Page 16 - Summer 2024
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UK announces World First Laws to protect
                                                                                                                                                                                        Consumers from Cyberattacks.


                                                                                                                                                                                        In a world first manufacturers of internet-
                                                                                                                                                                                        connected smart devices are to be legally
                                                                                                                                                                                        required to protect consumers in the UK from
                                                                                                                                                                                        hackers and cyber criminals. In particular,
                                                                                                                                                                                        the new regulations will prohibit such
                                                                                                                                                                                        manufacturers from using weak default
                                                                                                                                 Cybersecurity Budgets rise for
                                                                                                                                                                                        passwords and there will be transparency
                                                                                                                                 Telecommunications and Tech
                                                                                                                                                                                        requirements mandating that manufacturers
                                                                                                                                                                                        and retailers inform consumers about the
                                                                                                                                 A recent report by financial services                  minimum timeframe for receiving critical
                                                                                                                                 company Moody’s has revealed that                      security updates, enhancing overall security
                                                                                                                                 telecommunications, media and technology               protocols. There will also be a requirement
          DEVELOPMENTS IN                                                                                                        companies have experienced a 125 per cent              for manufacturers to disclose how to report
                                                                                                                                 increase in their cybersecurity budgets                security issues swiftly.
          CYBERSECURITY                                                                                                          between 2019 and 2023. This is despite having
                                                                                                                                 a cyber manager and more cyber expertise at
                                                                                                                                 board level than the global median.


                                                                                                                                 According to the report the threat landscape
                                                                                                                                 of this industrial sector is one of medium to
                                                                                                                                 high risk cyber risk exposure, with much of the
                                                                                                                                 vulnerability being due to the fact that these
                                                                                                                                 businesses handle vast amounts of sensitive
          AI helps Offshore Wind Farms protect against          Recommendations from the study include
                                                                                                                                 data, especially customer information, financial
          Cyberattacks                                          the adoption of AI notably in offshore wind’s
                                                                                                                                 records and proprietary intellectual property.
                                                                digital frameworks along with the formation
          Research by the Alan Turing Institute has             of organisational emergency protocols,                           The report showed that over 90 per cent of
          highlighted the vulnerability of offshore             the facilitation of cross-border intelligence                    respondents have stand alone cyber insurance,
          wind farms owing to their frequent reliance           sharing with regard to cyberattacks, and the                     as against 78 per cent in 2021, and that with this
          on outdated software and communications               establishment of security protocols to respond to                insurance they have broad coverage, covering
          technology that was not designed with                 such incidents.
                                                                                                                                 for example business interruption, regulatory
          cybersecurity considerations.
                                                                                                                                 fines, reputational damage, ransom payments
                                                                Dr. Alexander Babuta, Director of CETaS,
                                                                                                                                 and incident response.
          Further research, however, by the Alan Turing         comments:
          Institute Centre for Emerging Technology
                                                                                                                                 In response to the findings, Nick Millward, Board
          and Security (CETaS) and the Data Centric             “The UK’s offshore wind production is set to
                                                                                                                                 Member and Consultant for the Mobile Eco-
          Engineering Programme, has suggested that by          significantly increase over the coming years.                                                                           Graham Russell, CEO of the Office for Product
                                                                                                                                 system Forum, discussed how AI could help
          introducing AI and intelligent automation some        However, the more it becomes integrated into                                                                            Safety and Standards, states:
                                                                                                                                 address some of these concerns:
          of these risks may be mitigated by assisting          our energy supplies the greater the potential
          operators in detecting and anticipating potential     for serious disruption if it were to come under
                                                                                                                                 “Telcos must navigate privacy risks, ensuring          “The use and ownership of consumer products
          cyber threats.                                        a cyberattack. Incorporating AI into these
                                                                                                                                 compliance and transparent data policies. Bias         that can connect to the internet or a network is
                                                                systems is one way that cybersecurity  could
                                                                                                                                 in AI algorithms needs proactive processes for         growing rapidly. UK consumers should be able
                                                                be improved. However, to make offshore wind
                                                                                                                                 fairness. Cybersecurity threats require robust         to trust that these products are designed and
                                                                farms more resilient we need to consider
                                                                                                                                 protection for both data and AI systems.               built with security in mind, protecting them from
                                                                the robustness of the entire system, such as
                                                                                                                                                                                        the increasing cyber threats to connectable
                                                                rapid power recovery, as well as eliminating                                                                            devices”.
                                                                cybersecurity threats”.                                          AI-powered solutions will also bolster defences
                                                                                                                                 against evolving threats in mobile telecoms.
                                                                                                                                 Machine learning algorithms will be used to            A recent Which? study found that a home filled
                                                                Reference: ‘AI could help secure Offshore Wind Farms from
                                                                                                                                 analyse patterns and anomalies to detect and           with smart devices could be exposed to over
                                                                Cyberattacks, says Alan Turing Institute’, Electrical Review, June 27th.
                                                                                                                                 prevent cyber attacks in real-time, safeguarding       12,000 hacking attacks from attackers all over the
                                                                                                                                 sensitive data and ensuring user and brand             world in a single week, with up to 2,684 attempts
                                                                                                                                 privacy”.                                              to guess weak default passwords on just five
                                                                                                                                                                                        devices.
                                                                                                                                 Reference: Adams, H.S., Mobile Magazine, 15th. June
                                                                                                                                                                                        Reference: Uffindell, R., Tech News, May 1st.


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