NEW 2019 CYBER CULTURE

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New 2019 Cyber Culture
mikeechols.com/new-2019-cyber-culture Michael
Echols
Cyber Morality Every day, innocent people go to
websites and input sensitive data daily which is
collected by criminals who pretend to represent
something they are not. Every year the number of
exploits, offering free gift cards or claiming
to be authorities like the Internal Revenue
Service, steal money from naive youth up to
confused seniors. There are too many stories to
count about data being used to create a criminal
opportunity. Criminals are even extorting men
that might be cheating on a spouse and
successfully extorting them. They play the angle.
You see, there are statistics that says a
certain percent of men in society are cheating.
So, mass emails are sent to thousands of men
telling them to pay or be exposed. The response
rate is very high. Millions of dollars are
forwarded to a criminal enterprise by the
terrorized victim to assure the information
about their infidelity never gets out. All of
this starts with data that is stolen in data
breaches identifying men who are married and
living in a certain area. However, it is the
specific information about the target, like the
name of their wife, which gets the potential
victims attention. Growth of the Hacking
Industry These types of enterprises will continue
to grow with each data breach. The acquisition
of information that can provide hackers personal
insight in our lives fuels their operations. Our
collective goal must push us to new systems and
approaches that show real results.
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Respected consulting firm Accenture produced a
report recently called Securing the Digital
Economy Reinventing the Internet of Trust
recently. In the report they explain that
globally the costs of cybercrime loss and
additional recovery expenses could cost 5
trillion dollars over the next five years. Here
are some other facts that cant be ignored.
There were almost 10 billion private records
stolen through data breaches in 2018. Small
businesses accounted for more than 55 of cyber
victims in the last couple of years. The
Identity Fraud Study advised that in the last six
years identity thieves have stolen over 107
billion in the U.S. Of course, this number does
not account for costs associated with reclaiming
identity related to legal representation, court
costs, time off work and reputation
destruction. Keeping Unauthorized Users Out The
ability to gain remote access to systems and
control physical assets from anywhere gives us a
high-powered capability. However, all people with
these tools are not using them for purposeful
and good outcomes. We lack an ability to keep
unauthorized users out. This is the one piece of
background information which should inform how
we develop and how we protect assets, systems and
networks. However, it doesnt. The threats to
government, systems, enterprises and individual
identities are at stake. There is an erosion of
core tenants underpinning all aspects of our
lives. It is happening with a deafening silence
only heard by victims once they have suffered a
loss. The calculations by leaders of the free
world and business titans to minimize the
potential catastrophic impact cyber events
present is eye-opening. Those with the power to
affect a risk reducing change, like politicians,
chief executive officers and vendors hold tight
to minimizing their apparent costs. All the time
a timebomb ticks in the background. Their
calculation is that when it blows it is other guy
who suffers the damage. Culture of
Cybersecurity We will have to create a culture of
cybersecurity in the near future to withstand the
ever-expanding threat environment. A culture of
cybersecurity is a description of an active
learning environment where good cyber hygiene is
practiced and expected. It doesnt just happen.
Training must begin at a young age in schools or
at the point an employee first comes onboard. In
this world, opportunities to mitigate cyber risks
are identified and acted on with a whole of
community approach. The result is a familiarity
with cybersecurity opportunities, reduced fear of
employment entry and a push towards cyber
entrepreneurship. Most importantly, this culture
is underpinned by continuous risk management
approach to our lives. Unfortunately, it is a
society we can only dream about this in current
times. However, it is worth working towards this
goal.
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