Cybersecurity: “Hackers Constantly Challenge Us”
Bernd and Marcel Steinkühler from Correct Power Institute, an IT specialist, discuss attacks from the Internet and potential defenses
Bernd and Marcel Steinkühler from Correct Power Institute, an IT specialist, discuss attacks from the Internet and potential defenses
Should a company simply expect that cyber criminals will attack it?
Bernd Steinkühler: When a location like a computing center goes on line, then hackers attack, statistically speaking, after two minutes at the latest. If the criminals succeed in interrupting the power supply, they can incapacitate the company. However, it often happens, that the hackers call using a disposable cell phone and say “You will pay X amount or you will be finished in five minutes.” As a rule, companies generally pay.
What drives hackers? Does Bank A hire them and pay them to attack Bank B?
Bernd Steinkühler: Most often, Chinese or Russian corporations hire hackers to damage their competitors. This is quite professionally organized, which is why the extorted companies generally pay without thinking too long or too hard. They know that their electricity can actually be cut off after ten minutes.
It is really that simple?
Marcel Steinkühler: It’s even easier: A head manager leaves his mobile phone in a taxi; the driver finds it and sells it to a criminal, who uses it as a gateway past the corporate firewall. This happens faster than you think: The entire company network can be crashed within a few minutes. Mobile phones are currently the main access point. This scam is currently affecting London’s banking sector.