ILMA Compoundings - Jul/Aug 2021 - 22

sharing your intellectual property with them, " Aquitania said.
" You need to make sure you're selecting the right partner. "
THE RANSOMWARE SOLUTION
Over the past several years, ransomware attacks have risen,
causing alarm and temporarily crippling a wide range of
companies and organizations.
In a ransomware attack, data is held hostage by a remote
third party, which typically demands a payment in cryptocurrency
before returning control of the data to its owners.
Refuse to pay, and the attacker threatens to erase all of the
data on the server. This spring, Wired.com reported that
a number of schools, hospitals, the city of Atlanta, GPS
company Garmin and even the Washington, D.C., police
department have been among those whose data has been targeted
recently. " At this point, no one is safe from the scourge
of ransomware, " wrote reporter Lily Hay Newman. " Over the
past few years, skyrocketing ransom demands and indiscriminate
targeting have escalated, with no relief in sight. "
Such attacks typically gain entry to your server when
someone on your system receives an external email or text
message with a hidden ransomware virus attached.
" If the recipient opens it, it hits the company server, and
suddenly no one can get to their data unless the company pays
WHAT ABOUT BLOCKCHAIN?
" Talk about cybersecurity, and it's
not unusual for the word 'blockchain'
to come up, " said Sean W. O'Donnell,
chairman of Datacor Inc. " Software
created with blockchain technology
is built so that any change to a
record is recorded in multiple places
[across the internet]. Data cannot
be altered without all of those other
multiple places agreeing that it can
be altered. "
Because this approach secures
data against unauthorized manipulation,
blockchain applications have
been growing within the financial
world, where real money is at risk.
To date, they have been less popular
within manufacturing, where data
loss has been more of a concern
a ransom, " O'Donnell explained. " The hacker doesn't want the
data. They just want you to pay to get your data back. "
He pointed out that companies can help to avoid such
situations by better educating employees. " So much of this
comes down to human error, " he said. " Employees need to
be diligent and mindful when it comes to computer use.
Make them aware that if they click on the wrong email, it
could take down your whole business. "
" It's important to have firewalls and filters set up, " Pierre
acknowledged, " but people should also only open emails and
texts from people they know that have legitimate-sounding
subject lines and preview text, if that's available. If you see an
email from a person or company you don't know, treat it carefully.
If you have an IT department, contact them if you have
doubts about a particular email or text. And turn to them for
help in training your employees and distributing information
about new threats and different types of phishing schemes
that could be affecting your employees. "
While some companies believe the only recourse is to pay
the data kidnappers what they demand - a practice that
than data manipulation. However,
Aries Aquitania, vice president of
sales for Olyslager North America,
believes a shift is coming.
" Blockchain technology is becoming
more relevant, especially as more
advancements are coming to the fore, "
he said. " Personally, I think we are on
the cusp of something revolutionary.
The sooner companies look into
this technology - the sooner they
embrace these changes - the more
they can benefit. Blockchain technology
is very promising. There are
companies out there that are working
toward making supply chain more
transparent, more secure and more
efficient. " Blockchain technology, he
believes, will play a significant role.
The revolution won't happen
overnight, though. Blockchain is not
something that can be cobbled onto
existing systems or simply added to
provide another layer of protection;
applications must be coded from the
ground up using blockchain technology.
That takes time and a financial
investment from developers, which
may be slow to come without a
definable market base willing to
embrace - and pay for - the
resulting applications.
Aquitania believes manufacturers
will get on board with this next
phase of data security. " I see a
very exciting future for blockchain
technology, " he said.
22
JULY/AUGUST 2021 | COMPOUNDINGS | ILMA.ORG
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