TED@IBM
Caleb Barlow: Where is cybercrime really coming from?
Filmed:
Readability: 4.3
1,639,157 views
Cybercrime netted a whopping $450 billion in profits last year, with 2 billion records lost or stolen worldwide. Security expert Caleb Barlow calls out the insufficiency of our current strategies to protect our data. His solution? We need to respond to cybercrime with the same collective effort as we apply to a health care crisis, sharing timely information on who is infected and how the disease is spreading. If we're not sharing, he says, then we're part of the problem.
Caleb Barlow - Cybercrime fighter
IBM's Caleb Barlow is focused on how we solve the cyber security problem by changing the economics for the bad guys. Full bio
IBM's Caleb Barlow is focused on how we solve the cyber security problem by changing the economics for the bad guys. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:13
Cybercrime is out of control.
0
1012
4217
00:18
It's everywhere.
1
6186
1365
00:19
We hear about it every single day.
2
7575
4288
00:24
This year,
3
12771
1214
00:26
over two billion records lost or stolen.
4
14009
5134
00:32
And last year, 100 million of us,
mostly Americans,
mostly Americans,
5
20050
5635
00:37
lost our health insurance data
to thieves -- myself included.
to thieves -- myself included.
6
25709
5134
00:44
What's particularly concerning about this
is that in most cases,
is that in most cases,
7
32303
5448
00:49
it was months before anyone even
reported that these records were stolen.
reported that these records were stolen.
8
37775
5911
00:57
So if you watch the evening news,
9
45164
3043
01:00
you would think that most of this
is espionage or nation-state activity.
is espionage or nation-state activity.
10
48231
5206
01:05
And, well, some of it is.
11
53993
2093
01:08
Espionage, you see, is an accepted
international practice.
international practice.
12
56694
4438
01:13
But in this case,
13
61793
1483
01:15
it is only a small portion
of the problem that we're dealing with.
of the problem that we're dealing with.
14
63300
5453
01:21
How often do we hear about a breach
15
69639
3335
01:24
followed by, "... it was the result
of a sophisticated nation-state attack?"
of a sophisticated nation-state attack?"
16
72998
4851
01:30
Well, often that is companies
not being willing to own up
not being willing to own up
17
78661
4861
01:35
to their own lackluster
security practices.
security practices.
18
83546
2980
01:39
There is also a widely held belief
19
87065
2500
01:42
that by blaming an attack
on a nation-state,
on a nation-state,
20
90355
3851
01:46
you are putting regulators at bay --
21
94230
2681
01:48
at least for a period of time.
22
96935
2034
01:51
So where is all of this coming from?
23
99837
4483
01:56
The United Nations estimates
that 80 percent of it
that 80 percent of it
24
104997
5493
02:02
is from highly organized
and ultrasophisticated criminal gangs.
and ultrasophisticated criminal gangs.
25
110514
5770
02:09
To date,
26
117254
1719
02:10
this represents one of the largest
illegal economies in the world,
illegal economies in the world,
27
118997
6600
02:17
topping out at, now get this,
28
125621
3120
02:20
445 billion dollars.
29
128765
4316
02:25
Let me put that in perspective
for all of you:
for all of you:
30
133539
2912
02:28
445 billion dollars is larger than the GDP
31
136475
6104
02:34
of 160 nations,
32
142603
2666
02:37
including Ireland, Finland,
Denmark and Portugal,
Denmark and Portugal,
33
145293
4545
02:41
to name a few.
34
149862
1230
02:44
So how does this work?
35
152293
2004
02:46
How do these criminals operate?
36
154321
1906
02:48
Well, let me tell you a little story.
37
156701
2856
02:52
About a year ago,
38
160531
1194
02:53
our security researchers were tracking
39
161749
3310
02:57
a somewhat ordinary but sophisticated
banking Trojan called the Dyre Wolf.
banking Trojan called the Dyre Wolf.
40
165083
6046
03:03
The Dyre Wolf would get on your computer
41
171925
2221
03:06
via you clicking on a link
in a phishing email
in a phishing email
42
174170
3000
03:09
that you probably shouldn't have.
