Strategies for Mitigating Cyberattacks Against Small Retail Businesses

Abstract Small retail businesses are increasingly becoming targets for social media cyberattacks, often losing profitability when forced to close operations after a cyberattack. Small retail business leaders are concerned with the negative impact of cyberattacks on firms’ viability and competitiveness. Grounded in general systems theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies retail leaders use to deter social media cyberattacks. The participants were 11 small retail business leaders. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Three themes emerged: using multiple strategies to deter social media cyberattacks, importance of training regarding cybersecurity best practices, and the need for a contingency plan. A key recommendation is for small retail business leaders to provide employees and customers with training regarding proper cybersecurity protocols. The implications for positive social change include the potential to improve cybersecurity measures and enhance a small business’ viability and employment opportunities, positively impacting local communities and tax revenues

The future of Cybersecurity in Italy: Strategic focus area

This volume has been created as a continuation of the previous one, with the aim of outlining a set of focus areas and actions that the Italian Nation research community considers essential. The book touches many aspects of cyber security, ranging from the definition of the infrastructure and controls needed to organize cyberdefence to the actions and technologies to be developed to be better protected, from the identification of the main technologies to be defended to the proposal of a set of horizontal actions for training, awareness raising, and risk management

Bridging Information Security and Environmental Criminology Research to Better Mitigate Cybercrime

Cybercrime is a complex phenomenon that spans both technical and human aspects. As such, two disjoint areas have been studying the problem from separate angles: the information security community and the environmental criminology one. Despite the large body of work produced by these communities in the past years, the two research efforts have largely remained disjoint, with researchers on one side not benefitting from the advancements proposed by the other. In this paper, we argue that it would be beneficial for the information security community to look at the theories and systematic frameworks developed in environmental criminology to develop better mitigations against cybercrime. To this end, we provide an overview of the research from environmental criminology and how it has been applied to cybercrime. We then survey some of the research proposed in the information security domain, drawing explicit parallels between the proposed mitigations and environmental criminology theories, and presenting some examples of new mitigations against cybercrime. Finally, we discuss the concept of cyberplaces and propose a framework in order to define them. We discuss this as a potential research direction, taking into account both fields of research, in the hope of broadening interdisciplinary efforts in cybercrime researc

Literature based Cyber Security Topics: Handbook

Cyber security is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks. These cyber attacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information; extorting money from users; or interrupting normal business processes. Cloud computing has emerged from the legacy data centres. Consequently, threats applicable in legacy system are equally applicable to cloud computing along with emerging new threats that plague only the cloud systems. Traditionally the data centres were hosted on-premises. Hence, control over the data was comparatively easier than handling a cloud system which is borderless and ubiquitous. Threats due to multi-tenancy, access from anywhere, control of cloud, etc. are some examples of why cloud security becomes important. Considering the significance of cloud security, this work is an attempt to understand the existing cloud service and deployment models, and the major threat factors to cloud security that may be critical in cloud environment. It also highlights various methods employed by the attackers to cause the damage. Cyber-attacks are highlighted as well. This work will be profoundly helpful to the industry and researchers in understanding the various cloud specific cyber-attack and enable them to evolve the strategy to counter them more effectively

EFFECTIVE PATCH MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNMENT SYSTEMS

This thesis establishes the importance of patch management and its role in the reduction of exploitable vulnerabilities and the increased security of government information systems (IS). As technology continues to evolve, cybersecurity has become a leading concern. The vast increase in computer usage and technological advancements have provided many benefits to organizations in both the private and public sectors. The need to protect ISs against cyber-attacks has grown at the same rate. Cybersecurity is not a new concept but its applicability continues to be a problematic concept or hindrance to incorporate into both legacy and new ISs across government and private entities. Government ISs tend to be more susceptible to cyber-attacks. Resiliency at the conception of an IS is imperative and maintaining that resiliency is key to sustaining the security posture of any IS. The primary goal of government ISs is to provide new capabilities and resources to the warfighter. New ISs rely heavily on the use of software and its ability to be upgraded or modified. Legacy systems often utilize outdated software. Both types of systems require maintenance throughout the lifecycle. Many government ISs operate out-of-date software versions or are not patched on a routine basis to ensure ISs are not exposed to vulnerabilities. Patch management is an important practice that can prevent the exposure to cyber-attacks the exploitation of known vulnerabilities and improve the cyber hygiene of ISs.Civilian, Department of the NavyCivilian, Department of the NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

To Deceive or not Deceive: Unveiling The Adoption Determinants Of Defensive Cyber Deception in Norwegian Organizations

