As convenience and connectivity breed exposure, cyber criminals are targeting new and previously unseen attack vectors, says Gareth Niblett, Chair of the BCS Information Security Specialist Group. This means that security practitioners and infrastructure managers need to be ever more prepared for an attack.

1. Our view of what constitutes a safety
critical system needs to move from the
distant oil rig and refinery, nuclear power
station, and occasional reliance on air
traffic control, to the closer ship,
autonomous vehicle, health IoT and drone.
These things can present threats not only
to security and privacy but to safety too.
Maritime cyber needs to catch up with
the emerging aerospace industry focus
on risks, as bulk carriers can be floating
bank vaults (with goods tempting pirates
or smugglers), data centres (loaded with
data and sensors that can be spoofed or
copied), or bombs (given explosive cargo,
such as liquid natural gas (LNG).
Autonomous or self-driving vehicles,
from cars through lorries to even ships,
present potential for threats to drivers
(on autopilot), passengers, pedestrians
and others. Written and machine-learned
software algorithms have to not only
read and respond to their surroundings
accurately, but to make ethical decisions.
TV shows have shown bad actors
compromising insecure pace makers
wirelessly and causing cardiac failure
in their host; there are scripts for this
sort of attack in the real world. Dosages
and readings can be electronically
manipulated; beyond privacy exposure of
medical data, this could lead to some very
serious impacts.
Drones have moved from being the
INFORMATION SECURITY
plaything of advanced military nations,
raining death from above, through
domestic toys, and then back to tools for
search and rescue, emergency response
and other good uses. This dual-use brings
the potential for good or ill, and controls
are needed to protect areas and people.
As in many advances, convenience and
connectivity bring openness and exposure.
This means that it is critical we ensure the
safety of such systems.
You can follow Gareth on Twitter:
@garethniblett
As convenience and connectivity breed exposure, cyber criminals
are targeting new and previously unseen attack vectors, says Gareth
Niblett, Chair of the BCS Information Security Specialist Group. This
means that security practitioners and infrastructure managers need
to be ever more prepared for an attack.
Maritime industry is easy meat for
cyber criminals
https://blog.kaspersky.com/
maritime-cyber-security/8796
FURTHER INFORMATION
doi:10.1093/itnow/bww070©2016TheBritishComputerSocietyImage:istock.com/cincila
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September 2016 ITNOW 29