43
177194
1952
03:11
It would then sit and wait.
44
179170
1997
03:13
It would wait until you logged
into your bank account.
into your bank account.
45
181755
3011
03:17
And when you did,
the bad guys would reach in,
the bad guys would reach in,
46
185299
3343
03:20
steal your credentials,
47
188666
1653
03:22
and then use that to steal your money.
48
190343
1901
03:25
This sounds terrible,
49
193023
1920
03:26
but the reality is,
in the security industry,
in the security industry,
50
194967
2793
03:29
this form of attack
is somewhat commonplace.
is somewhat commonplace.
51
197784
3682
03:36
However, the Dyre Wolf had
two distinctly different personalities --
two distinctly different personalities --
52
204002
6164
03:42
one for these small transactions,
53
210659
2341
03:45
but it took on an entirely
different persona
different persona
54
213024
3040
03:48
if you were in the business of moving
large-scale wire transfers.
large-scale wire transfers.
55
216088
3815
03:51
Here's what would happen.
56
219927
1699
03:53
You start the process
of issuing a wire transfer,
of issuing a wire transfer,
57
221650
2800
03:56
and up in your browser would pop
a screen from your bank,
a screen from your bank,
58
224474
3008
03:59
indicating that there's a problem
with your account,
with your account,
59
227506
2597
04:02
and that you need to call
the bank immediately,
the bank immediately,
60
230127
3191
04:05
along with the number
to the bank's fraud department.
to the bank's fraud department.
61
233342
2742
04:08
So you pick up the phone and you call.
62
236835
2170
04:11
And after going through
the normal voice prompts,
the normal voice prompts,
63
239029
3011
04:14
you're met with
an English-speaking operator.
an English-speaking operator.
64
242064
2117
04:16
"Hello, Altoro Mutual Bank.
How can I help you?"
How can I help you?"
65
244205
2868
04:20
And you go through the process
like you do every time you call your bank,
like you do every time you call your bank,
66
248033
3653
04:23
of giving them your name
and your account number,
and your account number,
67
251710
2791
04:26
going through the security checks
to verify you are who you said you are.
to verify you are who you said you are.
68
254525
3923
04:31
Most of us may not know this,
69
259809
1488
04:33
but in many large-scale wire transfers,
70
261321
2229
04:35
it requires two people to sign off
on the wire transfer,
on the wire transfer,
71
263574
3111
04:38
so the operator then asks you
to get the second person on the line,
to get the second person on the line,
72
266709
3199
04:41
and goes through the same set
of verifications and checks.
of verifications and checks.
73
269932
2801
04:45
Sounds normal, right?
74
273960
1346
04:47
Only one problem:
75
275909
1442
04:49
you're not talking to the bank.
76
277375
1825
04:51
You're talking to the criminals.
77
279224
1586
04:52
They had built
an English-speaking help desk,
an English-speaking help desk,
78
280834
2198
04:55
fake overlays to the banking website.
79
283056
2065
04:57
And this was so flawlessly executed
80
285145
3100
05:00
that they were moving
between a half a million
between a half a million
81
288269
2143
05:02
and a million and a half
dollars per attempt
dollars per attempt
82
290436
3087
05:05
into their criminal coffers.
83
293547
1558
05:08
These criminal organizations operate
84
296140
2615
05:10
like highly regimented,
legitimate businesses.
legitimate businesses.
85
298779
3025
05:14
Their employees work
Monday through Friday.
Monday through Friday.
86
302345
2483
05:17
They take the weekends off.
87
305309
1536
05:18
How do we know this?
88
306869
1383
05:20
We know this because
our security researchers see
our security researchers see
89
308276
3133
05:23
repeated spikes of malware
on a Friday afternoon.
on a Friday afternoon.
90
311433
3066
05:27
The bad guys, after a long weekend
with the wife and kids,
with the wife and kids,
91
315254
3215
05:30
come back in to see how well things went.
92
318493
2240
05:35
The Dark Web is where
they spend their time.
they spend their time.
