Cybersecurity Breaches Research Articles

Cyber Security Threats to Bitcoin Exchanges: Adversary Exploitation and Laundering Techniques

Bitcoin is gaining traction as an alternative store of value. Its market capitalization transcends all other cryptocurrencies in the market. But its high monetary value also makes it an attractive target to cyber criminal actors. Hacking campaigns usually target an ecosystem’s weakest points. In Bitcoin, the exchange platforms are one of them. Each exchange breach is a threat not only to direct victims, but to the credibility of Bitcoin’s entire ecosystem. Based on an extensive analysis of 36 breaches of Bitcoin exchanges, we show the attack patterns used to exploit Bitcoin exchange platforms using an industry standard for reporting intelligence on cyber security breaches. Based on this we are able to provide an overview of the most common attack vectors, showing that all except three hacks were possible due to relatively lax security. We show that while the security regimen of Bitcoin exchanges is subpar compared to other financial service providers, the use of stolen credentials, which does not require any hacking, is decreasing. We also show that the amount of BTC taken during a breach is decreasing, as well as the exchanges that terminate after being breached. Furthermore we show that overall security posture has improved, but still has major flaws. To discover adversarial methods post-breach, we have analyzed two cases of BTC laundering. Through this analysis we provide insight into how exchange platforms with lax cyber security even further increase the intermediary risk introduced by them into the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Optimum Spending on Cybersecurity Measures: Part II

The purpose of this research is to investigate the decision-making process for cybersecurity investments in organizations through development and utilization of a digital cybersecurity risk management framework. The initial article, Optimum Spending on Cybersecurity Measures is published on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1750-6166.htm, contains the detailed literature review, and the data results from Phase I and Phase II of this research REF _Ref61862658 \r \h \* MERGEFORMAT [1]. This article will highlight the research completed in the area of organizational decision-making on cybersecurity spend. In leveraging the review of additional studies, this research utilizes a regression framework and case study methodology to demonstrate that effective risk-based decisions are necessary when implementing cybersecurity controls. Through regression analysis, the effectiveness of current implemented cybersecurity measures in organizations is explored when connecting a dependent variable with several independent variables. The focus of this article is on the strategic decisions made by organizations when implementing cybersecurity measures. This research belongs to the area of risk management, and various models within the field of 1) information security; 2) strategic management; and 3) organizational decision-making to determine optimum spending on cybersecurity measures for risk taking organizations. This research resulted in the development of a cyber risk investment model and a digital cybersecurity risk management framework. Using a case study methodology, this model and framework were leveraged to evaluate and implement cybersecurity measures. The case study methodology provides an in-depth view of a risk-taking organization’s risk mitigation strategy within the bounds of the educational environment focusing on five areas identified within a digital cyber risk model: 1) technology landscape and application portfolio; 2) data centric focus; 3) risk management practices; 4) cost-benefit analysis for cybersecurity measures; and 5) strategic development. The outcome of this research provides greater insight into how an organization makes decisions when implementing cybersecurity controls. This research shows that most organizations are diligently implementing security measures to effectively monitor and detect cyber security attacks, specifically showing that risk taking organizations implemented cybersecurity measures to meet compliance and audit obligations with an annual spend of $3.18 million. It also indicated that 23.6% of risk-taking organizations incurred more than 6 cybersecurity breaches with an average dollar loss of $3.5 million. In addition, the impact of a cybersecurity breach on risk taking organizations is as follows: 1) data loss; 2) brand/reputational impact; 3) financial loss fines; 4) increase oversight by regulators/internal audit; and 5) customer/client impact. The implication this research has on practice is extensive, as it focuses on a broad range of areas to include risk, funding and type and impact of cyber security breaches encountered. The survey study clearly demonstrated the need to develop and utilize a digital cybersecurity risk management framework to integrate current industry frameworks within the risk management practice to include continuous compliance management. This type of framework would provide a balanced approach to managing the gap between a risk-taking organization and a risk averse organization when implementing cybersecurity measures.

