Part 4
Cyber-Attack: Business Greatest Risk through the Lens of a Hacker
Following Piskorski session on the threat of disruption is FC-Freaky Crown, Co-Founder & Head of Ethical Hacking from Cygenta Ltd., United Kingdom, introducing the risks of cyber-attacks. FC began his session with an introduction to what “Ethical Hacking” is. “Ethical Hacking” is about helping people get better at their cyber securities. In his session, FC will be demonstrating how companies should be protecting themselves from cyber-attacks.
The first demonstration shows the schematic of how a hacker works. With increasing cyber defenses system, it is harder for hackers to work today. However, to get around the security defense system is to trick the user to hack their own computer, and unknowingly give access to the hacker. And to demonstrate how easy it is to be done, FC invited a member of the audience who had no previous experience hacking a system to become a hacker who could successfully hack into a computer within 5 minutes. During the demonstration, the amateur hacker was able to access the computer’s control, as well as elevating their user administrative status in order to access higher level security data, to process money transfer, or send email in place of the computer’s owner themselves. The Hacker could even access all the passwords stored or used in the machine and use the passwords across all systems.
From the demonstration, FC has managed to prove how easy it is for hackers to hack into a company’s system without cyber-security. FC stressed how important it is for companies to build their cyber-security physically around the system, “You cannot have cyber-security without physical security.” Highly secured companies build their offices by integrating a physical security schematic around their cyber assets. Protecting your perimeters is also important when laying out the blueprint for your cyber assets, this may include installing CCTV cameras and building fences around your facilities. However, FC pointed out that it is important you understand how your security guards work, because without full synchronization between the physical assets, the security guards, and the cyber security systems, third-party hackers could still penetrate your system by getting through the loop hole. Sometimes, even selecting the type of doors or the materials for construction could be a significant decision that affects the quality of your facilities’ security.
The thinking behind designing a highly-secured cyber security system comes down to all the specific details of designing the blueprint of the physical facility, the schematics of the cyber-security, as well as making sure that all personals related to keeping your security in-check works together seamlessly. At the same time, it is equally important that everybody in the company understand your security policy, because cyber security is not just one person’s responsibility.
Thailand Moving Forward
In this last session, Teeranun Srihong, Chairman of Thailand Management Association stepped up to wrap-up the TMA Thailand Management Day 2018 and opening the discussion for Thailand, moving forward.
Srihong opened up with a quote from Microsoft that “Information and Technology is the core of all development.” And this is because IT systems today are connected to each other, which leads us back to today’s key topic – Smart Connectivity.
Srihong demonstrated how connectivity could leverage the progression of technology by a sample use case of a 3D printing device. With increased connectivity, 3D printing can be used to print a house within 24, which could be applied to building a whole village for underprivileged people with no house to live in. Another example is the case of the Modern Meadow, bio-fabricating leather-inspired materials for clothes, or even for medical applications. Imagine a world where you no longer have to kill animals to produce leather. Or a spaceship that can generate their own energy in outer space. All of these technological advances and development demonstrates how very different disciplines and concepts can be interconnected to create innovation that could actually solve unmet needs and unresolved problems for the human race.
Imagine the future world, where we will be living together with robots. One of the major developments in Robotics is Sophia – a human-like robot designed to co-exist with humans. Sophia is able to engage in an almost human-like conservation, making smart responses based on artificial intelligence and machine learning. Imagine if there are over 100 robots like Sophia, all synchronized in their learning processes, imagine what we could achieve with such great intelligence. At the same time, this technology could be used to increase the intellectual power of human beings by connecting the learning of scientists.
Another exciting technology Srihong pointed out is Virtual Reality, which is essentially based from the Hologram concept introduced in the Star Wars movies. Today, Virtual Reality open new doors of opportunities for providing more access to education by providing a virtual learning experience. Without these technologies, we would not have been able to realize the greatest imaginations of many great scientists to construct our future and provide a better quality of lives for us all.
