Big Data. It’s one of those terms that was way overused and therefore simultaneously became an easily recognizable term, as well as something that, while critically important, was talked about so much that it became easy to ignore.
The good and the bad is that not everyone suffered from this fatigue – especially the hackers.
According to Fortinet’s 2024 State of Operational Technology and Cybersecurity Report, 43 percent of those surveyed reported a loss of business critical data or intellectual property so far in 2024– a number this is up nearly 10 percent from last year.
And we all know what happens with this hijacked data.
Per the World Economic Forum’s May 2024 white paper, the number of ransomware attacks on industrial infrastructure doubled in 2023, boosting ransomware to the leading concern for manufacturers, with 40 percent citing it as their top issue. While that may not surprise you, this might – due to the many challenges we’ve discussed here on Security Breach, the industrial sector now accounts for 71 percent of all ransomware attacks.
Our data is valuable and the hackers know it.
To offer some perspective on protecting this data, we sat down with Karthik Krishnan, CEO of Concentric.ai – a leading provider of data security posture management solutions. Watch/listen as he provides insight on:
- Prioritizing and limiting data access to lessen the blast radius.
- How data, especially customer data, is essentially the “new oil.”
- Reversing your mindset to think about “data out” instead of “user in”.
- The generative AI advancements that continue to be made, and how they’re producing more complex phishing and ransomware attacks.
- Why it has become easier for hackers to get a foothold on your network.
- The best ways to shore up your weakest security link – employees.
- How it all starts with data discovery and visualization, then prioritization.
- A look at the money involved with remediation and response costs versus proper planning and defense prep.
To catch up on past episodes, you can go to Manufacturing.net, IEN.com or MBTmag.com. You can also check Security Breach out wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple, Amazon and Overcast. And if you have a cybersecurity story or topic that you’d like to have us explore on Security Breach, you can reach me at [email protected].
To download our latest report on industrial cybersecurity, The Industrial Sector’s New Battlefield, click here.