Tag: ICT/IT
3 Strategic Necessities for the Growth of Cybersecurity
I believe that, in order for any economy – including Japan – to survive in the coming decade, governments must recognize that information and communications technologies (ICT) and cybersecurity are no longer separate issues, and they must take innovative approaches to address them concurrently. The technical aspects of cybersecurity make it complex and difficult even for professionals, much less policymakers, to grasp. However, the most critical elements needed to bolster cybersecurity are not technical, but strategic. Japan is placed uniquely on this issue. While we are preparing for the rapidly aging society and shrinking population, as well as the Tokyo …
What nature teaches us about managing risk
In the last few weeks, I’ve attended more than my usual number of international cybersecurity conferences, and the perspective, scope and dimensions of the discussion have evolved quite a bit in the last few years. I’ve been speaking with people from different backgrounds on this topic at events hosted by the United Nations to discuss the counterterrorism angle, by NATO for its use of the military and warfare, by Interpol for the balance between law enforcement needs and public privacy, and even by the OECD for the asymmetries that developed countries face in protecting themselves. This has allowed me to …
What Y2K And 9/11 Could Have Taught Us About Managing The WannaCry Cyber Attack
Over the past week, countless organizations around the world were victims of a cyberattack involving WannaCry ransomware. While the EU’s law enforcement agency called the attack “unprecedented,” it was perhaps only unique in scale. In fact, this attack was neither sophisticated nor innovative. It had many precedents and was definitely preventable. For starters, according to numerous security analysts, WannaCry took advantage of a file-sharing vulnerability in Windows that was repurposed using commonly available “Ransomware-as-a-Service” to package the attack and allow it to support multiple languages simultaneously. To make matters worse, Microsoft had actually released a patch for these vulnerabilities in …
These Are 10 Cybersecurity Myths That Must Be Busted
Cybersecurity was huge in 2016. From ransomware to weaponized Internet of Things (IoT) devices to foreign hacking of elections – last year saw it all. But many of these threats aren’t new and will never really go away. Over the last 25 years, one of the most valuable things I’ve learned in attending conferences and talking to cybersecurity experts around the world is that one of the greatest weapons we have to prevent cyber attacks is our own mindset. This column has previously touched on the importance of online hygiene and why you should think of your online activities like …
Why cybersecurity is now top of the agenda for the world’s decision-makers
Last year saw a huge increase in cyber-related incidents, including big data breaches, physical infrastructure tampering, Internet of Things (IoT) devices turning on their owners, ransomware, and even allegations of election hacking that captured the public’s attention. Sometimes it seems there’s no way that enterprises and governments can effectively stop the rising tide of cyberattacks. The good news is, along with the launch of a global cybersecurity watchdog, stakeholders are now discussing these issues in major international forums that until recently were neither digitally focused nor multistakeholder in nature. The inaugural meeting of the Global Commission on the Stability of …