CHAPTER 1 ■ DEFINING THE CYBERSECURITY CHALLENGE
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recovered data and IT systems. The cyberattackers then went on to publish proprietary data from Sony
Pictures, including salaries and personal e-mails of its senior executives. The breach caused a media
sensation due to the salaciousness of the data published. The breach also caused earthquakes in the
cybersecurity industry, as the IT community got a glimpse of what a devastating cyberattack could do.
Key lessons learned include the following:
• The Sony hack is significant, not because the attackers did something no one could
do before, but because the attackers did what cyberattackers have been able to do all
along, but have chosen not to. The security industry has been warning for years that
cyberattackers could bring a company to their knees. The Sony hack put the reality of
this possibility in full view of the press and the public.
• It is reasonable to expect that Sony’s cyberdefenses were consistent with industry
norms and reflected what is and is not being done at a myriad of other companies
around the world. In fact, Sony Pictures was likely better defended than most
enterprises due to its size and prominence. One has to ask, “Is this an indication of
how vulnerable everyone is to a devastating cyberattack?”
• The effectiveness of the Sony hack was likely amplified by the consolidation of IT
systems administration that has occurred over the past 20 years. In the past, a single
systems administrator might manage a handful of servers providing, at most, one or
two enterprise services. Today, the same administrator may have privileged access
to a hundred systems, or even thousands. If attackers can get control of that one
person’s administrative credentials, the damage they can do is devastating.
• These types of attacks show how professional attackers, who understand how modern
IT works and how it is managed, can effectively turn an enterprise’s IT infrastructure
against it. These infrastructures are largely designed for functionality, not security,
and often lack compartmentalization to contain a breach and limit its damage.
• Finally, attacks like Sony’s underscore the fear factor that devastating cyberattacks
can have on an industry and the nation. What would be the political impact if an
individual, an organization, or a nation-state could pull off a hundred Sony-style
attacks, all simultaneously?
There is a mega-trend going on here. These types of cyberattacks are moving down market over time.
In other words, the techniques nation-states were using a couple of years ago are being used by cybercriminals
today. The techniques cybercriminals were using a couple of years ago are in commodity malware and viruses
today. It is reasonable to expect what was done to Sony Pictures Entertainment will become more common
in the future as cyberattack tools and techniques proliferate and become available to larger and larger
communities. So, while these types of threats may only be of concern to a small group of top-tier players
today, as these threats move down market, they will become more widespread.
The tools and techniques to fight these types of attackers exist today, but they are not cheap or easy to
deploy. Also, fighting these cyberattackers requires re-thinking many aspects of IT so that security is baked
in rather than bolted on. One cannot simply buy a widget and be immune to Sony-style attacks. Just as banks
have to invest in alarms and security guards, enterprises have to invest in people doing the dirty, grunt work
of cybersecurity, day in and day out. Enterprises have to be constantly evolving their defenses. Cybersecurity
defense is an arms race and the attackers are smart, competent, and ill-intended. The attackers who hit Sony
Pictures Entertainment are advanced, persistent, and very, very threatening.