IS ZERO RISK ACHIEVABLE?
The
forecasts in the field of cyber security are all more pessimistic than the
others. Those made for the year 2020 were already not sad and unfortunately the
actuality only confirmed them: It is said that computer attacks have exploded
in 2020. We talk about exponential curve and inventiveness of the attackers
(Guillaume Poupard, general director of ANSSI - National Agency for Information
Systems Security) and this statement is valid for the whole world.
1.
The following
list, which only shows a few of the most resounding attacks month by month,
only confirms this observation:
-
January 2020:
Travelex, Manor Independent Scool District, WAWA, Microsoft…
-
February 2020: Estee
Lauder, Danish Tax Portal, DOD DISA (White House), General Electric, UK
Financial Conduct Authority…
-
March 2020: T-Mobile, Mariott,
Whisper, UK Home Office, Virgin Media, MCA Wizard…
-
April 2020: US Small Business
Administration, Nintendo, Email.it…
-
May 2020: EasyJet, Blackbaud,
Mistubishi, Illinois, Wishbone…
-
June 2020: Amtrak, University of
California SF, AWS, Postbank, NASA…
-
July 2020: CouchSurfing, University
of York, MGM Resort, V Sherd, EDP…
-
August 2020: Cisco, Canon, LG, Xerox,
Intel, The Ritz London, University of Utah ...
-
September 2020: Nevada,
BancoEstado…
-
October 2020: Barnes
& Noble, Boom! Mobile, Google, Ubisoft, Crytek… (1)
-
November 2020: 30
healthcare organizations reported breaches, which resulted in nearly one
million health records compromised, Ransomware continued to be the most common
cyber threat, Ransomware Forces Baltimore County Public Schools to Close, US
Fertility Clinic Giant Struck by Ransomware, Patient Data Stolen, Delaware
County, PA, Country $ 500K DoppelPaymer Ransom, IOT Manufacturer Hit With $ 14M
Ransomware Demand, Medical Billing Co. Data Breach Affects 100,000+ Students…
(2)
-
December 2020:
T-Mobile, Metro Vancouver's TransLink Transportation Agency, Dental Care
Alliance, SolarWinds to Infiltrate 18,000 Government and Private Networks (3).
For the
year 2021, G DATA CyberDefense predicts that it will be the year of
"ransomware 2.0", with increasingly aggressive attacks,
More
professional social engineering and more innovative malware (4)
Ransomware
will become more and more "aggressive, targeted and intelligent" in a
word, more sophisticated.
Malware-as-a-Service
platforms and polyglot code (combining harmless files with malware) will be
used on a larger scale. (5)
Hence, the
need to "implement epidemiologically inspired approaches to quantify cyber
threats that have not been observed, detected, or spotted to better address
detection, risk assessment, and prioritization gaps" (Sophos 2021 Threat
Report).
2.
In order
to spread viruses or worms in their target's installations in order to steal
data, exfiltrate them or penetrate information systems, attackers use vectors.
Among the
most used and known vectors are Phishing in all its forms (Smishing, Vishing,
Spear Phishing, Pretexting, Baiting, Answering, Water holding, Quid pro quo),
social engineering (which is the main vector used for Ransomware), not to
mention compromised websites, malvertising which requires no intervention from
the victim, brute force, skimming...
Of course,
there are many recommendations, means and tools that can be used to protect
oneself from computer attacks.
The best
way to fight phishing and social engineering is to educate the users.
But in
general, PREVENTION, DETECTION and RESTORATION are the keys to a good
protection of a computer system.
Experts
recommend, in case of a computer attack, to respect the 1-10-60 rule, that is
to say 1 minute to detect the attack, 10 minutes to investigate and identify
the nature of the attack and 60 minutes to remedy it.
But we
have to admit that this rule is only an ideal to reach, an ideal that is in
fact never or very rarely reached. To be convinced of this, it is enough to
note the number of victims and who they are.
3.
Having
held, from the middle of 2020, the same reasoning that led the SOPHOS team to
conclude the 2021 threat report, PT SYDECO team concluded that the best way to
protect a facility was to take inspiration from nature and follow its rules:
Every living being has an immune system that protects its body from external
bacterial attacks.
And when
there is an epidemic, precautionary measures must be taken. Among these
measures, the most basic is the isolation of the infected body.
PT
SYDECO's Research and Development team had already created ARCHANGEL© to protect the internet and SST© to protect data by transforming and writing them in the form of waves
without the use of any key, when are appeared, with the covid 19 pandemic, the
attacks carried out against hospitals which resulted in deaths and against
public services, depriving their users of their vital services (for example,
the hacking of the computer system managing the drinking water network of a
city in Florida).
It is a
fact that against computer attacks, the traditional means of defense are
ineffective: the attackers show an overflowing imagination and the time to find
the adequate parades, the damage is done and the consequences are sometimes
terrible: Death, Bankruptcy, Heavy financial burden, Loss of reputation...
The
attacks against hospitals and public services have shown that it is not only
the data that must be protected, but also and above all, the information
systems.
It was
therefore necessary to be able to immunize the information systems, programs,
source codes against any attack.
A
firewall, just like an antivirus, needs to know the nature of the attacking
agent in order to counter it, and this knowledge comes only after a certain
amount of time has been spent studying it.
Even if
the staff of a company is educated, mistakes are human.
In these
conditions the zero risk cannot be reached.
Therefore,
to be effective, the system must be able to resist all types of attacks, all
new viruses or worms, any failure of the staff to open wide the doors of the
computer network of their office.
4.
PT SYDECO
has created SP-One© (6) with all these requirements in mind.
SP-One© is
a program and a system that is creating a hermetic secure shelter around the
source codes or programs that are used either in an office, an administration,
at University, in the Cloud, in any mechanic or in SaaS.
SP-One is acting as the immunity system of any information system.
One of the most
important benefits of SP-One© is that even if the information system of an
organization is victim of an attempt of a Ransomware attack and during and
after such attack, THERE WILL BE NO
DISCONTINUITY, in its work, its production, or its services:
1.
The Hospital will continue to care,
2.
The Industry will continue to
produce,
3.
The University will continue to educate their students,
4.
The Public Services will not stop.
NO HUMAN LIFE IN
DANGER, NO RANSOM TO BE PAID, and NO LOST IN PRODUCTION, NO LOST TIME IN
REPAIRING THE SYSTEMS….
5.
SP-One©
system, which uses SST© and ARCHANGEL©
technologies, does not need to recognize the type of attack in order to provide
an effective defense: it obeys the 0-0-0 rule, which is the best one that can
exist.
If
SolarWinds had protected its company's software system with SP-One, it would
have been impossible for the attacker to penetrate it and add malicious code
into the company's software system.
So we can
say that with SP-One©, ZERO risk is no longer a utopia.
*
(1) https://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/2020-les-cyberattaques-qui-ont-marque-l-annee-39914023.htm
(2)
https://arcticwolf.com/resources/blog/top-cyberattacks-november-2020
(3)
https://arcticwolf.com/resources/blog/top-5-cyberattacks-december-2020
(4) Bill Fassinou, https://securite.developpez.com/actu/310972/2021-sera-l-annee-du-ransomware-2-0-avec-des-attaques-de-plus-en-plus-agressives-une-ingenierie-sociale-plus-professionnelle-et-des-malwares-plus-innovants-selon-G-DATA-CyberDefense/
(5) https://www.globalsecuritymag.fr/G-DATA-IT-Security-Tendances-pour,20210111,107020.html; https://www.sentinelone.com/blog/7-common-ways-ransomware-can-infect-your-organization/
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