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cybersecurity and the metaverse

Cybersecurity and the Metaverse: Risks, Threats, Challenges, and Opportunities

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The metaverse, a boundless realm where the lines between the real and the virtual blur into a kaleidoscope of possibilities. The metaverse is a term that describes a 3D virtual world that integrates physical and digital realities as well as enables immersive and interactive experiences for users. Imagine being able to visit any place, meet any person, or do any activity in a realistic and engaging way, without leaving your home.

In this digital utopia, businesses and organizations across various sectors (including retail, finance, education, healthcare, and defence) are embarking on an extraordinary journey. That is the vision of the metaverse, which is expected to experience exponential growth following the ongoing huge improvements and strides in Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI). According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), metaverse spending is projected to reach US$5 trillion by 2030 i.e., within the next 7 years.

However, as we delve deeper into the wonders of the metaverse, we must tread with caution and embrace cybersecurity to safeguard this new frontier. In a couple of previous posts, we discussed Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare services. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the main cybersecurity challenges and risks that the metaverse poses to organizations and how they can be effectively addressed. We’ll also discuss some of the opportunities that the metaverse offers to organizations and how they can leverage them to gain a competitive edge.

Understanding the Metaverse: Unravelling the Infinite

The metaverse, a concept once confined to science fiction, is now a reality, rapidly evolving through the convergence of virtual reality, augmented reality, blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT), and the power of Generative AI. These technologies enable the creation of realistic and dynamic virtual environments that can be accessed by millions of users simultaneously.

This immersive domain transcends the limits of screens and keyboards, presenting an entirely new interface between humans and information. In the retail sector, fashion retailers allow customers to try on virtual outfits, providing a personalized shopping experience like never before. Financial institutions are exploring virtual banks, offering seamless transactions through virtual reality interfaces. Even healthcare is leveraging the metaverse to simulate complex surgeries and explore innovative medical treatments.

However, as with any new technology, the metaverse also brings new challenges, risks, and threats that need to be addressed by cybersecurity professionals and business leaders. The metaverse is a complex environment that’s highly interconnected, which creates new kinds of cybercrime and attack surfaces. Cybersecurity in the metaverse involves the security of the hosting platform, the property, and the users of the property.

Cybersecurity Challenges and Risks in the Metaverse

The metaverse is not immune to cyberattacks. In fact, it may be more vulnerable than the traditional web due to its novelty, complexity, and diversity. Some of the cybersecurity challenges and risks that organizations may face in the metaverse include:

  1. Lack of regulations: The metaverse is still an emerging phenomenon that has not been fully regulated by governments or industry standards. This creates uncertainty and ambiguity for both platform owners and property owners regarding their rights and responsibilities. For example, who owns the data generated by users in the metaverse? Who is liable for any damages caused by cyberattacks or malicious actors? How can intellectual property rights be enforced in the metaverse? What are the obligatory AI ethics for the metaverse? These are some of the questions that need to be clarified and addressed by legal frameworks and policies.

  2. Identity theft: The metaverse allows users to create and customize their respective avatars and personas that represent them in the virtual world. However, this also creates opportunities for identity theft and impersonation by cybercriminals who can use AI-generated deepfakes to create realistic and convincing fake images or videos of individuals or organizations. Deepfakes can be used for various malicious purposes, such as fraud, extortion, blackmail, defamation, or propaganda.

  3. Data breaches: The metaverse generates massive amounts of data from user interactions, transactions, preferences, behaviours, emotions, biometrics, and more. This data is valuable for both legitimate and illegitimate purposes. For example, data can be used to improve user experience, personalize content, offer recommendations, or provide insights. However, data can also be used to target users with phishing attacks, spam messages, malware infections, or ransomware demands. Data breaches can expose sensitive information that can compromise user privacy or security.

    The recent compromise of the MOVEit Transfer file management software; a computer program used by over 600 organizations worldwide including UK Ofcom, US Department of Energy, Deutsche Bank, PwC, and EY; is reported to have affected nearly 40 million people. The hydra-headed data breach incident of such magnitude perhaps underscores the possible damages that could be caused if something similar were to happen in the metaverse.

  4. Malware infections: The metaverse relies on various devices and platforms to deliver its services and experiences. These devices and platforms may have vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers to inject malware into the system. Malware infections can disrupt or damage the functionality or performance of the devices or platforms or steal or encrypt data from them. Malware infections can also spread from one device or platform to another through network connections or user interactions.

  5. Cyberattacks on critical infrastructure: The metaverse depends on critical infrastructure such as power grids, telecommunications networks, cloud servers, or IoT devices to operate smoothly and reliably. However, these infrastructure components may also be targeted by cyberattacks that aim to cause physical or digital harm or disruption.

    For example, cyberattacks on power grids could cause blackouts or brownouts that affect millions of users in the metaverse. Cyberattacks on telecommunications networks could cause latency or connectivity issues that degrade user experience or prevent access to the metaverse. Cyberattacks on cloud servers could compromise data integrity or availability or cause service outages. Cyberattacks on IoT devices could hijack or manipulate their functions or data.

Cybersecurity Solutions for the Metaverse: Thriving amidst Adversity

The metaverse poses significant cybersecurity challenges and risks that require proactive and comprehensive solutions from organizations. Some of the cybersecurity solutions that organizations can implement to protect themselves and their users in the metaverse include:

  1. Establishing cybersecurity governance: Your organization should develop and enforce a proactive cybersecurity governance model that includes clear and consistent policies and standards. These policies and standards should cover aspects such as privacy-by-design principles, privacy-by-default tenets, data ownership, data protection, data sharing, user consent, user verification, user behaviour, user feedback, user rights, user responsibilities, system status, dispute resolution, incident response, and compliance.

  2. Ensuring regulatory compliance: To ensure and promote a more compliant predisposition amidst a shifting metaverse landscape and ever-changing regulations, your organization should adopt a proactive approach involving regular audits and swift adaptation.

  3. Educating and empowering users: Your organization should educate and empower its users in the metaverse. You should inform users about the potential cybersecurity risks and threats that they may encounter in the metaverse and how to avoid or mitigate them. You should also provide users with the necessary tools and resources to protect themselves and their data in the metaverse, including privacy settings, security settings, reporting mechanisms, feedback mechanisms, or security awareness training.

Cybersecurity Opportunities in the Metaverse

The metaverse is not only a source of cybersecurity challenges and risks but also a source of cybersecurity opportunities for organizations. Some of the cybersecurity opportunities that organizations can leverage in the metaverse include:

  1. Enhancing user experience: Organizations can use cybersecurity as a competitive advantage to enhance user experience in the metaverse. They can offer their users a secure, reliable, and trustworthy environment that fosters confidence, loyalty, satisfaction, and engagement. They can also use cybersecurity as a differentiator to attract new users or retain existing users who value security as a key factor in their decision-making.

  2. Expanding business opportunities: Organizations can use cybersecurity as a catalyst to expand their business opportunities in the metaverse. They can explore new markets or segments that are emerging or growing in the metaverse. They can also create new products or services that address the specific needs or demands of users in the metaverse.

  3. Innovating business models: Organizations can use cybersecurity as an enabler to innovate their business models in the metaverse. They can adopt new ways of delivering value to their customers or stakeholders in the metaverse. They can also leverage new sources of revenue or cost savings that are enabled by cybersecurity technologies or practices in the metaverse.

What isn’t hard to imagine for us in cybersecurity is that the metaverse is going to greatly expand the threat landscape. So, the metaverse is more than an imaginative exercise for us; it’s the future – a future we should ideally start planning for now.

— Jonathan Singer, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Checkmarx

Final thoughts

The metaverse is a promising phenomenon that offers unprecedented opportunities for organizations to create immersive and engaging experiences for their users.

However, the metaverse and Generative AI will become more pervasive, diverse, and complex, requiring more advanced and adaptive cybersecurity solutions, posing significant challenges and risks for organizations to secure their platforms, properties, and users from cyberattacks or malicious actors.

