Collaborative cyber-defence

Gaven Smith, former CTO at GCHQ, argues that we must work together to tackle global cyber-threats

 

It’s been almost a year since I left the technology driving seat at GCHQ. As CTO and Director General for Technology, I led a world class team that helped the UK to navigate our digital world and embrace innovation to support GCHQ’s rapidly evolving mission. My career at GCHQ was directly shaped by the way the Internet has become a major part of all of our lives.  

 

The Internet turned 50 this year. But to say things have evolved since those early pioneers first connected us together is an immense understatement.

 

Today the internet powers the world. It underpins almost every aspect of society, from hospitals to critical national infrastructure to education to business. It lays the foundations of almost everything we read, watch, bank, buy, travel, get help, and collaborate – whether we know it or not. 

 

But as our dependency on the internet grows, so too does our vulnerability to cyber-crime. 

 

Cyber-crime is now the number one threat organisations across the world face. 

 

Ransomware attacks make headlines daily, with Russian Ransomware-as-a-Service gangs uniting to turbo charge their attacks and cause mass destruction. Look no further than the recent attacks in the healthcare sector for proof of its effect on people’s everyday lives.

 

We are seeing major technology vendors, like Microsoft, being targeted by nation-state adversaries to spy on the emails of politicians. Critical infrastructure is being pre-positioned by Chinese state sponsored actors, while there are reports that North Korea is carrying out cyber-espionage campaigns on Western organisations in the disguise of ‘help desk’ support. 

 

These malicious campaigns are rife, targeting all industries, and history has taught us they won’t disappear. The web has become the new wild west, but attacks are stealthier, faster to execute and can cause real damage both digitally and physically and at scale.  

 

As a result, we must worker harder as a community to protect against them. 

 

But this can only be achieved when collaboration plays a central role in defensive strategies. 

 

For many years, cyber-attacks were seen as a weakness. They were the taboo that no CEO ever wanted to admit to. But today the organisations that haven’t encountered some form of cyber-attack make up the minority. 

 

This means we should no longer brush attacks under the table and pretend they aren’t happening. They are everywhere, there is no immunity, and by withholding information, we are only aiding criminals. 

 

To improve our defences, we must share insights into attacks, where organisations speak openly about the incidents they have faced, and continue to face, without fear of being shamed. Other organisations can learn from previous attacks and use this to bolster their defences against them. The British Library was praised for its transparency following last year’s ransomware attack as it provided valuable intelligence into the incident, which other organisations could then use to improve their defences.

 

We must share intelligence against threat actors and work together across communities to disband criminal operations and penalise adversaries. The recent takedown of the LockBit ransomware gang shows what is possible when law enforcement and other partners in the UK, US and Europe worked together to disrupt their operations. 

 

By building a transparent cyber-security community, where information, insights and learning flow freely, we will be much better equipped to counter attacks and defend against them. 

 

Knowledge is power in the fight against cyber-criminals, and we focus on building a forewarned and forearmed community to bolster resilience. 

 

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Gaven Smith is the former CTO at GCHQ and a technology expert at Gallos Technology. He will be speaking at DTX London at ExCeL on Thursday 3rd October at 11:15 - 11:40 am on the Cyber Hack stage where he will share his views and advice on how organisations can supercharge their defences by treating cyber-security as a community endeavour

 

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