Your Gadgets Will Never Be Secure. Chase the Hackers Instead

We've been going about cyber-security all wrong, according to the former head of Israel's intelligence unit. Rather than patch each hole that springs up, security experts should focus on finding the "puppet masters" behind the malware, says Nadav Zafrir, the former head of the military's legendary 8200 unit, a breeding ground for veterans who feed Israel’s thriving startup industry.

Cyber-defenders can use tools within their networks to find traces left by hackers and use the clues to snuff them out, according to Zafrir, who spoke at the International Cybersecurity Conference at Tel Aviv University. Zafrir points to the Target hack during the last holiday shopping season, which exposed some 40 million cards, as well as an attack on Home Depot, where the extent of damage is not yet public. Defense has focused on pinpointing scripts or malware instead of dealing with the people who actually write them, he says.