Due to the prevailing threat landscape in Norway, it is imperative for organizations to safeguard their infrastructures against cyber threats. One of the technologies that is advantageous against these threats is defensive cyber deception, which is an approach in cyber security that aims to be proactive, to interact with the attackers, trick them, deceive them and use this to the defenders advantage. This type of technology can help organizations defend against sophisticated threat actors that are able to avoid more traditional defensive mechanisms, such as Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) or Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS). In order to aid the adoption of defensive cyber deception in Norway, we asked the question: "What affects the adoption of defensive cyber deception in organizations in Norway?". To answer this question, we utilized the Technology, Organization, and Environment (TOE) Framework to identity what factors affect an organization's adoption of defensive cyber deception. Through our use of the framework, we identified eighteen different factors which affect an organization's adoption of defensive cyber deception. These factors are the product of the empirical data analysis from eight different semi-structured interview with individuals from six different organizations in Norway. The main theoretical implications of our research is the introduction of a TOE model for defensive cyber deception, focusing specifically on organizations in Norway as well as contributing with a maturity estimate model for defensive cyber deception. For the practical implications of our research, we have identified seven different benefits that defensive cyber deception provides. We are also contributing to raising the awareness of defensive cyber deception in Norwegian research and we hope that our TOE model can aid organizations that are considering adopting the technology. We hope that these implications and contributions can act as a spark for both the adoption of defensive cyber deception in organizations as well as the start of a new wave for the cyber security researchers within Norway. Keywords: Cyber Security, Defensive Cyber Deception, TOE Framework, Adoptio

To Deceive or not Deceive: Unveiling The Adoption Determinants Of Defensive Cyber Deception in Norwegian Organizations

Due to the prevailing threat landscape in Norway, it is imperative for organizations to safe- guard their infrastructures against cyber threats. One of the technologies that is advan- tageous against these threats is defensive cyber deception, which is an approach in cyber security that aims to be proactive, to interact with the attackers, trick them, deceive them and use this to the defenders advantage. This type of technology can help organizations defend against sophisticated threat actors that are able to avoid more traditional defensive mechanisms, such as Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) or Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS). In order to aid the adoption of defensive cyber deception in Norway, we asked the question: "What affects the adoption of defensive cyber deception in organizations in Nor- way?". To answer this question, we utilized the Technology, Organization, and Environment (TOE) Framework to identity what factors affect an organization’s adoption of defensive cyber deception. Through our use of the framework, we identified eighteen different factors which affect an organization’s adoption of defensive cyber deception. These factors are the product of the empirical data analysis from eight different semi-structured interview with individuals from six different organizations in Norway. The main theoretical implications of our research is the introduction of a TOE model for defensive cyber deception, focusing specifically on organizations in Norway as well as contributing with a maturity estimate model for defensive cyber deception. For the practical implications of our research, we have identified seven different benefits that defensive cyber deception provides. We are also con- tributing to raising the awareness of defensive cyber deception in Norwegian research and we hope that our TOE model can aid organizations that are considering adopting the tech- nology. We hope that these implications and contributions can act as a spark for both the adoption of defensive cyber deception in organizations as well as the start of a new wave for the cyber security researchers within Norway. Keywords: Cyber Security, Defensive Cyber Deception, TOE Framework, Adoptio

Moving from a "human-as-problem" to a "human-as-solution" cybersecurity mindset

Cybersecurity has gained prominence, with a number of widely publicised security incidents, hacking attacks and data breaches reaching the news over the last few years. The escalation in the numbers of cyber incidents shows no sign of abating, and it seems appropriate to take a look at the way cybersecurity is conceptualised and to consider whether there is a need for a mindset change.To consider this question, we applied a "problematization" approach to assess current conceptualisations of the cybersecurity problem by government, industry and hackers. Our analysis revealed that individual human actors, in a variety of roles, are generally considered to be "a problem". We also discovered that deployed solutions primarily focus on preventing adverse events by building resistance: i.e. implementing new security layers and policies that control humans and constrain their problematic behaviours. In essence, this treats all humans in the system as if they might well be malicious actors, and the solutions are designed to prevent their ill-advised behaviours. Given the continuing incidences of data breaches and successful hacks, it seems wise to rethink the status quo approach, which we refer to as "Cybersecurity, Currently". In particular, we suggest that there is a need to reconsider the core assumptions and characterisations of the well-intentioned human's role in the cybersecurity socio-technical system. Treating everyone as a problem does not seem to work, given the current cyber security landscape.Benefiting from research in other fields, we propose a new mindset i.e. "Cybersecurity, Differently". This approach rests on recognition of the fact that the problem is actually the high complexity, interconnectedness and emergent qualities of socio-technical systems. The "differently" mindset acknowledges the well-intentioned human's ability to be an important contributor to organisational cybersecurity, as well as their potential to be "part of the solution" rather than "the problem". In essence, this new approach initially treats all humans in the system as if they are well-intentioned. The focus is on enhancing factors that contribute to positive outcomes and resilience. We conclude by proposing a set of key principles and, with the help of a prototypical fictional organisation, consider how this mindset could enhance and improve cybersecurity across the socio-technical system