Therefore, businesses and organizations need to adopt proactive and comprehensive cybersecurity solutions that can protect themselves and their users in the metaverse while leveraging its potential benefits. They should adopt best practices and recommendations to enhance their cybersecurity posture and resilience in the metaverse, such as adopting a cyber resilience strategy, implementing a zero-trust model, using blockchain technology, leveraging artificial intelligence tools, establishing clear policies, standards, guidelines, roles, responsibilities for cybersecurity management, and collaborating with other stakeholders in the metaverse ecosystem.

If you need help developing and implementing effective cyber resilience strategies within your organization, or you’re simply interested in learning more about effective cybersecurity and risk management best practices, then please feel free to contact me today.

また会うまで – take care, until we meet again.

effective cybersecurity governance

Bridging the Gap: Leadership Strategies for Effective Cybersecurity Governance – Part 2

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Within the last week or so, we’ve seen reports of a couple of serious breaches that put the reputation of the target organizations in jeopardy but, more importantly, these breaches also constituted significant third-party risks to businesses and organizations that rely on the affected organizations. The first reported breach hit Microsoft Azure and impacted some users of its email services. The second reported breach targeted PwC and impacted some of its clients.

Sadly, cyber-attacks and cyber-incidents are nearly almost inevitable, it’s the nature of the beast.

However, whilst likelihood is almost nearly certain, severity and impact can be reduced, significantly. The adverse impacts of any such events on the operations of your organization can be mitigated and contained. And as a cybersecurity leader, one of the effective tools that can help you build resilience in the defence of your organization is effective cybersecurity governance.

To establish and maintain effective cybersecurity governance, leaders must develop a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy. This entails identifying critical assets and vulnerabilities, implementing risk management frameworks, and ensuring robust governance structures to guide their decision-making, planning, implementation, and evaluation of cybersecurity initiatives.

In the previous article, we looked at the crucial role of leadership in establishing and maintaining robust cybersecurity governance. We explored the qualities and skills required for cybersecurity leaders to navigate the complexities of the evolving threat landscape, address the challenges posed by these emerging threats, satisfy regulatory compliance, foster a culture of security awareness, and drive organizational change.

This article is the second and final part in the series. In this article, we’ll delve into some practical hands-on strategies that can help cybersecurity leaders establish and maintain effective cybersecurity governance within their organizations. Some of these strategies include:

Define your vision and strategy for cybersecurity

As a cybersecurity leader, you should define your vision and strategy for cybersecurity that aligns with your organization’s mission, vision, and values. Your vision should describe what you want to achieve in terms of cybersecurity outcomes, such as security posture, resilience, compliance, reputation, etc.

Your strategy should outline how you plan to achieve your vision by setting Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) goals and objectives. You should also identify the key building blocks for your strategy i.e., drivers, enablers, and barriers.

Here are some examples of outlined key building blocks:

  • Vision: To be recognized as a leader in cybersecurity excellence by our customers, partners, regulators, and peers.

  • Strategy: To implement a comprehensive cybersecurity program that covers all aspects of our business operations, from strategy to execution.

  • Goal #1: To achieve ISO/IEC 27001 certification by Q4 2024.

  • Goal #2: To reduce the number of security incidents by 50% by Q2 2024.

  • Goal #3: To increase the level of security awareness among our employees by 80% by Q1 2025.

  • Driver: To protect our brand reputation; to comply with regulatory requirements.

  • Enabler #1: To allocate sufficient resources and budget for cybersecurity.

  • Enabler #2: To develop policies and standards for cybersecurity.

  • Enabler #3: To establish clear roles and responsibilities for cybersecurity.

  • Enabler #4: To monitor performance and compliance for cybersecurity.

  • Enabler #5: To engage stakeholders and partners for cybersecurity.

This bit is rather particularly important; you should align your vision and strategy with the overall vision and strategy of your organization, as well as ensure that they are consistent and coherent.

Once you have defined your vision and strategy for cybersecurity, you should communicate it to your team, your peers, and other relevant stakeholders. Also, you should review and update your vision and strategy regularly, based on the feedback, results, and changes in the environment.

Build your team and empower them

As a cybersecurity leader, you’d build a strong and diverse team that can support you in implementing your vision and strategy for cybersecurity. You should recruit, train, develop, and retain the best talent for cybersecurity, based on their skills, experience, knowledge, attitude, and potential. You should also leverage the existing capabilities and resources within your organization, such as IT, legal, compliance, audit, risk, etc.

You should also empower your team by delegating authority and responsibility for cybersecurity tasks and activities. You should provide them with clear expectations, guidance, support, feedback, and recognition. You should also encourage them to collaborate with each other and with other teams and stakeholders. You should also foster a culture of learning and improvement within your team by promoting continuous education, training, certification, mentoring, coaching, etc.

Develop policies, standards, and procedures for cybersecurity

You should develop policies, standards, and procedures for cybersecurity that define the rules, requirements, and best practices for securing your organization’s systems and information. You should base your policies and standards on recognized frameworks, such as ISO/IEC 27001, NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), NIST Risk Management Framework (RMF), or COBIT.

You should ensure that the policies, standards, and procedures you develop are aligned with the values, principles, and objectives of your organization. Also, you should ensure that the policies and standards are documented, communicated, and enforced across the organization. You should also monitor compliance with your policies and standards, as well as take corrective actions when needed.

Implement controls and measures for cybersecurity

As a cybersecurity leader, you should implement controls and measures for cybersecurity that protect your organization’s systems and information from cyber threats and attacks. You should base your controls and measures on recognized models, such as CIA (Confidentiality, Integrity, & Availability), AAA (Authentication, Authorization, & Accountability), or PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act).

You should ensure that the controls and measures you implement align with the risk appetite, business needs, and stakeholder expectations within your organization.

Also, you should ensure that your controls and measures are effective, efficient, and economical. You should also measure (and report on) the performance of your controls and measures using relevant metrics, such as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Key Risk Indicators (KRIs), or Key Control Indicators (KCIs). You should also improve your controls and measures regularly, based on the feedback, results, and changes in the environment.

Companies that are leveraging technologies the best, leveraging the best practices in order to mitigate their risk, they should see that reflected in the terms and conditions that they are offered by the market…

— Noel Pearman, XL Catlin

Review risks and opportunities for cybersecurity

You should review risks and opportunities for cybersecurity to ensure that your organization is prepared for the current and future cyber threat landscape. You should use various tools and techniques to identify, analyse, evaluate, and treat risks and opportunities related to cybersecurity. Some of these tools and techniques include:

  • Risk identification: To recognize sources, events, or causes of potential or actual harm or loss related to cybersecurity.

  • Risk analysis: To estimate the likelihood and impact of potential or actual harm or loss related to cybersecurity.

  • Risk evaluation: To compare the level of risk with the organization’s risk appetite or tolerance related to cybersecurity.

  • Risk treatment: To select and implement options to avoid, reduce, transfer, or accept risk related to cybersecurity.

  • Opportunity identification: To recognize sources, events, or causes of potential or actual benefit or gain related to cybersecurity.

  • Opportunity analysis: To estimate the likelihood and impact of potential or actual benefit or gain related to cybersecurity.

  • Opportunity evaluation: To compare the level of opportunity with the organization’s opportunity appetite or criteria related to cybersecurity.

  • Opportunity treatment: To select and implement options to exploit, enhance, share, or ignore opportunities related to cybersecurity.

As always, you should ensure that your review activities are proactive, comprehensive, systematic, and consistent. Also, you should communicate your review results to relevant stakeholders using appropriate formats and channels. You should also act on your review results by taking preventive or corrective actions when needed.

Engage stakeholders and partners for cybersecurity

You should engage stakeholders and partners for cybersecurity to ensure that your organization has the support and collaboration it needs to achieve its security goals and objectives. You should identify who your stakeholders and partners are, what their interests and expectations are, and how you can communicate and interact with them effectively. Some of your stakeholders and partners may include:

  • Internal stakeholders: Such as senior executives, board members, managers, employees, etc., who have a direct or indirect interest in the organization’s security performance or compliance.

  • External stakeholders: Such as customers, suppliers, regulators, auditors, investors, media, etc., who have a direct or indirect influence on the organization’s security performance or compliance.

  • Partners: Such as peers, competitors, industry associations, professional bodies, academic institutions, research organizations, etc., who have a common interest or goal in enhancing security performance or compliance.