Information Segmentation and Investing in Cybersecurity

This paper provides an analysis of how the benefits of information segmentation can assist an organization to derive the appropriate amount to invest in cybersecurity from a cost-benefit perspective. An analytical model based on the framework of the Gordon-Loeb Model ([1]) is presented that provides a set of sufficient conditions for information segmentation to lower the total investments in cybersecurity and the expected loss from cybersecurity breaches. A numerical example illustrating the insights gained from the model is also presented.

The Blockchain Random Neural Network for cybersecure IoT and 5G infrastructure in Smart Cities

5G promises much faster Internet transmission rates at minimum latencies with indoor and outdoor coverage in Smart Cities. 5G could potentially replace traditional Wi-Fi for network connectivity and Bluetooth technology for geolocation with a seamless radio coverage and network backbone therefore accelerating new services such as the Internet of Things (IoT). Although Wi-Fi 6 is already in the market designed for IoT applications. New Smart City applications based on Big Data will depend on 5G as a mobile Internet service provider therefore eliminating the need to deploy additional private network infrastructure or mobile networks. The benefits due to the expanded network access and enhanced connectivity between devices also intrinsically increase cybersecurity risks. Cyber attackers will be provided with additional digital targets; in addition, wireless and mobile network including the access channel infrastructure will be shared between independent services. To address these cybersecurity issues, this article presents the Blockchain Random Neural Network for Cybersecurity applications in a holistic digital and physical cybersecurity user and channel authentication methods. The user identity is kept secret as the neural weights codify the user information, although in case of cybersecurity breach, the confidential identity can be mined and the attacker identified. The proposed method therefore enables a decentralized authentication method. The validation results prove that the addition of the Blockchain Random Neural Network provides a user access control algorithm with increased cybersecurity resilience and decentralized user access and connectivity.

Taking Risks With Cybersecurity: Using Knowledge and Personal Characteristics to Predict Self-Reported Cybersecurity Behaviors.

Individuals’ use of insecure cybersecurity behaviors, including the use of weak passwords, is a leading contributor to cybersecurity breaches. While training individuals on best practices in cybersecurity continues to be implemented, prior research has found that training people in the use of secure passwords has not proven to be effective. Developing profiles of individual who are likely to become victims of password hacking, phishing scams, and other types of breaches would be useful, as they could be used to identify individuals with the highest likelihood of engaging in insecure cybersecurity behaviors. The present research tested the hypothesis that in addition to self-reported cybersecurity knowledge, personal characteristics, such as personality traits and general risk-taking behavior not related to technology use, can predict individual differences in cybersecurity behaviors, as measured by self-report. Our hypothesis was confirmed in a large study involving 325 undergraduates. Participants provided information about their self-reported risky cybersecurity behaviors (e.g., using non-secure Wi-Fi, not logging out of accounts on shared computers, etc.), self-reported knowledge about strong/weak passwords, Big Five personality traits (i.e., extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness, and mood instability), sensation-seeking personality traits, and general risk-taking unrelated to using technology. The results of a hierarchical regression indicated that 34% of risky cybersecurity behavior was significantly predicted by the combination of self-reported knowledge about strong/weak passwords, personality traits, and risk-taking in daily life. The results suggest that victim profiles should take into account individual differences in personality and general risk-taking in domains unrelated to cybersecurity in addition to cybersecurity knowledge.

Appraisal of a Ship’s Cybersecurity efficiency: the case of piracy

New information technologies are beneficial for ship operations in terms of safety and utilisation of company resources. However, new cybercrime threats have emergedaffecting, both ship safety and security that need to be assessed and evaluated. At the moment, actions of the maritime industry to keep pace dealing with such threats are slow when compared with other business sectors. As a high concern, maritime pirates could take advantage of cybersecurity breaches to monitor ship activity and gain information for potential protective failures. In 2021 companies and seafarers should be able to demonstrate knowledge and safeguard policies of their companies. Nevertheless, there is limited discussion on how companies will educate seafarers for existing threats. Therefore, in this study, a risk-based methodology is proposed for evaluation of cybersecurity threats in the context of a piracy attack. STPA-SafeSec’s analysis is used to identify security threats, and FAHP is utilised for evaluating the severity of each security constraint. Audits on 15 ships with 315 seafarers indicated that there are significant security gaps mainly due to lack of awareness from operators and seafarers. However, physical security and network protection that already apply to ships are significant security strengths.

