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Top 10 IT security predictions for 2018

960 640 Stuart O'Brien

Ian Kilpatrick, executive vice president for cyber security company, Nuvias Group, offers his top 10 IT security predictions for the year ahead…

1. Security blossoms in the boardroom

Sadly, security breaches will continue to be a regular occurrence in 2018 and organisations will struggle to deal with them. New security challenges will abound and these will grab attention in the boardroom. Senior management is increasingly focusing on security issues and recognising them as a core business risk, rather than the responsibility of the IT department alone. The coming year will see further commitment from the boardroom to ensure that organisations are protected.

2. Ransomware has not gone away

Too much money is being made from ransomware for it to disappear – it won’t. According to Cyber Security Ventures, global ransomware damage costs for 2017 will exceed US$ 5 billion, with the average amount paid in ransom among office workers around US$ 1400. Companies can help prevent ransomware by tracking everything coming in and out of the network and running AV solutions with anti- ransomware protection. And, of course, you should do regular backups to a structured plan, based around your own business requirements – and make sure you test the plans.

3. IoT – A security time-bomb

IoT is a rapidly growing phenomenon which will accelerate in 2018, as both consumers and businesses opt for the convenience and benefits that IoT brings. However, manufacturers are not yet routinely building security into IoT devices and 2018 will see further problems generated through the use of insecure IoT. IoT is a major threat and possibly the biggest threat to businesses in the coming years. Unfortunately, it is not easy, and in some cases impossible, to bolt on security as an afterthought with IoT, and many organisations will find it challenging to deal with the consequences of such breaches. As IoT cascades through organisations’ infrastructures, it is likely to become the ultimate Trojan horse.

4. More from the Shadow Brokers

The Shadow Brokers, a hacker group which stole hacking tools from the American National Security Agency (NSA), created havoc in 2017 with the Wannacry ransomware episode. The group has already stated that it will soon release newer NSA hacking tools, with targets that might include vulnerabilities in Windows 10.

There will certainly be further episodes from them in 2018, so patch management, security and regular backups will be more crucial than ever. A major target of these hackers is the data that organisations hold, including PII (Personally Identifiable Information) and corporate data, so protecting the data ‘crown jewels’ inside the network will become ever more crucial.

5. GDPR – Have most businesses missed the point?

The arrival of GDPR in May 2018 will, of course, be a big story. However, many organisations are missing the main point about GDPR. It is about identifying, protecting and managing PII – any information that could potentially identify a specific individual. This will become more important in 2018 and there will be considerable focus on identifying, securing and, where required, deleting PII held on networks.

6. GDPR Blackmail – The new ransomware?

Unfortunately, GDPR will give a great opportunity to criminals, hackers, disgruntled staff and anyone who might want to do an organisation harm. They simply have to ask you to identify what data you hold on them, ask for it to be erased, and ask for proof that it has been done. If you can’t comply, they can threaten to go public – exposing you to the risk of huge fines – unless you pay them money. Watch out for that one!

7. DDoS on the rise

It is now possible for anyone to ‘rent’ a DDoS attack on the internet. For as little as US$ 5, you can actually pay someone to do the attack for you! https://securelist.com/the-cost-of-launching-a-ddos-attack/77784/. This is just one of the reasons DDoS threats will continue to escalate in 2018, alongside the cost of dealing with them. The dangers of DDoS for smaller companies are that it will leave them unable to do business. For larger organisations, DDoS attacks can overwhelm systems. Remember that DDoS is significantly under-reported, as no-one wants to admit they have been under attack!

8. Cloud insecurity – It’s up to you

Problems with cloud insecurity will continue to grow in 2018 as users put more and more data on the cloud, without, in many cases, properly working out how to secure it. It is not the cloud providers’ responsibility to secure the information – it is down to the user. With the introduction of GDPR in 2018, it will be even more important to ensure that PII stored in the cloud is properly protected. Failure to do so could bring serious financial consequences.

9. The insider threat

Historically, insider threats have been underestimated, yet they were still a primary cause of security incidents in 2017. The causes may be malicious actions by staff or simply poor staff cyber-hygiene – i.e. staff not using the appropriate behaviour required to ensure online “health.” In 2018, there will be growth in cyber education, coupled with more testing, measuring and monitoring of staff behaviour. This increasingly involves training and automated testing, such as simulated phishing and social engineering attacks.

