DefCon Reminds Us That There Are Always New Ways to Evade Security

Covering this year’s DefCon, NBC Nightly News sat down with attendees to find out what all could be hacked. 

As it turns out, pretty much everything can be hacked.

It’s a great reminder that data and privacy are more vulnerable than ever. Watching the news reporter’s shock at the realization that refrigerators and baby monitors can be overtaken by an attacker reminded me of why we work so hard to find the hidden vectors through which our clients can be attacked. The security industry seems focused on stopping malicious program when the real threat is the malicious person behind them.  These people are determined to break into organizations and they keep changing their tactics in order to do so.

Just last week our research team revealed a method where Chinese and Russian hackers have been using seemingly innocent text files (MOF) to gain a foothold in a company. Also recently, our Vice President of Incident Response Brian Klenke covered ‘malware-less attacks’. These represent just a couple ways attackers are changing the game in order to evade defenses.

As technology connects and enables our lives in ways that were only recently beyond imagination, we also need to remember that each new technology’s advancements comes with potentially dangerous security trade offs.  There will always be people trying to exploit technology.  This is why companies need a partner with the experience and capabilities to not just stop today’s attacks but to continually morph and stay one step ahead of the attackers as they continue to change their game as well.