While technology advancement holds many positive impacts, there are also many challenges that we must face. Artificial Intelligence is one of the major concerns in terms of challenges for the future of humanity. How do we empower humans to work interconnectedly with artificial intelligence, how do we ensure that humans are not going to be taken over by AI and become unemployed? These are the challenges we must face. Yet at the same time, technology also creates new opportunities for us to face these challenges. Robots, AI, blockchain, all of these technologies offer new ways for us to work more efficiently and more productively. Technologies allowed us to be able to live a healthier life with higher quality of life. When speaking of technology, opportunities and challenges come hand-in-hand. With new opportunities, there will be new challenges. And these are the challenges that we must face – be it developing a more secured cyber-security systems around our own personal data or dealing with how we can protect ourselves from spyware.
Technology advancement helped created wealth among the populace. Absolute poverty has diminished immensely. However, relative poverty or relative inequality is growing exponentially. For Thailand, wealth is distributed unequally, with high concentration of wealth around a few families. This is where social problems might arise. On the other hand, technology allowed us to connect to one another easier. This could change the landscape of our people can be divided. In the future, the definition of “Nation” might change. We might choose to live close to those who has the same interest or hobbies, for example. New technologies such as DNA sequencing can help us cure cancer, can help improve the quality of our lives. However, if these technologies can only be accessed by a selected few, then this new advancement of technology could create a new division between different groups of people.
Technology could be used to enhance our physical abilities. Technology could give rise to superhumans. Technology could create a new species – robots, and in the future, who knows, we might have what we call “Robots Rights”. One of the most significant things we must do for our businesses is to create new abilities – or flexibility.
There are four components to ‘Flexibility’:
1. Quick Access to Information
2. Quick Decision Making
3. Quick Implementation
4. Partnership and Collaboration
Informed decision making is crucial for businesses to maneuver ourselves into the new world. Most of the time, Management Officers are making decisions based on ambiguity. This is normal in today’s world. However, what is more important than making decisions is how quickly you can turn them into actual implementation. And lastly, nobody can survive without a strong partnership or collaborative effort. Luckily, we live in the world where technology advancement has now enabled us to achieve all of these four components.
Corporate transformation is one of the major challenges. Corporates must understand that their current business success is based from their existing know-how and scalable efficiency. Today however, that is about to change. In the new world we are approaching, scalable learning is more important than scalable efficiency. This means that instead of crafting a 3- or 5-years plan, we might need to create a 10 years scenario, scenarios of how we would envision the world in 10 years. Which means that ‘imagination’ is more important than ‘extrapolating historical data’.
Secondly, we must understand the characteristics of ‘Innovation’. Thirdly, Corporates must be able to undergo transformation. Typically, every corporate is immune to changes, there are very little room for failure. But in today’s world, in the age of innovators, ‘fail fast’ is the new norm. In order to survive, in order to be able to transform in the most flexible way, this ‘immune system’ must be killed. Corporates must embrace changes, and this could only be achieved via a strong open-minded leadership. Only when the leadership can adopt an open mindset can we truly achieve ‘scalable learning’.
Commanders must transform into ‘Facilitators’. This is so that you can manage, not the organization, but the ecosystem for change. Building motivation is also very important, this is so that you can empower your teams to be able to innovate. Instead of telling your teams what to do, you need to be telling them why they are doing what they are doing. When you tell your teams why they are doing what they are doing, you are opening opportunities for your teams to come up with innovative solutions.
You also need to be managing innovation with the approach of ‘doing it on the edge, never inside’. This is because innovation can never be achieved from the inside, you need to always be reaching out as far as you can go. And once you can reach what you are aiming for, you could then move your organization towards that goal. Lastly, you need to move towards collaboration and networking. These are the core mission of TMA to move corporates towards the future from this day onward.
Source: Thailand Management Day 2018
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TMA Thailand Management Day: Full Content Recap #1