93
323701
2674
05:39
That is a term used to describe
the anonymous underbelly of the internet,
the anonymous underbelly of the internet,
94
327295
5789
05:45
where thieves can operate with anonymity
95
333108
2925
05:48
and without detection.
96
336057
1445
05:50
Here they peddle their attack software
97
338209
3027
05:53
and share information
on new attack techniques.
on new attack techniques.
98
341260
3456
05:57
You can buy everything there,
99
345571
1850
05:59
from a base-level attack
to a much more advanced version.
to a much more advanced version.
100
347445
3656
06:03
In fact, in many cases, you even see
101
351842
2292
06:06
gold, silver and bronze levels of service.
102
354158
3172
06:09
You can check references.
103
357903
1671
06:11
You can even buy attacks
104
359977
2560
06:14
that come with a money-back guarantee --
105
362561
3328
06:17
(Laughter)
106
365913
1045
06:18
if you're not successful.
107
366982
1655
06:21
Now, these environments,
these marketplaces --
these marketplaces --
108
369931
3091
06:25
they look like an Amazon or an eBay.
109
373046
3347
06:28
You see products, prices,
ratings and reviews.
ratings and reviews.
110
376417
3956
06:32
Of course, if you're going
to buy an attack,
to buy an attack,
111
380397
2254
06:34
you're going to buy from a reputable
criminal with good ratings, right?
criminal with good ratings, right?
112
382675
3449
06:38
(Laughter)
113
386148
1004
06:39
This isn't any different
114
387176
1201
06:40
than checking on Yelp or TripAdvisor
before going to a new restaurant.
before going to a new restaurant.
115
388401
5190
06:46
So, here is an example.
116
394503
2093
06:48
This is an actual screenshot
of a vendor selling malware.
of a vendor selling malware.
117
396620
5421
06:54
Notice they're a vendor level four,
118
402065
1815
06:55
they have a trust level of six.
119
403904
1841
06:57
They've had 400 positive reviews
in the last year,
in the last year,
120
405769
2335
07:00
and only two negative reviews
in the last month.
in the last month.
121
408128
2380
07:03
We even see things like licensing terms.
122
411072
3357
07:06
Here's an example of a site you can go to
123
414762
2004
07:08
if you want to change your identity.
124
416790
1757
07:10
They will sell you a fake ID,
125
418571
1857
07:12
fake passports.
126
420452
1594
07:14
But note the legally binding terms
for purchasing your fake ID.
for purchasing your fake ID.
127
422603
5049
07:20
Give me a break.
128
428518
1521
07:22
What are they going to do --
sue you if you violate them?
sue you if you violate them?
129
430063
2858
07:24
(Laughter)
130
432945
1150
07:27
This occurred a couple of months ago.
131
435458
2423
07:29
One of our security
researchers was looking
researchers was looking
132
437905
3615
07:33
at a new Android malware application
that we had discovered.
that we had discovered.
133
441544
4998
07:38
It was called Bilal Bot.
134
446566
1920
07:41
In a blog post,
135
449514
1926
07:43
she positioned Bilal Bot
as a new, inexpensive and beta alternative
as a new, inexpensive and beta alternative
136
451464
6805
07:50
to the much more advanced GM Bot
137
458870
3338
07:54
that was commonplace
in the criminal underground.
in the criminal underground.
138
462232
2815
07:58
This review did not sit well
with the authors of Bilal Bot.
with the authors of Bilal Bot.
139
466658
4010
08:03
So they wrote her this very email,
140
471237
2580
08:07
pleading their case
and making the argument
and making the argument
141
475028
2757
08:09
that they felt she had evaluated
an older version.
an older version.
142
477809
5429
08:16
They asked her to please update
her blog with more accurate information
her blog with more accurate information
143
484198
4709
08:20
and even offered to do an interview
144
488931
3412
08:24
to describe to her in detail
145
492367
2221
08:26
how their attack software was now
far better than the competition.
far better than the competition.
146
494612
4599
08:32
So look,
147
500365
1325
08:33
you don't have to like what they do,
148
501714
3864
08:37
but you do have to respect
the entrepreneurial nature
the entrepreneurial nature
149
505602
4919
08:42
of their endeavors.
