by MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – CYBER criminals are making the most of the prevailing global conflicts to pounce on victims, a trend that requires governments, the public and enterprises to be steadfast.
This is according to the cyber security expert, Dr Jaya Baloo, at her presentation at the SingularityU South Africa Summit 2024 in Johannesburg.
The event has coincided with the conflict raging in the Middle East where countries have meddled in the decades-long fallout between Israel and Palestine. Other countries not physically involved have taken sides.
Amid wars, the lines between cyber security, military operations and civilian activity are becoming increasingly blurred, Baloo explained.
“Global conflicts that used to be limited to traditional warfare are now turning into cyber wars, with regular civilians getting involved,” she said.
The world-renowned cyber security expert and Chief Security Officer at Rapid7 cited examples from recent conflicts, such as the involvement of hacker groups affiliated with Anonymous in the Israel-Hamas clashes, and the co-opting of cyber criminal gangs by Russia to carry out state-sponsored hacking operations.
“It’s hard to tell these days whether the attackers are state actors, cyber criminals, or a combination of both,” Baloo added.
One particularly concerning trend is the ease with which anyone can launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks using readily available online services.
Baloo said that was because “the internet was never built with security in mind, and that’s why these kinds of attacks are possible.”
The expert said these virtual attacks had real consequences, not just on individuals but on nations and parastatals.
She pointed to the Stuxnet attack on an Iranian nuclear facility in 2010, and the 2015-2016 attack on Ukraine’s energy grid, which resulted in nationwide blackouts.
Ransomware has been the single biggest threat to organisations over the past five years, according to Europol’s Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment.
There are over 600 types of so-called ransomware families.
Small- and medium-sized businesses are particularly vulnerable, with the average financial impact of a data breach in South Africa ranging from R100 000 (US$5 686) to R10 million ($568 598).
– CAJ News