Cybersecurity
The cybersecurity threat landscape continues to evolve and change at pace. Alongside developments in threat actor sophistication, the continuing “democratisation” of cyber-crime introduces further challenges for organisations worldwide. The meteoric rise of Generative AI has also lowered the ‘barrier to entry’ for cyber criminals, meaning that skills which were once available only to a select few are now readily accessible to all.
Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) is a strong example of how the democratisation of cyber-crime has exacerbated an existing threat. Ransomware continues to be one of the biggest cyber-threats faced by organisations worldwide and can cripple businesses in a matter of hours. Through the RaaS model, all an attacker needs to do is distribute the ransomware in a target environment – the ransomware itself, and payment management, are all provided as part of the service, with the provider usually taking 20-30% of profits. Coupled with AI augmentation, it is now easier than ever for cyber criminals to conduct ransomware attacks and this is likely to drive an increase in attack volume over the coming years.
Alongside ransomware, email-enabled financial fraud and ‘Business Email Compromise’ (BEC) attacks continue to offer malicious actors an easy way to manipulate victims and to steal funds. Advances in Generative AI have made it easier for attackers to create convincing “lure” emails – this is especially relevant when considering criminal groups which speak a different language from their target victims.
As a software investor, cybersecurity is one of our biggest risks. Hg takes this matter very seriously and have built a Technology & Cybersecurity team with deep expertise in this area. In early 2017, the team launched its Cybersecurity Risk and Maturity Assessment Programme and have conducted over 400 assessments since.
The assessment, which is based on Hg’s standard cybersecurity framework and known industry standards, begins during the early stages of due diligence for prospective investments, then continues for the entire ownership lifecycle as and when a company joins the Hg portfolio.
Focused on action and operating on a model of continuous improvement, the programme ensures that portfolio companies are assessed on a rolling basis, with frequency of assessment determined by their individual risk and maturity. Where companies fall below Hg’s minimum standards, the cybersecurity team will step in to co-own delivery of improvement workstreams, operating as interim security leaders when necessary.
Calum Thompson
Cybersecurity Specialist, Hg
“Now, more than ever, organisations need to “get the basics right” when it comes to cybersecurity. Despite continual advances in attacker capability, most incidents are enabled by the absence, or inconsistent deployment, of foundational cybersecurity controls such as patching, multifactor authentication, effective security monitoring, and user education. The key challenge faced by defenders is that malicious actors have become very good at detecting these coverage gaps, via indiscriminate, automated means, and exploiting them at pace; this trend is set to continue given recent advances in Generative AI.
This underpins the importance of deploying defensive controls consistently across all parts of an organisation (including newly acquired entities), to avoid giving attackers easy wins. When adversaries do find a way in, the consequences can be significant, particularly in the case of ransomware, so businesses should ensure that they can detect malicious activity quickly and respond effectively, with urgency, to limit the impact, and repel the attack.”