150
510545
1207
08:43
(Laughter)
151
511776
1150
08:46
So how are we going to stop this?
152
514476
3855
08:51
It's not like we're going to be able
to identify who's responsible --
to identify who's responsible --
153
519714
5564
08:57
remember, they operate with anonymity
154
525302
2962
09:00
and outside the reach of the law.
155
528288
1985
09:03
We're certainly not going to be able
to prosecute the offenders.
to prosecute the offenders.
156
531217
3284
09:07
I would propose that we need
a completely new approach.
a completely new approach.
157
535156
5545
09:13
And that approach needs
to be centered on the idea
to be centered on the idea
158
541763
3906
09:17
that we need to change
the economics for the bad guys.
the economics for the bad guys.
159
545693
3895
09:22
And to give you a perspective
on how this can work,
on how this can work,
160
550245
3101
09:25
let's think of the response we see
to a healthcare pandemic:
to a healthcare pandemic:
161
553370
4988
09:30
SARS, Ebola, bird flu, Zika.
162
558382
3003
09:34
What is the top priority?
163
562036
1921
09:35
It's knowing who is infected
and how the disease is spreading.
and how the disease is spreading.
164
563981
5293
09:44
Now, governments, private institutions,
hospitals, physicians --
hospitals, physicians --
165
572015
6147
09:51
everyone responds openly and quickly.
166
579061
3720
09:55
This is a collective and altruistic effort
167
583334
3971
09:59
to stop the spread in its tracks
168
587329
3900
10:03
and to inform anyone not infected
169
591253
2877
10:06
how to protect or inoculate themselves.
170
594154
2380
10:10
Unfortunately, this is not at all
what we see in response to a cyber attack.
what we see in response to a cyber attack.
171
598900
5694
10:17
Organizations are far more likely
to keep information on that attack
to keep information on that attack
172
605850
4451
10:22
to themselves.
173
610325
1625
10:25
Why?
174
613082
1156
10:26
Because they're worried
about competitive advantage,
about competitive advantage,
175
614262
2970
10:30
litigation
176
618043
1571
10:31
or regulation.
177
619638
1306
10:33
We need to effectively democratize
threat intelligence data.
threat intelligence data.
178
621827
5770
10:39
We need to get all of these organizations
to open up and share
to open up and share
179
627975
5476
10:45
what is in their private arsenal
of information.
of information.
180
633475
3622
10:51
The bad guys are moving fast;
181
639010
2794
10:53
we've got to move faster.
182
641828
2117
10:56
And the best way to do that is to open up
183
644750
3722
11:00
and share data on what's happening.
184
648496
2347
11:03
Let's think about this in the construct
of security professionals.
of security professionals.
185
651304
4326
11:08
Remember, they're programmed right
into their DNA to keep secrets.
into their DNA to keep secrets.
186
656164
4976
11:13
We've got to turn
that thinking on its head.
that thinking on its head.
187
661164
3024
11:16
We've got to get governments,
private institutions
private institutions
188
664212
3281
11:19
and security companies
189
667517
1443
11:20
willing to share information at speed.
190
668984
2731
11:23
And here's why:
191
671739
1676
11:25
because if you share the information,
192
673439
1877
11:27
it's equivalent to inoculation.
193
675340
2017
11:30
And if you're not sharing,
194
678663
1547
11:32
you're actually part of the problem,
195
680234
2101
11:34
because you're increasing the odds
that other people could be impacted
that other people could be impacted
196
682359
5768
11:40
by the same attack techniques.
197
688151
2630
11:43
But there's an even bigger benefit.
198
691986
2049
11:47
By destroying criminals' devices
closer to real time,
closer to real time,
199
695198
4746
11:51
we break their plans.
200
699968
1753
11:55
We inform the people they aim to hurt
201
703462
3240
11:58
far sooner than they had ever anticipated.
202
706726
2645
12:02
We ruin their reputations,
203
710520
2201
12:04
we crush their ratings and reviews.
204
712745
3092
12:08
We make cybercrime not pay.
205
716305
3832
12:12
We change the economics for the bad guys.
