Cyber Immunity To Be Key in IT Across META in ’23

Threat landscape insights and predictions for 2023 show that the META region will remain a target for increased cybercriminal activity. Today’s hyper-connected world requires to reconsider the way we approach cybersecurity.

This is why, Kaspersky has spent several years developing the methodology of creating Cyber Immune IT products – those with ‘innate’ protection against cyberthreats. Cyber Immune IT systems bring closer a safer and more resilient digital world where Kaspersky Cyber Immunity is the new norm. And the company is committed to continuing to build strategic technological partnerships based on the Cyber Immune approach.

Data from the Kaspersky Security Network shows that between January to September 2022, every third user in the META region was affected by online and offline threats. Over and above this, Kaspersky reports that in 2022 there has been an increase in the number of persistent and sophisticated attacks targeting various states in the META region.

“The number of devices connected to the Internet continues to grow exponentially, and with it, cybercriminal interest. Given the activity our experts witnessed during 2022, while tracking more than 900 APT groups and campaigns, 2023 is only going to be more challenging to navigate from a cybersecurity point of view. Cyberthreats can cause physical damage, for instance, to industrial plants, energy facilities, cars or smart city systems and so to ensure effective protection we strongly believe in the concept of Cyber Immunity,” Andrey Suvorov, Head of KasperskyOS Business Unit at Kaspersky, commented.

Cyber Immunity is an IT system’s inherent ability to withstand cyberattacks without requiring any additional security tools to be applied. Most types of attacks on a Cyber Immune system are ineffective and unable to impact its critical functions. Cyber Immunity is especially beneficial for industries where IT systems are subject to higher cybersecurity, reliability, and predictability requirements, such as manufacturing, the energy sector, transport infrastructure and smart city systems.

“With ransomware being a constant threat throughout Africa, being able to use Cyber Immune solutions and harden existing defences can be a significant business enabler. Of course, this is just the tip of the cyber threat landscape. Kaspersky has found that Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) that can stay undetected for months or even years to be problematic across the continent. While ransomware poses an immediate threat, APTs are the long game for cyber criminals often yielding the most effective results. Cyber Immunity can help mitigate against these and other predicted threats in 2023,” Suvorov adds.

Kaspersky researchers predict that the likelihood of the next impactful cyber epidemic happening this year is high. One potential reason for an event like this occurring is that the most sophisticated threat actors in the world are likely to possess at least one suitable exploit, and current global tensions greatly increase the chance of such an attack.

Following from here, Kaspersky expects the emergence of destructive attacks, affecting governments and public sectors, as well as key industries. It is likely that a portion of them will not be easily traceable to cyberattacks and will look like random accidents.

“Cybersecurity incidents were plentiful in 2022 and as cyberthreats continue to evolve and cybercriminals become more sophisticated, we need to shift to a cybersecurity approach that allows no room for errors. This is what Cyber Immunity is about – developing IT systems with “innate” protection. Our focus for 2023 and beyond remains to build a safer and more resilient digital world where Kaspersky Cyber Immunity is the new norm,” adds Suvorov.

As a response to the challenges of today and tomorrow, Kaspersky devised the Cyber Immune approach to creating IT solutions and developed its own KasperskyOS operating system – a platform for building Cyber Immune products.

The distinctive architecture of KasperskyOS makes it possible to create IT products that have built-in protection against most types of cyberattacks. KasperskyOS-based Cyber Immune solutions do not need additional (applied) security features – everything necessary is already inside the system. Currently Kaspersky is offering a line-up of Cyber Immune products that include immune gateways for IoT infrastructure protection and thin clients for protecting remote workspaces. Kaspersky is also developing a Cyber Immune gateway for connected vehicles.

“We have been travelling through an exciting journey with KasperskyOS. This is not just another operating system but a protected OS where security is its essential, innate feature. While the development took a huge amount of research and programming, we achieved our goal and made the system compact and efficient to meet its primary goal of enabling Cyber Immune IT systems through its current solutions. Kaspersky continues enhancing the operating system to make it applicable to diverse use cases of Industrial IoT, Smart City, remote workplaces,” comments Suvorov.