You’d expect to use various tools and techniques to engage stakeholders and partners including Stakeholder analysis, Stakeholder engagement plan, communication plan, etc. You’d communicate your engagement results to relevant stakeholders and partners using appropriate formats and channels.

Other elements that you would cover in your overarching cybersecurity governance include:

  1. Monitor performance and compliance for cybersecurity.

  2. Promote awareness and education for cybersecurity.

  3. Establish vendor and third-party risk management.

  4. Establish and monitor business continuity and disaster recovery plans.

  5. Establish asset inventory and management.

  6. Drive innovation and improvement for cybersecurity.

  7. Integrate with the enterprise architecture.

Fix the basics, protect first what matters for your business and be ready to react properly to pertinent threats. Think data, but also business services integrity, awareness, customer experience, compliance, and reputation.

— Stéphane Nappo

Final thoughts

Cybersecurity governance is a strategic imperative that affects every aspect of an organization’s operations, performance, reputation, and resilience. It requires strong leadership from the top down and across all levels of the organization. Effective cybersecurity leaders possess a combination of qualities and skills that enable them to lead by example, inspire others, and deliver results. They also employ various strategies that can help them establish and maintain effective cybersecurity governance within their organizations. By following these strategies, cybersecurity leaders can bridge the gap between their vision and reality for cybersecurity and create a robust security culture within their organizations.

I hope that this set of articles has empowered you, as a cybersecurity leader, to champion cybersecurity initiatives and create a robust security culture within your organization. I also hope that these articles have inspired further research or practice on cybersecurity governance.

Au revoir; take care, until we meet again.

Further reading

If you’re interested in learning more about Cybersecurity governance, you can check out these resources:

leadership and effective cybersecurity governance

Bridging the Gap: Leadership Strategies for Effective Cybersecurity Governance

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Cybersecurity is no longer a technical issue that can be delegated to IT departments. It is a strategic imperative that affects every aspect of an organization’s operations, performance, reputation, and resilience. In the digital age, cybersecurity threats are constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated, posing significant challenges and risks to organizations of all sizes and in pretty much all sectors.

As the world around us is evolving and becoming more digital, the collective understanding of what it means to be safe, secure, and resilient is also evolving. According to the Harvard Business Review (HBR), the impact of cybercrime is predicted to reach US$10 trillion this year. In the same report, HBR indicated that human error constitutes the biggest cyber-threat as it accounts for over 80% of cyber-incidents.

How can organizations effectively protect themselves and their stakeholders from cyber-threats, cyber-risks, and cyber-incidents, while also enabling innovation and growth?

I’d argue that, in nearly all cases, the answer most probably lies in effective cybersecurity governance.

In a couple of previous posts; part 1 and part 2 of a series on cybersecurity and the supply chain; I discussed some ways to safeguard the digital fortress including the use of effective cybersecurity governance. Cybersecurity governance is how organizations control and direct their approach to cybersecurity, including defining their risk appetite, building accountability frameworks, and establishing who is responsible for making decisions.

Effective cybersecurity governance will help ensure that cybersecurity activities support the organization’s overarching strategic mission/goals, align with its values, and culture, as well as comply with its legal and regulatory obligations. Effective cybersecurity governance will also enable the organization to respond quickly and effectively to emerging threats and incidents, as well as to communicate clearly and confidently with its stakeholders.

However, achieving effective cybersecurity governance is not easy. It requires strong leadership from the top, as well as collaboration and engagement from all levels of the organization. It also requires a clear vision, a robust strategy, and a flexible framework that can adapt to changing conditions and needs.

In this article, we’ll explore the essential role of leadership in establishing and maintaining effective cybersecurity governance, as well as provide practical insights and strategies for cybersecurity leaders to bridge the gap between security and business objectives.

The Role of Leadership in Cybersecurity Governance

Leadership is the key factor that determines the success or failure of cybersecurity governance. Leadership could be described as the ability of an entity (i.e., an individual, a group, a team, or an organization) to influence or guide other entities to achieve common or shared objectives.

Without any doubt, leadership involves setting direction, communicating vision, motivating action, empowering people, building trust, resolving conflicts, and ensuring accountability. Within any organization, ensuring that policies, standards, principles, and procedures are properly developed and maintained requires a well-defined governance model, such as the one outlined in ISO/IEC 27014-2020.

In the context of cybersecurity governance, leadership plays a vital role in:

  1. Defining the organization’s vision and strategy for cybersecurity

  2. Establishing clear roles and responsibilities for cybersecurity

  3. Informing the organization’s decision concerning investments in cybersecurity.

  4. Allocating adequate resources and budget for cybersecurity

  5. Developing policies and standards for cybersecurity

  6. Implementing controls and measures for cybersecurity

  7. Monitoring performance and compliance for cybersecurity

  8. Reviewing risks and opportunities for cybersecurity

  9. Engaging stakeholders and partners for cybersecurity

  10. Promoting awareness and education for cybersecurity

  11. Driving innovation and improvement for cybersecurity

Cybersecurity leaders are those who have the authority, responsibility, and accountability for overseeing and managing cybersecurity within their organizations. They may have different titles, such as Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Chief Security Officer (CSO), Principal Cybersecurity Consultant, or team leader but they share a common goal: to ensure that their organizations are secure, resilient, and compliant.

These leaders need to have a range of qualities and skills to fulfil their roles effectively. They need to have a deep understanding of the technical aspects of cybersecurity, as well as the business context and environment in which they operate. Also, they need to have a strategic mindset, as well as an operational focus. Furthermore, they need to have strong communication skills, as well as analytical abilities. They need also to have a collaborative attitude, as well as a decisive approach. They need to have a visionary outlook, as well as a pragmatic perspective.

Until you have experienced something like this, you don’t realise just what can happen, just how serious it can be… I had no intuitive idea on how to move forward.

— Soren Skou, CEO, Maersk

Understanding the Complex Challenges

The ever-changing cybersecurity landscape presents organizations with a myriad of challenges. From sophisticated cyber threats to legal and regulatory compliance, leaders must be well-informed and adaptable. As a cybersecurity leader, you’d expect to face complex challenges, such as:

  1. Align security goals with business objectives: You need to ensure that your security strategy supports your organization’s vision, mission, values, and goals. You need to balance the trade-offs between security and performance, between risk mitigation and innovation, and between compliance and competitiveness. You need to demonstrate the value of security investments and initiatives to senior management and other stakeholders, as well as justify the allocation of resources and priorities.

  2. Manage risks and compliance: You need to identify, assess, prioritise, treat, monitor, and report on the cyber risks that your organization faces. You need to establish a risk appetite framework that defines the level of risk that your organization is willing to accept or tolerate in pursuit of its objectives. You need to implement appropriate controls and measures to reduce or transfer the risks that exceed the risk appetite. Also, you need to ensure that your organization complies with relevant laws, regulations, standards, policies, and best practices.

  3. Respond to emerging threats and incidents: A proactive incident response culture is another hallmark of effective cybersecurity governance. As a cybersecurity leader, you need to be aware of the current threat landscape and the potential impact of cyberattacks on your organization. You need to develop and maintain an incident response plan (or playbook, if you will) that defines roles, responsibilities, processes, procedures, tools, and resources for detecting, containing, analysing, resolving, recovering from, learning from, and communicating about cyber incidents. Also, you need to test and exercise your team’s incident response capabilities regularly.

  4. Foster a culture of security awareness: You need to create a culture where security is everyone’s responsibility within your organization. You need to educate and train staff on security policies, procedures, practices, and behaviours. You need to raise awareness of cyber threats and risks, and how to prevent or report them. You need to reward positive security actions and outcomes, as well as address negative ones. Also, you need to lead by example and demonstrate your commitment to security.

  5. Foster a culture of security innovation: As a cybersecurity leader, you’d champion a culture of innovation within your teams and organization by encouraging curiosity, research, creative thinking, design thinking, risk-taking, and a mindset of learning from mistakes.

As cybersecurity leaders, we have to create our message of influence because security is a culture, and you need the business to take place and be part of that security culture.