Financial Loss due to a Data Privacy Breach: An Empirical Analysis

ABSTRACT Previous studies have explored the impact of the cybersecurity breach on the market value of the firm, but the impact of the data privacy breach on the firm performance is less explored. The terms cybersecurity breach and data privacy breach are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are two different things. In this study, we have used the event study methodology and standard market model (MM) to observe the effect of the data privacy breach on the firm performance. We have also observed the impact of firm-specific characteristics (such as firm size and firm type) and attack-specific characteristics (such as attack type and damage potency) on the cumulative abnormal return (CAR) due to privacy breaches. We have used data of 131 data privacy breaches related to US firms for the years 2012 (43 breaches), 2013 (37 breaches), and 2014 (51 breaches). We have selected the period 2012-2014 for study as we have observed the major data privacy breaches occurred during this period. The results of this study demonstrate that the data privacy breach announcement negatively affects the market value of the firm. Another interesting finding of this study is that the market values of larger firms are less adversely affected by the data privacy breach event than the smaller firms. We have also calculated the average financial loss, which comes out to be $ 229 million, $ 241 million, and $ 108 million in the year 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively, due to these data privacy breaches.

Public companies' cybersecurity risk disclosures

Though cybersecurity risks are significant and could materially affect business operations and the integrity of financial reporting, there is limited empirical research on the cybersecurity risk disclosure trends and practices of public companies. In this study, we conduct a longitudinal study of the content and linguistic characteristics of public companies' cybersecurity risk disclosure practices as well as factors that may drive disclosure trends. The results show that the two most commonly disclosed cybersecurity risks are risks of service/operation disruption and risks of data breach. Item 1A of the 10-K Report is the most commonly used disclosure location, but some companies also use Items 1 and 7 to disclose regulation risks and cyber incidents, respectively. The length of cybersecurity risk disclosures increases linearly during the period of our study. This increase is associated with the issuance of SEC guidance (2011 and 2018), industry, overall cybersecurity risks in the general environment, company size, and prior cybersecurity breach incidents. Disclosures have also become more difficult to read in general. They are more difficult to read as firm size increases and are easier to read as the proportion of intangible assets increases or after an executive change. Firms have increased their usage of litigious words in their disclosures. Bigger firms, on average, tend to use less litigious language, but companies in industries with high business information technology intensity (e.g., consumer services, software and services, and banking) tend to use more litigious language than other companies.

How to secure autonomous mobile robots? An approach with fuzzing, detection and mitigation

Abstract Autonomous mobile robots share social spaces with humans, usually working together for domestic or professional tasks. Cyber security breaches in such robots undermine the trust between humans and robots. In this paper, we investigate how to apprehend and inflict security threats at the design and implementation stage of an autonomous mobile robot. To this end, we leverage the idea of directed fuzzing and design Robo F uzz that systematically tests an autonomous mobile robot in line with the robot’s states and the surrounding environment. The methodology of Robo F uzz is to study critical environmental parameters affecting the robot’s state transitions and subject the robot control program with rational but harmful sensor values so as to compromise the robot. Furthermore, we develop detection and mitigation algorithms to counteract the impact of Robo F uzz . The difficulties mainly lie in the trade-off among limited computation resources, timely detection and the retention of work efficiency in mitigation. In particular, we propose detection and mitigation methods that take advantage of historical records of obstacles to detect inconsistent obstacle appearances regarding untrustworthy sensor values and navigate the movable robot to continue moving so as to carry on a planned task. By doing so, we manage to maintain a low cost for detection and mitigation but also retain the robot’s work efficacy. We have prototyped the bundle of Robo F uzz , detection and mitigation algorithms in a real-world movable robot. Experimental results confirm that Robo F uzz makes a success rate of up to 93.3% in imposing concrete threats to the robot while the overall loss of work efficacy is merely 4.1% at the mitigation mode.

