The recent cyberattack on NATO’s Special Operations Headquarters, which disrupted aid efforts to the victims of the Turkish-Syrian earthquake, shows that cybercriminals don’t discriminate. Monica Oravcova, the COO and Co-Founder of Naoris Protocol, warns that this type of “Computer as a Target” cybercrime used to be rare and required a high level of expertise and cooperation, but cybercriminals are now collaborating to set up organisations and infrastructures that have all the hallmarks of legitimate companies.
On the other hand, “Computer as a Tool” cybercrime is more prevalent because it requires less advanced skills, relying instead on human error or ignorance to exploit a device or network. Cybercrime syndicates are selling Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) tools to hackers, and it’s estimated that a ransomware attack occurs every 39 seconds, with an alarming increase in password attacks.
Despite the growing risks of cybercrime, traditional cybersecurity is failing because of fundamental issues included the exponential increase in ransomware, the hasty shift to remote working, and a skills gap due to budget cuts and staff reductions enforced during the pandemic. These issues played right into the hands of cybercriminals, and it’s getting harder to beat them.
Innovation in cybercrime technology is as, if not more, robust than cybercrime prevention technology. Cybercriminals have significant funding, knowledge, time, and incentive to sharpen their skills, and there’s no shortage of targets. While payouts for ransomware have slightly reduced, data breaches are the new enemy, and they’re still very profitable for cybercriminals.
In an increasingly networked and decentralised world, current cybersecurity solutions are no match for cybercriminals. Even the newly proposed cybersecurity mesh architecture (CMSA) championed by Gartner isn’t enough. Cybersecurity is currently centralised, operating from opaque systems that can’t be audited, and every new device added to a network becomes a single point of risk to the network it serves. Hackers use these weaknesses to launch their malware through phishing and smishing attacks, making companies vulnerable.
Decentralised security is becoming increasingly urgent and will cost an estimated $256B in global ransomware damage alone by 2031. In a decentralised cybersecurity environment, each device becomes a cyber-trusted validator node that monitors every other device in real-time, removing traditional points of failure. It monitors the system’s metadata, OS levels, and Smart contracts if web3 and can alert instantly when a hacker interferes with the code, rejecting the device from the network and preventing infrastructure compromise.
Detection of risks and governance lapses in complex environments or networks should happen in seconds, not months, which is currently the case. The current average life cycle of a breach is 287 days, with the initial breach detection taking up to 212 days, and 75 days to secure it. Since technology is still trying to understand web3 and catch up with web2, there will be an increase in attacks. Still, education is a vital investment, and all employees and individuals need to be trained to combat cybercrime.
Naoris Protocol is a decentralised cybersecurity mesh for the hyper-connected world that makes networks safer as they grow, not weaker, by turning each connected device into a trusted validator node. It’s a robust blockchain protocol every company can use to protect against escalating cyber threats, with devices rewarded for trusted behaviour and fostering a secure environment. Participants earn $CYBER staking rewards, and each company creates networks of networks that strengthen and secure the Decentralised Cyberecure Mesh. Monica Oravcova is passionate about women in deep tech and has 15+ years of experience in IT and cybersecurity for Telco, finance, and manufacturing, leading operations and executive teams for FTSE 100 clients.