Cyberattacks are increasing in frequency, sophistication, and impact. Defending against them requires a new perspective on the attacks and the attackers. By applying a value chain lens to the problem, we can better understand the dark web as an ecosystem in which well-orchestrated attacks are assembled by entrepreneurs and supported by well-organized service offerings. This casts new light on the dark web and suggests more effective and proactive responses to cyberattacks.

Increasingly, military-inspired exercises are becoming standard elements of corporate risk mitigation and resiliency efforts. They include tabletop exercises,” designed to help executives envision how they would handle different risk scenarios; “red team exercises,” designed to ferret out weaknesses through contained attacks conducted internally to see how cybersecurity teams respond; and engaging ethical hackers to test the organization’s cybersecurity defenses.

This new blog from MIT Sloan Management Review explores ideas from different corners of the MIT community that are relevant to business executives. We will introduce you to research, people and events you might not otherwise encounter — things we hope you find useful and perhaps provocative. This week we look at gaping security holes in the Internet of Things and revisit the analytical revelations of Michael Lewis’s Moneyball.