Cybersecurity Insights

We’re fast approaching the middle of 2019, and already we’ve seen numerous announcements of major data compromises involving millions of personal data records being stolen, including:

1. Email addresses & passwords
2. Passport numbers
3. Social security numbers
4. Banking information & credit card data

While the largest breaches catch our attention and have done a lot to raise awareness to the threat these criminals pose to our society, what is often less well reported, and therefore, less well understood, is how the smaller end of the business world is being targeted. As an example, we rarely hear about the thousands of successful small to medium eCommerce websites that have been hacked, and are quietly leaking all their customer payment data to criminals every day.

In recent months, cyberattacks have been on the rise within the education industry, especially within schools. Only recently, CCTV was leaked on to the dark web through a disturbing website called ‘Watch live surveillance cameras in the UK’.

CCTV footage leaked included children in the playground, classrooms, and even the bathroom. 20% of schools have been targeted already, and in coming months the figures are expected to rise.

Spring is finally upon us and after a long, gruelling winter; lambs are frolicking, daffodils are sprouting, and hackers are still breaching websites. It’s time to revisit your website security and make sure you’re taking the necessary measures to protect yourself and your customers.

New forms of malware are being created and identified every day; discovering and exploiting vulnerabilities can be a lucrative business. 2014 saw 317 million new pieces of malware, equating to nearly 1 million new threats being released each day according to the Symantec Threat Report.  

Earlier this month we discussed mining malware and how crypto’s popularity might have an effect on it’s usage. Well, a report from Check Point has found that 55% of businesses worldwide are now affected by crypto-miners. Hijacking a consumers GPU without their knowledge will reflect badly on your company and in turn damage your reputation. Being aware of the current threat landscape puts you in the drivers seat when keeping your website secure, so let's take a look.