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Cybercriminals are only getting smarter: NMFTA’s Banks

Investment in cybersecurity doesn’t yield bottom-line help but is designed as important prevention tool, LTL expert says

This fireside chat recap is from FreightWaves’ Domestic Supply Chain Summit on Wednesday.

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Navigating cybersecurity challenges in the supply chain industry.

DETAILS: Antwan Banks, director of enterprise security at the National Motor Freight Traffic Association, an LTL trade group, sat down with FreightWaves’ Grace Sharkey to discuss the rising challenge from cybersecurity bad guys attacking enterprises and individuals.

KEY QUOTES FROM BANKS:


On more sophisticated attacks: “It’s starting to change now with artificial intelligence. Cybercriminals are always one step ahead, so they’re starting to incorporate artificial intelligence into their attacks. They’re using ir to make better phishing emails to make them harder to identify. They can now make phone calls and trick people to believe they’re talking to a superior or to a leader and to transfer money to places.”

On investing in cybersecurity: “Cybersecurity doesn’t make money. It’s not a profit center. It actually costs money. But what it does do is save you money in the end. If you don’t have cybersecurity and you are buying time-sensitive data and that data is exposed, it could put your business out of business.”

On those who get it: “If I’m talking to executives, they understand risks. They don’t understand the geek speak in the technical ones and zeros but they understand risk and they understand dollars and cents. And so you have to walk them through to make them understand their risk appetite.”

On simple prevention: “Phishing is the No. 1 way hackers get in. Ninety to 95% of successful attacks take place through phishing. So I always tell people to take care of the low-hanging fruit. First train your employees, because they are the weakest link. A company can spend tens of millions of dollars on the latest and greatest tools. But an employee can leave the door open or click on an email and all that investment is for nothing.”


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John Kingston

John has an almost 40-year career covering commodities, most of the time at S&P Global Platts. He created the Dated Brent benchmark, now the world’s most important crude oil marker. He was Director of Oil, Director of News, the editor in chief of Platts Oilgram News and the “talking head” for Platts on numerous media outlets, including CNBC, Fox Business and Canada’s BNN. He covered metals before joining Platts and then spent a year running Platts’ metals business as well. He was awarded the International Association of Energy Economics Award for Excellence in Written Journalism in 2015. In 2010, he won two Corporate Achievement Awards from McGraw-Hill, an extremely rare accomplishment, one for steering coverage of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and the other for the launch of a public affairs television show, Platts Energy Week.