The “Security by” Model Approach — Part 2: Meet the Cousins

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If you thought “Security by Obscurity”, “Security by Isolation”, and “Security by Default” were the only models crashing the cybersecurity party… think again.

Turns out, the “Security by” (first uncovered in Part 1 of this series) family tree has a few more colorful cousins, the kind that only show up late to the party, wearing niche distro hoodies and carrying encrypted USB drives. They may not be household names like SaaS or PaaS (and they certainly don’t rhyme), but trust me, they bring their own brand of weird… and sometimes wonderful security vibes.

These models don’t always follow industry buzzwords. They aren’t trending on Hacker News. But behind the scenes, they’ve helped protect sensitive systems, dodge mass attacks, and keep threats guessing. They’re the oddballs, the security underdogs but don’t mistake them for weak links.

So, grab your cyber-coffee, log out of root, update your threat model… and let’s meet the next batch of “Security by” models.

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CryptoLocker Was Just the Beginning

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Back in 2013, CryptoLocker was terrifying enough. It didn’t sneak in to steal your passwords or spy on your browsing habits, no!, it marched straight in, slammed the door behind it, encrypted everything in sight, and flashed a blinking red ransom note demanding Bitcoin like a digital hostage negotiator with a countdown clock. It was bold, it was brutal, and it was the first time many people realized: your files could be locked up and leveraged against you with no Hollywood-style hacker, just a suspicious ZIP file in your inbox.

CryptoLocker didn’t need a flashy exploit or deep system knowledge. It weaponized trust disguised as invoices, delivery slips, or bank statements and lured users into opening attachments that detonated silently in the background. Once triggered, it encrypted documents, photos, spreadsheets, and anything else it could get its hands on, and then calmly asked for payment in Bitcoin, which, at the time, still sounded like something from a hacker movie.

But that was then, the opening act. What followed after my first article, was a decade-long escalation that turned ransomware from a nuisance

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Cybersecurity threats and mitigation measures in Agriculture 4.0 and 5.0

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Acrobat Cybersecurity threats and mitigation measures in agriculture 4.0 and 5.0
Author/Researcher: Chrysanthos Maraveas, Muttukrishnan Rajarajan, Konstantinos G Arvaniti, Anna Vatsanidou
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/

The primary aim of this study was to explore cybersecurity threats in agriculture 4.0 and 5.0, as well as possible mitigation strategies. A secondary method was employed involving narrative review in which many studies on cybersecurity were sampled and analyzed. The study showed that the main risks that increase cybersecurity threats to agricultural organizations include poor cybersecurity practices, lack of regulations and policies on cybersecurity, and outdated IT software. Moreover, the review indicated that the main cybersecurity threat in agriculture 4.0 and 5.0 involves denial of service attacks that target servers and disrupt the functioning of relevant smart technologies, including equipment for livestock tracking, climate monitoring, logistics and warehousing, and crop monitoring. The analysis also revealed that malware attacks occur when hackers change the code of a system application to access sensitive farm-related data and may alter the operations of the digitized systems. Some of the impacts of cybersecurity breaches were noted to include data loss, reduced efficiency of digitized systems, and reduced food security. A crucial mitigation strategy against cybersecurity threats includes using advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and quantum computing to improve malware detection in Internet of Things (IoT) digital equipment and ensure faster response to any threats. The other mitigation measures include training employees on best cybersecurity practices and creating guidelines and regulatory standards on best cybersecurity practices. Read More