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NEAL ROMANEK: How are technology vendors working with broadcasters to make them aware of the issues?
PHIL MYERS: A lot of customers, while they know it’s important to their business, don’t truly understand the impact an attack could bring. Once someone is in your system and has access to your private information, it’s not only emails – potentially it’s payrolls and anything else associated with that individual. From a content perspective, use the example of US TV shows being distributed to European broadcasters, well in advance of going out. Then there’s the other side of it – somebody enters the system with malware, or ransomware where they effectively lock the system and prevent you from operating. From a broadcast vendor perspective, it’s challenging, because we supply technology to a lot of broadcasters. But we don’t supply all the technology – that’s the most important part. JOHN MAILHOT: In a sense, the broadcaster isn’t so different from any other similar-size enterprise-business. It needs to have good cybersecurity practices and basic IT hygiene. If you compare media and banks, for example, there are two key differences. For one, the media industry often reports on nation states. So, in effect, they can lead to nation-state attacks. Look at some examples – in Australia, and on Sony Pictures. Those were nation-state attacks inspired by content on the channel. Another way is if you visit the IT infrastructure at a bank: you need at least two different people to approve walking into the building, and you are escorted the entire time. Whereas, if you show up with a hoodie and a USB stick at a broadcast station, and say, “Hey, I’m the replacement editor for the show,” you can talk your way into sitting at a desk with an edit station. We have a very transient staff model in the television world, so the human threat surface is very different to that of a bank or a trading firm.
“A LOT OF CUSTOMERS DON’T TRULY UNDERSTAND THE IMPACTAN ATTACK COULD BRING”
PHIL MYERS: I would echo that. Just look at an OB truck, for example, that might be connected to a facility. You have switches in the production area, everybody can come up with a device and plug into it. It comes down to the point John made – if you think about a bank, you wouldn’t be able to walk in and connect, but in broadcast it’s common practice. Anyone might plug into anything without realising the implications for your facility. JOHN MAILHOT: I think another thing is to recognise and accommodate needs. For example, the requirement for people to connect to the internet around the truck – or even in the broadcast centre. The enterprise security industry is huge, and growing. The first line of defence in the television industry is to use things other industries have. There has always been history in the television industry, between broadcast engineers and IT, where they weren’t on the same page. The reality is that the two disciplines are intertwined and interconnected – they need to not just find peace, but also successful collaboration.
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