Centralized IT Decision Making and Cybersecurity Breaches: Evidence from U.S. Higher Education Institutions

ABSTRACT Despite the consensus that information security should become an important consideration in information technology (IT) governance rather than the sole responsibility of the IT department, important IT governance decisions are often made on the basis of fulfilling business needs with a minimal amount of attention paid to their implications for information security. We study how an important IT governance mechanism—the degree of centralized decision making—affects the likelihood of cybersecurity breaches. Examining a sample of 504 U.S. higher-education institutions over a four-year period, we find that a university with centralized IT governance is associated with fewer breaches. Interestingly, the effect of centralized IT governance is contingent on the heterogeneity of a university’s computing environment: Universities with more heterogeneous IT infrastructure benefit more from centralized IT decision making. In addition, we find the relationship between centralized governance and cybersecurity breaches is most pronounced in public universities and those with more intensive research activities. Collectively, these findings highlight the tradeoff between granting autonomy and flexibility in the use of information systems and enforcing standardized, organization-wide security protocols.

Internet banking in Nigeria: Cyber security breaches, practices and capability

This paper reports the findings from a research project on cyber security in the Nigerian Internet banking industry, by presenting the main cyber security breaches it has experienced, along with its cyber security capability and practices. An online survey was conducted with 100 experienced professional working in both the Nigerian banking and banking security service sectors. Our findings reveal a transformation of the Nigerian cybercrime industry from low-tech cyber-enabled crimes to high-tech sophisticated breaches, with viruses, worms or Trojan infections; electronic spam mails; and hacking being the top three most experienced breaches. In term of cyber security practices, banking professionals have received adequate management in both support and training. The lack of advanced technologies to prevent and address cyber security breaches and the unsatisfactory level of legislative compliance, together, appear to be the primary factors that have reduced cyber security capability in our sample of banks.

263 - Emotions, personality, and psychopathology of cybersecurity breach victims

Humans are social creatures. Our behaviour is influenced by our perceptions of those around us, often to a much greater degree than we realize. However, we tend to make mistakes in our understanding of those around us and the situations that we encounter. We do so because our cognitive resources have limits, meaning that we have developed systems of coming to quick conclusions based on limited information. These processes are known as heuristics. This is not a flaw; rather it is an adaptive strategy that allows us to navigate and survive in our social worlds. Nevertheless, these tendencies may lead people to engage in cybersecurity in risky ways, either as the instigators of attacks, the targets of attacks, or the cybersecurity professionals who seek to prevent and mitigate attacks. Examples of this include group dynamics in which individuals overestimate the abilities of their own group whilst underestimating the abilities of competing groups, or failing to recognize the threat of cybersecurity risks that are difficult to visualize. In ways like those used with marketing and advertising campaigns, social engineers aim to exploit these quirks of social influence and human decision making. A greater understanding of these processes will enable us to develop more informed prevention and mitigation strategies in order to address the increasing challenges we face within cybersecurity.

국내 사이버 침해사고의 경제적 피해금액 산정

국내 사이버 침해사고의 경제적 피해금액 산정

Towards understanding cybersecurity capability in Australian healthcare organisations: a systematic review of recent trends, threats and mitigation

ABSTRACTCybersecurity threats in the Health sector are increasing globally due to the rising value of sensitive health information and availability of digitalised personal health records. This systematic review compares international and Australian health system cybersecurity landscapes in relation to the introduction of universal electronic health records. It examines recent trends in healthcare cybersecurity breaches that can disrupt essential services if patient safety and privacy are compromised. Often health systems and health mangers are ill-equipped to mitigate such threats. Recommendations are provided to proactively mature the cybersecurity culture within healthcare organisations, thus increasing their resilience to cyber threat.

Transforming Healthcare Cybersecurity from Reactive to Proactive: Current Status and Future Recommendations.

The recent rise in cybersecurity breaches in healthcare organizations has put patients' privacy at a higher risk of being exposed. Despite this threat and the additional danger posed by such incidents to patients' safety, as well asoperational and financial threats to healthcare organizations, very few studies have systematically examined the cybersecurity threats in healthcare. To lay a firm foundation for healthcare organizations and policymakers in better understanding the complexity of the issue of cybersecurity, this study explores the major type of cybersecurity threats for healthcare organizations and explains the roles of the four major players (cyber attackers, cyber defenders, developers, and end-users) in cybersecurity. Finally, the paper discusses a set of recommendations for the policymakers and healthcare organizations to strengthen cybersecurity in their organization.

