Well frankly, yes it can be dangerous. There is a myriad of issues which have sprung out of remote working since COVID, with many SMEs, now operating a hybrid working scenario, although in my experience, certainly amongst my customer base, there are very few going 100% remote.
Businesses of all sizes have been forced to transform their operations to support remote work and by and large have done well, but not without many challenges—including video conferencing burn out, (along with wishing they’d taken out shares in Zoom!!), and a yearning to work together in person again, someday. We all realise that group working, face to face, is often necessary not just for efficiency, but because we are social animals. Experience has taught many businesses many things, but strangely, to my mind at least, many have simply not grasped the potentially dire consequences in terms of cyber security and data protection.
A distributed work environment i.e., personnel spread around various locations, office, home working, even the local coffee shop, creates critical challenges and new security threats as a result. The speed with which this has happened has meant that many simply did not take this into account and if they did, thought, well, this is temporary, and it won’t matter in the long run. Well perhaps, but as many are now finding, there have been advantages to home working, not least a lowering of costs in terms of how much office space is needed to carry out the business function. Many are now looking at Hybrid working i.e., from home with a day or two in the office during the week. There are pros and cons to this outside of the scope of this article, and businesses will have to make their own judgements, but one thing is clear and that is that businesses need to understand the risks now inherent in distributed work and need to get better at cyber security and data protection, in those environments.
Employees when remote working, are at much greater risk than those in offices. Since home connections are less secure, cybercriminals have an easier entry into the company network. Furthermore, the explosion of various online tools, solutions, and services for collaboration and productivity tend to have the bare minimum of security default setting, and updates from third-party vendors can change security preferences and be easily overlooked.
Phishing becomes an even greater threat to home workers simply because, in an office environment, they have access to colleagues and managers, who they can approach for advice and guidance. This is much harder to replicate with remote workers, especially those who may not be particularly tech savvy and who may not wish to become ‘burdensome’ to their co-workers.
Ransomware also enjoys an advantage in the remote working model. If their connection to the company is blocked, it is more difficult for workers to get assistance from the right experts and authorities. And since trust levels are lower when working from home, some workers will be concerned that they have “done something wrong” and so may be more reluctant to seek help. While this risk can be addressed by increased training, as well as messaging that vigilance and involving corporate IT will be rewarded, it can still be an uphill battle.
One of the biggest dangers I still see day to day is the dangers inherent in working from the local coffee shop. This is a subject that I tend to jump on every so often, because it’s one that people just don’t seem to get. Whenever I drop into a coffee shop for my caffeine infusion, there are usually at least a couple of people with their laptops open, working away on business issues. I could see open spreadsheets (and easy to read if you were sitting behind them), and all have their email open. They are often on a video call, and I can often hear all their side of the conversation, annoying enough for other café users but they are oblivious of the data being released into the wild.
If you are among those free Wi-Fi lovers, there’s bad news for you… your online privacy and security is at risk, if you rely on the weak to non-existent Wi-Fi security protocolsat coffee shops. This means that you could be exposed to various threats such as identity theft which has over 15 million cases each year, data theft/breaches, introducing malware to your business network and that of your customers/suppliers. This list is not exhaustive.
Free or public Wi-Fi’s are hotspots for hackers and data snoopers who want to steal your private data or financial information. It is easy for hackers to do that nowadays. You will be surprised to know the different ways hackers can compromise your device or your private information and why you shouldn’t rely on Wi-Fi security at coffee shops as they come with a lot of risk.
Unencrypted Data Exposure: If the Wi-Fi network is not encrypted, your sensitive information (e.g., passwords, emails, and financial data) can be intercepted by hackers using packet-sniffing tools.
Man-in-the-Middle Attacks: Hackers can position themselves between you and the network, intercepting and potentially altering the communication between your device and the server, leading to data theft or manipulation.
Fake Hotspots (Evil Twin Attacks): Cybercriminals may create a rogue Wi-Fi network that mimics the coffee shop’s legitimate network. If you connect to it, they can access all the data transmitted over the connection.
Malware Injection: Open networks can allow hackers to inject malware or viruses onto your device, which can lead to long-term breaches of your data or systems.
Session Hijacking: Attackers can intercept your session cookies, giving them access to your accounts, even if you’re using secure websites.
To mitigate these risks, use a VPN, avoid sensitive transactions, and ensure your firewall and antivirus software are active. Although a VPN may not save your data if it’s stored on your laptop.
We are huge supporters of Cyber Awareness training for managers and staff, arguing that this is no longer a ‘nice to have’ and is now very much a necessity. In fact, it is arguably the biggest quick win, giving the greatest potential return on investment that there is. Of course, this means that companies must understand what their threats, vulnerabilities and risks are, to assess exactly what training is going to be the most effective.
But that alone won’t save you from a dedicated hacker. We need to look at some more technical solutions to help you beat attacks. Here at H2 we have researched and developed services using Software as a Service (SaaS), which, being cloud based, work wherever you are, office, home or coffee shop, and encrypts your most sensitive data whether on your machine, or in transit.
If you feel a no obligation chat about this would be helpful, give us a call.
Mid-sized businesses are under as much pressure to keep the organisation secure as are the larger corporates but without the deep pockets that those larger corporates have. Because of this they are also fast becoming the easy target that we often view small businesses as being, but with a larger payload for the cyber-criminal. In fact, in 2023, 59% of medium sized businesses suffered a cyber-attack or data breach in the UK.
The biggest issue facing mid-market organisations is balancing limited resources with the growing complexity and volume of cyber threats. The lack of resources is compounded by an overall dearth of cyber-security skills in general, and a real lack of skills in mid-sized companies and the IT companies they often outsource to. Key aspects of this challenge include:
1. Resource Constraints: Mid-market organisations typically lack the budget and personnel to implement robust, enterprise-level cyber-security solutions. They may not have dedicated security teams, forcing IT departments to manage cyber-security alongside other duties. This dilutes skills and leaves them vulnerable to sophisticated attacks.
2. Rising Threat Sophistication: Cyber-criminals are increasingly using advanced tools and techniques, such as ransomware, phishing, and supply chain attacks, now enhanced with AI, which often outpace the security capabilities of mid-sized businesses. These organisations are prime targets because they are often seen as less protected than larger enterprises but more valuable than small businesses.
