Attack of the Hacks! See where cyberattacks may strike next in 2015

In 2013, $11 billion was lost to credit and debit card fraud. Last year, hackers compromised
the personal information of 76 million households from JPMorgan Chase. Other hackers exposed 56 million credit and debit card numbers of Home Depot customers. And of course we all know about the cyberattack on Sony Pictures, which was arguably the most notorious computer hack of the year. The numbers aren’t out for 2014 yet in terms of dollars and intellectual property lost, but cybercrimes such as these can best describe the year as the “Attack of the Hacks.”

These high-profile cyberattacks exploit age-old flaws in open frameworks. Last June, the Government Accountability Office stated that “more than 46,000 cyber incidents were reported by federal agencies in fiscal year 2013—an increase over the prior three years.”

Expect more mobile payment system cyberattacks in 2015
The numbers aren’t in yet for 2014, but cyberattacks are expected to increase on digital transactions from mobile devices in 2015. Security firm FireEye predicts that point-of-sale (PoS) attacks will be more rampant. Cybercriminals are likely to focus on finding the vulnerabilities of new types of online payment systems like Apple Pay, a mobile payment system. But you can also expect more creative targeting on payment processors and PoS management firms as retailers strengthen their defenses.

Beware of ransomware and cyber extortion
SentinelOne Labs sees a possible coordinated “time bomb” attack on enterprises through the use of ransomware. This nasty piece of software locks computer systems (usually with a fake notice from a government agency) after taking customer personal and financial data “hostage.” The cyber thief then demands an extortion be paid in Bitcoin or via PayPal before the system is released back to the company or individual. If the demand is not met by the stated time period, malicious software is unleashed on the operating systems of enterprises who fail to pay.

Can your network withstand a cyberattack?
In October 2014, famed VC/PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel spoke about cybersecurity and its current state of readiness. As data breaches pile up, Thiel expects cybersecurity to remain a big problem. “So much commerce is happening on the Internet and we often have no good intuition of how poor the security is.” He suggests that the situation can only be addressed by software.

What can your company do to ensure readiness against a cyberattack?
You can’t afford to be complacent so monitor your accounts as closely as possible. In addition, be sure to review your risk management and damage control procedures to keep corporate network intrusion to a minimum. This includes keeping up with operating system security updates and having the latest security software on your systems.

Need further help?
The experts at Advance Micro Solutions would be happy to offer a no-cost review of your IT and hardware infrastructure and suggest ways to increase security against cyberattacks. For a free consultation on data security plans and top-of-the-line disaster recovery systems, please call 604-303-6622 or send an email to inquiry@ad-micro.com.