— Britney Hommertzheim

Trust in the digital business age is every bit as important as actual service delivery. Few things impact a company’s brand more than a badly handled data breach or prolonged service outage.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity leadership is essential for effective cybersecurity governance. In this article, we’ve explored the essential role of leadership in establishing and maintaining effective cybersecurity governance within organizations. We’ve examined the qualities and skills required for cybersecurity leaders to navigate complex challenges, foster a culture of security awareness, and drive organizational change for cybersecurity governance.

In the follow-up article, we’ll delve into some practical hands-on insights and strategies for cybersecurity leaders to help them bridge the gap between security and business objectives, as well as create a robust security culture within their respective organizations.

Au revoir; take care, until we meet again.

supply chain and cybersecurity part 2

Safeguarding the Digital Fortress: Navigating Cybersecurity and Supply Chain Challenges – Part 2

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This is the second part of a 2-part series wherein we explore cybersecurity and supply chain challenges. In the first post, we explored the challenges, risks, and threats that cybersecurity and the supply chain pose to organizations and how these could be effectively mitigated against. We also looked at how cybersecurity supply chain risks touch nearly all facets of business operations including sourcing, vendor management, supply chain continuity and quality, transportation security and many other functions across the enterprise.

The digital landscape is fraught with diverse cybersecurity threats, ranging from malware and phishing attacks to the ever-looming threat of ransomware. Such threats not only compromise data integrity but also disrupt operations and tarnish the reputation of businesses. In this second and final part of the series, we’ll delve even further into a few other factors that play into the complex yet critical fabric of the global interconnectedness of businesses and organizations. Let’s get started, shall we?

A holistic approach to C-SCRM

Cybersecurity and the supply chain are interdependent and mutually influential. C-SCRM is a vital process that helps organizations to ensure the security and integrity of their products and services and to mitigate the risks and threats that may affect their supply chain.

To be effective, C-SCRM must be seen and conducted as an enterprise-wide activity that involves all tiers of your organization i.e., people, business processes, and technology. C-SCRM requires a holistic and proactive approach that involves collaboration among all parties in the supply chain and incorporates other aspects of cybersecurity such as generative AI, data protection, leadership, cyber resilience, privacy, third-party risks, and cybersecurity governance.

Generative AI for C-SCRM

The emergence of Generative AI, a subset of Artificial Intelligence (AI), has brought new possibilities for enhancing cybersecurity. Generative AI can be a powerful tool for C-SCRM in several ways, such as:

  1. Enhancing the security and quality of products and services by using generative AI to test, verify, or validate their functionality, performance, or compliance.

  2. Improving the efficiency and agility of supply chain processes by using generative AI to automate, optimize, or streamline tasks such as design, development, distribution, deployment, maintenance, etc.

  3. Increasing the innovation and differentiation of products and services by using generative AI to generate new features, functionalities, or designs that meet customer needs or expectations.

  4. Enabling the personalization and customization of products and services by using generative AI to tailor them to specific preferences, contexts, or scenarios of customers or users.

However, there are some challenges and risks of integrating Generative AI into C-SCRM, such as:

  1. Introducing new vulnerabilities or threats to products and services by using generative AI to create malicious or harmful content or data that can compromise their security or integrity.

  2. Reducing the transparency or accountability of products and services by using generative AI to generate content or data that is difficult to explain, verify, or trace.

  3. Increasing the complexity or uncertainty of products and services by using generative AI to generate content or data that is dynamic, unpredictable, or probabilistic.

  4. Affecting the ethics or legality of products and services by using generative AI to generate content or data that is inappropriate, offensive, deceptive, or infringing.

Therefore, it is important to use generative AI responsibly and ethically for C-SCRM and ensure that it complies with the relevant standards, regulations, and best practices.

A reinforced and sturdy C-SCRM

C-SCRM is not a standalone activity but rather an integral part of the overall cybersecurity strategy and culture of an organization. Therefore, it’s essential to incorporate other key aspects of cybersecurity such as data protection, leadership, cyber resilience, privacy, third-party risks, and cybersecurity governance into C-SCRM. Some of the ways to do this include:

  1. Data protection: Ensure that the data that is collected, processed, stored, transmitted, or shared in the supply chain is protected from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification, or destruction. Implement data protection measures such as encryption, authentication, authorization, backup, recovery, etc. Comply with data protection laws and regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, etc.

  2. Leadership: Establish a clear vision and direction for C-SCRM that is communicated and supported by the top management and stakeholders. Empower and enable the C-SCRM team with the necessary resources, authority, and accountability. Foster a culture of trust, collaboration, and continuous improvement among all parties in the supply chain.

  3. Cyber resilience: Build the ability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from cyberattacks in the supply chain. Develop a cyber resilience strategy that covers prevention, detection, response, recovery, and learning. Implement cyber resilience measures such as redundancy, diversity, modularity, adaptability, etc.

  4. Privacy: Privacy is a complex and evolving domain that requires balance and trade-offs. It’s subject to various interests and values that may conflict or compete with each other. Respect the rights and preferences of customers and users regarding their personal information in the supply chain. Implement privacy measures such as consent, notice, choice, access, rectification, erasure, etc. Comply with privacy laws and regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, etc.

    Your organization can implement privacy standards and frameworks (e.g., ISO/IEC 29100, NIST SP 800-53A, or CIS Privacy Controls) that provide guidance on how to embed privacy principles and practices into its data processing activities.

  5. Third-party risks: Third-party risk management is subject to various sources and types of risks that may change or evolve over time. Some examples of such sources and types of risks include performance risks, financial risks, operational risks, strategic risks, compliance risks, or reputational risks. Assess and manage the risks associated with the external parties that provide products or services in the supply chain. Implement third-party risk management measures such as due diligence, risk assessment, contract management, monitoring, auditing, etc.

    Your organization can comply with third-party risk management standards and frameworks such as ISO 27036 (parts 1 through 4), NIST SP 800-161, etc.

  6. Cybersecurity governance: Cybersecurity governance is a challenging and demanding domain that requires leadership, culture, and competence. Cybersecurity governance is subject to various stakeholders and expectations that may vary by sector, industry, or region. Some examples of such stakeholders and viewpoints include board members, senior managers, employees, customers, suppliers, regulators, and auditors. Establish and maintain the policies, processes, structures, roles, and responsibilities for C-SCRM. Implement cybersecurity governance measures such as planning, organizing, directing, controlling, reporting, etc.

    Your organization can implement cybersecurity governance standards and frameworks such as ISO 27001, ISO 38500, NIST SP 800-37, NIST CSF, COBIT, etc. Your organization can also invest in cybersecurity governance tools to help enhance its cybersecurity governance capabilities and performance. Such tools and training include cybersecurity governance dashboard, cybersecurity governance scorecard, cybersecurity governance maturity model, cybersecurity governance workshop, etc.

NIST has outlined some key practices for effective C-SCRM alignment including:

  1. Integrate C-SCRM across the organization.

  2. Establish a formal C-SCRM program.

  3. Know and manage critical suppliers.

  4. Understand the organization’s supply chain.

  5. Closely collaborate with key suppliers.

  6. Include key suppliers in resilience and improvement activities.

  7. Assess and monitor throughout the supplier relationship.

  8. Plan for the full lifecycle.

Experts on cybersecurity and supply chain management like to draw attention to the fact that operating systems are only as strong as their “weakest link“. The “weakest link” argument is evoked with good reason when discussing risk management.

— Xeneta

Conclusion

Okay, we’ve discussed the challenges and opportunities of cybersecurity and supply chain management. We’ve also discussed how Generative AI can be used to create and protect data in various domains. Finally, I’ve provided some best practices and recommendations for improving cybersecurity and supply chain management, drawing on relevant guidance and regulations such as the NCSC Supply Chain Security Guidance, the NIST CSCRM, and the EU Supply Chain Due Diligence Directive.

If you are interested in learning more about C-SCRM or need help with implementing it in your organization, please contact me today. I can help you to design, develop, and deploy a C-SCRM strategy that suits your business objectives, risk appetite, regulatory obligations, and cybersecurity posture. I can also help you to leverage generative AI for C-SCRM responsibly and ethically.

