One of President John F. Kennedy’s most historic speeches was delivered to Congress in 1961. Known as the Moonshot speech, it challenged NASA with what seemed to be the impossible: to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.1
More than 55 years later, the concept behind Kennedy’s address has been applied with another seemingly unimaginable goal – Make the internet safe and secure for the functioning of Government and critical services for the American people by 2028.2 Why? Well, aside from cybercrime costing the U.S. billions of dollars each year, we’re just plain tired of constantly being on the defensive.
Cybercriminals are increasingly sophisticated in their attempts to attack, vandalize, and sabotage. As a result, cybercrime continues to be on an upward climb. Consider these statistics:3
- Cybercrime now accounts for more than 50% of all crimes in the United Kingdom
- Malicious hackers are attacking at a rate of one attack every 39 seconds
- The percentage of victimized organizations that paid associated ransoms from ransomware attacks rose from 38.7% in 2017 to 45.0% in 2018.
- Cryptojacking, which is the act of infecting a computer for the purpose of mining cryptocurrency, increased by 400% in 2018
A Plan for Success
In order for Cybersecurity Moonshot to be successful, it will require a proactive, strategic, and systematic approach. Leading the Cybersecurity Moonshot challenge is the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC). Along with Unisys, NSTAC has proposed a focus on six strategic pillars or categories that require a safe and secure internet environment. They include (1) technology; (2) behavior; (3) education; (4) ecosystem; (5) privacy; (6) policy. If successful, project Cybersecurity Moonshot will deliver a safe and secure internet resulting in economic growth, national security, enhanced privacy, technology advances and global leadership benefits.4
Doing Their Part, Leading the Charge
Cybersecurity Moonshot calls for participation from all Americans in the fight against cybercrime and cities across America are stepping up. One of the country’s largest business hubs, New York City, has thoroughly embraced the challenge, with some great success stories. With nearly 240,000 small and mid-sized businesses, New York City has a lot at risk (and a lot to protect) in the world of growing cybercrime. To tackle this problem, NYCx launched what is known as the NYCx Cybersecurity Moonshot Challenge. Cybersecurity industry experts were invited to answer one question:
How might we make every small and midsize business in New York City and beyond as resilient to cybersecurity attacks as a Fortune 500 company?
Months later, three winners were announced. INKY, offering a specialized service to detect phishing threats lead the pack, along with Paladin Cyber and SKOUT Cybersecurity who offer other services such as cyber insurance and browser protection. All three companies will be a part of a larger initiative to help keep business safe from cybercrime.
The Role INKY Plays in Project Cybersecurity Moonshot and Beyond
One of the most vulnerable points of entry is email. In fact, 65% of ransomware attacks are delivered via email, compared to just 35% via malicious URLs.3 Additionally, its estimated that 38% of all malicious email attachments come in the form of Microsoft programs most of us use all day long such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. INKY is helping companies every day in the fight against cybercrime by providing the most comprehensive malware and email phishing protection available. It scans every sent and delivered email automatically and flags malicious emails, helping to keep you and your organization in the fight against cybercrime.
INKY is proud to have been chosen by the city of New York in their fight against cybercrime, and would be proud to keep your business just as safe too.
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INKY® is the new solution in the war against phishing. An affordable, cloud-based email security solution, INKY® can prevent even the most complex phishing threats from infecting, disrupting, and even immobilizing your organization’s network. Using computer vision, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, INKY® is the smartest investment you can make in the security of your organization. Learn more or request an online demonstration today.
3Source: https://www.comparitech.com/vpn/cybersecurity-cyber-crime-statistics-facts-trends/
4Source: https://www.unisys.com/about-us/cybersecurity-moonshot