The everyday business that we all conduct is now under threat from an invisible actor. The actor is bereft of scruples and without thought will disrupt any organisation and has no care of the impact. The actor will find and exploit the vulnerabilities that we have not even considered and they will steal our away our livelihoods. The actor is faceless and you may pass them in the street and will never know.
This is a frightening thought and I have no doubt that you have already responded by lengthening your password and updating your anti-virus software. This is a fundamental process of securing your internal systems, but it is only a scratch on the surface of an ever-progressive threat. As time passes, the actor is evolving and becoming more evasive and adopting a stratagem of stealth and sedition.
Advances in technology such as Artificial Intelligence and machine learning have not only advanced our technical world but are also the domain of the cyber-criminal.
We are all at risk from assaults using malware, denial of service and man-in-the-middle attacks. Ransomware in on the rise. A recent government report stated that in the last year the average cost to businesses of a cyber attack ranged between £4,200 and £19,400. Let us not forget social engineering and phishing techniques from actors that send us emails and make phone calls encouraging us to part with our precious bank account details and passwords. The cyber landscape is forever expanding and the battalions of our cyber enemies are massing.
Are these attacks from individuals? There is a significant rise in state sponsored assaults on national infrastructures such as broadcasting services, railway systems and airports. This was a precursor to the invasion of the Ukraine by Russian forces.
What is your current anti-virus protection? The government, every week, through the National Cyber Security Centre, create a threat report. Recently they advised organisations on the use of Kaspersky anti-virus software. The Russian government made it mandatory that Russian companies are obliged to assist their government in defending their national interests. Kaspersky is a Russian-based organisation founded in 1997 and regarded as one of the world’s leading anti-virus packages. The UK government has not advised on the non-use of the software but it has recommended caution. I will let you, the reader, make up your own mind.
The question now is how do we combat the aforementioned cyber battalions? We have a massive shortfall of cyber security skills in this country. We need to equip a new force of our own. When the country is under threat from a foreign invader we build up our armed forces. We have a new invader, a cyber invader and we need to build an armed service.
Currently, our education system does include cyber techniques in secondary school exams and A-levels. However, the topics form a part of a wider IT and Computer Science curriculum. Most of our education-attending population know what malware is and they understand the impact of password character length because this knowledge is inherited from the online cultural space of which they are a part.
If a student wants to study medicine they select the sciences, if they want to be in motorsport they study engineering. What about the budding cyber security specialist? It is only when students attend university do they get to specialise in cyber security. We should be delivering cyber security at an earlier age. Countries around the world have called for the subject to be introduced at primary school level.
At the UTC in Silverstone we are addressing the shortage of cyber security specialists. We are already partnering cyber tech partners such as Mass, a world leader in cyber and defence. We are a Palo Alto Academy (Palo Alto is a world leader in secure networks and networking technology). We are currently developing a Security Operations Centre (SOC) that will be able to emulate a cyber attack and help students support a client to overcome a live attack.
This is all with our students in mind. In 2023 we will be able to provide a pure cyber curriculum from the years of 16 to 18. Also we are looking to expand this to make it available from 14 to 18. With this strategy the UTC at Silverstone can provide a steady stream of cyber security professionals for universities and apprenticeships.
We aim to be a national leader in Cyber Security Education.
Find out more about Silverstone UTC by clicking here or call 01327 855010
