Other best practices that can help during security stresses -- as well as those weeks when worms aren't so prominent on the Net and in the news -- said Symantec's Foster, is to turn off unnecessary file sharing (some of the recent worms can also spread via network sharing) and isolate ASAP any machines infected.
But during weeks like this one, everyone's feeling the stress, which leads to a bit of a blame game.
"It's overwhelming anti-virus companies," said iDefense's Dunham. "They have to find signatures that work and roll them out and then the client has to roll the signatures throughout the organization. That whole process takes time," which is in short supply when a worm blitz strikes.
Sophos' Belthoff conceded that time is tight. "Hackers innovate to disburse their code, and we adapt to detect their new tricks. This is an escalated war, and yes, the reaction time is shortened substantially."
"We need to somehow embrace other techniques," retorted Dunham. "Perhaps a quick signature for network-exposed servers, such as e-mail servers. Something that companies can apply manually if necessary, a quick work-around that will work in a pinch."
To realize the benefits of cloud-native software, an application must actually be cloud-native—designed to run in the cloud, interacting with disaggregated cloud services, fully manageable as code—to deliver the expected benefits.
By combining resources and expertise, the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium will offer a blueprint for how industries can adapt to an AI-dominated future.
IT leaders should heed the guidance of cybersecurity insurance providers who think businesses should prioritize security education, incident preparedness, regular internal audits, and ongoing vulnerability scanning and patching.
