Enterprises Attacked for Cyber Security Failures at IP Expo

The recent IP Expo heavily featured cyber security on its agenda. A ‘Future of Cyber Security’ panel, however, delivered a strong warning to enterprises that they are failing.

BBC moderator Rory Cellan-Jones asked Trend Micro’s Global VP of Security Research Rik Ferguson what he feared the most. Ferguson responded by saying “the people in the room.”

After apologising to those he just insulted, Ferguson blamed those responsible for cyber security within enterprises for a poor performance.

The reproach of professionals in enterprise security came as telecommunications giant TalkTalk was fined by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for its failure in taking the necessary precautions to safeguard customer data.

The £400,000 fine was a response to a well-documented breach that saw 157,000 customer records leaked in 2015.

James Lyne, Sophos’ Head of Security Research, said in reference to the GDPR introduction in 2018:

“We’re about to enter a period where we’re going to name and shame.

“I’m concerned that we’re putting all of those people in the category of negligent idiots.

“There are also cases where people get hit by zero-days that they really couldn’t do anything about.”

A number of enterprises have made headlines in recent years for their cyber failures, perhaps none more so than TalkTalk in the UK. However, smaller firms have also been hit by a growing cyber criminal market. If they do not reprioritise their IT security recruitment plans, they too may find themselves falling foul to the latest cyber threat.