The complexities and challenges shaping today’s global cybersecurity landscape continue to evolve, and businesses are racing to keep up with new cyber threats.

Cyberattacks are increasingly targeting specific geographical areas due to political reasons, while others are indiscriminate and attack industries regardless of location, according to Shawn Henry (pictured), chief security officer of CrowdStrike Holdings Inc.

“This issue is really a global issue — it’s not a US-centric issue,” he said. “And to listen to some of the challenges and the complexities that our international partners are seeing and facing and how we can help them is really important.”

Henry spoke with theCUBE industry analysts Dave Vellante and Lisa Martin at the Fal.Con event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the challenges of global cybersecurity and how adversaries are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their tactics. (* Disclosure below.)

The multifaceted landscape of cyber threats from nation-state actors

Adversaries are not stationary targets. They are constantly evolving, both in terms of their tactics and their geographic focus.

“Adversaries are dangerous. They’re increasing their speed; their tactics and techniques have been augmented over the years. And when I talk to people around the world, they’re facing that strife,” Henry said.

The geography of cyberattacks is complex, with some adversaries being region-focused, while others take a more global approach. The major nation-state players in cyber warfare are Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, according to Henry. These nations have “offensive cyber capabilities” and are willing to use cyber tools for a variety of objectives, ranging from espionage to destructive attacks. Interestingly, there has been an “overlap where there’s been some collaboration, sharing of tools, sharing of malware, sharing of tactics,” among these states, according to Henry.

One of the most unsettling aspects discussed was the integration of cyber warfare with traditional, kinetic warfare.

“We’re now seeing digital attacks in advance of a kinetic attack — for example, in Ukraine, where we saw targeting of the power grid, where we saw disinformation to try and cause confusion and to create some type of dysfunction on the ground in advance of tanks rolling across the border,” Henry stated.

Navigating the complexity of cyber defense with intelligent solutions

When it comes to the defensive posture of organizations and nations, it’s critical to be proactive rather than reactive, according to Henry.

“It’s important for us, as a cybersecurity company, to understand adversary tactics, to collect the intelligence that helps us understand who are they targeting, why are they targeting them, how are they targeting them, which allows us to be proactive and to get in front of the attack,” he said.

For companies seeking cybersecurity solutions, the challenges are often less about understanding the need for security and more about grappling with its complexity.

“They want the easy button. They want to be able to support their organization and not just spend inordinate amounts of time and money trying to figure out how to secure it,” Henry said.

So, what’s the endgame? For CrowdStrike, it’s about giving companies “the level of comfort and confidence that we’re by them when they’re in a dark time,” Henry explained.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Fal.Con event:

(* Disclosure: CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither CrowdStrike nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE