Public and Private Initiatives Hurray to Increase Cyber Resilience

On-going cyberattacks and the constant need to alleviate their impacts lead public agencies to build measures, which extend to rules, regulations and initiatives to create awareness. The private sector, just as well, put an emphasis on increasing resilience by becoming more alert to cybersecurity issues.

News on the Spotlight

UK Confirmed New Rules to Protect Telecommunication Networks Against Cyber Attacks

The UK recently adopted new telecoms security regulations developed together with the National Cyber Security Centre and Ofcom, which set out specific actions for UK public telecom providers to fulfil their legal duties in the Telecommunications (Security) Act which was legislated in November 2021. The new set of rules aims to increase UK’s cyber resilience and their substance is approved by the government upon public consultation.?

According to the new legislation, providers must ensure to protect data processed by their networks and secure the critical functions which allow them to be operated and managed, protect software and equipment monitoring their networks and services, and have a deep understanding of the security risks they may face, as well as take account of supply chain risks and understand and control who has access to the operation of their networks to enhance security.

The new regulations are expected to be laid as secondary legislation in Parliament shortly, alongside a draft code of practice providing guidance on compliance with the new measures. Providers will be subject to the new rules starting from October and are expected to reach the goals by March 2024. To read more visit the official site.

ENISA Threat Landscape for Ransomware Attacks

European Union Agency for Cybersecurity published the report "ENISA Threat Landscape for Ransomware Attacks". As ransomware is one of the most devastating cyberattacks, the report aims to build awareness through mapping and examining 623 incidents from May 2021 to June 2022. The report reflects how ransomware attacks affect business and put forward high-level recommendations for better resilience in the future. Read more here.

Cyber Attacks on Public Transportation

Go-Ahead, the company operating London’s buses and the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), realized unauthorized activity on its network and called a specialist to take preliminary cautions. The company made a statement that “no indication that any customer data has been compromised”. An expert alleged that it may turn out to be ransomware. Read more here.

Phishing Attack?... But Which Type?

Phishing attacks come from deceitful sources trying to appear trustworthy for gaining access to sensitive data. Phishing attacks can be in the form of an email, malware, spear, whaling, smishing and vishing. Microsoft’s proposed methods for prevention from all kinds of phishing attacks include being careful with display names, checking typos, looking before clicking, reading the salutation and reviewing the signature and being aware of threats at all times.

A Conversation with Two Arbitration Centers

Silicon Valley Arbitration & Mediation Center (SVAMC) held an online tech talk on September 30 at 9:00 central time. In the event, representatives from two different arbitration centres discussed the role of arbitration centres in disputes regarding the technology industry and some other arbitration centre practices.

The Europol Podcast?

The Europol has an amazing podcast on the biggest operations that the agency had carried out. We put in our spotlight two of the episodes that relate to cybersecurity. In case you are short on time, read our summaries below or enjoy the full episodes here.

Episode 2 - Operation Green Light

The second episode of the Europol podcast talks about Operation Greenlight, also known as Operation Trojan Shield. In 2016, the FBI started an investigation against a company called Phantom Secure selling hardened secure communications devices clearly targeting criminals as customers. In the scope of the operation, the FBI created in conjunction with the Australian Federal Police created their own competing encrypted communications device called ANOM, of course, traceable by them. Then, with measures to keep regular consumers away from the product, they started marketing it and the sales grew quite exponentially. In the meantime, the FBI began building intelligence packages to share with other countries providing them information about the crime in their respective jurisdictions varying from drug crime to political corruption. When the need for cooperation grew, and it was no longer efficient for the FBI to be the bridge between other countries that need to communicate, a Joint Action Day was organized at the Europol headquarters with the participation of Law Enforcement from 16 different countries.?

Episode 4 - The King of Malware

In this episode, the Europol Podcast hosted Bogdan B. who was present at the January 2021 meeting of the Europol focusing on taking down EMOTET, one of the most lethal and destructive botnets of the last decade and Robert S. from the Dutch Hi-Tech Crime Unit, and they took a closer look at the evolution of EMOTET and how it earned the title of “The King of Malware”. As explained in the episode, EMOTET was malicious software that was used by cybercriminals to infect computer systems and gain unauthorised access to all devices using the same network. The e-mail containing the malware would appear as if it was from a friendly sender and would deceive to open the e-mail infectious attachment. This would result in the spread of EMOTET in only a few minutes, and because of its polymorphic design, even anti-virus programmes would not be able to stop it. The data obtained would then be sold to criminal organizations.

The podcast goes on to talk about how Europol and law enforcement responded to EMOTET’s actions. Apparently, EMOTET’s servers needed to be taken down to end the entire criminal operation, and since it was a crime that spanned several countries Europol stepped in to coordinate action. Then, the system has been taken down in three pillars: i) the investigators uncovered the identity of one of the server admins by exposing themselves to EMOTET, ii) they made a command for the computers in the botnet available to the network of infected machines, and iii) the command then replaced the malicious payload. This was how after 7 years, EMOTET was taken down in 2021. Currently, the EMOTET bot is down, and its perpetrators are under investigation.?

News from CyberArb

Final Countdown to Istanbul Arbitration Week 2022 (ISTAW)?

Istanbul Arbitration Week (ISTAW) will be held between October 10th-14th 2022 in Istanbul, Türkiye. The program aims to bring the arbitrators, academics, in-house counsels, lawyers and other arbitration stakeholders together for a week of insightful discussions and of course amazing events to enjoy the city and network with colleagues!

Arbitration Tech Toolbox: Training Arbitration Practitioners to Resist Cyber Attacks

Have you ever received a letter from a hacker? We hope not but CyberArb members Shatrunjay Bose and Hongwei Dang share the methods to train arbitration practitioners to recognize and handle cyberattacks in their Kluwer Arbitration Blog post.

“Dear Arbitrator,?

This is your hacker.?You do not know me, but I already know you quite well. I am silently waiting for my opportunity to simply click and collapse your notebook."

The authors particularly focus on the training tool of CyberArb, an e-learning academy that is prepared in partnership with the ArbitrateUniversity.com. Check the course for the tips that the practitioners provide and earn your certificate!

Online Arbitration and Cybersecurity in China

In their article titled Online Arbitration & Cybersecurity in China published on the China Justice Observer website, CyberArb members Joel Evans and Hongwei Dang explore the cybersecurity developments and measures in Chinese arbitral institutions’ rules from the perspective of online arbitration. Read the full article and their findings here.

CyberArb Members at CIArb & LCIA Annual Seminar

London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and CIArb London Branch held their annual joint seminar on cybersecurity in dispute resolution on September 13. This year's headline was "Your Arbitration Has Been Hacked, What Now?". While Karina Albers, CyberArb Executive Board member, was the moderator, another CyberArb member Shobana Iyer participated in the seminar as one of the speakers.