206
720931
3768
12:18
But to do this,
a first mover was required --
a first mover was required --
207
726315
3972
12:22
someone to change the thinking
in the security industry overall.
in the security industry overall.
208
730311
4601
12:28
About a year ago,
209
736067
1270
12:29
my colleagues and I had a radical idea.
210
737361
2506
12:32
What if IBM were to take our data --
211
740624
4584
12:37
we had one of the largest threat
intelligence databases in the world --
intelligence databases in the world --
212
745987
3988
12:41
and open it up?
213
749999
1359
12:43
It had information not just
on what had happened in the past,
on what had happened in the past,
214
751757
3461
12:47
but what was happening in near-real time.
215
755242
2475
12:49
What if we were to publish it all
openly on the internet?
openly on the internet?
216
757741
3897
12:54
As you can imagine,
this got quite a reaction.
this got quite a reaction.
217
762463
2494
12:56
First came the lawyers:
218
764981
1364
12:58
What are the legal
implications of doing that?
implications of doing that?
219
766369
2315
13:01
Then came the business:
220
769385
1335
13:02
What are the business
implications of doing that?
implications of doing that?
221
770744
2400
13:05
And this was also met with a good dose
222
773622
2173
13:07
of a lot of people just asking
if we were completely crazy.
if we were completely crazy.
223
775819
3108
13:11
But there was one conversation
that kept floating to the surface
that kept floating to the surface
224
779928
3786
13:15
in every dialogue that we would have:
225
783738
2051
13:18
the realization that if we didn't do this,
226
786400
3547
13:21
then we were part of the problem.
227
789971
2631
13:25
So we did something unheard of
in the security industry.
in the security industry.
228
793514
2860
13:29
We started publishing.
229
797045
1673
13:30
Over 700 terabytes of actionable
threat intelligence data,
threat intelligence data,
230
798742
4410
13:35
including information on real-time attacks
231
803176
3005
13:38
that can be used to stop
cybercrime in its tracks.
cybercrime in its tracks.
232
806205
2863
13:41
And to date,
233
809813
1370
13:43
over 4,000 organizations
are leveraging this data,
are leveraging this data,
234
811207
4044
13:47
including half of the Fortune 100.
235
815275
1879
13:50
And our hope as a next step
is to get all of those organizations
is to get all of those organizations
236
818599
4017
13:54
to join us in the fight,
237
822640
1961
13:56
and do the same thing
238
824625
1551
13:58
and share their information
239
826200
2088
14:00
on when and how
they're being attacked as well.
they're being attacked as well.
240
828312
2534
14:03
We all have the opportunity to stop it,
241
831552
3018
14:06
and we already all know how.
242
834594
2161
14:09
All we have to do is look
to the response that we see
to the response that we see
243
837372
4370
14:13
in the world of health care,
244
841766
1506
14:15
and how they respond to a pandemic.
245
843296
1903
14:17
Simply put,
246
845623
1379
14:19
we need to be open and collaborative.
247
847026
2276
14:21
Thank you.
248
849876
1151
14:23
(Applause)
249
851051
3792
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Caleb Barlow - Cybercrime fighterIBM's Caleb Barlow is focused on how we solve the cyber security problem by changing the economics for the bad guys.
Why you should listen
As a vice president at IBM Security, Caleb Barlow has insight into to one of the largest security intelligence operations in the world. His team stands watch protecting the information security of thousands of customers in more than a hundred countries. On a busy day they can process upwards of 35 billion potential security events across their global operations centers.
Barlow has been advising chief information security officers, boards of directors and government officials on security practices, frameworks and strategies for risk mitigation on a global basis. He is a sought-after speaker on the subject of security and regularly appears in both print and broadcast media, including NBC News, CNBC, BBC World Service, NPR, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. His opinions have been solicited by members of Congress, the NSA, and NATO, and he was invited by the President of the UN General Assembly to discuss his views at the United Nations.
Most recently, Barlow is focusing on building a large-scale simulation environment to educate C-level executives on how to better prevent and respond to a cyber attack so they can maintain business resiliency in the face of crisis.
Caleb Barlow | Speaker | TED.com