IT networks are now a thriving hive of connections and data points. It has grown exponentially in the last couple of years. Along with the network, the threats and sophistication of the threats have increased as well. Things have ceased to be black and white. There are some moral and practical gray zones that people cover every day to use, produce and extract relevant data.
The next section of Statistics is a compilation of studies from different verified sources including the 2016 Cost of Cybercrime Study as a global phenomenon –
- Between June 2016 and November 2016, 1 billion malware threats plagued the world
- There has been a 172% increase in the new ransomware families
- SWIFT was the biggest attack vector in 2016.
- 2016 has been the busiest year for Microsoft. In 2015, the tech leader released 135 updates. By November 2016, Microsoft released about 145 updates in 2016.
- DDoS attacks from Mirai and ELF Malwares plagued big data.
- Yahoo faced the biggest ever data breach leaving millions of user accounts vulnerable irrespective of geographical locations.
- The first official malware for Apple devices was uncovered.
- The estimated cost of cybercrime is over $1 billion in 2017.
- As of June 2017, 99% of all computers are susceptible to cyber-attacks.
It is possible for most malware attacks to fester and succeed because of the sheer volume of data they target. With each passing day, the malware is becoming more sophisticated as well. It is becoming almost impossible to analytically evaluate them and build an infrastructure that can defend the data. This is also because the SQL-based infrastructure is not completely scalable. It is challenging to update and costly to maintain. This gives an excellent opportunity to most cyber attackers.
Big data analytics and cyber security solutions
Big data is not exempt from the PDR paradigm. You need to be able to detect the threat and act, fast. The PDR paradigm seems simplistic – Prevent, Detect and Respond. However, imagine few terabytes of data that need analysis before you can reach the root of the problem. This is where big data analytics comes in. AWS Solution Architectaims at simplifying the steps of big data analysis so that every company can enjoy the benefits.
- IDC can identify cloud and big data analytics that can prevent cyber threats. This is a niche of health-based organizations as of now.
- Gartner surmises that 25% of all global companies have adopted big data analytics by the beginning of 2017. This is making big data a household name, and it is contributing towards the optimization of the analytics process.
The flurry of updates and patches makes 2017 an exciting yet tough time for all cyber security and data analytics professionals. Global data companies are trying to merge big data and cyber security to fortify their firewalls against malware threats.
How can a company combat cyber threat with big data?
Big data is constantly at threat by the hackers. However, the same data can protect the sensitive information saved on the cloud. Most companies are now trying to learn how to use big data to rescue threatened data by big data analysis.
- Identification of anomalies
Most malware convert user devices to bots or seeds of Trojan Horses. Hackers can use them to gain access to the big data repository and steal data. Big data analytics will give the admin a whiff of anything amiss. This will prevent the loss of millions of dollars’ worth data from the central big data storage.
- Detection of anomalies in the network
The big data analysts have the power to identify any new threat in the system. The lack of familiar signatures can cause new devices and new users to stand up. They can also pull information about various previous attacks to construct an idea of any new idea.
Unless you have complete knowledge of the distribution and architecture of your data, you will have no idea about the relevant threats and risks. Big data analysis will give you an idea about which silo has customer information, which one has transaction information and how to keep the hackers away from these repositories.
- Identification of employee behavior
Most of the biggest, successful cyber-attacks come from the inside. As dramatic as it may sound, at least 90% of all cyber threats come from a leak in the internal plumbing. Analyzing all the data input points, data-user interaction points and monitoring employee interaction closely will give you a clear idea about the data-employee relationship in your company database.
How to perfect your big data analytics approach?
There are many companies, who have been there and done that. Here’s the basic list of to-dos for all businesses who want their data security strengthened from big data.
- Conduct your malware research and analysis
Malware is now a term even kids know. Malware to computing is like bread to butter in 2017. It has become invasive and evasive at the same time. You need expert DBA help to analyze the nature of malware before you can consider your database completely safe.
This is necessary for understanding your malware trends and movements. An expert DBA or a cyber-security professional should be able to analyze the macro trends in cyber security threats correctly.
- Measure your detection performance
Just because you do not see, a threat does not mean it is not there. Sometimes, companies lack ways to detect the threat even while they are active and thriving inside their data pools. You need to have the relevant tool and updated technology to perceive the threats and neutralize them.
Very few companies consider big data as an answer to cyber threats. Malware and hackers are becoming stronger by the day because most companies think of big data as a part of the problem. In reality, big data analytics has all the answer you need to safeguard your database from malware.
Author Bio: Katharine White is a senior communication executive at a reputed data management company in the US. She has collaborated with AWS Solution Architect on several projects to create reproducible reports on the correlations of data analytics and management with cyber threat management.
