Cyber security. The topic of how to adequately protect oneself from attacks by criminals who lurk in the worst nooks and crannies of the web has been very popular recently. However, it cannot be otherwise, since the number of said attacks is increasing year on year.
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At Automation Trader, we recognised the extent of the problem a long time ago. After all, our industry - the industrial automation sector, is quite vulnerable to all kinds of attacks. However, we did not aspire to be the smartest on the subject and decided to seek advice from those who know exactly what cyber security is.
Awareness is constantly growing
Ryszard Korzeniecki from Softinet, a company that deals with this subject on a daily basis, appeared in our humble studio and, although he noted that awareness of security is growing, the number of attacks is steadily increasing and nothing is likely to change in this regard.
- I have no doubt that the state is making sure that the level of security in the cyberspace sphere is adequate. In order to achieve it, first of all, we have to comply with the relevant security directives - Korzeniecki acknowledged, while pointing out those places where the most attention should be paid.
- This is, of course, critical infrastructure. Critical buildings, tunnels, water pipes, etc.These are all those strategic points on our map which, when annihilated or stopped, cause a great deal of confusion in the state.And such facilities are - although I would not like to use that word - obliged to do certain things and must secure themselves - he added.
Unfortunately, the number of attacks also
We can therefore be satisfied with the growing awareness of the threat, also at the state level. Here, objects and systems of absolutely strategic importance and key to the functioning of the entire country are involved. This fact, however, does not discourage criminals at all.According to the 'Global Threat Roundup' report by Forescount Research, there were 420 million attacks on global critical infrastructure last year alone. If we could illustrate this even more bluntly, just imagine that an attack of this kind occurred worldwide every... 13 seconds. Pretty impressive, right?
Compared to 2022, the number of attacks has increased by as much as 30 per cent. However, nothing has changed in terms of who is most often the victim of hackers. Here, the lead is obviously led by the United States, which, according to the report, was attacked by 168 different entities. Countries such as the United Kingdom (88), Germany (77), India (72) and Japan (66) come next in this not very commendable ranking.
At the other extreme are the countries from which these aforementioned attacks are presumed, namely China (155), Russia (88), and Iran (45). Coincidence?
Threatened areas
What is subject to attack? Critical infrastructure, of course, but also ordinary business, including industrial plants.- In my opinion, very simple arguments play their part here.Business is followed by money and this is the temptation to make a big and easy buck. This is the thinking of the people responsible for the attacks. Maybe they will succeed. Let's give it a try.Out of ten companies, two are bound to succumb. Easy money - said Ryszard Korzeniecki.
Easy money and big money - sounds good, but what scale are we really talking about? At this point, then, concrete figures should speak for themselves. - How much does such an attack cost on average? According to recent reports, we are talking about a value of between USD 1 and 1.2 million. As for those record ransoms, it was 30 million dollars in 2020 and just twelve months later it was 240 million dollars, he concluded.
Interestingly, up to 71% of all attacks are actually industrial automation installations. Another 28%, in turn, are power grids and building automation systems, for which a percentage of the total pool of attacks remained.
