Worms like Phatbot are particularly hard to stymie, since their P2P-based attacks can be shut down only if every infected computer is tracked down and cleaned.
Put a number of P2P worms together, though, and give them the capability of talking to one another, and the danger escalates dramatically, as an ¼ber network of hundreds of thousands of infected machines is created.
"I've never seen an instance of these worms where they've been able to communicate with each other, but when they do, it will open an entirely new threat vector," said Chasin.
"They'll have the ability to touch just one infected machine and provide new attack code for the entire network of connected machines."
That could put an end to the worm "waves" that security experts now deal with -- where a worm appears, peaks, then essentially disappears -- and replace it with a continuous barrage of new exploits.
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.
