Intel Security president Chris Young has called out the cyber security sector on its reactive stance toward cyber threats
Proactive cyber security necessary against high stakes, high intensity cyber threats, warns APM Group
12th May 2015
Intel Security president Chris Young has called out the cyber security sector on its reactive stance toward cyber threats, admonishing the industry for focusing too heavily on the symptoms of cyber attacks at the expense of the contextual environment, which enables cyber crime.
Echoing these concerns, Richard Pharro, CEO of APM Group explores what a “proactive” cyber sector should look like and whether offensive measures by the industry can help in targeting the underlying causes of cyber risk.
“Cyber security professionals across the information assurance industry will confirm that the drumbeat of cyber attacks has increased. Not only are cyber criminals attacking more, but also are hitting harder and more intelligently.
“Chasing symptoms, such as malware, reporting and recording phishing IP’s, deleting spyware and patching vulnerabilities are no longer sufficiently dynamic tactics against increasingly innovative and dangerous criminal activities. The race is never over, so perhaps a different approach is becoming necessary. Proactive cyber security therefore entails taking the initiative and positioning yourself one step ahead of that potentially damaging intrusion,” Pharro said.
“Proactive security encompasses your digital, cyber and real-world business life. The exec suite has the responsibility to ‘be in the know’ and regularly review business appetite for cyber risk on a regular basis. Cross-examine the threats, ensure the technical teams are delivering effectively and make decisions whether to invest in information assurance. The risks are high for every business, because it is your client’s identities, financial information and reputation that are also at risk based on your decisions.
“By increasing your awareness through vigorous education and employee training, you are removing ignorance of cyber threats and potentially avoiding user-based based accidents. One example of ground-up security posture that starts with employee’s behaviour is the simple act of having employees shut down their computers when they leave the office. A more advanced behaviour would be to isolate inactive admin logins who still have privileged access to networks,” he concluded.
