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CYBERSECURITY
WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR RISK
IN A DANGEROUS CYBER WORLD By Graham Bushkes
Photo: scyther5, iStockimages.com
T
he cyber world was already becoming an increasingly dangerous place before the current epidemic, and we are now seeing the immense scalability of our cyber adversaries. They have ramped up their efforts to target sensitive data and critical infrastructure (mining included) to disrupt economies and steal intellectual property. And at the same time, cybercriminals – fuelled by a desire for profit and bragging rights – have also launched ever-more sophisticated attacks on businesses and governments, many of which generate high-profile headlines while further lining the pockets of cybercriminal organizations. And the current pandemic has raised the stakes even further. Remote work has surged, putting pressure on IT teams as cybercriminals target an expanded attack surface and novice remote workers, increasing the risk that a COVID-19 related phishing email or unpatched solution on a home laptop could open the door to a serious data breach. But even when the COVID-19 cyber threat subsides, the attack surface for businesses will continue to expand. The rise of MAY 2020
Internet of Things (IoT), cloud applications and platforms, and the ongoing convergence of operational and information technology (OT/IT) are not only introducing new efficiencies and paving the way for digital innovation. They have also opened up a host of new attack vectors that cybercriminals will continue to be all too willing to exploit – in part because, unfortunately, far too many organizations are failing to adequately secure them. And these are just the “known knowns” – the risks that we are already aware of. By now, most companies are aware of most of the garden-variety cyberattacks that can affect their core networks. While some can be quite serious, many others are little more than a nuisance that can be stopped with the right effort and technology. But the potential havoc those same attacks can have on the newly extended network, including the growing web of interconnected devices running ever-faster networks, is much higher. In those circumstances, these threats can have far more serious implications for business uptime and the ability for organizations to adequately serve their customers. And if there CONTINUED ON PAGE 20
CANADIAN MINING JOURNAL |
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