Cyber attacks are a global problem and malicious attacks such as what we have seen this week in South Korea are by no means uncommon (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21873017). All businesses are at risk. Taking a relaxed ‘wait and see’ approach to such attacks is daft.
Commenting from Infosecurity Belgium on a China IP address being linked to the South Korea cyber-attack, Wieland Alge, IT security pioneer, inventor of one of the most robust corporate firewalls and VP and General Manager EMEA at Barracuda Networks, writes:
Cyber attacks such as the recent attacks on South Korean banks and broadcasters are becoming an increasingly frequent phenomenon today. In the case of the South Korean attack, it exhibits the signature properties of the organised attacks that have become widespread. Such attacks focus on planting malware instead of attempting direct DoS attacks. Attackers choose victims opportunistically, therefore whoever is vulnerable, will be attacked.
In recent years, many organisations have fallen behind with the maturity of their security programmes compared to the strategy of the attackers. There are security defense mechanisms that have been developed by the security industry, which will protect businesses from such attacks. However, the adoption rate is far too low. The relatively quiet years between 2005 and 2010 have resulted in IT decision makers having too relaxed an approach to the business’ security.
Many businesses are under the illusion that they are safe from such attacks and have plenty of time to implement better security in the future. This misconception could prove to be very costly.