IT more than capable of deterring cyber attackers

Two tech experts have delivered a presentation on the ability of IT to fend off cyber-attackers at San Francisco’s RSA Conference.

In the presentation, entitled ‘Disrupting  the progression of a cyber-attack’, Brian Honan, an analyst for BH Consulting, and Tripwire’s chief tech officer Dwayne Melancon went over some basic – as well as more advanced – ways of deterring potential attackers, coming to the conclusion that both time and knowledge within an organisation have key roles to play.

Honan emphasised the fact that there are too many IT and CISO departments unaware that they hold the advantage when it comes to confronting attackers, who could be hitting the organisation’s security measures for the first time.

Honan said:

“One thing we fail to recognise is that there is a home-field advantage when defending – you know where everything is, but attackers have to go scan, go searching and that can take time. Distract and divert [attackers] from their core goals, and make it difficult for them to manage.”

Tripwire’s Melancon said that merely delaying hackers can be enough, as they are often impatient and may just move on to their next target. The more time they spend within the network, the higher the risk they take, which can provide information on the culprit, he concluded.

Of course, having specialist members of staff within an organisation who are capable of dealing with hackers is also a key component of protecting company data and systems, and the more advanced hackers become, the more cyber staff will be required – leading to more cyber security vacancies needing to be filled.