The Key To Survival Is Preparation
Last week, Blackpanda came together with Razer to discuss the various facets of having a future-ready response capability.
The discussion focused on Gene’s military background and how this influences Blackpanda’s approach to cyber security.
Here is an overview of the key items that were discussed.
Cyber Security Is Just Another Terrain
To start with, Blackpanda’s CEO and co-founder Gene Yu discussed how cyber security and physical security are two sides of the same coin, and the impact that his military background has on shaping his understanding of this.
“Everything in cyber has a physical safety or security equivalent”, he stated.
“So I always like to try to explain cyber concepts to its physical analogies, because I think it becomes very clear when you look at it that way”. The same security issues that we experienced in the ‘real’ or ‘physical’ world–bombings, shootings, kidnappings, supply cuts and so on–exists in the digital world under a different name.
A great example of this is ransomware, the digital equivalent of kidnap and extortion, which Gene has dealt with many times in his military years.
“One of my favorite comparisons is that preparing for cyber is like preparing for a fire, which can be maliciously executed against you in an arson attack or it can be an accident”. Someone may come into your house and set it on fire, or you might have just left the hob unattended. Either way, you are going to need a fire extinguisher on hand and a fire station nearby to come and put the fire out.
Blackpanda does the same thing, just in cyberspace. We come in when a cyber incident is taking place and we eradicate it. We like to call ourselves cyber firefighters for this reason.
The Key To Survival Is Preparation
“There's a sign that's kind of burned in my memory”, he said, “which is at the entrance of the US Army survival school”. The sign in question is a plaque that states “The key to survival is preparation”.
Gene talked about how this motto has stayed very close to his heart throughout the years, and has become a core part of what Blackpanda does, in setting out Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and incident response playbooks, that set out the strategy to take when the unthinkable happens.
This also happens with incident response tabletop exercises. Similar to fire drills, they serve to rehearse the order of actions that each person must carry out in case of an attack, and ensure that the incident is dealt with smoothly, swiftly and safely.
Cyber Security Should Be Seen In A People-Centric Way
One of the greatest misunderstandings about cyber is that cyber security is an IT problem. It's a security one. It is not a computer that is hacking you. It is a person, a criminal, a terrorist, or someone who wants to harm you. This is very important to understand insider threat and how, for example, the cyber security team needs to work closely with human resources, as an internal attack is just as likely and potentially more damaging than an external one
Or again with regards to attack timing, hackers know that companies will be less prepared for an attack on a weekday or holiday, so they choose their timing wisely to catch the opponent with their defenses down.
Blackpanda and the US Secret Service
Blackpanda is the lead private sector partner for the United States secret services for cyber financial crime investigation.
The US Secret Service is specialized in protecting the US President and other dignitaries, and to oversee and investigate any issues with the US dollar.
Through that partnership, Blackpanda has been able to build relationships to support the Singapore and the Hong Kong Police, as well as the National Police Agency in Japan. Law enforcement is a big part of combating cybercrime, and public and private partnerships are important to be established.
Gene spoke about how he sees this as a transition period, and that in the future cyber incident response will become a public service provided by the government–similar to policing or firefighting.
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Blackpanda is Asia’s premier digital forensics and incident response firm, and partners with best-in-class service providers to handle a cyber crisis from a holistic perspective.
With our compromise assessments, we help organizations comply with local regulations and prevent large-scale attacks, and by establishing a relationship with us, your company can get access to Asia’s first and best cyber incident response focused team. Contact us today to learn more.
