Cybersecurity Center for Strategic and International Studies

Threat hunters are threat analysts who aim to uncover vulnerabilities and attacks and mitigate them before they compromise a business. Security engineers protect company assets from threats with a focus on quality control within the IT infrastructure. Chief security office is the executive responsible for the physical and/or cybersecurity of a company. Other common attacks include botnets, drive-by-download attacks, exploit kits, malvertising, vishing, credential stuffing attacks, cross-site scripting attacks, SQL injection attacks, business email compromise and zero-day exploits.

This has made existing measures less effective, and it means that most organizations need to up their Cybersecurity game. Cybersecurity is the practice of deploying people, policies, processes and technologies to protect organizations, their critical systems and sensitive information from digital attacks. FINRA is conducting an assessment of firms’ approaches to managing cyber-security threats. Cybersecurity is a major challenge for everyone – but it can be a particularly big challenge for those in the financial industry. That’s why FINRA released a new report highlighting effective cybersecurity practices for FINRA member firms.

There are many reports of hospitals and hospital organizations getting hacked, including ransomware attacks, Windows XP exploits, viruses, and data breaches of sensitive data stored on hospital servers. On 28 December 2016 the US Food and Drug Administration released its recommendations for how medical device manufacturers should maintain the security of Internet-connected devices – but no structure for enforcement. Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks. These cyberattacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information; extorting money from users via ransomware; or interrupting normal business processes.

Additionally, connected cars may use WiFi and Bluetooth to communicate with onboard consumer devices and the cell phone network. All of these systems carry some security risk, and such issues have gained wide attention. So-called Evil Maid attacks and security services planting of surveillance capability into routers are examples. The National Security Agency is responsible for the protection of U.S. information systems and also for collecting foreign intelligence. Protecting information systems includes evaluating software, identifying security flaws, and taking steps to correct the flaws, which is a defensive action. Collecting intelligence includes exploiting security flaws to extract information, which is an offensive action.

The U.S. “National Security Memorandum on Improving Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure Control Systems,” for example, is prioritizing the electricity and natural gas pipeline sectors, followed by the water/wastewater and chemical sectors. Attacks on organizations in critical infrastructure sectors rose from less than 10 in 2013 to almost 400 in 2020, a 3,900% increase. It’s not surprising, then, that governments worldwide are mandating more security controls for mission-critical CPS. As the C-suite strategizes its response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, prioritize cybersecurity planning. Increase awareness and vigilance to detect and prevent potential increased threats, but be mindful of the added stress and pressure your organization is feeling.

Security should be built into applications at the design stage, with considerations for how data is handled, user authentication, etc. See how codes can protect your online secrets and what motivates hackers to hack. Lockheed Martin in partnership with BAE Systems, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon have implemented two cybersecurity surveys to measure a supplier’s ability to manage cybersecurity.