WABE’s Rose Scott interviewed Scheller’s own Peter Swire as part of her July 15th “Closer Look” radio series on 90.1 FM. They discussed ransomware and cyber security and how companies and individuals can protect themselves from cyber threats. Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts the files on a user’s device or a network’s storage devices. Oftentimes, to restore access to the encrypted files, the user must pay a “ransom” to the cybercriminals, typically through tough-to-trace electronic payment methods. To reduce ransomware attacks Swire suggests that if bad guys know a ransom will not be paid, but instead they’ll be found by authorities, it may deter more ransomware attacks to corporations, government entities and medical facilities.
Swire noted that back-ups are the first lesson in security. He commented that often the cloud is more secure as it may include virtual machines and works on a larger scale, versus depending on individual entities that have smaller IT teams. In today’s cyber security environment, there are “thousands of people who are trying to find their way in.” He discussed how Georgia Tech is looking into attribution, a means of knowing who attacked and to discover more creative ways of identifying the bad guys.
Currently, Swire is working on Cross Border Data Flows. For example, if a cyber-crime occurs in US and the evidence is in France, how do the two countries work together to resolve the issue without wrecking privacy? The discussion also looks at the Cloud Act as well as data localization.
Listen to the full-segment here.