3. Compliance and Regulatory Challenges: As regulations like GDPR, FCA, and industry specific mandates grow, mid-market companies struggle to meet compliance requirements without the same level of support and infrastructure that larger organisations can afford.
4. Lack of Cyber security Awareness: Employees at mid-market organisations may not have adequate training on cyber-security best practices, making them vulnerable to human error, such as falling for phishing scams or weak password practices.
5. Third-Party Risks: Mid-market companies often rely on third-party vendors for various services, but they may lack the resources to thoroughly vet these vendors’ security postures, leading to vulnerabilities in their supply chain.
Addressing these issues requires mid-market organisations to prioritise cyber-security despite resource constraints, invest in scalable security solutions, and foster a strong security culture throughout the organisation.
There is a very real difficulty in breaking out of this cycle. The mind set of most board members is to focus on the core business and keep costs to an absolute minimum. Costs are important in a mid-sized business, especially one where margins may be tight. IT budgets will focus on items, both hardware and software, that are required to keep the revenue flowing and its cyber-security solutions, including data protection solutions, are often seen as nebulous because there is no obvious return on investment. CIOs/CISOs/IT Directors are often left trying to prove a negative, ie we haven’t had any security issues because we have protections in place, as opposed to we haven’t had any security issues therefore we don’t need to budget for protections. It’s a years old argument that never seems to have a resolution.
However, breaking out of this cycle, this thought process, is very important. Cyber threats, what we refer to as the threat landscape, are evolving at a frightening pace, often enhanced using AI. This will further compound any argument about budget simply because there is this need to keep pace with the cyber-criminal, and those of us in this industry know that we have always been playing catch up.
So how do we do it? Not an easy answer but one way that some mid-sized organisations are now looking at is managed security solutions. The provision of SOC (Security Operations Centre) solutions, in a shared way, as we do with cloud services for example, makes managed security more affordable. Many of the large enterprise organisations also make use of managed security solutions for the reasons of cost. On site solutions are not just expensive in terms of hardware and software, but also staffing costs, training etc, can be exorbitant. So, sharing those costs becomes very attractive.
Of course, there is no one size fits all solution and most managed service providers will have a set of services it provides, and do not tailor their services simply because it would make them too complex and expensive to provide, somewhat obviating the whole reason for doing it in the first place.
To make sure that you have the level of protection that you need, then you must do some up front work, maybe getting some consultancy that will save you money in the long run, by getting the protections and levels of service in place that you actually need.
There are several solutions around and organisations that provide them, and I do recommend that you shop around. Some are better than others and the CrowdStrike issue hasn’t done the reputation of managed services much good. Here at H2 we offer solutions for both monitoring your technical estate, your user actions, email, cloud services etc, as well as your data protection issues providing monitoring of any compliances that you may need, including UK GDPR, PCI DSS as an example.
If in doubt give us call, we’d be delighted to chat it over, offer a demo and a FREE trial lasting up to 30 days for the data protection solutions and 14 days for the more technical solution.
I make no apologies for having another rant about this subject, because it’s so important and easy to do. Recently I put up a poll on LinkedIn asking about how important it was felt that cyber awareness training was. The poll got a lot of views but very little interaction, which is very disappointing. It tells me that either people out there have little interest in it, don’t consider it a priority, or even a necessity, or don’t understand it’s importance to the safety of their systems, data and staff.
Very simply put Cyber Awareness Training is the quickest and cheapest win you can make in the fight against the cyber-criminal.
Cyber awareness training is an essential component of modern organisational security strategies. It equips employees with the knowledge and skills necessary to recognise, respond to, and mitigate cyber threats. Let’s look at some key advantages of implementing cyber awareness training:
1. Enhanced Security Posture: Employees who are educated about cyber threats can identify potential risks and take proactive measures to protect sensitive information. This collective vigilance strengthens the overall security framework of the organisation.
2. Reduction in Human Error: Many cyber incidents stem from human mistakes, such as falling for phishing scams or mishandling sensitive data. Cyber awareness training helps mitigate these errors by teaching employees how to recognise red flags and adhere to best practices.
3. Improved Incident Response: Training empowers employees to respond effectively to security incidents. By understanding protocols and reporting procedures, they can act swiftly in the event of a breach, minimising potential damage.
4. Cultivation of a Security Culture: Regular training fosters a culture of security within the organisation. When employees prioritise cybersecurity in their daily activities, it becomes an integral part of the organisational ethos, enhancing overall resilience.
5. Compliance with Regulations: Many industries face stringent regulatory requirements regarding data protection and cybersecurity. Cyber awareness training helps organisations comply with these regulations, reducing the risk of legal penalties and reputational damage.
6. Increased Employee Confidence: Knowledgeable employees are more confident in their ability to navigate the digital landscape safely. This confidence can lead to greater engagement and a more proactive approach to cybersecurity.
7. Cost Savings: By preventing cyber incidents through effective training, organisations can save significant costs associated with data breaches, including legal fees, recovery expenses, and loss of business reputation.
8. Adaptability to Emerging Threats: The cyber threat landscape is constantly evolving. Cyber awareness training keeps employees informed about the latest threats and trends, ensuring they can adapt their behaviours accordingly.
9. Strengthened Team Collaboration: A shared understanding of cybersecurity risks encourages collaboration among teams. Employees are more likely to communicate about potential threats and share knowledge on best practices, leading to a more cohesive defence strategy.
10. Customer Trust: Organisations that prioritise cybersecurity demonstrate their commitment to protecting customer data. This commitment builds trust with clients and partners, which is crucial for maintaining long-term relationships in today’s digital economy. In summary, cyber awareness training is a vital investment for organisations looking to enhance their cybersecurity defences. By equipping employees with the knowledge and skills needed to identify and respond to threats, organisations not only protect their assets but also foster a culture of security that benefits everyone involved.
And the reality is that it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. It can in fact be done very cost effectively, in such a way that it doesn’t require staff to spend time in the classroom by automating the courses and having them delivered online, allowing staff to carry it out in their own time.