Hasta que nos encontremos de nuevo; take care, see you around soon.

cybersecurity and supply chain

Safeguarding the Digital Fortress: Navigating Cybersecurity and Supply Chain Challenges – Part 1

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In a previous post, I mentioned that supply chain attacks would be one of the possible cybersecurity trends to look out for in 2023. Given the ever-mounting of threats of cyberattacks to supply chains, Gartner reported that 44% of organizations indicated that they would substantially increase year-over-year spend on supply chain cybersecurity in 2023.

In the last week, there’ve been news reports of a ransomware attack on the Port of Nagoya in Tobishima, Japan’s largest port by total cargo throughput. Reports indicate that the attack had successfully prevented the port from receiving shipping containers for two days. The port is a significant hub for Toyota Motor Corporation, handling some of the company’s exports and imports.

Cybersecurity is not just about protecting your systems and data from cyberattacks. It is also about ensuring the security and integrity of the products and services you rely on from your suppliers, vendors, and partners. This is what cybersecurity supply chain risk management (C-SCRM) is all about.

This post is the first part of a 2-part series wherein we’ll explore the challenges, risks, and threats that cybersecurity and supply chain pose to organizations and how these could be effectively mitigated against. We’ll also discuss how data protection, cyber resilience, third-party risks, cybersecurity governance, and a few other factors play into this complex and critical relationship.

Finally, we’ll provide some best practices and recommendations for improving cybersecurity and supply chain management in this ever-evolving digital era, drawing on relevant guidance and regulations such as the NCSC Supply Chain Security Guidance, the NIST CSCRM Guidance, and the EU Supply Chain Due Diligence Directive.

What’s Cybersecurity Supply Chain Risk Management?

According to NIST, C-SCRM could be described as “the process of managing the cybersecurity risks that may affect the supply chain and its products and services. It involves identifying, assessing, monitoring, and responding to these risks (whether intentional or inadvertent) at all levels of an organization and its external partners. C-SCRM aims to ensure the integrity, security, quality, and resilience of the supply chain and its cybersecurity-related elements.”

C-SCRM covers the entire lifecycle of a system (including design, development, distribution, deployment, acquisition, maintenance, and destruction) and the extended circle of vendors that may use services or products from other vendors. It also covers the physical and software security of the purchased devices and programs.

Some of the factors that make the supply chain vulnerable to cyberattacks include:

  1. The use of multiple components from various sources may have different levels of security or quality assurance.

  2. The reliance on third-party service providers for cloud services, web applications, online stores, management software, etc.

  3. The lack of visibility or control over the security practices of suppliers or subcontractors.

  4. The exposure to geopolitical or regulatory risks that may affect the availability or integrity of products or services.

  5. The possibility of insertion of counterfeits, unauthorized production, tampering, theft, insertion of malicious software or hardware, or poor manufacturing or development practices in the supply chain.

These factors can result in risks such as:

  1. Compromise of confidential or sensitive data or intellectual property.

  2. Loss of functionality or availability of critical systems or services.

  3. Damage to your organization’s reputation or the trust of customers or stakeholders.

  4. Legal liability or regulatory non-compliance.

  5. Financial losses or operational disruptions.

How to Mitigate C-SCRM Risks?

Mitigating C-SCRM risks requires a holistic and proactive approach that involves collaboration among all parties in the supply chain. Some effective mitigating measures against cybersecurity supply chain risks include:

  1. Establishing a C-SCRM strategy that aligns with the organization’s business objectives, risk appetite, and cybersecurity posture.

  2. Developing a C-SCRM policy that defines roles and responsibilities, processes and procedures, standards and guidelines, metrics and reporting for managing C-SCRM risks.

  3. Conducting a C-SCRM assessment that identifies and prioritizes the critical assets, suppliers, processes, and dependencies in the supply chain and evaluates their cybersecurity risks.

  4. Implementing C-SCRM controls that address the identified risks through preventive, detective, corrective, or compensating measures. These may include contractual clauses, security requirements, audits, testing, monitoring, incident response, contingency planning, etc.

  5. Monitoring C-SCRM performance that tracks and measures the effectiveness of C-SCRM controls and provides feedback for improvement.

  6. Reviewing C-SCRM practices that periodically evaluate the relevance, adequacy, and efficiency of C-SCRM strategy, policy, assessment, controls, and performance and update them as needed.

While organizations say they are aware of the risks, most admit that they aren’t making supply chain security a priority.

Conclusion

As we conclude the first part of this exploration of cybersecurity and supply chain challenges, it’s clear that the digital fortress demands our utmost attention. Cybersecurity in the supply chain isn’t an IT problem only. Cybersecurity supply chain risks touch pretty much all facets of business operations including sourcing, vendor management, supply chain continuity and quality, transportation security and many other functions across the enterprise.

In the second part of the series, we’ll explore a few other factors that play into this complex yet critical relationship, including data protection, cyber resilience, third-party risks, cybersecurity governance, and leadership.

Hasta que nos encontremos de nuevo; take care, see you around soon.

Why Cyber Kill Chain not Sufficient to Protect Your Organization

Why The Cyber Kill Chain Is Not Sufficient to Effectively Protect Your Organization

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An epochal shift during the 21st century has led us to enter a new era of technological advancements, where cyber security has become vital in keeping an organization and business secure.

The rise of computers, telecommunications and the internet had opened the doors for cyberterrorism. Cyberattacks had become so rampant that they started to become a threat to the economy. Cybercriminals and hackers have also evolved their digital skills in stealing and destroying other businesses by breaching information security.

Having an effective security system to protect your organization is your best defense against cybersecurity threats. It does not only protect your business but your consumers and employees as well.

Investing in an efficient cybersecurity plan promotes risk management for monetary and reputational damage and ensures data integrity and confidentiality within your organization.

Ignoring cybersecurity is a grieve and an expensive mistake to make. Though it may not eliminate the risk of cyberattacks, a layered security approach can withstand cyber intrusion and assaults.

Lockheed Martin Cyber Kill Chain Framework

The Cyber Kill Chain is a stage-based framework (or methodology, if you like) originally developed by Lockheed Martin which traces the stages of cyberattacks. An adaptation of an established military defense operation, it is a part of their Intelligence Driven Defense Model that identifies vulnerabilities and prevent cyber intrusion activities.

This framework is named “Kill Chain” as it was adapted from a military term related to an attack’s structure. By stopping the attacker at any stage during the assault can break the chain of attack! The adversary must completely advance through all the stages to succeed. Each stage of intrusion will give us the chance to know more about the attacker and use their tenacity as our leverage.

The Kill Chain Framework works in 7 stages:

  1. Reconnaissance – The step where the targets are identified. Adversaries plans and research their target organizations. These intruders will use automated scanners to find weak points in the system. They could scan firewalls to create a point of entry in the system. Detecting the intruders during reconnaissance could be challenging, but it could help reveal the attackers’ criminal intents.

  2. Weaponization – The adversaries start staging their operation. After finding security vulnerabilities in the system, these attackers will develop malware. If their target is document-based, they produce a “decoy” file to present to the victim. They weaponize malware based on the attack’s intention. This is also the stage where adversaries could find ways to reduce their chances of being detected. The defender will not detect weaponization as it happens, but they can figure out the intent by investigating malware artifacts.

  3. Delivery – The adversaries start to launch their operations. The attackers will start sending the malware to the defenders. They will deliver the weapon through email phishing or a removable/portable device. This is a vital stage for the defenders. Blocking the operation should be prioritized at this point. This can be done if the delivery medium is analyzed or targeted servers are detected.

  4. Exploitation – Advancing to this stage is when the attackers start to gain access to their victims. The malicious malware was delivered and breached the secured parameter. Opening a phishing email attachment or clicking on a malicious link has triggered the “zero-day”, a phrase that refers to the exploit code. At this rate, custom capabilities are crucial to stop zero-day exploits. But traditional hardening measures could also help in adding resiliency to the security.

  5. Installation – The hacker, had already established a beachhead at the victim. The malware has installed a backdoor that will serve as a point of entry for the intruder. Some adversaries would ensure that the malware looks like a regular part of the installed operating system. In this stage, it is important to stop the attack by using systems such as the Host-Based Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS). It can alert or block common installation paths.

  6. Command and Control (C2) – The adversaries gain control of the system’s network. The malware has opened a channel of command to remotely manipulate the victim. They can gain access to secure and confidential accounts and could attempt damaging attacks. This stage is the defender’s last chance to block the attack. And this can be done by blocking the C2 channel. This will stop the adversaries from issuing a command to prevent further damage.

