Technology and law enforcement experts gathered Thursday in Schenectady to discuss cybersecurity issues that threaten businesses, governments and schools.
IT provider LogicalNet hosted an event billed as "the first Capital Region Cybersecurity Symposium" at Water's Edge Lighthouse in Schenectady during Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
LogicalNet President and CEO Tush Nikollaj says as internet-based software is becoming the norm, the convenience of the cloud warrants heightened awareness of computer security issues.
“It used to be you know, you have a virus, you know, program or anti-virus program or anti-malware program that will protect you from these viruses, but now, it's become even more real time, where not only do you need the next generation protection from these viruses and the ability to stop these, but you also need artificial intelligence to sort through the traffic of what's going on and determine whether or not this is an anomaly or, there's a there's a potential threat here," said Nikollaj. "And then you need the human intervention where, you know, you have, you know, security analysts 24 by seven watching this, you know, watching anomalies in traffic and determining, with AI technology, is this something that we should be concerned about?”
The symposium included discussions and presentations about the latest cybersecurity issues including compliance management, managed security services, preventing the newest ransomware attacks and the accompanying technical extortion.
George "Buddy" Hickman is Chief Strategy Officer at First Health Advisory, which secures digital data in healthcare.
“Clearly, to many of us, the threat of those things that we see happening across the internet, into our businesses, regardless of industry segments, and even into our homes, are threats that we need to continue to raise awareness about," said Hickman. "In fact, that is the heart of why we did the symposium. We wanted to continue that awareness, we wanted to bring together groups of professionals from various industry segments that are in roles that are about combating the problem, and have a sharing time so that folks could take that back into their businesses here in the region, and continue that sharing across their workforce members, their executive suite boardrooms, and even into the community.”
Tyler Wrightson with Leet Cyber Security says hackers have been hacking for decades, and it has become very costly for organizations to prevent system intrusions.
“Frankly, it's just a numbers game, and, you know, hackers with technology that can target really indiscriminately, they can target virtually any company connected to the internet," Wrightson said. "And so many of these things tend to be essentially crimes of opportunity where, you know, they're just, checking in, literally, many, many times daily to see if there's any relevant vulnerabilities at the organizations. And then, you know, whatever level of access they can, they can obtain, they're going to utilize that to try to cash out.”
A 2022 Ransomware Trends report notes that a third of organizations that paid ransom still could not recover data lost due to hacking.
A data breach in December 2019 hit Community Care Physicians and impacted many of the 370,000 patients it serves. Other area ransomware victims include the University at Albany (which was threatenedbut never breached) , the Town of Colonie, Albany International Airport and the city of Albany.
Hickman says cybersecurity threats appear in many different forms.
“I'll speak to my view from a healthcare industry perspective. In the healthcare industry, the top five threats, continue to be email phishing attacks, ransomware attacks, loss or theft of equipment or data, internal accidental and intentional data loss and attacks against connected medical devices that may affect patient safety in some way,” Hickman said.
Hickman says higher end technologies are continuously evolving, moving IT operators toward employing the latest stealth encryption.
“Oftentimes, blockchain technology is a part of that encryption, so that data is immutably secure, whether it's in backup form, or whether it's in a form of that data being immune to movement," said Hickman. "That sort of technology holds great promise for us. But it's not significantly prevalent as of yet.”
Hickman adds top priorities include identifying potential vulnerabilities that could be compromised while putting safeguards in place to deter system intruders.
Symposium attendees learned to be more aware of the security issues surrounding the convenience of being on the cloud as more devices connect through the internet, and to hold back cyber threats by employing strong passwords and two-factor authentication, which can deter hacks.
