Dreamlab Technologies presents to you our brand new ‘Cyber Insights’ newsletter – an expert analysis of the latest developments in the cyber domain across the globe. The cyber world is a world full of opportunities, but unfortunately faces new and emerging threats every day. This newsletter contains insights and trends in cybersecurity and emerging technologies that will help you stay informed regarding the threats and challenges in today’s rapidly evolving digital world. It also comes with a brief analysis of the cybersecurity events from a geo-political perspective. In the evolving geo-political dynamics today, cyber-security is increasingly being prioritised by countries worldwide. Stronger cyber defence capabilities, higher investments in cybersecurity budgets and facilitating cyber policy dialogues are some of the new trends observed in the global geo-politics. The concise content in this paper provides a glimpse into this global scenario concerning the cyberspace. It is easy to read and can help promote awareness regarding best cybersecurity practices and safeguard our digital lives.
Inside this issue:
- Florida and other water utilities in the US hit by cyberattack
- Japan and ASEAN collaborate on cybersecurity and AI
- Trafficking fueled cyber fraud, a globalized crime: Interpol
- UK and allies call out Russia for attempted cyber interference in politics
- AFP urges Australians to report ransomware attacks to law enforcement
In this edition, we examine the rise in cybersecurity incidents on critical infrastructure across the US, on the water and wastewater systems sector. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released an advisory mentioning the exploitation of a specific tool used by many organisations in the water sector which led to the incidents. Various cybersecurity weaknesses including poor password security and public exposure of the devices to the internet due to the remote nature of their control and monitoring operations, were responsible for the attacks.
As critical infrastructure continues to be a prime target for cyber-attacks worldwide, it once again stresses the need to adopt strong cybersecurity measures to protect and continuously check for security flaws in these systems. Spanning Asia, we explore the draft plan on a collaborative initiative between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to enhance cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The plan was drafted following the commemorative summit that marked the 50th year of ASEAN-Japan friendship and cooperation.
In the global scene, Interpol in a first of its kind operation targeting the ‘human-trafficking fuelled cyber fraud’ phenomenon, revealed how the crime trend has become globalised, expanding from its origins in Southeast Asia to as far as Latin America. The operation saw participation of law enforcement from more than 20 countries, leading to busting hundreds of trafficking and smuggling hotspots linked to cybercrimes, across Asia and other regions and opening of newer investigations.
In Europe, the UK government and allies accused Russia’s Intelligence Services to have been linked with cyber espionage operations, targeting the UK. A hacker group called ‘Star Blizzard’ has been using malicious cyber operations for around a year, targeting parliamentarians, journalists, the public sector and other key participants in the UK democracy, with the intent to malign the democratic process and interfere with the UK politics. ‘Spear phishing’, a cyber-attack targeting specific individuals to trick them into divulging sensitive information or downloading malware, has been the cyber tactic used by the hacker group.
And across Oceania, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) has urged victims of ransomware attacks to report ransomware incidents to law enforcement authorities following a research by IBM which revealed that victims who reported such incidents benefitted both in significant time and costs. The rise of ransomware incidents has unfortunately become widespread with increased digitisation and law agencies have significant powers to deal with the perpetrators, which is why involving them is a well recommended step.