  7. Action on Objectives – The adversaries have reached their goals-the stage where the hackers have successfully extracted their needed data from the system. They gained the power to damage further, such as collecting user credentials, destroying the system, or overwriting and corrupting the data. The longer the hacker has access to CKC7, the greater the impact of the damage. This stage could be detected as soon as possible using forensic evidence and network packet capture.

cyber kill chain model

Key Elements of the Cyber Kill Chain:

The Cyber Kills chain was designed to assist companies in developing in-depth strategies for defense. By mapping out the steps that the hackers take to complete a cyberattack, organizations would be able to combat persistent cyber threats.

Since the Cyber Kill was derived from a military model, the main elements of this framework are established to identify adversaries, prepare for an attack, engage, and destroy a target. It can quickly identify and recognize social engineering, insider threats and innovative attacks.

Drawbacks of Kill Chain Framework

The Cyber kill chain is modelled to respond to pre-determined attack sequences. It has been universally adopted for cybersecurity. But like any other model, it is not perfect and has its fundamental flaws.

  1. The model assumes a perimeter focus defense where the main resistance is a firewall. It fails to cover other internal attacks and cyberattack vector paths.

  2. Cyber Kill Chain framework’s phase sequence cannot precisely block all attacks. Most of its phases can be easily bypassed.

  3. The framework only focuses on blocking an attack but fails to define what to do after the adversaries successfully breaches the system.

  4. Once the adversary was able to penetrate the victim’s system, the framework’s timing of the attack in every phase was inconsistent. Adversaries could easily stay dormant for a longer period while they wait for the opportunity to launch their final phase of attack without being detected.

Teams that say their cybersecurity is really good are the ones to worry about. After our breach, the most difficult issue was deciding when it was safe enough to come back online. I learned that really smart engineers can talk English, under extreme pressure.

— Dame Dido Harding, former CEO of TalkTalk

Other Frameworks with Similar Objectives Compared to the Cyber Kill Chain

MITRE ATT&CK vs Cyber Kill Chain

ATT&CK is an acronym that stands for Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge.

The MITRE ATT&CK framework was designed based on observations in the real world. It reflects the different phases of an intruder’s attack lifecycle and the target platforms.

One could argue that there are Cyber Kill Chain and MITRE ATT&CK both share common views and understanding of cyberattacks i.e., most cyberattacks involve adversaries breaking into networks, avoiding getting detected, stealing as much data as they possibly can, interrupting as much network operations as they possibly can, getting out as quietly and stealthily as they got in, making hidden backdoor access available if they ever need to return, etc.

However, compared to Cyber Kill Chain, the Mitre ATT&CK framework maintains a matrix model that has more in-depth details on how the adversary will attack in each stage. Also, Cyber Kill Chain fail to factor in the different techniques and tactics of a cloud-native attack.

The Cyber Kill assumes that the attackers will deliver malware to a target environment but ATT&CK assumes that the adversaries may very well change their goals/objectives mid-way through an attack especially when the success of the attack appears either easier or more difficult than they had initially planned.

Yes, one could argue that the MITRE ATT&CK framework uses Situational Crime Prevention (SCP) techniques, a set of techniques which assumes that the goals/objectives of most adversaries are not linear but influenced/informed by opportunities, constraints, limitations, resistance, and situations presented to them by their targets during the execution of attacks.

Google BeyondCorp vs Cyber Kill Chain

BeyondCorp is an implementation of a zero-trust security concept that creates a zero-trust network. Designed to provide end-to-end real-time protection and platform security. It has embedded data built into the Chrome browser to prevent malware infection from networks and provide phishing-resistant authentication.

Unlike the Cyber Kill Chain framework, Google BeyondCorp “shifts access control from the traditional network perimeter to individual devices”. Its zero-trust access approach users to securely work with untrusted networks even if they are not using a client-side VPN.

NIST Cyber Security Framework (NIST CSF)

The National Institute for Standards & Technology (NIST) Cyber Security Framework (CSF) provides a set of structured standards and measurements for cybersecurity. The framework sets out “standards, guidelines, and best practices to manage cybersecurity-related risks.”

But the downside of the framework is that its 5 categories/elements i.e., Protect, Identify, Detect, Respond and Recover; fail to directly outline how it can dissect a cyberattack incident. It also fails to supply analytic markers to test the detection.

Nevertheless, the descriptive (and not prescriptive) nature of the NIST CSF has made it seem “business-friendly” and therefore, made it possible for the framework to be adopted by businesses and organizations of all sizes and across several industries, particularly organizations in industries that are guided by regulary controls and compliance requirements where industry-uniqueness and specificities are considered important.

data breach

In conclusion, there is no one defense framework or set of techniques that could be considered all-in-one sufficient for all cybersecurity defense requirements.

In a previous article, I had looked at how the proposed Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) could impact businesses and organizations once ratified and signed into law.

Given the significant penalties that would be imposed for non-compliance with DORA directives, it is perhaps reasonable to envisage that DORA could eventually have similar, if not greater, impacts in both the UK and the EU region as did GDPR, albeit with very different objectives.

Whilst some of these defense techniques may excel in certain aspects of information security, many of them are complimentary to each other and bring different or much enriched strengths to the conversation.

 

8 ways to manage business disruptions caused by coronavirus outbreak

8 Key Ways to Manage Business Disruptions Caused by Coronavirus Outbreak

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Coronavirus; also known as COVID-19; reached a critical phase outside China, impacting the worldwide population and economic environment. The virus has spread in several countries and regions of the world, outside China, with devastating effects.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently stated that Europe is now the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic as very high and increasing numbers of cases of the deadly coronavirus are reported in Italy, Spain, and neighbouring countries.

According to WHO, more than 140 countries, regions, and territories have reported cases of the coronavirus. And whilst the number of reported new cases in China is falling, it is rapidly increasing in Italy, Spain and some other European countries.

As at Monday, March 16 2020; these were the official figures reported in several countries:

  • In Italy, over 27,000 people tested positive for the coronavirus, with 2,158 deaths
  • In Spain, over 9,900 people tested positive for the virus, with 342 deaths
  • Whereas in France, over 6,600 people tested positive for the virus, with 148 deaths
  • For the USA, over 4,700 people tested positive for the coronavirus, with 86 deaths
  • And in the UK, over 1,500 people tested positive for the virus, with 55 deaths

Governments of several countries across the world are taking extraordinary measures to combat the pandemic, including shutting down schools, restricting public movement and gathering, postponing sports events, and even imposing border controls in their respective countries.

After the coronavirus, nothing will be as before, we will have to sit down and rewrite the rules of trade and the free market.

COVID-19 has been ruled as a significant impact on businesses from all sectors, and businesses & organisations should understand, learn, and immediately provide appropriate & adequate response, to ensure business continuity. The global financial losses resulting from the impacts of the virus is estimated to be approximately US$2.7 trillion.

Virgin Atlantic recently asked its staff to take eight weeks of unpaid leave over the next three months, to help the airline cope during the coronavirus pandemic. The warning comes after many countries around the world closed borders or placed extensive restriction measures on arrivals.

With the outbreak of COVID-19, the potential of business disruptions is very significant. Businesses and organisations need to ensure that potential and possibly inevitable risks associated with pandemic are well factored into their business continuity and disaster recovery plans, as well as their incident response plan.

The coronavirus pandemic is very most likely already causing disruptions to business operations, and could affect contract performance.

Companies have to think on their feet and have crisis meetings, twice, sometimes three times a week just to try and keep up with the changes in government regulations and what they have to do to try and manage the situation.

— Dr. Adrian Hyzler

 

In a previous post, I’d written about how much time is generally required to conduct a risk assessment. We’d all agree that, given the current full-blown stage of the coronavirus pandemic, most businesses and organisations would have gone past risk assessment phase, and now in the phase wherein appropriate controls and measures are implemented and followed through.