Cybersecurity is an ever-evolving field, with new threats and innovations emerging regularly. Not all these threats will apply to everyone, the trick is, and has always been, identifying the threats that apply to you, working out how vulnerable you are too those threats, and applying controls to bring those down to an acceptable level. That acceptable level will change, not just from company to company, but also asset to asset. Don’t waste valuable time and energy trying to achieve a zero-threat level. It doesn’t exist. You need to understand clearly what your appetite for risk is, ie what is an acceptable level of risk for you, and then go for it.
But what emerging threats are there that you just might have to combat in your daily business life. These trends highlight the ongoing innovation in both cyber threats and defences, driven by the growing reliance on digital infrastructure and the rapid evolution of technology.
Here are some suggestions and trends in cybersecurity as of late 2024:
1. AI-Powered Cyber Attacks and Defences
Threats: Cybercriminals are increasingly using AI to launch more sophisticated attacks, such as AI-driven phishing campaigns, automated hacking attempts, and machine learning-based malware that adapts to security measures. We’re seeing AI powered social engineering, phone calls mimicking voices of managers, and similar. Like with just about all AI usage, what it does it make things much easier by reducing human effort. So, attacks can be set up using AI and become almost fire and forget, just letting it get on with it in the background.
Defense: Organisations are countering this with AI-based threat detection systems, anomaly detection, and predictive analytics to identify potential breaches before they occur. What about your defences? Are they keeping up with these types of threat. What about mobile workforces, are your staff covered once they leave the office; do you have a hybrid or even fully remote workforce? If so, are your defences up to the job? Check out https://hah2.co.uk/
2. Ransomware Evolution
Ransomware continues to be a major threat, but it’s evolving with more advanced encryption techniques, and multi-stage attacks where attackers exfiltrate data before encrypting it. They then threaten to publish the stolen data unless a ransom is paid. I recently heard of a company that had been infiltrated through its website which was transactional, ie it sold stuff via the website and the website was connected to their database of products and sales order processing system. The web developer didn’t have sufficiently robust security in place. A good example of an SME being exploited via their supply chain.
Double extortion and Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) have become more common, where hackers sell ransomware kits to other criminals.
3. Zero Trust Architecture
Zero Trust has moved from a buzzword to a mainstream security model. Organisations are adopting a “never trust, always verify” approach, assuming that every user and device, both inside and outside the network, could be compromised.
Implementing least privilege access, micro-segmentation, and continuous authentication are key features of this approach. And no, this doesn’t have to be cost prohibitive.
4. Supply Chain Attacks
Attacks targeting third-party vendors and software providers have increased. By compromising trusted suppliers, attackers can infiltrate many organisations through a single breach.
Notable Examples: The SolarWinds and Kaseya attacks were significant instances that highlighted the dangers of such supply chain vulnerabilities. The attack on the NHS via a contracted service provider, is also a good example but it doesn’t just affect the big organisations. See above for an example of how an SME was attacked via a third-party web designer.
5. Post-Quantum Cryptography
With quantum computing on the horizon, there’s increasing focus on developing encryption algorithms that can resist quantum attacks. Post-quantum cryptography is becoming a hot topic as organisations prepare for the future of computing.
Even without quantum computing, many organisations do not use encryption, even for their critical data. If you are subject to a data breach, but that data is encrypted, you could save yourself a lot of money and reputational damage.
6. Cloud Security and Misconfiguration
As cloud adoption accelerates, the security of cloud environments remains a top concern. Misconfigured cloud settings continue to expose sensitive data, while cloud-native security solutions (e.g., CSPM, CWPP) are becoming more prevalent.
Securing multi-cloud environments and addressing shared responsibility models are critical challenges.
7. Cybersecurity for IoT and OT
The Internet of Things (IoT) and Operational Technology (OT) are becoming frequent attack targets. Securing connected devices, industrial systems, and critical infrastructure from cyber threats is a growing concern, especially as they are often lacking in adequate security protocols.
This is becoming more critical as home working becomes more and more popular. Employees connecting to your company cloud and systems using home broadband and WIFI, are also de fact connecting to any IOT devices that they are using in the home, potentially opening up back doors into your system.
8. Data Privacy Regulations and Compliance
Data privacy is a key focus as more countries introduce stricter regulations like the Data Protection Act 2018, now becoming known as UK GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). There are other compliances such as FSA regulations and other industry bodies, that many need adherence to. Data breaches can produce fines from regulatory bodies, law suites from those affected, and quite severe reputational damage.
9. Cybersecurity Automation and SOAR
Automation is becoming critical in cybersecurity due to the sheer volume of threats. Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) tools help streamline incident detection and response, freeing up analysts to focus on complex tasks.
Do you have anything in place to automate your defences? Do you monitor your systems for threats?
10. Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Identity theft and credential stuffing attacks are rising, making IAM solutions more important than ever. Multi-factor authentication (MFA), password less authentication, and biometrics are seeing widespread adoption to prevent unauthorised access.
Last week I talked about whether our ability to demonstrate resilience in the cyber field, is impacted by an over reliance on the companies who supply our IT products and services, and whether over time, that reliance has grown to the point where we are ignoring our own responsibilities in this area. I have used the phrase that you can outsource your IT, but you can’t outsource your responsibility. At the end of the day, there is only you and your employees who have the best interests of you company at heart. You wouldn’t tolerate a single point of failure in your business, you would try and ensure that there is resilience built into your business processes. Why then do we not apply that to IT?
It’s a fact, which often goes unrecognised or ignored, that cyber security is not a technical issue but a business issue, and as such much of it is reliant on policy and process. It is also a fact that your employees are both your first line of defence and potentially, your weakest link. Technology comes in in third place. The cyber mantra is People, Process, Technology. If your people don’t have at least a basic understanding of the issues involved, and you do not have the right policies and processes, rolled out to, and understood by all who need them, then all the technology in the world is likely to be a waste of money.
People
Let’s take a closer look, starting with People. Many businesses out there don’t have inhouse IT support but outsource that to an IT provider. That’s fine, you can ensure that your contract with them spells out their responsibilities regarding your security, your data. It then becomes their responsibility to ensure they protect to the standard stated in the contract, and that their people understand their responsibility. However, you still have your own staff who interact with suppliers, customers and possibly members of the public, on your behalf. I’ve discussed in my blogs before that most businesses are more likely to suffer from scams, than they are from technical hacks. Even ransomware can be considered a scam, as can most phishing attacks. The cyber-criminal is relying on someone on your staff to click a malicious link, or access something they shouldn’t, in order to facilitate the scam. Staff often make the mistake of opening malware because they didn’t know they shouldn’t, not because they are themselves malicious or lack common sense. If they fail, it’s often because they haven’t had any training. Likewise, staff can make mistakes, such as copying and releasing data to unauthorised persons, because they didn’t know they shouldn’t. So, whose failures are those, staff or managers?
It is critical to the success of the cyber-security resilience that the organisation develops a mature culture of understanding and awareness about cyber risks. Above all this is an issue that must be driven from the top of the organisation – unless cyber-security has the full support of the Board it will be impossible to generate the level of commitment necessary to develop the culture of awareness.
Awareness and understanding of cyber risks are so important because these are the essential elements of the “human firewall” that is all that stands between the organisation’s critical IT systems and the clever social engineering tactics of sophisticated cyber-criminals. Such tactics are even more ubiquitous in our “always on” culture that is driven by the social media and applications accessed through smartphones and other mobile devices. Employees need to be aware of the cyber risks inherent in the devices that are part of their everyday lives; and of the damage to their occupation and livelihoods that can be done as a result of ignorance, carelessness or inattention in their use (and abuse) of such devices.
For the security function in an organisation, the development of a mature culture of awareness and understanding is also critical. In order to achieve the shift in thinking needed to develop the culture of awareness, four things are required:
Board and CEO Level involvement and support
Training that is relevant to the job function. Giving technical awareness training to a shop floor worker will have no impact. If lessons from the training can be taken home and used there as well, big dividends will accrue from the reinforcement provide.
Training must be fun. A little humour lightens the load and will brighten the day of employees and mean that they are more likely to remember what was taught.
Training must be continual. It is more effective to do a little training each month than to have a single long session.
Policy and Process
Moving onto to processes now. First and foremost, all companies should have a cyber security policy. It doesn’t need to be more than a page and should lay down what other polices are needed and who is responsible for producing them and keeping them in date. Any of you who have achieved an ISO certification, in whatever subject you needed to, will have had a similar process to go through and if you ever wanted to achieve ISO27001, then you would need to fully understand and comply with this.
The development and documentation of an agreed set of clear and coherent policies and supporting standards, processes and baselines are essential to the success of a cyber-security program. These must be signed off at board level and preferably set within the context of the organisations cyber-security strategy. However, the nature of the policies and supporting elements themselves will, to some extent, also be governed by the risk management controls that are needed in order to manage risk to a level that is consistent with the organisation’s assessed risk, overall risk appetite and budgetary and cost constraints. I talked about risk management last week and that can be found at https://hah2.co.uk/are-we-failing-in-our-cyber-resilience/.
The are 3 elements to this that are essential:
Policy.
Standards and processes.
Minimum baselines.
This may seem onerous and a step too far for many businesses but they are essential to ensure that you are self-reliant and resilient. The whole process need not be that difficult or expensive and it is a lot cheaper than many of the technical solutions managers jump to, without first ensuring that such technologies are actually what is required. We can offer advice and guidance in this area (https://hah2.co.uk/why-use-an-independent-board-advisor/).
Policy is the highest element in the hierarchy – representing “why” the governance controls must be used. Below this, the standards and processes represent “what” needs to be implemented, in order to deliver compliance with the policy. Thirdly, minimum baselines constitute the element that shows “how” the standards and processes should be delivered. Each of the elements is discussed in more detail below.
Technology
Finally, we come to technology. In last weeks blog (https://hah2.co.uk/are-we-failing-in-our-cyber-resilience/ ) I went into more detail about risk management and how we go about putting the right controls in the right place, to reduce our liability to the lowest level we can, without impacting operational resilience. But let’s just reiterate that many of these controls will be procedural and not necessarily technical, or they might be a mix of the two. The message is don’t get hung up on technology, approach it from a risk management point of view, treat IT and cyber security in the same way you would treat any other business process. Don’t get swamped with technical jargon, it’s not that difficult.
Next Week
Another vital piece in our resilience matrix is disaster recovery and business continuity. Not the same thing and I have already touched on this in recent articles (https://hah2.co.uk/you-can-outsource-your-it-but-you-cant-outsource-your-responsibility/), relevant to the current issues around CloudStrike. Disaster recovery is how you plan to recover from a disaster whilst business continuity is all about how you keep the business running whilst you recover your IT assets and data. It’s quite an involved subject and demands an article on its own.
How are businesses improved through good cyber security? It’s a question just about every customer, or prospective customer, of ours asks themselves. They need to see a return on investment, after all, if you don’t see anything tangible for your money, you’re unlikely to keep going down that road.
When my business partner and I set up H2 after we returned from the Middle East where we’d been working for the HP division that was busy merging itself with CSC (been there done that, didn’t fancy returning to it), the whole question of how we could offer something that gave that return on investment, occupied much of our thinking. What services could we offer at a price that businesses were prepared to pay, and what tangible benefits could we offer?
At first, we were purely a services company, proudly product agnostic, recommending the right products for the right solutions for the right customer. Not at all altruistic, but rather we felt that was the right thing to do be doing. Like many people we didn’t see COVID coming around the corner like a freight train. The pandemic didn’t just change how we would be delivering our services, it changed the whole market, it changed working practices, which are still evolving. That meant that we had to change or die. A stark choice but not one that could be avoided or put off. Like many businesses we had to reengineer the business from the ground up whilst still providing services that customers wanted and could see a need for.
An interesting google search is finding out what businesses are researching online. I was quite surprised to find that the question ‘what is a cyber-attack?’, is the most searched phrase, by a long shot. This suggests that many are still confused as to what a cyber-attack actually is. Breaking that down, its probably not all that surprising because of all the various types of cyber-attack that are constantly being rammed down peoples’ throats and I think the cyber security industry needs to take responsibility for that. There’s a big difference between education and propaganda. FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) is a common method used by many to sell security. Personally, I’m not in favour of doing that. I like to educate, not scare.
Other subjects being searched for are ransomware, phishing, spoofing, cyber threats, insider threats and cyber awareness (there are more but they’re a long way down the list).
What people want to know hasn’t changed all that much, neither has the types of threats. What has changed is how those threats present themselves, how the methodologies have changed in order to match new technologies and working practices, particularly the move to remote or home working and the additional threats that this poses. AI is making a big impact already and that impact is going to get bigger as time goes on. Email spoofing for example, that is faking an email purporting to come someone legitimate in order to get someone to take some action that is in some way fraudulent, is now being done over the phone with AI being used to fake someones voice. It’s a scary development and there are now several well reported instances of this happening in the US. If it’s happening there, it’s only a matter of time for it to happen in the UK and across Europe.
One of the first services we offered was the Cyber Maturity Assessment and our very first client took that service. Our brief was to examine their Cyber Security and Data Protection posture, including policies, processes and technical configuration and controls. They were pleased that our assessment was very comprehensive in discovering the threats and vulnerabilities to their systems and that we described them in terms of business risk. We developed comprehensive policies and processes that were all encompassing and designed to fit in with the style and presentation of their employee handbook. All good but it required us to attend their site for a couple of days which was, at one time, normal and acceptable but in terms of the ‘new normal’, not so much.
Whilst we still offer that service, remote services are much more popular and much more in keeping with how businesses are now operating. It doesn’t much matter where their staff are working, home, office or on the move. What matters is that their protections are maintained regardless.
As we developed our new offerings we researched and came up with solutions that do just that. We adopted Software as a Service (SaaS) and found some very innovative solutions that we can use to provide a managed security service to our clients at a very affordable price.
Returning to our first paragraph, how do we show a return on investment? Using our SaaS platform, we offer a 14 day free trial during which we can show a client where they currently stand and then carry out some quick remediations to show how that can be improved, so that the client can see the value of what they are going to get, using their own data. It works and I commend it to you.
Another good question, or perhaps it should be, do they ask any questions, other than cost, about cyber security, or do they leave everything up to their IT support, whether contracted or in house?
What is the cost of ignoring cyber security?
Perhaps this is the first question that they should be asking. The financial hit of a data breach can be crippling, especially for the smaller businesses who are perhaps running on tight margins and for whom cash flow is often critical. The average clean up for a smallish business is about £27K. this relates to system restoration, hardware replacement, and the implementation of enhanced security measures. and doesn’t include financial loss from the actual data stolen, or whatever scam was perpetrated, and any fall out from compliance failures, such as fines from the ICO. And at least a third of organisations admit to losing customers post a data breach, highlighting reputational damage and a loss of customer trust.
So, what should owners, managers and board members be asking?
I think many get bogged down in the technicalities of IT and don’t consider it in business terms. They don’t think about the business impact of cyber security, about what it is they’re trying to protect. It’s not your IT systems, it’s your data that is the crown jewels. IT systems can be replaced but once the data is stolen, then you are in very real trouble.
Risk Management
First and foremost, the board members need to ask themselves if they have a good handle on their cyber risk. Have they identified their cyber assets? What is a cyber asset? Cyber assets are not just hardware and software, in fact those are often the least of your worries. It’s the data, where it is and how it’s protected that is important. Have you assessed the risk to those assets? Have you assessed the training requirements for your staff, not just the techies but all staff? Think People, Process and then Technology.
Once you have done this, then you can consider what controls need to be put in place to reduce the risk to an acceptable level.
Below is some of the controls you will need to consider. This list is not exhaustive
1. User Access Control (Admin access is a whole other discussion)
This isn’t just about passwords. Yes, they remain important but on their own, they are no longer sufficient. Nonetheless weak passwords, password re-use and password sharing remain one of the leading root causes of a data breach. 123456 and, believe it or not, password, remains the most used passwords across the world!
It is imperative that you have a strong password policy, dictating not just the length of the password, but also its construction, ensuring that there is a good mix of upper and lower case characters, numbers and symbols, that together make things very difficult for password crackers.
On their own though passwords remain a potential weak spot. Multi factor authentication (MFA), sometimes referred to as 2FA, provides that extra layer of defence and can help to protect against brute-force attacks, phishing scams, key-logging and social engineering. MFA can be simply implemented on most email platforms and within various apps you are using. For those of you trying for Cyber Essentials or ISO 27K series, MFA is mandatory, so make sure it’s put in place.
2. Are you backing up your files?
This seems an obvious thing to do but you’d be surprised how often when trying to restore from a backup, it fails. This is often because the backup routine was set up back in the mists of time and has never been reviewed and even more dangerous, it’s never been tested to see if it works. Set up your backup regime, have it reviewed regularly and tested regularly to make sure it works. If you are backing up online, keep in mind that if a cyber-criminal gets access to your systems to, for example, carry out a ransomware attack, then they can probably get at your back up as well. So, belt and braces, consider having an offline backup as well as an online backup. The latter is more convenient but can be corrupted.
3. Do you train your staff in cyber awareness?
My favourite subject – cyber awareness training. Your first line of defence is your staff, but if not trained adequately, they can be your greatest vulnerability. It’s known in the trade as the insider threat but it is caused mainly by human error, staff members doing something they shouldn’t, not maliciously but simply because they didn’t know they shouldn’t. It actually accounts for 88% of data breaches. Providing your people with training on the threats, current scams and basic cyber awareness reduces the chance of a cyber-attack. This really is the easiest and cheapest quick win any organisation can take in reducing their risk exposure.
4. Do your employees regularly travel or work remotely?
This brings us neatly to what Microsoft coined as the New Normal. Essentially this means remote working shared with in office working, known as the hybrid working model, or for some, moving to a totally remote working system. Totally remote is not as common as hybrid working but is becoming more normal with certain size businesses in certain commercial verticals. It’ll never work for everyone, but for those who have embraced it, it saves a considerable amount of expense. It does however require us to rethink our cyber strategy.
Work-from-home employees are at much greater risk than those in offices. Since home connections are less secure, cybercriminals have an easier entry into the company network. Furthermore, the explosion of various online tools, solutions, and services for collaboration and productivity tend to have the bare minimum of security default setting, and updates from third-party vendors can change security preferences and be easily overlooked.
