The Real-World Impact of Cyberattacks on Enterprises

The real-world stakes of cyberattacks have crossed from annoyance to disruption. Case in point: the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline, which caused a fuel supply shortage in America's southeast, and the cyberattack on food processor JBS, which temporarily halted production at plants responsible for nearly one-quarter of America's beef.

See Also: From Ancient Myths to Modern Threats: Securing the Transition from Legacy to Leading Edge

"The line between cyber and real-world incidents is evaporating, and as consumers, we are starting to see that in our budgets and pocketbooks," says Chris McCurdy, general manager and vice president of Worldwide IBM Security Services.

McCurdy expects the attacks on supply chains to become more aggressive. The kinetic effect caused by the increase in threats to OT infrastructure and the manufacturing sector is also significant, he says.

In this video interview with Information Security Media Group, McCurdy also discusses:

• The significant shift in cybersecurity in the past two years;
• How attacks in the cyber world are linked with the physical world;
• Likely security scenarios emerging from the cyber-physical fusion.

McCurdy has more than 25 years of experience in the IT consulting services industry, with 16 of them spent at IBM Security. He has extensive experience working with large enterprise and government clients around the world in the areas of cyber risk reduction, support compliance and overall security maturity. Before IBM, McCurdy was a managing consultant at Andersen, International Network Services and Lucent Technologies. He was also a CIO at a large U.S-based retail automotive group.