Like so many concepts in the cyber realm, Artificial Intelligence is neither new – nor uniformly defined. The idea that a machine could replace a human is known from antiquity. The creation of ‘machines that think’ was the end-goal motivating research in the 1950s...
Predictions for 2018 suggest: a decline in opportunistic ransomware attacks; an increase in exploit kits that deliver crypotcurrency miners; an increase in Ransomware as a Service; smaller-scale yet highly targeted ransomware campaigns, particularly in healthcare((Liska, A. Ransomware Trends to Watch in 2018. Recorded Future (2018). Available at: …
So who are the criminal networks behind ransomware? and what is their future? The practice of holding a person or company to ransom is not at all new: the ‘professionalization’ of highwaymen in Europe was a feature of business and personal risk in the 16th and 17th century. Through the 1970s and 1980s, white- collar extortion and hostage-taking were features of the business landscape in the US: the US authorities issued guidelines to corporations on how to handle such situations.
As a tactic for coercing and threatening vulnerable targets into paying up, the technique of professional ransom has a six hundred year history. The advent of cyberspace has created a new environment through which cyber criminals, whether opportunists or organised gangs, can hold the data assets of companies and private individuals for ransom, in distant states and geographies where they are unlikely to face charges anytime soon.
The ‘Deep Web’ is a term used to describe digital objects and data that are not accessible over the internet via search engines. It comprises protected and proprietary data (such as bank accounts, email and research data) as well as intranets. About 96% of all online data is in the Deep Web (DW), including most of the world’s Instant Messaging (IM) traffic.
While the total traffic flow is unknown (users are, by definition, anonymous), estimates are indicative: The Tor project claims its traffic accounts for a very small (an estimated half a percent) of all global internet traffic((Cole, J. Dark Web 101. (Air Force Air Command and Staff College Maxwell AFB United States, Air Force Air Command and Staff College Maxwell AFB United States, 2016).)). A …
“Companies must have a view on what ‘state of the art’ means to them - and be prepared to defend that view.” Palo Alto Networks, May 2017 Contemporary cybersecurity has evolved from an era of prevention to an ecosystem of dynamic adaptation. Tools that enable cyber attack are also part of today’s cyber defence. Among them, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is likely to become both a weapon and a …
Cybersecurity is a €100 billion global business, driven by increasingly sophisticated threats across an ever-expanding attack surface: by 2017, 600 million malware variants have been identified. The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), connected Industrial Control Systems, digital finance and the mobile workforce have created a deep marketplace for cybercriminals to exploit. Delays in threat …
