CYBERSECURITY
“ SECTORS SUCH AS HEALTH , CENTRAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ARE LIKELY TO BE TARGETED DUE TO THEIR DIRECT IMPACT ON THE WIDER POPULATION ”
ALEX WOODWARD , SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT – CONSULTING DELIVERY , CYBER SECURITY , CGI
wider population ,” says Alex Woodward , Senior Vice President – Consulting Delivery , Cyber Security at CGI .
Although the idea can be traced back to 1834 in France , when attackers stole financial market information by accessing the French telegraph system , cyberwarfare didn ’ t really become a tactic until the late 20th century .
This is due to the wider rollout of interconnected global infrastructure . Everything from power grids to financial systems and healthcare now rely on digital services and this makes them vulnerable .
“ Whilst it ’ s easy to think James Bond when it comes to nation-state cyberattacks , our reliance on connected IT systems means it ’ s relatively easy for state threat actors to create their desired effect on target through basic methods ,” says Alex .
This quarter , Blackberry reported over 800,000 attacks occurred against critical infrastructure , with 50 % of these being targeted against the financial sector .
Cyberwarfare therefore represents a paradigm shift in the spillover of conflicts in the 21st century .
There is no set order of battle for attackers conducting cyberwarfare operations , as each may have their own strategy or signatures . However , certain types of attacks and techniques are employed for attackers to achieve their desired objectives .
“ The most common forms of attack in cyberwarfare include living-off-the-land ( LoL ) attacks , cyber espionage , supply chain attacks , zero-day exploits , stealth implants and DDoS attacks ,” says Matt . “ However , phishing remains a primary tool for gaining unauthorised access , exploiting the human element to breach defences .”
DDoS as mentioned above , are surging in this geopolitically tense time as they are used to disrupt online services and create chaos during critical times , denying systems the ability to operate and further complicating incident response efforts .
As cyberwarfare becomes more sophisticated , the potential for escalation and collateral damage increases . This evolution necessitates new approaches to defence and cooperation between governments and companies that provide critical services like utilise or finance .
130 March 2025