With such a dynamic situation like COVID-19, it has the potential to be as disruptive, or more, to an organisation’s continuity of operations as a cyber intrusion or natural disaster

— Sandy Shen, Senior Research Director, Gartner

 

Let’s look at some ways that your business or organisation can manage and limit the impacts of coronavirus pandemic on your business operations and functions:

  1. Communicate frequently with your team

    It is imperative in these times to communicate with your staff. They might get concerned about their health and how they will continue to work as the situation worsen.

    You have to communicate with your staff informed news about the evolution of COVID-19.You must both formally and informally direct your staff to follow relevant directives and guidance provided by governments and health authorities regarding the matter, including how to improve and maintain good personal hygiene levels.

    Business leaders, department heads, and team leads should respond promptly to questions raised by staff and colleagues. You provide direct responses to their questions, escalate the questions to senior staff, or you could simply point them in the direction of more reliable, trustworthy, and accurate sources relating to the questions asked.

  2. Encourage remote working

    Several businesses and organisations require their sales team, support team, technical team, and senior executives to travel and visit customers locations across several regions and even countries; these teams are generally the lifeline of these businesses.

    On top of that, nearly all businesses and organisations have locations that several staff are required to be physically present at during business hours.

    In these times, however, you’d need to ensure that your staff can perform their daily tasks efficiently from remote locations like their respective homes. You may need to invest in internal communication systems or secure corporate Virtual Private Networks (VPN), to allow your staff to do their jobs from these remote locations from home.

    following guidance on very good personal hygiene

    Staff members who do not feel well, whose daily tasks do not require physical presence in business locations, or whose commute to work locations exposes them to potentially high-risk areas should be encouraged to work from appropriate remote locations.

    The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a special publication on telework security that you may find useful on this very matter.

    Following these steps would help your business and organisation to avoid a possible epidemy that could affect all your staff and cause severe business disruptions.

  3. Create a disaster recovery policy

    A disaster recovery policy will normally help improve the resilience of any business to unforeseen incidents or force majeure, including outbreak of diseases like the coronavirus. You should define your worst-case scenario and prepare adequately for it. You should take into consideration all aspects of your business, and all associated risks and severity of potential impacts on these.

    And as usual, your disaster recovery plan, business continuity plan, and incident response plan should all include your communication plan, RACI matrix, and all necessary information how to keep your business going.

  4. Sort out contingency planning

    All businesses and organisations; at this moment; would be expected to already have standards, backup plans, policies, and measures in place to address potential risks associated with the coronavirus pandemic.

    Such controls and measures are expected to describe the ways your business and organisation will respond in the unlikely event of incidents like the coronavirus pandemic.

    You would be expected to have conducted a business impact analysis, which will identify and prioritize the information system and the critical components to support your business operations and functions. The exercise would also help your business and organisation to identify measures that must be taken to reduce the effects of system disruptions and create contingency strategies that will ensure that your business will recover quickly from the incident.

    Every senior executive, department head, and team leader should have a clear role assigned, and should know what to do at every stage of the contingency plan. The actions should be specified very clearly and understood very well by your team.

  5. Be prepared to adapt your plan to current situations

    The global coronavirus pandemic could be described as uncharted waters for several generations. Consequently, it is almost very difficult to anticipate the course of events that will happen due to coronavirus evolution.

    So, you shouldn’t be concerned or afraid to revise or modify plans whenever the prevailing situation takes a different turn (for better or worse), and you’d realised that your plan or any parts thereof is no longer particularly fit for purpose.

    Be ready to adapt, improve, and communicate!

    This means that you should keep yourself well informed, and be ready to modify your plan as and when events require such modification. History suggests that you could do more wrong if you don’t take necessary actions that demonstrate your ability to improve and improvise if and when necessary. Be ready to revise your plans and communicate with your staff the reasons and grounds for these changes.

  6. Stabilise the supply chain

    Several severe disruptions appeared in the supply chains due to shut down of nearly all factories in China. If your business is affected by these disruptions, you may want to research into finding new suppliers from different countries or regions, to help improve the resilience of your supply chain.

    Perhaps more importantly, your business or organisation should research into how to effectively manage your supply chain for products that may register very unusually high spikes in demand during crisis times, if your organisation has any vested interest in such products.

  7. Respond to your customers’ new demands

    There are good chances that this crisis would will most probably cause a shift in your customers’ behaviour.

    The recovery from a coronavirus-triggered recession will usher in a new era in which how we live, do business and invest will fundamentally change.

    — Nigel Green, CEO, deVere Group

    Researches have shown that businesses and organisations that manage disruptions better generally do very well. The key reason attributed to such good results was the investment, time, and efforts committed by these businesses and organisations to their core customer segments and anticipation of their customers’ behaviours.

    To effectively anticipate and address customers’ changing behaviours, businesses and organisations are encouraged to invest in digital online platforms as part of their strategies for multi-channel distribution network.

  8. Make sure that you have sufficient working-capital

    For several businesses and organisations, expressing optimism about rebuilding and rapid recovery following critical disruptions and prolonged downturn to business operations and functions may be rather very challenging.

    The disruption and shifts will underscore that we live in a time of great capabilities and great promise.

    But to build and protect their wealth as the world adapts to a new era, investors should be revising their portfolios to mitigate risk and take advantage of the opportunities.

    — Nigel Green, CEO, deVere Group

    Knowing where, when, and how to get the right level of badly needed investment into your business or organisation could be the key differentiator in the next cycle of business post-coronavirus.

    It’s very heart-warming to know that several financial institutions; like Barclays, NatWest, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); have announced emergency financing packages that they have respectively made available to businesses and organisations affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

awesome remote working

In conclusion, the rather disturbing and disruptive global outbreak of the coronavirus could potentially have several unexpected severe consequences and implications on our lives, businesses, and how we get on with everyday tasks and thought process.

But rest assured, some great outcomes from all the mess are yet still very possible.

In order for any business or organisation to hope, anticipate and look forward to great outcomes, therefore, its senior executives, leaders, and key decision makers should not assume the worst outcomes but yet be adequately prepared for the worst nevertheless; by putting in place effective plans, measures, controls, and policies that will help ensure strong business continuity the post-coronavirus pandemic.

gdpr data regulations in the uk post brexit

GDPR Post-Brexit – The Data Regulation Frontier in the United Kingdom After Brexit

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Yes, Brexit is happening! The United Kingdom is scheduled to exit the European Union by the end of this month i.e. on 31 January 2020. And there are already loud callouts on social media for hundreds of thousands of people to gather in Westminster at 23:00 on 31/Jan/2020 to celebrate Brexit and usher in perhaps what you could call the “new and rediscovered” United Kingdom.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force in May 2018 across all the European Union (EU) member states and the European Economic Area (EEA). The regulation requires businesses and organisations to protect the personal data and privacy of EU citizens. The regulation aims to give individuals greater control over their privacy, how their personal data is collected, stored, shared, and generally used.

Whenever there are data breaches or information breaches, the regulation requires that “culprit” businesses and organisations must report the events to authorities and inform individuals affected or impacted by such breaches, all within the stipulated time frame; usually within 72 hours of them finding out about the breach. The regulation imposes hefty penalties on non-compliance.

Perhaps it’s fitting to emphasise that the word “organisations” is used here loosely to include for-profit organisations, not-for-profit organisations, and government institutions and offices. Literally speaking, every type of organisation that handles or comes into contact with personal information of people in the EU is factored into the word.

GDPR Basics: Make sure you know what information you hold, where you hold it, why you hold it, and how people consented to give it to you.

— Zoë Findon

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the independent data protection and information rights watchdog in the UK. The GDPR regulation was adopted into UK law through the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

According to stats and reports published by the European Commission on the occasion of the first-year anniversary of the GDPR regulation, over two-thirds (67%) of Europeans have heard about GDPR and nearly 90,000 Personal Data Breach (PDB) reports were received across Europe within the first year of GDPR.

In October 2019, Österreichische Post AG (ÖPAG); the national postal service providers in Austria; was fined €18 million (approximately US$20 million) for illegally selling personal data of approximately 3 million Austrians to various third parties.

In January 2019, Google was fined €50 million (approximately US$56 million) by CNIL; the data protection and information rights watchdog in France; for breaching GDPR requirements for transparency and specific, unambiguous consent.

