Winning the war in cyberspace

A trawl through the latest news on the subject of cyber security throws up a whole host of troubling headlines: ‘Orangeworm’ cyber-attack group targets health sector; Lack of cyber security funding and expertise threatens infrastructure; A serious cyber attack on Britain is a matter of ‘if’, not ‘when’; Professor sounds alarm over cyber security brain drain; No business safe from cyber attack, says KPMG; NHS accused of alarming failure to tackle cyber security… the list goes on.

Indeed, the UK government is so concerned about the issue of cyber security that it plans to set up a £13.5 million cyber security facility – the London Cyber Innovation Centre. Based at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, East London and set to open in June, it will bring together industry, researchers and investors to identify new security challenges and develop start-ups to help address them.

In the meantime, though, most businesses are dazed and confused about the whole subject. Type ‘cyber security’ into Google and you are faced with a mind-numbing nine million responses. The subject clearly provokes a great deal of attention. But how do you navigate your way through this baffling jungle of information?

Capula offers several clear routes to a greater understanding of the issue. It has, for example, published ‘Handling the human factor in Industrial Cyber-Security’, a White Paper that outlines six simple steps to create an effective cyber security strategy.

But the company doesn’t stop there with its mission to educate. It also provides a mass of other literature containing help and advice to thwart a cyber-attack on industrial control systems.

Furthermore, it can deliver a range of off-the-shelf packages including business maturity audits, external foot printing exercises, interactive IT security tests, penetration testing, offline patch management, and other services designed to tighten your grip on your industrial control systems. There are a number of proactive services designed to highlight issues before a breach has taken place such as a ‘dark web’ assessments, proactive alerting and ongoing phishing campaigns. Testing staff knowledge on thwarting phishing emails an ongoing basis helps protect your business by creating a human firewall. The ability to receive early alerts to critical business data that may be traded on the dark web about your origination is like a perimeter burglar alarm.

Technological advances have brought new risks to entities that operate IT systems as they become targets for malicious attacks – from amateur hackers to organised criminal groups or even state-sponsored organisations. Greater connectivity also means more possible access points for those attackers.

Addressing vulnerabilities before they have a major business impact and building resilient industrial control systems is something that all enlightened and progressive businesses do.

But they can’t do it alone. Capula has been delivering ‘secure by design’ solutions for several decades so it has the experience and expertise to help. Find out more here.