There is an old saying, which some attribute as an old Chinese proverb, that states “May you live in interesting times.” Some say that this is a blessing you may wish upon a friend, while others say it is actually a curse. Within the information security industry it is indeed true to say that we are living in interesting times.

There are the constant updates and changes to the technology being used both in our personal and business lives. The way we work and interact with others is constantly changing. It is now not unusual for companies to have employees working remotely, checking emails from home or the road on their smartphones and/or tablets.

Through the wonders of the Internet a business can be available and reach out to millions of potential new clients in other countries. We collaborate and share information with each other, partner companies, clients and vendors quicker and easier than ever before. The way business operates is changing too thanks to technology. Tasks that would traditionally took longer to do manually are now automated and done much quicker, information is processed and analysed faster allowing decisions to be made quicker, and money can be transferred to customer or suppliers bank accounts with the mere click of a mouse button.


What was science fiction a few decades ago is now science fact as technology such as smartphones allows us to communicate and collaborate with each other in ways that a few decades ago would be unheard of. We can bank and shop online, we can watch videos of events happening anywhere in the world almost as soon as it happens, and we can share our personal trials and tribulations with friends and relatives no matter where they are through social networks.

Our modern lives, economies and societies rely more and more on the digital realm than ever before. This ever increasing reliance on technology brings with it many new threats and also amplifies existing threats. These threats range from the atypical curious teenager attacking computer systems to see what damage they can do, to hacktivists looking to highlight their cause through digital mayhem, to criminals looking to pillage our digital wallets, bank accounts and data, and to state sponsored entities looking to steal national and industrial secrets.

Just as technology has enhanced and made our lives easier so too has technology better enabled these threat actors to impact our lives in a negative fashion. We also have to contend not only with the deliberate disruption of our computer systems by certain actors but also the accidental failure of core computing systems to impact on our lives.