Cybersecurity has become a top priority for governments, businesses and critical infrastructure operators, especially since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which has been marked by sophisticated cyber attacks.

Cyberattacks on governmental websites were seen more recently in Taiwan when it experienced intermittent outages just before US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in the country earlier this month amid sharp warnings from China before the visit. But cyberattacks do not just target state websites, they also hit critical infrastructure and even healthcare providers as well as small businesses.

Russia exploits grey space

The first is due to Russia’s increased cyber attacks on Ukraine and other countries, which have been ongoing for several “years and are called “grey space operations”.

“We saw a significant increase in cyberattacks in the last three years, particularly as we were putting sanctions and pressure on Russia. Russia is exploiting the grey space,” said Jonathan Reiber, who is now Vice President of Cybersecurity and Policy at the security platform AttackIQ, warning that companies and governments should prepare especially for that.

Another reason for the growing number of cyberattacks, said Reiber, is because there has been a massive increase in the commodification of ransomware as a service, meaning it is a lot easier for criminals to conduct ransomware attacks that are more highly effective.

So how can governments and companies protect themselves?

With regards to governments, Reiber advises them to prepare for contingencies with countries that could conduct a significant attack against their infrastructure.

How to prepare against cyberattacks

Reiber said to build a strong cyber defence, you should not focus on the technology but start with “a certain kind of mindset, you have to assume that you're going to be breached in cyberspace”.

The next step is to then secure the most essential data and then have the right team to help build a cyber defence system and strategy.

After that, he said you must rigorously and constantly test your cybersecurity software to ensure it works. “The analogy I. like to use is like if you build the best navy in the world and you let it sit in port and you never took it out over a year how would you expect it to perform? That's essentially the state of cybersecurity,” he said.

To avert that situation, Reiber said the key is to invest in your cyber team, prepare the technologies, develop a strategy and test it yourself

Available at: https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/08/11/cyberattacksare-reshaping-modern-warfare-how-can-countries-and-companiesprotect-themselv (Adapted)

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