The Impact of Customer’s Reported Cybersecurity Breaches on Key Supplier’s Relationship-Specific Investments and Relationship Duration

We investigate the impact of customers’ cybersecurity breaches (CSBs) on its supplier’s relationship-specific investment decisions and the duration of supplier-customer relationship. We document a significant negative association between customer reported CSBs and suppliers’ relationship-specific investments in the subsequent year. In addition, we find customers’ reported CSBs increase the likelihood of supplier-customer relationship termination in the subsequent year. Suppliers reduce their relationship-specific investment by 6% of total sales in the subsequent year following customers’ reported CSBs. More importantly, supplier-customer relationships are two times more likely to be terminated the year after a customer reports a CSB incident. Our findings demonstrate that CSBs are an economically significant event to the breached firm in terms of indirect costs and provide further insight into how a CSB can influence the perception of the firm’s influential stakeholders, especially its key suppliers.

The Cyber Vulnerability in Automation of Material Handling and Logistics Systems

The level of automation in material handling and logistics industries has increased significantly in recent years. This increase in automation and integration is driven by customer expectations, technology shifts, and pursuit for perfections among others. The material handling and logistics industries not only become effective and efficient, but also became competitive in the market Place. On the other hand, this increased automation exposes vulnerability to cyberattacks. The frequency and impact of cyberattacks on businesses doubled in the last five years and expected to triple in the next five years. Cybersecurity breach poses a dynamic challenge to businesses and threatens their smooth operations and competitive advantage. Study reveals that one in three small businesses do not have the resources in place to protect themselves. Some businesses are more vulnerable to cyberattacks that others, but none is spared from potential attacks. Businesses need to be strategic in cyber defense and create a resilient system that minimizes the impact of cyberattacks. This paper mainly focuses on challenges faced by cybersecurity and how businesses, especially the material handling and logistics should do to address those challenges.

Cybersecurity Breaches and the Role of Information Technology Governance in Audit Committee Charters

ABSTRACTCybersecurity is a serious and growing risk for organizations. Firms with board of director involvement in information technology governance (ITG) may be better equipped to deal with this risk. Yet little is known about the audit committee's role in ITG. This study uses efficiency and institutional theories to investigate the influence of security breaches and board-level technology committees on disclosing ITG roles in the audit committee charter. We develop hypotheses and test them using a sample of 189 firms. Results show that firms with a technology committee and a data breach are more likely to disclose ITG roles in the audit committee charter. This suggests that firms experiencing a data breach realize their vulnerability and, by already having oversight at the board level, it is more natural for them to increase oversight by assigning ITG roles to the audit committee. We provide implications and areas for future research.

Targeted cyber attacks: how to mitigate the increasing risk

In the past year, it has felt as if cyber security breaches have rarely been out of the press, with more and more reports of organisations and individuals becoming victims of targeted attacks. Sainsbury's, Uber and Argos are just three examples of companies out of more than 100 who fell victim to this summer's Capital One breach. 1 This high-profile hack has led to a potential fine of $500m for the financial giant and the hacker in question has been charged with five years’ imprisonment and over £200,000 in fines.

Understanding the full cost of cyber security breaches

Media reports regularly highlight organisations that have experienced costly cyber attacks or other cyber security breaches. Such breaches can have far-reaching and long-running impacts, compromising systems and data, impacting relationships with customers, suppliers and partners, and in extreme situations becoming existential threats. As an example of the potentially significant costs involved, the cyber attack on TalkTalk, the UK telecommunications company, in 2016, is estimated to have cost up to £60m. 1 When organisations are breached, many will recognise that they have been impacted in some way. But new research suggests that organisations rarely understand the full cost. Steven Furnell of the University of Nottingham and Harry Heyburn, Andrew Whitehead and Jayesh Navin Shah at Ipsos MORI examine the range of potential direct and indirect costs organisations can incur, and the varying timeframes over which these costs come to light. And they offer a data collection tool that can support organisations to fully capture the cost of breaches.