Network Security--Escalating Stakes and Moving Targets
Robert Abbott, D.O., 5/2022
Network security is big business--IT security expenditure in 2018 was 114 billion dollars--a 12.4% year over year increase from 2017 (Gartner). The impetus for this is obvious; malicious cyber activity is producing a considerable economic drag--for example an estimated $57-109 billion loss in 2016 (Council of Economic Advisers). The stakes involved have been emphasized by recent high profile ransomware attacks. In July of 2021 the IT product provider Kaseya was compromised when its program Virtual System Administrator was used to pass malicious files through its network; an estimated 800 to 1500 businesses across five continents were affected, including Scandinavian supermarket chain Coop which temporarily shuttered 800 stores (World with AFP)(Ahlander). The fuel shortages created by the Colonial Pipeline attack brought hacking to the forefront of the American conscious with images of consumers hoarding gasoline within plastic bags. Beyond being relegated to the concerns of industry leaders and IT wonks network attacks are capable of affecting broad swaths of the public.
No corner of the information economy has been immune from the escalating threat of cybercrime--for example in 2020 92 separate ransomware attacks lead to a $21 billion dollar loss in the healthcare sector with over 600 organizations and 18 million patient records compromised (Bischoff). Education has also been unscrupulously targeted--in 2020 hackers breached the University of California, San Francisco, stealing data from its school of medicine and successfully extorting a 1.14 million dollar ransom (McKenzie). That same year 84 ransomware attacks affected 1,681 K-12 and higher learning institutions (Emisoft Malware Lab).
The dynamic nature of network security compounds this challenge; in adapting their networks institutions face a moving target. The methodology employed in cybercrime evolves within an expanding underground economy that allows users to exchange malign software scripts using verification, reputation, and escrow systems (Vu)(Stout). These illicit marketplaces serve to incentivize the creation and distribution of novel hacking tools. Furthermore these cyber threats are magnified by the changing nature of work. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the utilization of virtual workplaces and remote work; in readapting, traditional networks risk developing new vulnerabilities (Panda). Today’s perimeter falls to tomorrow’s exploits, and secure networks not yet breached cannot assume integrity will be maintained. In this race outdated and vulnerable networks are dead on the starting block.
If cybercrime presents an information technology arms race then the best strategy institutions may adopt is to lead their target--by a lot. Savvy managers look to industry trends in pursuit of implementing the best security solutions available. Information technology governance encompasses a vertical organizational structure in which a chief security officer presides over the systems, processes, and objectives which guide security maintenance (Karanja). All levels of staff are engaged in security mindfulness and a multitude of solutions are adopted to create a varied and layered IT security system. Within this framework industry developments may be followed and implemented as indicated. Contemporary promising trends within the field are manifesting within artificial intelligence, moving target network design, security stack design, and zero trust networks.
Guacamole Box enters the security stack at the level of network connectivity. Older models of network security deployed a “perimeter” based model in which once a network is entered its internal components can be freely accessed (Rose). This paradigm has been superseded by zero trust networks in which all internal network transactions are subject to security protocols--the inside of the perimeter is treated as potentially hostile. To gain access in such internal environments all assets on the network, including virtual machines, devices, users, and applications, require verification. This requires cross checking the involved assets against stored permission sets, followed by authenticating the transaction.
AvoBasic similarly establishes such a zero trust network, but ultimately exceeds industry standards. Our permissions manager, in conjunction with server side permissions and security protocols ensure that only approved assets may request a transaction. All data transactions then mandate authentication through rotating cryptographic keys. Finally, proprietary methods are used to obscure the established data stream. The end result is one of successive layers of security. Not only is it virtually impossible for a third party to intercept a packet, the encryption ensures that it would take a super computer decades to decode one.
Works Cited:
Gartner. Information security spending to exceed $124B 2019. (2018). Available at: https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2018-08-15-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-information-security-spending-to-exceed-124-billion-in-2019.
The Council of Economic Advisers. Executive Office of the President. The Cost of Malicious Cyber Activity to the U.S. Economy (2018).
The World with AFP. Une cyberattaque contre une société américaine menace une multitude d'entreprises. Le Monde.fr (2021). Available at: https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2021/07/03/une-cyberattaque-etendue-contre-une-entreprise-americaine-menace-une-multitude-d-entreprises_6086896_4408996.html.
Ahlander & Menn. Major ransomware attack against U.S. Tech provider forces Swedish store closures. Reuters (2021). Available at: https://www.reuters.com/technology/cyber-attack-against-us-it-provider-forces-swedish-chain-close-800-stores-2021-07-03/.
Bischoff, P. Ransomware attacks on US healthcare organizations cost $20.8bn in 2020. Comparitech (2022). Available at: https://www.comparitech.com/blog/information-security/ransomware-attacks-hospitals-data/.
McKenzie, L. UCSF pays $1 million ransom to hackers. Inside Higher Ed (2020). Available at: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/07/02/ucsf-pays-1-million-ransom-hackers.
Emsisoft Malware Lab. The state of Ransomware in the US: Report and statistics 2020 - emsisoft: Security blog. Emsisoft (2021). Available at: https://blog.emsisoft.com/en/37314/the-state-of-ransomware-in-the-us-report-and-statistics-2020/.
Vu, A. V. et al. Turning Up the Dial: the Evolution of a Cybercrime Market Through Set-up, Stable, and Covid-19 Eras. Conference: ACM Internet Measurement Conference (2020). doi:10.1145/3419394.3423636
Stout, J. The thriving underground economy and how it's increasing hacker capabilities. Cybersecurity Magazine (2021). Available at: https://cybersecurity-magazine.com/the-thriving-underground-economy-and-how-its-increasing-hacker-capabilities/.
Panda. 11 emerging cybersecurity trends in 2021. Panda Security Mediacenter (2021). Available at: https://www.pandasecurity.com/en/mediacenter/tips/cybersecurity-trends/#:~:text=Ransomware%20is%20one%20of%20the,of%20recovering%20from%20these%20attacks.
Karanja, E. The role of the chief information security officer in the management of IT security. Information & Computer Security 25, 300–329 (2017).
Rose, S., Borchert, O., Mitchell, S. & Connelly, S. Zero trust architecture. National Institute of Standards and Technology (2020). doi:10.6028/nist.sp.800-207
