Cyber Stuff is Complicated But People Are Trying Their Best

A Busy Month for Cyber Troubles – And Some Hopeful Signs

By Leo Parks

Well, folks, it’s been a pretty active month in the world of cybersecurity, and honestly, a little bit worrying. Seems like every time you turn around there’s a new threat popping up. I’ve been trying to keep up with it all, and wanted to share a quick rundown of what’s been happening, because, well, it feels like important stuff.

It feels like Artificial Intelligence is a big part of everything these days, and cybersecurity is no exception. On one hand, AI is being used to help defend against attacks – that's good! – but on the other, it’s making those attacks potentially a lot more sophisticated. Deepfakes, for example, are getting scary realistic and could be used in scams, and apparently hackers are starting to use AI to automate attacks, which…yikes. It's a bit of a double-edged sword, and everyone's talking about how to build trust in AI while also protecting ourselves.

We’ve also seen a lot of attention on supply chain attacks, specifically with something called npm. Apparently, it’s becoming more common for hackers to target those kinds of systems. It’s a complicated issue, but basically it means even if you have good security, your software could still be vulnerable if something in the supply chain is compromised.

There’s been some pretty serious news on the incident front too. Nissan Motor Corporation was listed on the dark web after a breach, and Chrysler also reportedly suffered an attack. A cancer center – I’m not sure which one specifically – had research files stolen and data encrypted, which is just awful. And Instagram had a data leak exposing info from 17.5 million accounts. It’s a little overwhelming, to be honest.

It's not all bad news, though. I was glad to see some positive steps being taken. The University of Hawaii is offering free cybersecurity clinics for small businesses, which is fantastic. And San Jacinto College got a grant to boost their cybersecurity programs, which means more trained professionals down the line. Plus, a company called SMX is working on new cyber hardware security, which sounds promising.

Looking ahead, experts are saying we’re going to see even more investment in cybersecurity this year, which is a good sign. Everyone seems to be realizing just how important it is. There's a lot of focus on “cybersecurity resilience” too, especially for hospital CEOs. Seems like they're really emphasizing the need to be prepared and able to bounce back from attacks.

There’s also a lot of talk about quantum computing and the need to get ready for “quantum-resistant” security. That sounds like something for the really smart folks to worry about, but apparently it’s becoming a big priority for federal agencies.

Oh, and I read somewhere that the maritime cybersecurity market is expected to be worth $7.34 billion… so, yeah, there’s a lot of money being thrown at this.

It’s a bit of a scary landscape out there, but it's also good to see people and organizations taking it seriously. I, for one, am just hoping things calm down a little bit! I’m going to go change my passwords now, probably for the tenth time this month. Stay safe out there, everyone.