DARKTRACE
‘THERE IS NO WAY THAT YOU CAN TRAIN HUMANS TO TACKLE CYBER THREATS AT THE SAME RATE AT WHICH THE TECH IS DEVELOPING’
or even stop it from functioning. And it’s not only businesses – think about the smart cities of the future, for instance. If you have traffic lights with IP addresses, you need to ensure that they’re secure. As we embrace these brilliant and exciting new technologies, we have to be mindful of the threats they invite.” DP: “If your organisation can no longer perform its fundamental activities, how long do you think it will last?”
How have cyber attacks on businesses evolved? DP: “There’s been a big shift from criminals sneaking around networks for months or even years trying to steal a pot of gold – whether that’s data or actual money – to high-impact attacks that seek to do as much damage as possible within a few minutes and then extort victims for money to undo the damage. Most mid-sized businesses won’t have a 24-hour security team, so, if a manager opens an email attachment on Friday evening, will they come back to a smoking wasteland of a business on Monday morning? That’s a huge shift, which stretches the capabilities of most firms.” PG: “Think about the rate of change of technology. My smartphone is the oldest piece of technology that my daughter will be able to summon up when she looks back at her earliest memory. I find that fascinating. On the flipside, there is no way that you can plug the skills gap and train humans to tackle cyber threats at the same rate at which the technology is developing. This means that cyber security is a problem that has
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director.co.uk
POPPY GUSTAFSSON is a founder of Darktrace and its co-CEO with Nicole Eagan, who is based in the US. Gustafsson, a chartered accountant, took on the role in 2016 having served as CFO and then COO. Named Entrepreneur of the Year by City AM in 2017, she has a degree in mathematics from the University of Shefield.
to be solved by the technology itself, which is where Darktrace comes in.”
Are some businesses right to think they are less at risk than others? DP: “This way of thinking is a huge error. Most attacks are indiscriminate. The WannaCry worm that hit the NHS wasn’t even aimed at the UK. A self-spreading attack that got out of control and ripped its way around the world, it was the perfect wake-up call for everyone. You might say
you’re too small, but you’ll work with companies that are bigger and you’re connected to the internet. While you’re still thinking: ‘They won’t target me,’ someone might find a hole in some tech you rely on, such as Dropbox or Office 365, and you’ll get wrapped up in a breach that involves millions of companies and consumers.” PG: “No organisation is going to be spared a particular type of attack. The question I often ask firms is: ‘If a hacker were to leak your data, would you know about it?’
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