Source “Inception,” Warner Bros
“Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it’s almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully formed – fully understood – that sticks; right in there somewhere. “Cobb, “Inception,” Warner Bros, 2010
You have to feel sorry for kids today – O.K., not ours, but kids in general.
When we were growing up in a small (we mean small) town in the Midwest we walked about a half mile to school – uphill both ways – by ourselves.
Later, it was a bike ride that quickly became a small motorcycle and finally a car.
Didn’t need a license – small community remember – everyone knew everyone, and “they” knew which of us would get in trouble and it was cool as long as you didn’t really destroy any property and got home by dinner.
If parents asked where you’d been all day, they really wanted to know because they didn’t have a clue what you did, where you went, who you were with and what trouble you got into.
Our kids were driven to school, played in the courtyard or backyard. The home cameras track them.
Now that they’re older and venture further, they’re tracked by tapping into their phones or texting (no one calls anymore) and we know who they’re with, where they are.
Growing Presence – To protect their homes and offices, individuals and organizations have increasingly installed cameras to identify wrongdoers but they can also be used for other purposes.
The same holds true for adults.
Sure, it depends on where you live; but the average American is captured at least 90 times a day by one of the more than 80M security cameras installed around the country.
Source – Warner Bros
If there is an accident, scuffle, argument or worse, smartphone cameras come out to capture all of the embarrassment or incident. Camera first, assistance … later.
At the same time, your tracking device (smartphone) and apps keep track of where you are, where you’ve been and where you’re going. It captures, analyzes, dissects and stores data on your activity, communications and…
We’re so fortunate we don’t live in a totalitarian country where people are tracked and monitored 24×7.
Differences – People living in totalitarian countries know they and their devices are constantly tracked and monitored as a matter of control. Cameras and data monitoring are also increasing in other countries for individual protection and improving marketing/service activities.
Cameras and device data serves a different purpose – catch the person who jumps the subway/BART fare gate, runs the stop sign or does something illegal … they’re for your protection.
Data Exchange – Gen Alphas are online an average of 4.8 hrs/day exchanging information and visiting social media sites that continually gather data that they say will help them do a better job of serving you.
And all that computer/smartphone data helps marketers understand how to serve you better – sell you stuff – and protect you just in case.
Sure, our daughter likes to brag that she uses nothing but Apple devices – Mac, iPhone, etc. – because the company swears it doesn’t share your data and has even resisted official challenges to open locked devices.
Before the Crime – Legal agencies aggressively pursue cyber attacks after they occur but they also stress that the use of preventative processes/procedures should be followed to prevent personal and company data losses.
All we know is if they ever wasted time going through any of our devices or cloud data … gawd, would they be bored!
The same is probably true of 80 percent of most folks’ device data … not really valuable or even interesting but it’s none of anyone else’s **** business.
The other 20 percent of your data is of interest to advertisers and grey (petty thieves)/black hat (serious crooks) folks who want to “borrow” your data to make big bucks.
Touch Points – People have different priorities on the type of cyber protection/security they want to use. Healthy caution and skepticism are the best tools at your disposal.
That’s the data people spend time, money and effort attempting to protect.
But it’s tough.
First of all, your software and apps are built on top of old – really old – code that keeps getting patched, enhanced and enriched; but any cybercrook worth his/her salt knows where the holes are.
Fortunately, there’s a new breed of AI security tools that are designed to protect you 24×7.
Standing Guard – Computer/device security systems are designed to not only protect your systems/devices from outside dangers but also to protect users from themselves and careless user mistakes.
The new security intelligence is super but that same super intelligence is also available to the folks who make their living using your data to benefit them.
So, you just sorta hope your AI security tools are better than their AI security tapping tools because hey, you’ve got important stuff to do.
Source – Disney
At the same time, your computing/communication devices don’t serve much of a purpose if they don’t compute/communicate.
After all, your work and leisure life depend on working with people inside and outside your organization and you’re constantly sharing data with organizations like insurance/healthcare institutions, retailers, banks, airlines/travel destinations, online/instore retailers, utilities and; lest we forget, your phone company.
Maybe – We all know that online services need your information to do a better job for you; but we also know that data is also used for “other” activities.
They need your data so they can do a better job of serving/supporting you.
And you’re pretty sure they have pretty good AI-enabled cybersecurity systems in place – as long as you don’t think about it too much.
But just in case, you load up on all of the new AI-enabled security and data protection tools … just in case.
Oh yeah, we almost overlooked the most important stuff you use regularly that is absolutely vital to your life – your social media sites.
Source – Warber Bros
You know, all those places you constantly check, see and be seen in like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, WhatsApp, YouTube, WeChat and oh yeah … X.
We know you aren’t checking and posting to them very often during the day but your kids … they’re camped out there an average of 4.8 hrs. a day according to Statista.
Imagine the size of their online data footprint.
Sure, the social media sites have some of the best white hat security folks (white hats) money can buy; but they focus on protecting the data they get from users but they are also a great place for cybercriminals to set up camp to use legitimate tools for malicious purposes such as credential theft, reconnaissance, remote access, malware deployment and data exfiltration.
