Cybersecurity

“Trust no one.”

That was one of the taglines for The X-Files, the popular science-fiction television series about FBI agents who investigate a series of bizarre, supernatural cases. It’s also becoming a mantra for modern network security.

Security analysts are alarmed about a bug in software few people know about — the Log4j logging utility for Java applications. In November, researchers identified a zero-day exploit that affected the Java version of the Minecraft video game. Hackers were able to trick Log4j into storing specific character strings that allowed them to take control of the compromised machine. The hackers could then execute malicious code remotely, spread malware or steal sensitive information.

“Maturity” might seem an odd word to apply to security. As attacks become more frequent and complex, organizations need the agility to respond to new forms of cybercrime. Old ways of thinking are seldom useful in the ever-changing world of IT.

Cryptojacking has surged in the last two years as the value of the cryptocurrency market has skyrocketed. There were more than 51 million cryptojacking attacks in the first half of 2021 alone, according to the SonicWall Cyber Threat Report. Many attacks go unreported.