Many experts often overlook hardware security and its vital importance in establishing a secure workspace.
When it comes to cybersecurity, everyone likes to talk about software and the dangers that it poses. However, people often overlook hardware-based security and its vital importance in establishing a secure workspace. This is attributed to a general lack of knowledge when it comes to hardware security and how it works. So, it’s time to bust some myths that you might think are true…
Every enterprise is a target for malicious actors; it can happen to anyone for any number of reasons. The important thing to remember is that you can prepare and build your company’s resistance to these attacks by gaining visibility on the Physical Layer.
Myth #1: We never hear about hardware-based attacks, they don’t exist!
Just because you don’t hear about the problem frequently, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. Usually, cyberattacks that make the headlines are those involving large corporations that have fallen victim to a software-based attack carried out by infamous cybercrime syndicates. These stories are juicy and scandalous and entice audiences to read the article, generating more clicks onto the media outlet’s website. Additionally, many businesses choose to withhold information pertaining to hardware-based attacks as it indicates insufficient physical security, which reflects negatively upon the business. Another reason why you don’t often hear about hardware-based attacks is that enterprises who fall victim to them are oblivious to it. When an enterprise gets breached, the natural assumption is that it was due to a software vulnerability or phishing scam. Such misunderstanding, coupled with a lack of resources to detect a hardware attack tool, results in the attack method getting misconstrued.
However, that is not to say that hardware-based attacks don’t receive any media attention. A great example that receives public resonance concerns ATMs. These cash dispensing machines are becoming a go-to target for cybercriminals because of the instant payout. Instead of using brute force attacks on ATMs, cybercriminals can now just attach a hardware attack tool, known as a Black Box, to the internal computer to trick it into releasing cash through a MiTM attack. Since 2021, Black Box attacks have been on the rise and have amounted to losses of 1.5 million Euros in Europe alone.
Read the full article below to learn more about these myths.