Abstract
Targeted attacks cause the most serious problems nowadays in the cyberspace, as in most cases they are used for cyber espionage, in cyber warfare activities and have a significant role in data leaks both in the governmental and private sector. Meanwhile, it is very difficult to detect such attacks in time, due to the strategy, tactics and chosen tools behind them. Therefore, a new way of cyber defense is needed to reduce risk caused by Advanced Persistent Threat (APT). In this paper we review the process of targeted cyberattacks, focusing on the challenges of authentication, then we introduce user behavior analytics (UBA) as a potential countermeasure. We also emphasize through a case study, how devastating a cyberattack can be for a company and why UBA would be a good candidate in a modern cyber defense system.
Highlights
Per definition, information security is a reactive activity, as it has to manage those risks that may have a serious effect on the organization, if they happen
In Hungary, the Good State and Governance Report 2017 gives an overview on cyberattacks reported for computer emergency response teams (CERTs)-Hungary which is responsible for managing the IT security related incidents in the governmental sector
[20] In order to identify an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), several specific countermeasures are needed in addition to the high quality cybersecurity culture in an organization
Summary
Information security is a reactive activity, as it has to manage those risks that may have a serious effect on the organization, if they happen. It states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. Departments responsible for information security try to focus their limited resources to those 20%. A simple firewall or an antivirus software was enough for preventing the vast majority of attacks. All hardware and software elements with or without network connectivity can be the source of an attack. We are focusing on the problems of authentication and behavior analytics as a good example of future technologies that can reduce the risk of some specific but serious cyber security threats.
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