Cybersecurity CEO Urges Quick Response to Repel Cyber Attacks

The CEO of Palo Alto Networks, Nikesh Arora, has implored businesses to modernize their cybersecurity systems, warning that malicious actors are now able to breach company defenses much more quickly than ever before.

The CEO of a cybersecurity firm told Jim Cramer on CNBC’s “Mad Money” on August 21 that companies with outmoded security systems need to pay special attention because cybercriminals are accelerating.

“We must be prepared to deflect the material within hours, not days,” Arora explained. He emphasized that antiquated cybersecurity solutions require modernization and even suggested that artificial intelligence could be used to accomplish this.

“Put that in some sort of an AI stack, so you can actually do this in more real time. Because the bad actors are moving faster.”

In June, the creators of ChatGPT, OpenAI, announced a $1 million cybersecurity grant program to improve and assess the impact of AI-driven cybersecurity technologies.

This year has been a boon for crypto programmers, especially in terms of decentralized financial protocols. In the second quarter of 2023, hackers and exploits stole more than $300 million worth of cryptocurrency.

According to the De.Fi Rekt database, August has already seen its fair share of crypto exploits, with seven-figure losses for Exactly Protocol, Zunami Protocol, Steadefi Protocol, and Cypher Protocol.

However, not all of them were conventional cybersecurity intrusions, as many of them involved flaws in smart contract code and flash loan exploits.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted at the end of July to adopt new rules on cybersecurity disclosure, which would affect listed companies, including cryptocurrency firms.

The regulator will mandate that public companies disclose “material” cybersecurity breaches within four days, citing the need to collect the information “to protect investors.”

However, businesses fought back, arguing that the short announcement period was unreasonable.

They are also concerned that it would necessitate public disclosure, which could be detrimental to businesses and leave them vulnerable to further cybercriminal exploitation.

“You really don’t want to be exposed by telling the SEC that you’ve been breached and you haven’t fixed it yet,” Arora said, urging its clients to fix things much more quickly.