Page 106 - Cyber Defense eMagazine Special RSA Conference Annual Edition for 2022

Darkweb Monitoring

An Indispensable Element of Cyber Risk Management Strategy

By Kaustubh Medhe, Head of Research and Intelligence, Cyble

As the COVID pandemic rages on and threatens to delay the restoration of normalcy, organizations have
had to rapidly transition to a digital model of working to ensure operational continuity and maintain their
competitive advantage. Experts claim that the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital
ecosystems by nearly a decade, with companies rushing to embrace the cloud, implementing a mobile-
first strategy, and employees working remotely. Unfortunately, this progressive trend has been marred
by a disproportionate increase in the frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks, especially
ransomware attacks on organizations, large and small alike. The consequences of this include
cybercriminal groups stealing/destroying sensitive data, disrupting business operations, and further
exposing the victims to unwanted media and regulatory scrutiny.

Surprisingly, Threat Actors routinely compromise even high-profile organizations with skilled
cybersecurity staff, state-of-the-art cybersecurity technology, adequate security budgets, and
demonstrably good cybersecurity processes. In fact, in many instances, the affected organizations were
found blissfully unaware that they were breached and only came to know about it via a third party. This
fact indicates that while organizations are very good at managing “known” risks and responding to attacks
that they can “see,” they are often oblivious to the “unknown” attacks that fly undetected under their
security radar. To quote Walter Johnson, one of the greatest baseball pitchers in sports history – “You
can’t hit what you can’t see.”

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