The Value of Cyber Resilience in Data Protection

With the fast expansion of various cyber-attacks, developing a cyber resilience strategy is more critical than ever. "Cyber dangers like ransomware, which made its first appearance in 1989 and has been on security teams and law enforcement's radar for the past seven or eight years, are not fads," I said in my previous blog, "Cyber Resiliency 101: Required Learning for All." It's not going anywhere." Ransomware has changed significantly since its debut and will continue to advance, which means its evil goals will improve. It is becoming more sophisticated and dangerous and will only worsen. However, ransomware is not the only cybersecurity threat that businesses must be aware of; there has been an upsurge in the use of wiperware in 2022.

What is Ransomware?

Ransomware is an assault in which a bad actor infiltrates a corporate, government, or personal network and encrypts any data, rendering the user unable to access the data. The bad actor might then demand a ransom or payment to unlock or decode the data and restore it to its original condition. On the other hand, paying the ransom does not necessarily ensure that the data will be decrypted.

What Exactly is Wiperware?

Wiperware is used to delete/overwrite/remove data from a victim in a wiper attack. Wiper assaults, in contrast to usual cyber-attacks, are destructive and do not entail a commercial motive. However, the wiper virus might be employed to hide the evidence of data theft. Wiperware has been employed in Ukraine and given the current situation of the globe, whether state-sponsored or by people (who can readily access the code), it is not unreasonable to expect an increase in the usage of wiperware in other areas or nations. 

Cybersecurity and Cyber Resiliency

Wiperware and ransomware both pose a severe threat to cybersecurity and cyber resilience. But what precisely are cybersecurity and cyber resilience? How are they linked? And how do they differ? Fundamentally, cybersecurity is how an organization safeguards its information and assets against any external threat or cyberattack. This involves hardening structures/systems and lowering vulnerabilities to reduce the possibility of a cyber breach. Cyber resilience is an extension of cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is mostly preventive, as in "Let's lock all the doors to keep any evil actors out." On the other hand, the goal of cyber resilience is to triumph in the face of a cyber breach — as in, "It's quite probable that we will be breached." We must plan and prepare now to maintain operations in the event of a breach."

Cyber resilience is a "Plan B" for when attackers prevail and become invaders. The goals of cyber resilience are twofold: to secure critical data and provide the capacity to recover to continue regular company activities swiftly. Any celebrity or high-profile VIP understands the distinction between security and resilience measures. A VIP does not reside in an ordinary suburban house with minimal protection or resilience. Layers of protection surround their properties, including perimeter walls/gates, video monitoring, an entry gate with a security officer, security workers with canines roaming the premises, alarms on windows and doors, and so on. But that's not all; they also have a "Plan B" in the shape of resilience measures! When all security measures fail and an attacker breaks into a VIP's house, the VIP can retreat or escape into a "panic room" or "safe room."

Cyber Resiliency in Protecting Your Data

With malware/ransomware/wiperware evolving, growing more sophisticated and destructive, corporations must follow the lead of VIPs and construct "safe rooms" for their Very Important Data (VID).