Page 25 - Cyber Warnings

Apply that scenario to manufacturers of airplane parts, nuclear powerplant parts, water pipes,
MRI equipment parts and so on, and the magnitude of the problem we are facing becomes all
too clear.

Many companies rely on traditional solutions, such as sandboxes, to prevent cyber attacks. By
scanning an email in a sandbox environment, where they are checked for malicious activity,
organizations believe they can keep their users away from malware.

But as usual, the hackers have gotten the upper hand; almost all malware available today can –
and has successfully – evaded sandbox protection.

Naturally, sandbox evasion presents problems for companies and users alike: hackers have
found way to bypass security solutions and access private, vital information.

“Zero day exploits,” present an even more troublesome danger for cybersecurity experts
because no security solution can prevent or detect them.

And while not every hacker is skillful enough to come up with a zero day exploit, they can easily
purchase a fully functional zero-day or undisclosed exploit on the Darknet.

Clearly, advancements in cyber attacks, such as advanced sandbox evasion techniques, call for
a new approach, one that can protect from undisclosed exploits and remain immune to future
attacks.

One such approach that Gartner makes mention of is the use of content disarm and
reconstruction (CDR) at the email gateway as a supplement or alternative to sandboxing.

The most pressing place for these changes to take place is within the institutions that affect us
the most: critical infrastructure and manufacturing.

Last October, President Obama rightly termed critical infrastructure safety a matter of national
security, and called on officials in business and industry – especially those responsible for
critical infrastructure – to shore up their defenses.

But that message needs to be heard by manufacturers, as well. It's encouraging that critical
infrastructure defense is now on the radar of the President and many others, but defending
manufacturing infrastructure must also be addressed– as soon as possible.

What to do? Of course, educating employees not to open suspicious attachments is always
important – but according to an end-of-year report by ICS-CERT, an astounding 91% of hack
attacks utilize spear-phishing tactics.

Clearly, either the education we have been imparting has not been working, or the hackers are
now so adept at psychological manipulation that it is almost impossible for the average worker –
even the tech-savvy ones – to avoid.

25 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – May 2016 Edition
Copyright © Cyber Defense Magazine, All rights reserved worldwide