The online advertising industry is behind comprehensive illegal collection and indiscriminate use of personal data

In the UK, more specifically, similar stats and reports from the ICO show that PDB reports went up by over 324% to 14,000 by May 2019 from the previous reporting year when the reports were put together under the previous DPA 1998 legislation.

Some high-profile data breach and non-compliance cases reported in the UK include the maximum fine of £500,000 (approximately US$660,000) issued to Facebook for data breaches that allegedly occurred in 2017. The ICO later admitted that the fine could have been a lot higher under the GDPR legislation.

Under the GDPR regulation, a business or organisation that is found to have infringed on the provisions of the GDPR regulation, could be fined up €20 million (approximately US$22 million), or in some situations, up to 4% of its total worldwide annual turnover in the preceding financial year, whichever is higher.

Just thinking of the huge figure, you can understand the thoughts of the ICO re Facebook, and you might just say that Facebook was lucky, eh?

In July 2019, the ICO issued a notice of its intention to fine Marriott International £99 million (approximately US$131 million) for GDPR breaches relating cyber incidents suffered by the hoteliers which compromised the personal data of approximately 339 million guests globally.

In April 2019, a local government council in the Greater London area was fined £145,000 (approximately US$191,400) for unlawfully disclosing the personal information of more than 200 people.

In November 2018, Uber was fined £385,000 (approximately US$508,200) because the company failed to protect customers’ personal data during a cyberattack.

In May 2018, the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS); i.e. the UK equivalent to the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO); was fined £325,000 (approximately US$429,000) for the loss of several encrypted DVD discs containing records of police interviews.

A recent information breach (and a major security concern) occurred in the UK when the UK government inadvertently publicly published the full home and work addresses of over 1,000 New Year (2020) Honour recipients on the internet. As we understand it, the ICO is yet to rule on this matter or yet to publicly announced its ruling.

But, perhaps the biggest GDPR fine in the UK so far; in July 2019, the ICO issued a notice of its intention to fine the British Airways £183.39 million (approximately US$242 million) for GDPR breaches relating to cyberattacks suffered by the airline which compromised the personal data of approximately 500,000 customers.

general data protection regulation gdpr

You’d recall that in my article at the start of the year, I reviewed some major breaches that were reported in 2019

I’ve always posited that cybersecurity risks, threats, and attacks pose a significantly high risk to businesses and organisations. This is simply because breaches of information or data could potentially result in financial damages, operational damages, reputational damages, diminished investors’ confidence and exposure to potential regulatory, statutory, and other compliance issues, plus penalties.

The GDPR regulation permits free data flow between EU member states and EEA. But it places stringent rules, safeguards, and controls on the transfer of data from the EU to recipients in a third country, a territory, or an international organisation.

Implicitly, therefore, after 31/Jan/2020, the UK will be considered a “third country” by the EU, and all relevant rules applicable to third countries and international organisations under the GDPR will become applicable to the UK. Conversely of course, after the Brexit date, the EU GDPR will no longer apply to the UK.

So, it’s quite understandable that one of many questions which has repeatedly popped up in conversations with businesses and organisations up and down the country is; what does a post-Brexit UK mean to businesses and organisations in terms of GDPR requirements?

My reassuring response is always; there is no immediate or critical need to fret or be excessively be worried.

According to the ICO, “the UK government intends to write the GDPR into UK law, with the necessary changes to tailor its provisions for the UK (the ‘UK GDPR’).”

This implies that the UK government will immediately incorporate the EU GDPR into UK law with only necessary UK-specific changes to bring about the UK GDPR.

If you are a UK business or organisation that receives personal data from contacts in the EEA, you need to take extra steps to ensure that the data can continue to flow after Brexit.

If you are a UK business or organisation with an office, branch or other established presence in the EEA, or if you have customers in the EEA, you will need to comply with both UK and EU data protection regulations after Brexit. You may need to designate a representative in the EEA.

Yes, there would be some changes but these would be absolutely necessary changes, and both sets of regulations are expected to be substantially very similar.

My understanding, therefore, is that any immediate changes that’s required to be made to the UK GDPR will not require complete rework of your existing internal controls, processes, frameworks, policies, procedures, and reporting in your management information systems.

For UK-based SME businesses and organisations that want to keep data flowing between the UK and the EU, the ICO has released an interactive tool that could help you determine whether Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) could help you maintain the flow of data, in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Remember, whatever effective controls and processes you currently have in place to address the EU GDPR regulation, these may require a few changes to ensure they remain relevant to the UK GDPR. But, rest assured, they would still be reasonably effective and applicable post-Brexit. And I expect the ICO would give businesses and organisations some reasonable time to implement whatever necessary changes emerge.

I envisage that the probabilities of cybersecurity risks, threats, and attacks will probably most likely increase/heighten in the few weeks, months, and possibly couple of years right after Brexit. My informed understanding, however, is that whatever effective controls, monitoring, and response strategies & policies you already have in place would suffice, for now. Of course, the key operative word here is “effective“!

3-2-1 backup rule and effective cybersecurity strategy

The 3-2-1 Backup Rule and Effective Cybersecurity Strategy

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Last week, I wrote an article on top cyber security risk trends and predictions for 2020.

In the article, I reviewed some very significant breaches and attacks that occurred in 2019, touched on common cyber risks, threats, and attacks, and made predictions on what we should expect for 2020.

An interesting conversation kicked off amongst some security professionals on an online professional networking platform a few days. The conversation centred on the 3-2-1 backup rule, and how strategy measures or compares to assessing and preparing for cybersecurity threats & attacks for 2020.

The one question that seemed to pop-out of the conversation is this: Is the 3-2-1 backup rule sufficient enough to constitute or be considered as an effective cybersecurity strategy?

I’ll give my response to this question in the course of this article. But for now, let’s have a bit more contexts, definitions, and discussions on several bits of the subject, shall we?

3-2-1 backup rule diagram
3-2-1 backup rule diagram

What’s the 3-2-1 Backup Rule?

The 3-2-1 backup rule is a best practice data backup strategy that aims to ensure that data is adequately protected and resilient to potential damage and corruption.

The rule states that there should be at least three (3) copies of the data, store two (2) copies on different storage media, and keep one (1) of these copies in an offsite/remote location.

You’d notice, from the image above, that the title on the image states the 3-2-1 Backup Rule but the image appears to suggest that the rule should be called the 3-2-1-0 Backup Rule instead.

A few alternative postulations in the community state that the proper and correct best backup practice strategy should include a step that covers valid and verified data recoverability.

I do agree with the views I’d just cited above, and, thus, I felt the need to capture the 3-2-1-0 steps as also representing the 3-2-1 backup rule.

Anyway, moving on…

Yes of course! Data backup and restore are essential elements of any security strategy that’s worth its weight in salt. Absolutely. Without any doubt.

Every effective Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BC/DR) plan needs a very good backup strategy to be successful. The 3-2-1 backup rule is effectively all about redundancy, ensuring data resilience and availability.

As stated by Alex Mayer, “the 3-2-1 backup rule is a good recommended start in building any data protection system – a way to protect your data from loss/corruption…”

Consequently, I think we should be very clear about one thing: the 3-2-1 data backup rule is not a panacea for cyber security risks, threats, and attacks.

If your organisation (or one of your clients) had experienced any previous yet successful security attacks, you would learn that data backup is indeed a vital risk mitigating action but:

  1. It does not address or mitigate against potential severe interruptions to business operations (i.e. BC/DR, BAU, MTTR, etc.)
  2. It does not address or mitigate against attacks that target networks and infrastructure
  3. It does not address or mitigate against attacks that make illegal and unauthorised copies of data
  4. It does not address confidentiality or integrity of data nor information; 2 of 3 principles of the cybersecurity triad
  5. It does not address, resolve, or eliminate actors of the attack (both internal & external), and invariably,
  6. It does not eliminate, thwart, or deter/discourage the repeat of the (previously successful) attack or similar attacks.

I can affirm that combating and winning any cyberwarfare against cybersecurity risks, threats, & attacks requires more than implementing the 3-2-1 backup rule.

So, here’s my response to the question raised earlier on: the 3-2-1 backup rule should form a vital part of any good Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM) plan. But it is probably most certainly not a replacement or a substitute for an effective cybersecurity strategy.

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