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Kudos to Georgia Tech for going after the cyber criminals
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At this week's Atlanta SecureWorld Expo, Sy Goodman of GA Tech offered a bleak outlook of Internet security...and he should know. This professor at GA Tech focuses on international developments in information technologies and national security issues. After sitting in on his presentation, and he did forewarn the audience that it wouldn't be pretty, I began to wonder if there's any way to reign in those on the Dark Side. Of course we must applaud and appreciate the strident efforts made by the good guys/gals who work tirelessly to catch these people. But I'll admit that they just seem to always be one step ahead of the good folks.
One area that Prof. Goodman discussed was how so much of our information will be moving to cell phones and the many challenges and concerns with safeguarding our information on this and other mobile devices. Right now, we know that too many companies don't have a good handle on their data as employees have thumb drives and can easily plug in and take out company data. Of course, this isn't always done with maliciousness, but this doesn't change the fact that the company's data is put at risk. And just think this data could be about you. Add to this problem people retrieving all kinds of data, including company data, via their cell phones, and we have to wonder just how much information will be available and how secure and accessible it will be. Or worse, many wonder if security will even enter our minds as we'll be so consumed with getting the information we need as quickly as possible.
The topic of compromised cell phones isn't new to those in the information security community. And while I know there are many people outside of this community who are concerned about infected phones, I'm not so sure that the message is so commonplace. This seems to be of great concern for the crew at GA Tech as cell phones can be used for many nefarious purposes, including spying, obtaining sensitive information from text messages, phone records and travel information from unsuspecting users making them targets for all kinds of nasty attacks. Infected phones might even be used to attack the cellular network itself. There's also a concern that more and more people, namely independent developers, are creating software for cell phones. Again, while I certainly won't indict all developers, there will surely be some who are less than honorable.
Another very interesting presentation was given by Dr. Mustaque Ahamad, Director of the GA Tech Information Security Center and a professor in the Computing Science and Systems department. Dr. Ahamad discussed the emerging cyber threats and luckily for us, the GA Tech Information Security Center published a report about these threats for 2009 and 2008. The Center identified the threats for 2009 and beyond as follows: Malware, botnets, cyber warfare, threats to VoIP and mobile devices and the evolving cyber crime economy. For 2008, the threats were Web 2.0 and client-side attacks, targeted messaging attacks, botnets, threats targeting mobile convergence, and threats to Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems. I would strongly encourage you to download both of these documents.
Given the nastiness of today's threats, I find it quite awesome to have such a powerhouse of knowledge right here in our own backyard at GA Tech. Dr. Ahamad's presentation was a true eye-opener about the dangers that lurk and continue to grow in cyberspace. Just the sheer amount of money that's made is a strong incentive for these people and Dr. Ahamad and others have determined that "cyber crime will become increasingly organized and profit-driven in the years ahead". I commend the efforts of the hard-working men and women at GA Tech as they strive to make Internet security education one of its missions.
But let's not forget that we all have a role to play in making the Internet a more secure environment. We can't afford to just leave this solely to the security professionals. As Edmund Burke once so aptly put it: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
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