From disruption to ransomware: Lessons From hackers

Abstract

Since 2020, SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) has forced organizations to pivot towards digital transformation. Yet, the same period has seen a dramatic rise in hacking and ransomware attacks, especially from internationally malicious actors attempting to simultaneously disrupt and profit. Although a knee-jerk reaction has been the adoption of new-fangled technologies as the only way to prevent, detect, and mitigate attacks, this case study highlights how imperative it is for organizations to proactively review and re-engineer their process inefficiencies and human errors as a systematic counter-strategy. Using fictitious characters reflecting real-world hacking processes and outfits, this case projects the need for a new cybersecurity order, where cybersecure process reengineering and human training deserve greater attention than simply investing in newer cybersecurity technologies.