CSO

  Something new is happening in cyberspace. I think the bad guys are getting much better and more organized. The question is: are we?

 Many people are blogging about these new trends. One of the best pieces on this topic was sent to me by Joel Weever.  Written by Michael St. Neitzel, the article is entitled: "Welcome to 2007: the year of professional organized malware development."

 His central theme is that: “Malware writers have noticed that they can gain large amounts of money from distributing malware.” He also discusses how playing defense is getting harder and harder – and he recommends going on the offense against these guys.

 A good general article from the BBC was written about this trend last October. “Spinning a web to catch a hacker”  goes into some details around honeypots and how they can help.

 One last article that I like on this problem came from the Tech Republic last  June. “Online threats outpacing law crackdowns,” describes how law enforcement is outgunned.

 There is no doubt that this is a growing trend. How do we respond? It calls for collaboration and working closer with others. I’m active in Michigan InfraGard and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS ISAC)  for these very reasons. If you’re in the private sector, I recommend looking into your local InfraGard chapter. You can see a national InfraGard map with chapters listed at their site.

 If you are a local government employee, there are state ISACs being set up around the country as well. Contact your state’s CISO. For example, if you’re in Michigan, you can get information on joining our ISAC  at our Michigan cyber website.

 Whenever bad things happen, it can become frustrating knowing who to call. Developing your contacts early is essential, and it’s helped me on numerous occasions. I encourage readers to join one of these organizations so we can battle the bad guys together. 

 Over the next few months, I’ll share some stories on how collaboration can solve problems that we can’t solve alone as security professionals.