Phishing becomes an even greater threat to home workers, often because, in an office environment, they have access to colleagues and managers, who they can approach for advice and guidance. This is much harder to replicate with remote workers, especially those who may not be particularly tech savvy and who may not wish to become ‘burdensome’ to their co-workers.
Ransomware also enjoys an advantage in the work-from-home model. If their connection to the company is blocked, it is more difficult for workers to get assistance from the right experts and authorities. And since trust levels are lower when working from home, some workers will be concerned that they have “done something wrong” and so may be more reluctant to seek help. While this risk can be addressed by increased training, as well as messaging that vigilance and involving IT support will be rewarded, it can still be an uphill battle.
We need to break out of the old ‘bastion’ security model of a network protected by firewalls and other technologies and think about solutions that are designed to protect your assets regardless of where your employees work from. They exist and aren’t hard to find.
Data tends to proliferate, especially when working remotely. Cyber awareness training helps here, but it also helps for management to have a handle on data storage. All organisations have this problem, but it becomes more acute for those businesses that hold large amounts of what is known as Personal Identifiable Information or PII. This is information that can identify a living individual and compromise their privacy in some way. Financial advisors, estate agents, solicitors etc, all share this issue. The data protection act, becoming referred to as UK GDPR, is not a suggestion, it is law.
5. Where is all your data stored and who has access to it?
One of the biggest issues we find with organisations of all sizes, is that they think they know where all their data is but get quite a surprise when they discover multiple instances of the same data set. This has become a real issue in that the new normal tempts users when working remotely, with possibly less than robust broadband, to copy data from cloud storage to their PC or laptop to ensure they can keep working on it. Then they upload it again when they’ve finished but forget to delete their copy. That’s just one instance but it is vital to understand where all this data is. What if for instance, you get what is known as a subject access request, where a client or other member of the public wants to know exactly what personal data you have on them, and why. I spoke to a financial advisor recently who told me that it took one of their partners off the road for 3 weeks, to discover where all the data was kept on just one person. But under the law, they had no choice but to bite the bullet.
There are several systems on the market which will help with this but what most need now is a system that works regardless of the location of the user and continues providing that cover when the user moves from one location to another. This is just a suggestion, but we’d be delighted to demo it to anyone who is interested. https://hah2.co.uk/gdpr-data-protection/
6. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
Business Continuity refers to the proactive strategies and plans put in place to ensure that essential business functions can continue in the event of a disruption or disaster. This could include natural disasters, cyber-attacks, power outages, or any other event that could disrupt normal business operations. Business Continuity planning typically involves identifying critical business processes, implementing redundant systems and processes, and developing communication plans to ensure that the organisation can continue to operate smoothly in the face of adversity.
Disaster Recovery, on the other hand, is focused specifically on restoring IT infrastructure and data after a disaster has occurred. This could involve recovering lost data, restoring systems and networks, and ensuring that IT operations can resume as quickly as possible. Disaster Recovery planning typically involves creating backup systems, implementing data recovery procedures, and testing these plans regularly to ensure they are effective. Both are critical components of a comprehensive risk management strategy and should be integrated into an organization’s overall resilience planning efforts.
Just like backups, which are a crucial part of Disaster Recovery, these plans can become very quickly out of date and useless, unless reviewed periodically and tested to see if they actually work.
7. Vulnerabilities and Threats
A vulnerability is a flaw or weakness in an asset’s design, implementation, or operation and management that could be exploited by a threat. A threat is a potential for a threat agent to exploit a vulnerability. A simple way to explain this is that a vulnerability is the inability to resist a hazard or to respond when a disaster has occurred. For instance, people who live on plains are more vulnerable to floods than people who live higher up. The threat is the flood itself.
IT risks and vulnerabilities are the potential threats and weaknesses that can affect the performance, security and reliability of your business function and processes. They can have serious consequences for your business goals, customer satisfaction, and competitive advantage.
Identifying vulnerabilities to your cyber security assets and then identifying the threat to those assets in terms of the vulnerability being exploited, informs your risk and enables you to assign a value to it. Financial value can be assigned to the risk score if you so wish. You then apply controls to bring the risk down to an acceptable level, starting with the Very High risks, and then bringing them down to whatever is acceptable to you. That acceptable level, known as the risk appetite, will vary business to business, risk to risk.
8. Supply Chain Security?
In short, a supply chain attack is a cyber-attack that seeks to damage an organisation by targeting less-secure elements in the supply chain.
An example of such an attack was published by NCSC and points out that many modern businesses outsource their data to third party companies which aggregate, store, process, and broker the information, sometimes on behalf of clients in direct competition with one another.
Such sensitive data is not necessarily just about customers, but could also cover business structure, financial health, strategy, and exposure to risk. In the past, firms dealing with high profile mergers and acquisitions have been targeted. In September 2013, several networks belonging to large data aggregators were reported as having been compromised.
A small botnet was observed exfiltrating information from the internal systems of numerous data stores, through an encrypted channel, to a botnet controller on the public Internet. The highest profile victim was a data aggregator that licenses information on businesses and corporations for use in credit decisions, business-to-business marketing, and supply chain management. While the attackers may have been after consumer and business data, fraud experts suggested that information on consumer and business habits and practices was the most valuable.
The victim was a credit bureau for numerous businesses, providing “knowledge-based authentication” for financial transaction requests. This supply chain compromise enabled attackers to access valuable information stored via a third party and potentially commit large scale fraud.
NCSC also cited what is known as a watering hole attack, which works by identifying a website that’s frequented by users within a targeted organisation, or even an entire sector, such as defence, government, or healthcare. That website is then compromised to enable the distribution of malware.
The attacker identifies weaknesses in the main target’s cyber security, then manipulates the watering hole site to deliver malware that will exploit these weaknesses.
The malware may be delivered and installed without the target realising (called a ‘drive by’ attack) but given the trust the target is likely to have in the watering hole site, it can also be a file that a user will consciously download without realising what it really contains. Typically, the malware will be a Remote Access Trojan (RAT), enabling the attacker to gain remote access to the target’s system.
