: Enhancing PCI DSS Compliance: The U
Page 107 and 108: Understanding how adversaries opera
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Page 111 and 112: About the Author James Hunt holds o
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Page 115 and 116: From the SIEM to the Lake: Bridging
Page 117 and 118: About the Author Omer Singer is the
Page 119 and 120: The Hardest Part: Marketing and Sal
Page 121 and 122: call upon. I find this fascinating
Page 123 and 124: Getting AI Right for Security: 5 Pr
Page 125 and 126: Against this backdrop, it’s criti
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Page 129 and 130: As we have seen in Russia, VPNs off
Page 131 and 132: Understanding Hyperautomation Hyper
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Page 137 and 138: About the Author Jason Martin and I
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in terms of reputational, operation
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New Year, New Consumer Demands in C
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2. Transparent communication: Highl
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Key Trends in Cybersecurity Evolvin
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Better and Faster Sandboxes Traditi
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Over an 18-month period, Conti accu
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• During wartime, reduce the atta
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SOC roles aren’t for the faint of
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Safeguarding Children in the Era of
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strategy. Parents should seize the
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Securing Space Infrastructure for U
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For new satellite constellations, p
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Understand Cyber Insurance: Rising
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costs for such an incident. This is
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What You Need to Know About the Cyb
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deployment and time to value. Typic
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Why Companies Are Still Investing i
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technologies (PPT) could be an AI a
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• Abundance of sensitive informat
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5. Upgrade to Newer, More Secure Sy
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they came under armed attack. Howev
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incursions have probably never been
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Keywords - Wireless peripheral devi
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nearby. The best way to prevent suc
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devices are found vulnerable, they
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CyberDefense.TV now has 200 hotseat
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Books by our Publisher: https://www
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