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Washington has long accused China of cyber attacks and economic espionage – AFP
For U.S. National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Digital Journal has heard from two leading experts about the measures that businesses can take to address both insider and outsider threats.
Commenting for Digital Journal is Don Boxley, CEO and Co-Founder, DH2i. Boxley sees cybersecurity as an ever evolving process and one that does not stand still. In other words, firms must continue to innovate.
Boxley states: “Cyber threats are escalating into full-blown crises – making Cybersecurity Awareness Month more than just a gentle reminder, but a stark warning that we must urgently overhaul our digital defences. Gone are the days when established security measures like VPNs sufficed. Hackers are continually advancing, rendering traditional methods increasingly obsolete. Proactive security isn’t an option; it’s an absolute necessity if organizations want to survive into the future.”
As examples of such defence initiatives, Boxley sets out: “Software-Defined Perimeters (SDPs) are rapidly gaining prominence as an innovative and intelligent alternative to VPNs. They address and eliminate many traditional VPN vulnerabilities, such as susceptibility to lateral network attacks that could compromise sensitive organizational assets.”
Further with this concept, Boxley points out: “SDPs simplify the secure connection of network assets across diverse infrastructures—from on-premises to hybrid and multi-cloud setups—and closely align with Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) principles. By adhering to the Zero Trust tenet of “never trust, always verify,” SDPs offer stringent security controls at the application level. This ensures that resources like servers, storage units, applications, IoT devices, and users gain access only to the specific data endpoints required for their tasks, thereby eliminating potential vulnerabilities such as lateral movement paths that attackers could exploit.”
Drawing this together, Boxley places a strong emphasis upon the October events: “Let us heed National Cybersecurity Awareness Month as an urgent call to action for adopting next-generation solutions like SDPs and Zero Trust principles. In doing so, we will be equipping organizations and individuals with the robust defences needed to outpace ever-advancing cyber threats.”
Also commenting on the importance of cybersecurity is Seth Blank, CTO, Valimail. Blank draws inspiration from the time of year: “October may conjure images of falling leaves and Halloween festivities, but it’s also Cybersecurity Awareness Month—a crucial period that calls for our attention on the increasing threats in the digital landscape. Among these threats, one that’s often pushed to the background but deserves centre stage is email security.”
Looking at specific risk areas, Blank highlights communications: “Email is the battleground where some of the most sophisticated social engineering attacks, like spear-phishing and whaling, are waged. These attacks exploit human psychology, leveraging the absence of the usual cues we rely on to assess trust—no facial expressions, no tone of voice, just cold text on a screen.”
As an example, Blank notes: “You’re probably been inundated with the same stats again and again, like the fact that 91 percent of all cyberattacks start with phishing. Or that the FBI has reported $50 billion in losses due to business email compromise (BEC). And due to that inundation, it’s easy for some to look at email as an old problem. But those stats show the problem is not just as bad as it’s ever been; it’s getting worse. Much, much worse.”
Blank’s closing remarks are: “The bottom line is that even if the stats have become easy to ignore—the problem is real, and one misstep can wreak havoc. This Cybersecurity Awareness Month, don’t just scroll past the warnings—take them to heart. Beef up your email security, or get ready for a world of hurt. The ball is in your court, and it’s ticking.”
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