If you are in someones supply chain, then you need to make doubly sure that your security protects your customer as well as yourself. And conversely, if you are connected electronically to someone who supplies you, are you sure that you are protected from any vulnerability they may have.
As I move around talking to business leaders of all sizes of company, one thing stands out. And that’s that there are many different views as to how involved management needs to be in cyber defence, and some of these views are markedly different. They range from a very hands off approach, happily leaving it to their IT support, to, and it has to be said, a minority, who see it as their responsibility.
Arguably one of the most, if not the most, important roles any CEO/MD/Chairman (call him or her whatever you like and for the purposes of this article I’ll stick with CEO) is to set the importance of cyber defence in everyones mind. The tone has to come from the top to be accepted and effective. When cyber defence is clearly prioritised by the CEO and the Board, it assumes an importance in the mind of the employees. It is crucial that everyone from the CEO down understands the impact that a cyber breach, or a scam, or a cyber based fraud, can have on the bottom line.
This also aligns cyber defence and data protection with the business goals. Cyber defence is a business issue, not an IT issue. It’s crucial that all clearly understand this and how it should be woven into the very fabric of the business. The CEO and the board have a clear perspective on the company’s strategic goals and direction. By their involvement with cyber defence, they can ensure that it is aligned with the broader business strategy to fully protect the businesses data and systems. It aids with budgets for cyber security tools, training and personnel, addressing the threats to the business.
CEOS might need advice and guidance but their involvement is essential and will help to identify some issues which may not be clear to employees, especially technical employees. One such is reputational damage. The damage to a company from a data breach may not be immediately clear. But once it hits the press, or once the company becomes subject to a fine from a regulatory body such as the Information Commissioner, the word tends to spread. If you can’t be trusted to maintain a level of confidentiality, can you be trusted with other things? Doubt spreads and can destroy vendor, customer and partner relationships.
Cyber defence begins with risk management. Managing cyber risks is no different to managing any other business risk. There is no business without risk, the trick is to manage your risks down to a level that you are prepared to accept, known as the risk appetite. This must involve the CEO and directors and business managers. Each knows what could damage, perhaps catastrophically damage, their part of the business. IT staff don’t have this knowledge, their focus is often on the technical risks, not the business risks.
Risk management itself begins with a clear cyber defence and data protection strategy. Depending upon the size of your business, some elements of the suggested strategy below, may not be relevant to you. This is offered as a guide, not an absolute.
Figure 1- Suggested Cyber Strategy Framework
To help in defining your strategy, you need to undertake a risk analysis which will inform the selection, deployment and management of Appropriate, Affordable and Accreditable (if required) controls.
Appropriate in the sense that controls need to support rather than hinder business process as well as being capable of achieving their goals. Your controls also need to be appropriate to your business. Affordable may seem self-explanatory, however in the context of cyber security controls and overall budgetary constraints, return on investment is as important as cost effectiveness. Accreditation to agreed cyber security standards – of which there are many, is crucial for all organisations. Being able to provide a trail of evidence which demonstrates on going compliance to selected standards is essential in times of crisis.
Having got this far, we need a risk treatment plan to match the identified risks. What you’re trying to achieve here is to manage the risk down to an acceptable level. Don’t get bogged down in trying to eliminate risk, you won’t succeed, but rather get the risk down as low as you can. Don’t make it too complicated, identify your risks as High, Medium and Low. Then manage the high risks down to Low, followed by the medium risks. You do this by applying controls, be they procedural or technical, to the risk and measuring the outcome.
It sounds complicated and you may need guidance, but once done and adhered to, it provides peace of mind to you, that you have done what you need to do to get your Cyber Defence in place.
H2 provides affordable and flexible one-off and ongoing data protection and cyber risk protection services.
When you are an owner or director of a company, you will have to face many challenges starting from employing the right people to protecting the sensitive data regarding the company, your workers, suppliers and clients, who buy products and services from you. Nowadays, data leakage prevention is essential in every business. Last week I touched on cyber security strategy, and I’ll expand on that a little more in a week or two, but I’ll just reiterate here that cyber security and data protection are inextricably linked, both practically and legally. They apply equally to the large corporate entities and SMEs alike. It’s purely a matter of scale. So, let’s dive in and learn more about the security and data protection services that you may wish to consider, having first identified your risks and come up with what is called a risk treatment plan, ie a plan to remediate the identified risks to an appropriate level, taking account of the residual risk that your organisation finds acceptable.
Cyber Security Defence – What Are the Most Common Services?
The Insider Threat
There are a lot of actions that can be taken regarding cyber defence. You need to cover both external and insider threat detection. We need to simplify, and where possible, automate our responses and solutions. The more complicated we make it, the more chance of it becoming a liability rather than a solution. The insider threat is one that is often misunderstood and in fact, often ignored. It is one of the most fascinating and alarming aspects of cybersecurity! It refers to the potential risks posed by individuals within an organisation who have access to sensitive information and can misuse it for personal gain or to sabotage the company. These insiders could be employees, contractors, or even business partners who have intimate knowledge of the company’s processes and systems. It’s like a real-life spy thriller unfolding right within the walls of your own organisation! The challenge lies in identifying and mitigating these risks before they cause serious damage. It’s an adrenaline-pumping game of cat and mouse that keeps cybersecurity professionals on their toes! It is important to note that many insider threats come not from any intended action by an employee, but rather a mistaken action taken by an employee who didn’t know they shouldn’t do whatever it is they had done. It’s a primary reason why cyber awareness training is so important. I can’t stress enough how important a comprehensive campaign of such training is.
To protect against insider threats you need, as well as awareness training, a good mix of procedural and technical security. You need a sound access control policy that clearly lays down how to onboard an employee, what access to allow, and how to protect against employees gaining privilege they don’t need and shouldn’t have. That policy should also cover off-boarding when an employee leaves. Here at H2 we have partnered with Cyber Elements to provide solutions to provide the correct provisioning in an easy to administer way.
