Cyber Intelligence Briefing | Unprecedented Government Intervention

S-RM's Cyber Intelligence Briefing is now in audio format. Listen to our cyber experts discussing cyber security news and issues on our S-RM Insider podcast.

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE FOR INSIGHT ON UNPRECEDENTED GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION

allowtransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: none;">

In this episode, cyber experts Lukas Weber, Kyle Schwaeble, and Olly Burnand, discuss why cyber threats have become a focus of government attention, and what’s being done to combat advances in cybercriminal activity.

Governments face many obstacles when it comes to their interference with, and prosecution of, cybercriminals. Looking at the 50+ editorials that S-RM's Cyber team has produced, three discussion points came to the fore on the topic of government intervention with threat actors.

CYBER SECURITY AS NATIONAL SECURITY

Governments tend to be slower to focus their attention on cyber security when compared to organisations in the private sector. However, cyber security has quickly become a key component of national security, with vulnerabilities in services like Microsoft Exchange and WhatsApp becoming security issues for everybody.

“THE SECURITY AND RELIABILITY OF SERVICES LIKE MICROSOFT EXCHANGE, WHATSAPP, APPLE, AND GOOGLE CALENDARS HAVE BECOME FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE STABILITY OF OUR LIVES… AND sO CYBER SECURITY HAS QUICKLY BECOME A KEY PART OF NATIONAL SECURITY.”

THE QUESTION OF ETHICS

When accessing private infrastructures, governments must consider the risk of breaching codes of ethics. National governments play a critical role in ensuring there’s a strong cyber security landscape in place for their countries, but they must also take care not to infringe on the privacy of their citizens.

“THERE IS CERTAINLY A FINE LINE THAT NEEDS TO BE STRUCK BETWEEN THE ACTIVE ROLE THAT A GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO PLAY AND ENSURING THAT THE RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS OF BOTH ITS CITIZENS AND THE CITIZENS OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES ARE PROTECTED."

PROSECUTION OF THREAT ACTORS

While we might expect to see an equivalent growth in the prosecution of threat actors as cyber threats become the focus of government attention, there are significant constraints in the apprehension and conviction of cyber gangs and their leaders.

“Although governments have been enhancing their cyber capabilities and have established ransomware task forces, significant additional funding is required to tackle the challenges of decentralisation, attribution, and extraditioN.”

Click here to discover more episodes of S-RM Insider.

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE TO DISCOVER MORE ABOUT UNPRECEDENTED GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION

allowtransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: none;">

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Olly Burnand, Senior Associate, Cyber Security

Olly is part of S-RM’s Cyber Advisory practice in the UK. He works to help clients prepare for and respond to major cyber incidents. View profile.

Lukas Weber, Senior Associate, Cyber Security

Lukas is a member of the Cyber Advisory team at S-RM. He leads on information security assessments for clients across all sectors, engaging with stakeholders across these businesses.

Kyle Schwaeble, Associate, Cyber Security

Kyle is a cyber security associate working in S-RM’s incident response team. Before joining S-RM’s cyber security team, Kyle worked as a corporate intelligence analyst in our Cape Town office. View profile.

Rosie McKeown, Head of Content

Rosie is Head of Content at S-RM. She has over 20 years' experience in content and communications across a variety of roles in education and accountancy. View profile.

REFERENCES made in the podcast

POLICE TAKE DOWN EMOTET AND SEIZE NETWALKER’S LEAK SITE in ‘Cyber Intelligence Briefing: 29 January 2021’, S-RM, 29 January 2021.
FBI DELETES PROXYLOGON WEB SHELLS FROM COMPROMISED EXCHANGE SERVERS in ‘Cyber Intelligence Briefing: 16 April 2021’, S-RM, 16 April 2021.
‘Information Risk Insights Study 2020’, Cyentia Institute, 18 March 2020.
'Communication in Cybersecurity: A Public Communications Model for Business Data Breach Incident Handling', Issues in Information Systems, Volume 18, Issue 2, 2017.

S-RM supports clients globally to design and implement cyber security solutions that support business objectives. We work with you to develop strategies that give you confidence that your security meets your needs. Find out more about our Cyber Advisory practice.