Foreign Government inspire Cyber Attacks on Corporate Targets: Forensic Protection
The corporate sector has been caught up in the latest phase of internet enabled cyber attacks by hacking groups inspired or controlled by foreign government espionage agencies. Corporations can be seen as an easy target with a repository of valuable information: few corporations have in-house computer forensics teams to track cyber attacks or data theft. Preventing and detecting hacking attempts is a fundamental aspect of computer forensics.
The British Government has announced a new Cyber Security Operations Centre at its top secret listening post, GCHQ, at Cheltenham. This comes amid claims that a new “cyber cold war” is under way, with Chinese and Russian hackers capable of crippling computer systems that control the nation’s water supply, power grid, air traffic and even its banking system. Americans have similar concerns, as do others. If you’re in business and read this, it’s likely you’ll shrug and move onto something more important. In reality, a state intelligence apparatus might at that moment be hacking into your most closely guarded corporate secrets while you’re blissfully unaware. Not knowing why and how this could happen is unforgivable, especially when computer forensic skills and other sophisticated investigative methods exist that can tell you what sort of target your firm is and how you can guard against attack.
If you do suffer serious loss from such a hit – and you actually find out – your board and probably the financial press as well will be scathing in its criticism of your old world attitude that allowed this to happen.
“But why would a foreign government be interested in my company?” is a typical question, and oddly one posed by CEOs who understand only too well why a competitor might want to steal their firm’s “crown jewels”. Many countries, both Eastern and Western, have long had powerful state intelligence systems that operate on behalf of their business communities. And this, well before the added pressure to survive and compete that comes with the global financial crisis. It’s not just specifics like R&D results that are prized, but information on financial stability and funding, strategic plans and on corporate capability and performance. Often the jewels are already known, but there’s a “missing link” – something seemingly innocuous to you – that’s hindering the other side reverse-engineering everything your company has going for it.
When a foreign state’s apparatus aims at acquiring this missing link it can focus on your firm with the intensity of a laser beam. FBI studies in the US regularly illustrate how this is done and the extent of the resulting damage to the national economy. If such studies teach you anything, it’s how easy it is to change your disposition and guard against new and fast-moving realities.
It pays to start with a broad ranging audit of your firm’s vulnerabilities, as only professionals experienced in this field can assess them. This will reveal whether you have already been subjected to cyber attack and how you can protect your operations from future targeting. Moreover, it can check whether your firm might have been penetrated from within. The weakest link might be inside your own staff, something most managers baulk at contemplating, let alone tackling head on. Skills in computer forensics and forensic investigation come to the fore in this process. It’s the only way you can X-Ray your organization to see what’s really going on.
You may be surprised what you learn. Yes, you may be under attack by a competitor trying to knock you out of the ring, but equally, you might be a tangental target because you’re providing a vital service to another company.
In today’s cyber world, corporations big and small have to keep their wits about them. Crouching behind standard firewalls and anti-virus packages is the same as having your head in the sand.