External Threats
These are the threats that everyone thinks of when the subject of cyber security comes up. It can be very easy, such as identifying and blocking a virus, or it can be very complex. It all depends on the size and range of the problem. For example, ransomware protection. We have partnered with Platinum-HIT (UK) to provide the HDF concept. This provides a unique approach to anti malware and provides a good level of ransomware, and indeed, phishing, protection. On any computer system, data is stored either as non-runnable information data or runnable application programs. Malware is a type of runnable program with undesirable behaviours. HDF prevents malware infection by stopping malware program files from being stored and run on a computer. Simply put, if a program can’t run, it can’t infect your system. This does require a period of examination of your system to identify what does need to run, to run the business, and that is provided within the product.
We have introduced a fully managed proactive cyber defence solution that complements our data protection solution, described below, whilst remaining able to stand alone, in the unlikely event that the data protection element is not required.
In the dynamic world of cybersecurity, staying ahead of evolving threats requires a comprehensive approach that adapts to the ever-changing landscape. At H2, we recognize that one-size-fits-all solutions often fall short, which is why we’ve developed a flexible and scalable cybersecurity solution powered by Guardz, to address the needs of our clients.
Our approach is grounded in sound risk management principles, ensuring that our solutions are aligned with your specific cybersecurity requirements. Whether you need one or more of our solutions, we can tailor an approach that meets your exact needs and budget.
I talked earlier about the symbiotic relationship between cyber security and data protection, which of course includes data leakage prevention, data privacy and compliance. Once again, we have this covered. Our data protection solution is very comprehensive and looks not just at the technical, but also at the procedural aspect of data protection, from providing a virtual data protection officer, to writing and/or reviewing your policies and processes, to identifying where your data actual is, what it’s status is ie sensitive or non-sensitive, and provides the ability to encrypt the sensitive data in order to reduce your risk. If you have a data leak and the data is encrypted, then you are significantly reducing any risk.
Summary
All cyber security defence solutions are designed and implemented in collaboration with the client, during a trial period that consists of between 14 and 30 days, depending upon the solution. All actions can be performed remotely and online and there is no requirement for us to be on site, thus reducing time and expense. Additionally, all solutions are based on SaaS and therefore there is no expensive infrastructure or hardware requirements and being cloud based, it provides the additional advantage that it can monitor and protect end points regardless of where they are, in the office, on the move, or at home.
What’s the advantage of using a cyber defence managed service?
This will differ company to company, and some will have more of an issue, certainly regarding the protection of what is known as Personally Identifiable Information or PII, as defined in the Data Protection Act 2018. Each must decide what their threshold is for residual risk, ie what risk is acceptable to them, once protections have been put in place.
Professional cyber security staff are, currently, difficult to source. There is a global shortage of experienced personnel. They are also expensive to employ. You could also argue that there isn’t a full time job for more than one or two, in many organisations. It therefore makes both operational and financial sense, to outsource at least some of your security operations.
A cyber security strategy is a plan that outlines an organisation’s approach to protecting its information systems and data from cyber threats. This strategy typically includes measures such as implementing security controls, conducting regular risk assessments, training employees on security best practices, monitoring network activity for suspicious behaviour, and responding to security incidents in a timely manner. The goal of a cyber security strategy is to minimise the risk of cyber-attacks and protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of an organisation’s sensitive information.
Well yes, you are a target and there are a ton of statistics available which shows that SMEs globally are a very real target for cyber-attacks and can in fact, be very profitable for cyber criminals. There are a lot of reasons for that but one of the top reasons is that typically, SMEs spend very little on cyber defence and generally have very weak defences. Add to this that they don’t tend to carry out cyber awareness training for their staff, have limited resources and generally don’t have a good grasp of the issues.
Not their fault. Most are focused on their core business, trying make a quid or two and are pressed for time. They tend to rely on whatever company, usually local, that supplied their network, hardware and software, generally on a retainer. The problem is that those companies don’t really have a good grasp of the issues either, concentrating on technology, and then, not necessarily the right technology.
Secure by default and design
Now that’s an interesting title, but what does it mean? Secure by default and design means that a system or product is inherently built with security measures in place from the start. This ensures that security is a priority throughout the development process and that users can trust that their data and information will be protected. It also means that security features are enabled by default, reducing the risk of vulnerabilities or breaches. This approach helps to create a more robust and resilient system that is better equipped to withstand potential threats.
It applies as much to your network and systems as it does to software development and possibly more importantly to you, it is a legal requirement under the Data Protection Act 2018, or as it is becoming known, UK GDPR.
The first problem many people come up against is that they already have a network, probably connected to the cloud of some sort, very possibly for SMEs, MS365, but when the design was done, there wasn’t a full risk assessment undertaken which is a requirement to underpin that design. In other words what we in the cyber security industry refer to as Security Architecture Design (SAD), wasn’t a prominent consideration.
No unusual and the common technologies were probably set up, firewalls and anti-virus, but not much else. And that is where a well thought out strategy comes into play.
We’ve already said you are an SME, so do you need the sort of comprehensive cyber security strategy that we would see in a major corporate? No, but it should still cover off the major points and should continue to be reviewed alongside things like your Health and Safety policy and other industry standards that are required to be reviewed for you to stay in business, usually annually.
You need to be thinking about the key components needed to effectively protect an organisation’s digital assets and data. These components may include:
1. Risk assessment: Assessing potential cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities to identify areas of weakness and prioritise areas for improvement.
2. Security policies and procedures: Establishing clear and enforceable policies and procedures for data protection, access control, incident response, and other security-related activities.
3. Employee training: Providing ongoing training and education to employees on cyber security best practices, such as password management, phishing awareness, and safe browsing habits.
5. Incident response plan: Developing a detailed incident response plan that outlines the steps to be taken in the event of a security breach or cyber-attack, including communication protocols, containment measures, and recovery strategies.
6. Regular audits and testing: Conducting regular security audits and penetration testing to assess the effectiveness of existing security measures and identify any vulnerabilities that need to be addressed.
7. Collaboration with external partners: Establishing a partnership with cyber security company that understands the issues that affect SMEs and who themselves can establish a solid working relationship with the IT provider that is providing and administering your network and IT resources, will enhance your protections, significantly improve your employee and managerial awareness of the issues, and provide you with the peace of mind you need, allowing you to concentrate on your core business.
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