The Cyberattack Epidemic

Last month, I attended a security briefing held for executives in finance, health and other industries targeted by cybercriminals. The event was hosted by the University of Texas at Austin and featured very knowledgeable speakers from the FBI, CIA, security consultancies and other government agencies. A few major points in what they described is now happening on the security front:

• Cyber attacks are getting increasingly organized and sophisticated. The annoying pranks and invasions of young hackers has been superceded by organized attacks of criminal elements who have created a business of stealing identities and assets.
• Cyber attacks are getting increasingly widespread and dangerous. Larger numbers of computers are involved in well-targetted security breaches and attacks designed to steal assets and cause serious disruptions in networks and infrastructure.
• "Security by obscurity" is gone. Just as crawlers and bots help search engines map the vast and ever-changing terrain of the Internet, they also help locate vulnerabilities and connect pieces of information that can make identity protection nearly impossible. The speakers stated that social media is a concern because of the role it plays in aiding criminals in identity theft.   

Wharton just published a good article on this topic that included advice for avoiding and responding to breaches called Clear and Present Danger: Cyberattacks, Hackers and the Increasing Threat to Information Security. You may need to register with them to access the article, but their monthly coverage on business and technology is worth it.