Cyber walls are no more effective against cyber attacks than medieval castles would be against a modern army, says leading international cyber security expert Professor Christian Leuprecht.
Professor Leuprecht, Flinders University Law School’s latest Matthew Flinders Fellow, will present a free public lecture on the issue at Flinders Victoria Square today (Thursday 23 March).
The Canadian researcher – a regular contributor to Canadian and international media – wrote in a recent paper that the “Castle Model” for cybersecurity, which draws on the same principals of layers of walls around medieval castles to keep out the enemy, was as “outmoded” as the ancient fortresses themselves.
“The first weakness is that organisations are constantly tearing down their walls and making their gateways more porous in order to increase agility and responsiveness to their customers. This means they can do more, faster and better, but it also opens the door to hackers,” Professor Leuprecht says.
“The second weakness is that technological developments increasingly destroy walls from the outside as computation becomes cheaper for attackers, allowing them to crack the codes that are the bricks in the walls.”
Professor Leuprecht also says Millennials, or ‘native digitals’, born between 1984 and 2004 interact much differently with technology than previous generations, so there is no longer any distinction between the “inside and outside”, meaning that boundaries or cyberwalls are considered an annoyance.
“A new approach to cyber security is needed: organisations and individuals need to get used to operating in compromised environments,” he says.
WHO: Matthew Flinders Fellow Professor Christian Leuprecht – a Canadian expert and international commentator on security and defence. He is a Professor of Political Science at the Royal Military College of Canada.
WHAT: Public lecture – Cybercime and Cybersecurity: Beyond the Castle Model, hosted by Flinders University’s Centre for Crime, Policy and Research
WHEN: Thursday 23 March 2017, 5.30-7.00pm
WHERE: Room 1, level 1, Flinders University, 181 Victoria Square