Tag Archive for: Transformation
3 Threats to Digital Transformation
Weaponized AI, Automated Hacking and Deepfakes: 3 Threats to Digital Transformation
by Madhurjya Chowdhury
July 19, 2021
Here are the three threats to digital transformation
Digital transformation is exponentially increasing the possible attack surface, creating new possibilities for the cyber-criminal sector. In addition to their ever-expanding arsenal of malicious software and zero-day risks, new technologies such as automated hacking, deepfakes, and weaponized AI are being contributed to their arsenal.
Let’s dive into the article to learn how these tools are a threat to the world today.
Automated Hacking
What are the practical applications of automated hacking, and how can they influence your business? Hackers use programs like Shodan to compile a comprehensive list of internet-connected devices, including web servers, surveillance cameras, webcams, and printers.
In Sweden, for example, automated hacking tools were used to find public cameras near a harbor. They could watch and detect submarines coming in and out of the port using that imagery. They could figure out how long the ships had been on the move, their range, and where they might have gone. This does not necessitate a team of IT experts and may be completed by anyone.
Even if your company doesn’t rent submarines, it’s probable to have security cameras and networked printers at the front door. These gadgets may be identified and accessed from a distance. Who enters your workplace or meets with you is none of their concern; that data belongs to you?
Cyber-attacks are progressively targeting specific persons, as previously stated. This is referred to as spear phishing. Instead of just expecting that unwitting recipients will click on the phishing mail, cybercriminals are increasingly attempting to persuade their victims to send money. To mimic a third party or a corporate executive, fake accounts, email accounts, websites, and branding and communication styles are created. It’s also known as “whaling” when a high-ranking CxO is targeted.
The first stage for cyber-criminals in creating a convincing message is reconnaissance. What clients does the target company have, how many workers does it have, do they…
Cyber Security Playing Greater Role In Energy Companies’ Digital Transformation
As U.S. oil and gas operations and electric power systems increasingly turn to digital, cloud-based solutions to help operate their oilfields and generation plants, executives are becoming increasingly concerned about the need for cybersecurity to harden their defenses against hackers and bad actors seeking to damage or even shut down those systems.
A rash of recent cyber security breaches highlights the vulnerability of even the country’s most critical systems to cyber mischief. In the SolarWinds scandal uncovered last year, officials uncovered cyberattacks that had taken place against numerous U.S. government agencies and thousands of public and private-sector entities around the world.
More recently, in February the operator of a water-treatment plant in west-central Florida uncovered a potentially dangerous intrusion that had occurred on the plant’s computer system. The hacker or hackers set the levels of sodium hydroxide, a potentially dangerous chemical, to increase by more than 100 times the normal levels. The operator returned the chemical levels to their correct proportions and avoided a potential health disaster.
A recent report by MIT Technology Review, prepared in partnership with Siemens Energy finds that the digital transformation that the oil and gas industry is currently undergoing has brought with it both operational benefits as well as cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
Oil and gas companies are “collecting and analyzing data, connecting equipment to the internet of things and tapping cutting-edge technologies to improve planning and increase profits, as well as to detect and mitigate threats,” the report states. “At the same time, the industry’s collective digital transformation is widening the surface for cybercriminals to attack.”
Federal officials also are beginning to recognize the need to bolster the cyber-security defenses of critical infrastructure. In the House’s new $312 billion infrastructure bill, supported by President Biden, about $3.5 billion has been earmarked for improving the cyber-security of the electric grid.
Such hardening of the grid’s defenses against cyber intrusion is desperately needed, according to Tom Siebel, the…
Abandoned South Lake Leisure Centre set to undergo multi-million dollar transformation this year
An abandoned eyesore which has fallen into a state of disrepair over a number of years is finally getting a much-needed overhaul to breathe life into it once more.
The abandoned South Lake Leisure Centre is set to begin its transformation from derelict building into a refurbished education facility this year, four years after its closure.
The run-down former recreation centre will be revamped into a $6.16m asset for the next door Lakeland Senior High School, with construction expected to be complete by early 2022.
After lying disused since 2017, the now-ramshackle facility has become a shell of its former self, with management of the site handed to the Department of Education.
Department of Education executive director of infrastructure John Fischer said the upgrades would begin in the second half of 2021 and would provide a boost to Lakeland’s students.
“The old pool hall will be demolished, roof repairs will be undertaken and the former leisure centre building will be redeveloped to give Lakeland Senior High School staff and students modern new facilities,” he said.
“These facilities will include a dance studio, multi-purpose arts room and staff study area allowing students to learn in an inspiring new space.”
A Department of Education spokesperson said the money would also cover refurbishment of the school’s existing performing arts spaces and student toilets.
City of Cockburn director of governance and community services Don Green said the City had offered to demolish the derelict building when it had closed in 2017 and they were desperate to see it revitalised due to concerns over its amenity.
Mr Green said the council’s mobile security service CoSafe has recently dealt with three instances of anti-social behaviour and one instance of drunken behaviour at the site, and the City had poured considerable money into the adjacent Lakelands Reserve precinct, including the new hockey and sports facility.
“This development has significantly improved the anti-social behaviour issues which…