The MITA Cyber Security webinar took place recently, which was hosted by our very own Ian “Ta’ Gadgets”. Therefore, what better way to discuss the event than by getting the low-down from the man himself?
Security execution
The first part was aimed at managers and executives in various industries, with the talks focusing on hacking and data theft. What the webinar established is that data is more valuable than money in some cases – and data theft happens on a daily basis, we just don’t hear about it, even in Malta.
To avoid embarrassment, companies just go ahead and pay the money, rather than allow the story to leak. It’s a timely reminder to constantly keep your system’s defences upgraded as well as have plenty of backups, including offline versions.
White hat hacking
There’s nothing like a practical demonstration to grab the attention, which is where Paula Januszkiewicz comes in. As a white hat hacker, her job is to proactively seek out cybersecurity weaknesses and notify her employers about them. And she came with some pretty sobering news.
After showing how easy it was to hack Windows and Google passwords (live, might we add), she informed the attendees that no matter how many updates and anti-virus software you install, you’re never 100% safe. The most we can do is be as safe as humanly and digitally possible, and refresh your backups constantly.
In summary
What really came out of it, is that you have to monitor your network constantly. You need to know the heartbeat of your data and where it’s moving. If it’s moving strangely, raise the alarm. What we should never think is “why would they want to hack me?” Family photos, or even your thesis, could be a target, especially if you’re willing to pay to get them back. Anyone is a target, because that is the nature of the hacking business.
As Ian eloquently put it at the end: “We currently live in a time where we’re constantly told to keep safe in the real world. It’s about time we do the same in the virtual”.