All that work is not without its rewards.
According to Cybersecurity Ventures, cybercrime is projected to cost people and organizations an estimated $6T this year. Next year, it’s estimated to grow to $10.5T.
New Techniques – Good and bad folks attend conferences and conventions around the globe to stay abreast of the latest advances in cybersecurity
It’s such a big business it has its own set of conventions – Las Vegas, Riyadh, London, etc. – as well as a steady stream of events around the globe on how organizations (large/small, white/black hats) can keep pace with the latest advances.
In addition to companies selling security products/services, companies attend to learn how they can get the latest stuff available to protect themselves as well as send folks to sit in on industry/company presentations to make certain they’re ready for tomorrow.
Oh yes, don’t forget the steady stream of training activities to make certain guys/gals know where the weaknesses are in online activities and what the new AI stuff will do and learn.
Yeah, they’re all there – white hats (good guys), black hats (bad guys), grey hats (highest bidder) to learn the latest – weak points in operating systems and applications, latest software advances and how they can teach/train AI to do all the hard work for them.
Growing – The number and size of cybercrimes is growing rapidly and becoming increasingly expensive and disruptive. Investment in and explicit use of AI-enabled cyber protection tools and procedures needs to be everyone’s business.
We know, the number, size and dollar value of the hacks and breaches look the bad guys (and gals) are doing a better job than the security teams, but they have help … lots of help.
Okay, maybe not you but there are people inside and outside the organization who visit places on the web they shouldn’t, respond to queries that sound too good to be true or folks who simply know how to get things done better, faster than what’s been tested/proven.
Then they are free to spend their time doing important stuff like watching neat/fun/funny videos, spreading hurtful/personal information about others or keeping abreast of – and perpetuating – fake news and dumb ideas.
According to Ponemon Institute, 55 percent of the cyber incidents aren’t because the black hat was so brilliant and creative in their criminal practice but because of an individual’s negligence, mistakes or naivete.
Of course, that gives the cybercriminal the in she/he has been looking for.
Simple Moves – System/device users have things to do and it’s pretty easy to get distracted by “bright shiny objects” and that’s the only thing bad actors need to steal user credentials … and use them.
Access to the individual’s system/device allows them to use the user’s credentials – and their AI hacking, whacking, tracking tools – to move freely throughout the organization’s network as well as third-party vendors systems and networks.
According to the latest Identity Theft Resource Center, the leading ways black hatters penetrate organizations are:
- 20.5 percent phishing/smishing/BEC (business email compromise)
- 15.4 percent ransomware (37 percent ultimately paid average of $5.13M)
- 28.9 percent malware
- 24.6 percent zero-day attacks
- 11.2 percent credential stuffing
- 8.5 percent non-secured cloud environment (backdoor, sideload, webshell)
- The rest were “others” or no response
The challenge is that currently one AI technology has about 50 percent market share, making it easier for cybercriminals to develop tools and attack paths that target and address the specific AI technology’s strengths and weaknesses.
Meld those capabilities with the known “assistance” they can get with normal keyboard user errors, carelessness and negligence and it’s little wonder the number and size of data breaches continue to rise.
So, it would seem that the most effective AI-enabled cybersecurity tools are those that are proactive rather than reactive.
In other words, cybersecurity solutions that establish clear guidelines and procedures for day-to-day business activities and operations then monitors and protects users from themselves.
Additional cybersecurity tools can then monitor internal/external communications to block attacks before they occur.
Source – Warner Bros
We’re not an IT/AI/security guy, but we do know there are more hackers/smackers out there who only have one job to do and that’s to infiltrate individual systems and networks. They want to steal data or lock organizational data so it can’t be used until they are “reimbursed” for their work whether it happens with your personal computing/communications devices, home network or office systems.
It’s a lot like Cobb said in Inception, “An idea is like a virus, resilient, highly contagious. The smallest seed of an idea can grow. It can grow to define or destroy you.”
The technologies – including those that tout their AI features – aren’t perfect but testing, acquiring and installing those that work best with and for you will give you added assurance that you can focus on developing more creative work and protect it from cyberthieves.
Your cybersecurity processes and tools don’t have to be perfect.
If your AI-enabled cybersecurity solutions block them a few times, the cyberthief will probably move on to test the next person on their list because there’s always someone who will leave the front or back door open.
Remember, the bad guy’s/tools’ whole idea is to prove comedian Ron White was right, “You can’t fix stupid.”
It’s becoming a necessity because kids live in a totally different world than the one you and I grew up in.
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Andy Marken – andy@markencom.com – is an author of more than 800 articles on management, marketing, communications, industry trends in media & entertainment, consumer electronics, software, and applications. An internationally recognized marketing/communications consultant with a broad range of technical and industry expertise especially in storage, storage management and film/video production fields; he has an extended range of relationships with business, industry trade press, online media, and industry analysts/consultants.
