Cyber-attacks in the media industry making headlines

Commenting on this, Alex says: "It is a sector that has a unique ability to polarize and create disgruntled users, making it an especially tempting target for actors that wish to cause harm or obtain notoriety, and not just financial gain. This means there will be actors who will attempt to compromise or cause damage, knowing that a breach or successful attack is likely to lead to further negative coverage in the high-profile media industry. In the film industry in particular, the consequences of a successful attack can also include IP theft, piracy and compromise of the user-facing content."

He adds: "The media industry does not have such a history of regulation and elevated threat landscape, and is a comparatively less cyber mature industry, yet faces the same external level of threat as oil and gas and pharma. This makes the media industry an easier target for attackers.”

Alex goes on to say: "Unlike most sectors, media delivers content to people globally; this creates a highly visible target acquiring unwanted attention to online infrastructure and services – all possible targets for a threat actor operating anywhere in the world."

He concludes: “Media firms should map their supporting business processes, technology, data and third-party dependencies, and this should give a prioritized, business-critical view of where to begin.”

This article was first published in InfoSecurity.