In the never-ending escalation of cyber threats, an emerging type of attack could dramatically raise the stakes. Called Destruction of Service (DeOS), these attacks could soon become common — and devastating.
As outlined in Cisco’s Midyear Cybersecurity Report (download it here), behavior such as locking systems and encrypting data are precursors to DeOS. Right now, federal agencies and other organizations can usually recover from malware or ransomware attacks with a “safety net” of backups and other resources. A DeOS attack would try to destroy that capability.
The Internet of Things will probably be a vector for these attacks, according to our researchers.
DeOS isn’t the only threat vector that demands attention, of course. Cyber-attckers are creative and tenacious, and will use any tool that works. The good news is, many organizations have a good handle on defense and can fend off most or all attacks.
The single most important strategy for cybersecurity is to adopt an open, integrated and simplified approach. Many cybersecurity shops have grown up piece by piece, buying individual solutions as needed to address problems as they arose. The resulting patchwork quilt is difficult to manage and multiplies security alerts unnecessarily.
Find out more about emerging cybersecurity trends and threats in our free report.
If we just could have kept BeOS instead of having now DeOS … 😉
(Not sure if anyone remembers/understands this joke)
Hi Michael I read about DeOS in the mid year report but I couldn’t find any mention of how it would be tackled. Do yo uhave nay thoughts?
Is this a Cisco line about patchwork quilt? When I was studying for my CASP the recommendation was for multilayers from different companies to get a wider range of protection.
Peter McKenzie, I ran your question by one of our cybersecurity experts. Here’s his response:
“DeOS is a new threat and the defense is similar to most other threats only more urgent – effective cybersecurity. The multi-layer/multi company and best-of-breed approaches can be effective if you have enough time, money and people to manage all of those disparate systems. Defenders are overwhelmed and the way to solve this is with an architectural approach where all of the devices work together and can be automated. Our Motto: Simple, Open, Automated…”
Hope that helps!