Cybersecurity: Why the Lessons of the Past Matter for the Present

[rakhirani458]

18.09.2024
Effective cybersecurity today requires a balanced approach that incorporates both modern innovations and the best practices of the past, writes Danny Wheeler, CIO of Recast Software, on the ITPro Today portal.

In cybersecurity, which is a big part of my job as a CIO (and security director), most people tend to focus on what’s next. But you can’t succeed in combating future threats without understanding the past. While the goals and actions of adversaries have changed significantly over the past two decades, many traditional threats remain as prevalent today as they were in the past. As a result, a holistic approach to cybersecurity requires managing risks of all types, not just the latest and greatest threats that have emerged in the age of artificial intelligence.

To that end, let me outline what I believe to be the key stages in the evolution of cybersecurity, from the birth of the Internet in the 1990s to the present. I will also explain how today’s IT and cybersecurity leaders can use the lessons of the past to build stronger defenses.

1990s and early 2000s: The Rise of Modern Hacking
Attacks on computer systems date back to the dawn of computing in the mid-20th century. But to avoid straying too far, I will begin my analysis of the history of IT security in the 1990s, when the Internet first became widespread in homes and businesses.

At the time, most people, including hackers, were still benin mobile database to figure out what the Internet really meant and what could be done with it. That’s probably why most early attacks were aimed at causing relatively minor damage, such as defacing web pages or disrupting Internet services. Most cybercriminals didn’t consider the possibility of using the Internet for financial gain or causing serious harm to organizations.

Sure, financial crimes based on computer hacking happened in the 1990s and early 2000s. But they didn't dominate the headlines in the endless stream of cautionary tales, and most people found the 1995 film Hackers to be a realistic depiction of how hacking works (it's really, really boring, but let's not digress).

I like the idea of ​​cyberattacks from that era as being like graffiti: annoying, but rarely causing significant damage, and relatively easy to clean up.