Data Manipulation: The Next Level of Cyberattacks
… a cybersecurity incident in order to deflect blame onto an innocent party, inserting a back door into the code of a cryptographic algorithm to induce a supply chain attack during the next release cycle,” says Alex Costas, software engineer at Schellman & Company, a global independent security and privacy compliance assessor.
“Or, simply changing the data underlying financial institutions behaviors towards their customers in order to topple a segment of people who were otherwise doing relatively well into the cycle of foreclosure and bankruptcy — which would likely precipitate a recession if it reaches a large enough audience.”
Indeed, the most likely culprits behind such long-term attacks have drawn intense interest from militaries around the world.
“Campaigns involving data manipulation can take months or years to play out and could be part of a broader cyber sabotage effort,” says Jonathan Reiber, head of cybersecurity strategy at Illumio, and former Pentagon chief strategy officer for cyber policy.
“Given the lack of financial incentive, coupled with the opportunity to cause widespread disruption or panic, nation states and terrorist groups are the most likely actors in data manipulation attacks. That’s why the military and intelligence services take them so seriously.”
How to Spot and Stop Data Manipulation Attacks
Just as with other forms of cyberattacks, there is no panacea and there likely won’t be. That’s because threats keep evolving and attacks increase in the level of sophistication. But that doesn’t mean the fight to defend companies, governments and individuals from such attacks are fruitless.
Today there are several efforts underway to spot and stop these types of attack and to restore trust in data again. Not all of them are pureplay cybersecurity tools, such as blockchain, but nonetheless could conceivably be a smart addition to security’s arsenal.
As to cybersecurity tools, here is what the experts had to say about what’s available now and what’s coming available soon.
Old tools still work. “Have modern security infrastructure in place. Encrypted data, secure connections, strong credential management, logs with verifiable integrity whether locally using hash chaining or globally using a blockchain. In the future look forward to homomorphic encryption, AI/ML and quantum cryptography revolutionizing this space,” says Schellman & Company’s Costas.
“The only difference between causing havoc with stolen versus modified data is that the modified data can potentially be detected using conventional or AI/ML supported pattern analysis. These kinds of techniques are already employed to detect malware, irregular network activity, determine hacker identity and so forth,” Costas added.
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