(Aging Untold) — Ransomware is a type of malware that can lock access to data or a device until an attacker is paid. For older adults, families and businesses, one wrong click can create major financial and security problems.
Dr. Christopher Whyte says a “zero trust” approach can help protect against cyberattacks.
“So if somebody calls you and almost no matter what they say, immediately consider them to be untrustworthy,” Whyte said.
What is zero trust
Whyte said zero trust is kind of the architecture of cybersecurity in the workforce today.
“It’s a set of principles that basically says, never assume you are safe because of the security steps you have already taken,” he said.
Whyte said understanding the intersection of technology and security is vital in an era where digital threats are escalating. The rise of new technologies and artificial intelligence has transformed the cybersecurity landscape.
“Your average person tends to think about the personal safety piece of it, but they’re strongly connected,” he said.
Attacks on critical infrastructure
“(We’ve) seen extensive new forms of attack against America’s critical infrastructure by actors across that criminal to nation state gamut,” Whyte said.
More than 300 major organizations, from the medical field to the manufacturing industry, were targeted by the Medusa ransomware group, and the Department of Homeland Security has warned this is just the beginning.
Whyte said there are good cybersecurity models around the world, and the European Union is a good example.
“The European Union has passed their AI act recently, which is the first, global, major regulation that deals with the regulation of AI based on risk categories,” Whyte said.
Ransomware and physical harm
Whyte said one thing that keeps him up at night is criminals who use ransomware to cause physical harm.
“They’re not looking for money. They’re just looking to encrypt the data, and they’ll never give you the key, at which point they’ve destroyed the data,” Whyte said. “OK. Apply that to a health-care system. You’re in a situation there where people in hospital, the nursing staff are not able to access information about the kinds of medication, the amounts of medication somebody is meant to have.”
Whyte said the more people learn, the better they adapt.
“The lessons we’re learning are always evolving in this space,” Whyte said. “That is true for our adversaries as much as it is for the defenders.”
Aging Untold experts describe adopting zero trust
Aging-well coach Katherine Ambrose said the zero-trust approach makes sense to her.
She said she sometimes feels bad about how she answers the phone because she assumes callers are scammers.
Aging expert Amy O’Rourke shared how she has changed her view of cybersecurity.
“I know I’ve turned a corner. I used to just really turn that off and think, I don’t want to live that way, … but I’ve turned a corner,” O’Rourke said. “I’ve gotten so many texts that I know are fraudulent. My husband got one. He forwarded it to me to respond, and I just called him and I said, ‘We can’t trust anyone. We can’t.’ And I was listening to myself thinking, I’ve really made the switch.”
Sam Cradduck, a gerontologist, described a similar experience with a package delivery notification.
“I was expecting a package yesterday, and of course, I was here. And so I checked at home and said, ‘Is it there?’ Was told no, but I got a notification of a delivery,” she said.
Cradduck added that said she does not answer calls from unknown numbers.
“I don’t answer my phone unless you text me and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to call you, or if you’re in my if you’re already in my contacts,” she said. “But I won’t answer for an unknown number.”
Dr. Rhea Rogers, a board-certified physician, said she has gotten texts that look like delivery notifications with instructions to call a phone number and she won’t do it.
“I’m like, nope,” Rogers said.
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