10. Time to ditch those simple passwords

In 2018, simple passwords will be even more highlighted as an insecure ‘secure’ method of access. Once a password is compromised, then all other sites with that same user password are also vulnerable. As staff often use the same passwords for business as they use personally, businesses are left vulnerable. While complex passwords do have a superficial attraction, there are many challenges around that approach and multi-factor authentication is a vastly superior method of access.

What does GDPR mean for your business?

960 640 Stuart O'Brien

With the arrival of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on May 25th 2018, many companies are still unsure as to how the new legislation actually affects them and the implications on how organisations store, secure and manage personal data.

Ian Kilpatrick, executive vice president of Cyber Security for Nuvias Group, explains what GDPR means for business:

“GDPR will affect the whole of the EU Zone, which currently spans 28 member countries and half a billion citizens. Its goal is to unify data protection across the European Union, but because GDPR applies to individuals within the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA), companies outside these zones will still have to meet the standards if they want to continue using data from customers in the EU.

“The purpose of the new regulation is to shift control of personal data back to the owner of that data. Every organisation should be aware that with GDPR comes huge fines for data breaches – up to four percent of annual global turnover or €20 million, whichever is greater. Therefore, the consequences of any data loss could be financially devastating for any company.

“The data in question could be usernames, location data, online identifiers like IP address or cookies, or passwords. The loss of personal or work-related information – whether that’s access details, passwords, or any other customer data – is endemic today; almost 1.4 billion data records were lost in 2016 alone, an increase of 86 percent compared to the year before.

“After next May, organisations will have 72 hours to disclose any serious data breaches to the relevant authorities – in the UK it’s the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), as well as the victim of the breach. The penalty for failing to notify them of a breach will be up to €10 million, or two percent of revenues.

“Analyst firm IDC predicts that the severity of fines, coupled with the substantial changes in scope, will drive enterprises to radically shake up their data protection practices, seeking the assistance of new technologies to assist with compliance.

“Despite all this, a survey by information services group, Experian, reports nearly half of businesses (48 percent) admit they are not ready for GDPR, and are only in the early stages of preparing for the regulations.

“If they are not doing so already, organisations need to start putting plans in place now if they’re to meet the May 2018 deadline.

“So, what steps can companies take to ensure their GDPR-compliance? The ability to ensure confidentiality, integrity, availability and resilience will be crucial – as will be restoring data in a timely manner in the event of an incident. Organisations will need a process for testing and evaluating the effectiveness of their security processes, meaning they will need to demonstrate they have taken adequate steps to protect the data.

“GDPR doesn’t prescribe specific data protection technologies, but rather processes that organisations should undertake. However, companies should be talking to their IT providers about core data security solutions that cover things like encryption, access and identity management, two factor authentication, application control, intrusion prevention and detection, URL filtering, APT blocking and data loss protection. Also, they shouldn’t neglect the network, by securing wireless access points, for example.

“Having a demonstrable security policy in place and making sure employees are fully trained in the correct security practices will prove invaluable.

“Larger organisations and public bodies will require a data processing officer; this is a senior role that operates independently of the IT department and will enjoy significant protection, along with the responsibility of reporting any data breach. They will act as a fulcrum for developing, enacting and continually testing security compliance posture.

“However, GDPR compliance is everyone’s responsibility, and shouldn’t be left to one team – legal, IT, HR and other business functions must all be involved with visible support from the executive level.

“Something else that GDPR will likely affect is insurance. As the regulations require every business to report any data breach, there is going to more of an emphasis on liability and who is to blame as data losses come to light.

“In simple terms, businesses should document everything they have done at a technical and policy level to show due diligence. There are several framework documents created at a national level that can help. For example, the UK’s national cyber security centre has a number of 10-step programmes that offer a basic checklist of areas that should be covered.

“With heavy financial and reputational risk threatening, the sooner the new regulations are adopted, the more confident a company can be that it will not be found wanting when GDPR comes into effect.”