Digital espionage, or cyber espionage as it’s often known, sounds like something out of a James Bond movie, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s a common reality in 2019.
What is digital espionage?
Digital espionage is essentially hacking with political or economic reasoning behind it. Different countries can, and do, do this in order to uncover secrets to gain an advantage, be it financially, at war or to create new tools ahead of others.
Spying throughout the ages
The stealing of secrets is centuries old, with the first spy said to be American soldier, Nathan Hale. During the American Revolutionary War, he volunteered to go to New York to uncover intelligence, but was detained and executed by the British forces in 1776.
Unsurprisingly, in a world where digital advances are moving faster and faster, so too are the advances in the world of digital espionage. Listening devices are getting smaller and quantum computing is expected to change the landscape considerably.
In an age of digital transformation, are you being spied on?
It’s possible. With technology getting more sophisticated by the day, and our almost complete immersion in the digital world, it’s likely that you have been, or will eventually be, caught up in digital espionage in some way. The problem being, most cases of this happening are not discovered for some time after the attack and sometimes that’s intentional.
It is said that the US government capitalises on zero day vulnerabilities for a variety of reasons. From accessing the iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter after Apple refused access, to the war on terror. While this may be done with justice as the rationale for acting in this manner, there are cases where revenge is the reason for exploiting technology.
From a corporate perspective, in 1997, Gillette fell victim to industrial espionage enabled by technology. Steven Davis was an employee of the company working on a new razor design, but after some internal conflicts, he stole the design and sent it via email to Gillette’s competitors. He was eventually sentenced to 27 months in jail for his crimes.
Bringing in the digital detectives
While some of the examples above seem hard, if not impossible, to detect, there are ways that you can protect your business from outsider access. Keeping across zero-day advisories for software your business uses, along with ensuring you have a robust cyber security strategy will enable you to continue to build your business secure in the knowledge that you’re being protected from hacking efforts and other attempts to acquire your confidential information.
Here at The Missing Link, we live and breathe cyber security. It’s what we’re known for and we’re driven to provide the best solutions for our customers. Our cyber security experts can, and do, act as digital detectives, with our security analysts constantly checking for, and responsibly reporting, on any zero-day vulnerabilities they find. Working alongside them are our consultants that work to create a layered, unique solution for our customers to ensure they’re as safe as possible.
Interested in a security assessment? Reach out today and let’s get started!
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5 Steps to Keep your Digital Information Secure
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