Morphisec's Moving Target Defense technology keeps hackers guessing

Those of us of a certain vintage will remember a famous beauty products commercial with the tagline “keep them guessing.”

The line also works for Morphisec‘s Moving Target Defense technology, built on the premise the safest targets are ones hackers cannot find. In an era when hackers bypass the latest security releases within hours or weeks, Morphisec is looking at cyber security in an entirely new way.

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Financial services companies know this and are beginning to collaborate by communicating about the latest attacks each suffers. It helps some, but often results in more layers. Few are thinking about changing the paradigm, few are proactive.

The giants from any industry are often indirectly attacked through their supply chain, Mr. Dotan explained.

Hackers may target a tier three supplier with a phishing invoice that lies dormant until it worms its way up the chain. Only then is it activated. For example hackers targeting car manufacturers will target small robotics firms supplying components.

Such attacks are stopped on a near weekly basis, he said.

The Internet of Things ecosystem is vulnerable too, Mr. Dotan explained. A company will make one million of the same device at the same time. Once one is bypassed they can all be bypassed in the same fashion.

“Once an attacker gets through one sensor, they can attacks millions, because no one will update and patch,” Mr. Dotan said. “That’s millions of homogenous entry points. What if there were millions of heterogeneous points?”

Because the financial world is so interconnected cyber security becomes a tricky affair. Thousands of small companies, brokers, hedge funds and other entities interact with each other and larger institutions.