When the virtual world has very real consequence
PA Consulting’s Dr Budgie Dhanda, cyber security expert, comments in an article on the increased cyber security risks posed by the Ukraine war, by Chuck Grieve in the September issue of ADS Advance magazine.
The article explains that vulnerabilities have emerged in the cyber landscape with the widespread adoption of new working patterns over the last few years. Commenting on this issue, Budgie explains that the good news is that the general awareness in industry of potential problems is improving.
He explains that cybersecurity professionals are learning to improve the usability of tools: “If we make security difficult, people will find a workaround. The world has changed. The MoD, for example, talks about security with an emphasis on resilience. That requires technology but also skills, so a ‘whole society’ approach.”
He goes on to say that there is now a real awareness about what to do to in the event of a cyber-attack, explaining that “The big players are usually pretty good about this.”
Budgie adds that the ADS cyber security toolkit for supply chains is a good reference for best practice.
The article goes on to outline PA’s work with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory to create an award-winning Museum of the Future that uses virtual reality to help senior decision makers grasp the reality of possible scenarios and make better choices.
The platform virtually ‘transports’ defence and security policymakers to the future, challenging their thinking and inspiring new approaches – in a way that written reports cannot. The museum features three scenarios, which emerged from discussions with a diverse peer group: a flooded city world where the gap between rich and poor is accentuated; a world without borders; and a forested world where civilisation has fallen and technology is obsolete. The museum is currently used by senior decision makers across the MoD and front-line commands, but the potential for wider application is recognised.
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