Pete talks next generation cyber attacks to ICAEW members

Pete, Securious Cofounder and CEO, recently attended the ICAEW’s regional update event at the Exeter Racecourse to talk about the next generation of cyber attacks.

Pete attended with our Chairman, John Acornley, a member of the ICAEW and cyber security evangelist who recognises that accountants should be aware of cyber threats and understand how they can protect the organisations and people they work with and for.

Next generation cyber attacks

During the session, Pete talked ICAEW members through the history of cyber attacks and how they’ve evolved – starting way back to the 1980s with the first generation of cyber attacks (viruses), which were carried on floppy disks (fun fact: reported in 2019, the United States Nuclear Combat communications system, SACCS, has finally moved away from Floppy Disks!).

Pete then talked about the second generation of cyber attacks (network threats) in the early 90s, which were typically launched over the internet as networks and connectivity developed.

The third generation of cyber attacks (application threats) came out in the early 2000s. Exploiting vulnerabilities in software applications became the norm, and with the increased internet traffic and connectivity led nicely to using Botnets (typically for sending large amounts of Spam).

Pete then moved on to discuss the fourth generation of cyber attacks (payloads). In around 2010, Polymorphic Malware (Worms, Trojans, Keyloggers) were introduced, which could take a different form for different attacks.

Which brings us up to the fifth and current generation of cyber attacks – large-scale/mega attacks which are designed to impact multiple components of IT infrastructure including networks, virtual machines, cloud instances and endpoints. Two early examples of fifth-gen attacks include WannaCry, and NotPetya – these were large data breaches and caused Destruction of Service (DoS).

Pete then came onto the sixth generation of cyber attacks, which is starting to emerge now. Hackers are devising tools to attack everything and anything, at any time…

What actually happens when you’re hit with a cyber attack?

Pete explained the stages of a cyber attack (getting access, moving through your network and data exfiltration and encrypting files), and what can happen during each of these stages, and went on to show delegates what we see behind the scenes when this happens.

Because our clients have a Managed Detection and Response (MDR) solution in place, we know when the first stage of the attack is underway because we can see indicators of compromise.

Pete showed the ICAEW members what this looks like for different types of activity, and different indicators of compromise from different stages of an attack. This behind-the-scenes look at how you can tell whether a threat actor is in your systems and what they are doing was found to be fascinating by delegates – one attendee commented that it was very refreshing to hear about what happens from the inside out.

Pete went on to explain that you don’t have to have an MDR solution in place to see these indicators of compromise. It makes it vastly easier and tends to be a far more cost-effective solution for smaller organisations, but it isn’t the only way. All of the information about what’s happening in your systems is there already – an MDR solution just takes all of that information and makes sense of it so you don’t need to employ a dedicated team of people to trawl through logs and monitor activity manually.

Final thoughts

Pete ended the session by reinforcing that threats are constantly evolving as threat actors develop new methods of attack. Technology can help with detecting and preventing advanced attacks – though your users are the best first line of defence and should be on high alert and well-trained on how to detect cyber threats. Ultimately, a blended, multi-layered approach to cyber security is the best defence as the next generation of cyber attacks evolves.

Interested?

If you’re interested in having Pete deliver this talk – or another cyber security presentation – to your clients or members, get in touch using the contact form below. Or if you’re interested in how an MDR solution could help protect your organisation from cyber attacks, check out our dedicated page on MDR or get in touch below.