Tag Archive for: Operations

UK’s offensive hacking force plans to scale operations to meet government’s demands

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The UK’s National Cyber Force (NCF) has revealed plans to scale operations amid rising demands from the government to ramp up offensive hacking capabilities.

In a report offering a unique insight into the NCF’s ongoing expansion, the offensive cyber force said it needs to “scale up to meet the requirements government has of it” and is rapidly expanding personnel and capabilities to meet current demand. 

The NCF is currently in the process of establishing a new permanent base of operations as Samlesbury in Lancashire, which it said will enable the force to “increase operational output”. 

Samlesbury, a 45-minute drive from GCHQ operations in Manchester, was selected as the site for the NCF headquarters in 2021.

As part of this expansion and recruitment drive, the NCF revealed that it plans to further invest in offensive hacking capabilities to contend with escalating global threats. 

The report said that “significant capability investment” will be required to “keep pace with the changing nature of technology” and mitigate increasingly sophisticated cyber threats currently faced by the UK. 

The NCF specifically highlighted rapid technological developments as a key operational challenge, noting that “fundamental changes to the future shape of the internet and globalisation of technology could raise significant complications”. 

“Our adversaries are global and use a wide array of cyber and digital technologies,” the report said. “We need to have the technical ability and readiness to reach these adversaries wherever they are and irrespective of how they are using cyber technology.”

Closer integration with defence partners, including GCHQ, the Ministry of Defence (MOD), and the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) will also be a key objective for the NCF moving forward.

The NCF noted that it must “integrate effectively with other parts of government and with a wider range of partners and allies”. 

This includes law enforcement, government policy departments, the private sector, and a “growing number of international allies”. 

“More broadly, we are working with the private sector, academia, think tanks, and wider civil society to harness the best…

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ISC West 2023: How Computer Vision Increases Security and Improves Facility Operations

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How the Port of Vancouver Used Computer Vision to Boost Efficiency

Enter real-time computer vision, a technology that adds machine learning processes to live and recorded video to produce metadata. The Port of Vancouver, using mainly its existing infrastructure of Axis security cameras plus AWS Panorama technology to perform the processing, was able use computer vision to add key metadata on containers in real time as they entered and moved through port facilities.

“It had been a very manual process in terms of how all this was being recorded and reported,” Trinh explained. Computer vision adds real-time metadata to the captured images, including each container’s identification number and its color, which often indicates what types of goods are inside the container.

The technology is helping the port develop a new class of insights on physical operations that will improve collaboration with shippers.

After applying computer vision, the Port of Vancouver was able to optimize its ground operations and expedite container inspections. According to Deloitte, which worked on the project at the port, “a bot predicts and sends alerts about berth allocation, container sequencing, and containers ready to return,” which allows port space to be used more efficiently and reduces the amount of time containers are held up.

DIG DEEPER: Discover how enhanced video surveillance provides better security.

Increased Efficiency With Computer Vision Cuts Expenses

The application of computer vision is also reducing costs by reducing inefficient and manual container examination processes. “Anything from missing paperwork and intensive exams can delay shipments from a few days to a month,” Deloitte notes. “Some require additional labor for unloading and reloading cargo. They interrupt traffic flow and ground operations and increase storage and labor costs.”

Trinh said the project in Vancouver is a good example of the kind of machine learning-enabled computer vision that will become more common as organizations take advantage of the real-time insights they can glean, both for security and operational purposes, from metadata extraction.

“Deep learning with computer vision is here,”…

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Sun Pharma says revenue may decline as operations hit due to ransomware attack

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India’s largest drug manufacturer Sun Pharma on March 26 said its revenue is expected to decline as the company’s operations have been affected due to a ransomware attack.

On March 2, the pharma major said an information technology security incident had occurred and impacted IT assets. A ransomware group was behind the attack, Sun Pharma said.

“The incident’s effect on the IT systems includes a breach of certain file systems and the theft of certain company data and personal data,” it said in a filing with the stock exchanges on late Sunday.

The Mumbai-based pharma company said it has isolated the network and initiated the recovery process as part of the containment measures.

“As a result of these measures, the company’s business operations have been impacted. Consequently, revenues are expected to be reduced in some of our businesses,” Sun Pharma said.

However, the company said it would incur expenses concerning the incident and the remediation.

Sun Pharma said it is unable to determine other potential adverse impacts of the incident, including but not limited to additional information security incidents, increased costs to maintain insurance coverage, the diversion of management and employee time, or the possibility of litigation.

Sun Pharma was up 0.44 per cent on Monday, trading at Rs 977 on BSE by 10 am.

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Ransomware Attack Against Barcelona Hospital Disrupts Operations

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A ransomware cyber-attack has targeted one of Barcelona’s leading hospitals, shutting down its computer system and forcing the cancellation of 150 non-urgent operations and up to 3000 patient checkups.

Reported Monday on Twitter, the attack against Hospital Clinic de Barcelona occurred on Sunday. At the time, the institution said it was working to determine the scope of the leak and restore systems.

A few hours after first reporting the incident, Hospital Clinic published a new post, saying 10% of visits for external consultations would be restored by today, alongside some non-urgent operations.

“We have recovered 10% of consultation activity and part of elective surgery,” the hospital confirmed today. “Patients able to be visited will receive a call to confirm their booking. Rescheduled visits will be announced soon.”

A Catalonia government statement (in Catalan) further explained the region’s cybersecurity agency was working to restore the hospital’s systems. The attack was attributed to the threat actors known as RansomHouse.

According to Avishai Avivi, CISO of security company SafeBreach, despite the few details about the attack, some information can be deduced from what was said by the Catalonian Cybersecurity Agency.

“This was a remote access attack – the spokesperson for the hospital [stated] the attack originated outside of Spain. This means that the malicious actors could breach the hospital network remotely,” Avivi explained.

“The malicious actors were able to spread laterally – considering that multiple locations were shut down (laboratories, emergency rooms, pharmacies and several external clinics). This suggests that the hospital’s networks were not properly segmented and segregated from each other.”

The security expert also discussed the alleged attribution of the attack, clarifying that RansomHouse typically does not encrypt the data but instead focuses on data exfiltration.

“This indicates that shutting down the computers was done to prevent further data exfiltration. This also suggests that Hospital Clinic de Barcelona does not have good egress security controls to prevent data leakage,” Avivi added.

“This conjecture…

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