Power
FOLLOWING the rising incidents of ransomware, phishing, and malware attacks, among
others, Schneider Electric has urged energy companies, financial institutions, large
industries and micro small and medium (MSMEs) sized companies to be extra
vigilant, and to deploy proven cybersecurity measures especially as the perpetrators
of cybercrime has become more sophisticated.
This was made known at a just-concluded webinar organized by the Franco-Nigerian
Chamber of Commerce and Industry with the theme: “Cybersecurity and process
automation in today’s business environment”.
In his presentation, Obukohwo Obukonise, a Senior Systems, and Cybersecurity
Engineer at Schneider Electric said that an attack is an attempt to expose, alter,
disable, destroy, steal or gain information through unauthorized access to, or make
unauthorized use of an asset" in computers and computer networks.
Citing AV-Test.org May 2021 reports, Obukonise said that malware attacks in the last
7 years, rose from 470 million in 2015 to 1.2 billion in 2021. Also, between 2020 and
2021, he said that the number rose from 1.1 billion to 1.2 billion. He attributed this
rise to successes in previous years’ attacks where attackers made a fortune and are
now investing the monies into developing more sophisticated malware.
He said, Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, there are lots of people and
organizations who are now online. People and organizations now rely on cloud
computing and IOT resources for their business model. So, there are so many targets
on the internet. It is now easier for attackers to be able to compromise their targets.
They have many options. Many people are online now because it is the norm On reasons for cyberattacks, the Schneider Electric engineer identified
hacktivism against government/organization, disgruntled employees against
employers, cyber warfare, politically motivated attacks, financial gains, identity theft,
and stealing of trade secrets, as some of the reasons.
He listed ransomware, Denial of Service, Zero-day exploit, cloud data breaches, man-
in-the-middle, phishing, and malware, as most common cyberattacks. Phishing is a fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information or data, by
impersonating oneself as a trustworthy entity in digital communication,”
Obukonise said.
On his part, Ajibola Akindele, the General Manager Sub-Saharan Africa, for Process
Automation averred that Schneider Electric had assisted clients to create customized
cybersecurity architecture solutions.
He said: “This isn’t strange to us and we always recommend solutions that fit into
the company’s strategic plans.
“We have done it in Oil & Gas, Power, Utility, Manufacturing space and across
several other industries. All that experience is being brought to bear now that cases
have skyrocketed.
It was Cybersecurity Ventures that predicted that cybercrime will annually cost the
world US$10.5 trillion by 2025.
“Now, it’s larger than the damage caused by natural disasters in a year; it’s even
larger than the global trade of all major illegal drugs combined! So, this is serious and
you don’t want to be caught unawares”.
For Energy Companies and large industries, he recommended the deployment of
web application security and anti-phishing software; deployment of anomaly
detection, network intrusion detection, next-generation firewall, and SIEM;
deployment of the web server and application server encryption, 2FA authentication;
and organizing cybersecurity training and awareness workshop, as part of measures
against phishing.
He also noted that the MSMEs aren’t spared. While some may find it challenging to
acquire the necessary cybersecurity architecture, others might not clearly see the
need. Mere awareness and regular updates of apps are starting points to being secure
in cyberspace, he recommended.
In the same vein, Victor Lough, head of NESSA Cluster Cyber Business Consultant for
Schneider Electric spoke to the theme: “Build an end to end cybersecurity strategy
for greater protection” while making his presentation at the Cyber Security Academy
Webinar.
He emphasized the importance of building a resilient team that would establish an
in-depth defense mechanism which includes installation and implementation of an
anomaly detection program.
Lough noted that the prowess of the Schneider Electric global team has seen them
offer services to leading business and government organizations.
– May 24, 2021 @ 10:55 GMT
Tags: banks Industries prods energy companies Spiked cybercrime amid Covid-19 new normal: Schneider Electric recommends solutions
