Cybersecurity is defined as the state of being protected against the criminal or unauthorized use of electronic data or the measures taken to achieve such action. Just a few years ago, this word was foreign to most people and would have been reserved for those who work primarily in the IT or military field.
That all changed when thieves began targeting retail establishments, stealing third-party vendor credentials to grab payment card data. Many big-box retailers have been hit, but the mother of all retail breaches occurred at Target. Hackers infiltrated a third-party payment vendor and stole millions of credit card and personal information records, resulting in a loss of millions to the retailer. A similar situation at Home Depot surpassed the Target exposure, resulting in nearly 56 million credit card numbers being stolen at a cost of approximately $175 million dollars to the retailer.
Although stolen credit card numbers were an early favorite of cyber-criminals, the focus has shifted to personal information and extortion. When the Yahoo breach occurred, hackers gained access to over three million records including birthdates and security passwords. When Homeland Security acknowledged their background files with the agency were compromised through a software program, entire applicant profiles were exposed. Then, criminals increased their percentage with the more recent Equifax breach, which impacted nearly 75% of the country. This rich data contained credit card numbers, birthdates, and Social Security numbers.
Another focus of cyber-criminals involves extortion or blackmail utilizing Ransomware or other Malware. One of the most publicized examples of this involved Sony Productions. They received a threat from North Korea to stop production on The Interview, a comedy about an assassination attempt on Kim Jong-un. They ignored the warning, so the North Koreans infiltrated Sony’s computers, targeting intellectual property files and company emails. The culprits posted unreleased movies on the internet and threatened to expose the personal information of Sony’s high-profile clients. This instance prompted over 90% of companies to review their security.
Two of the most famous Ransomware attacks involved the dating sites of Ashley Madison and Friend Finder. Both companies received threats that their nine-million-member databases were exposed, and a financial demand was delivered. Once the demand was not met, the criminals posted the clients profiles online, resulting in embarrassment to those on the sites. A $578-million class-action lawsuit was filed due in part to the unique sensitivity of the information, resulting in mass chaos ranging from damaged marriages to suicide.
As you can see from these examples, no one is immune to a cyber attack, but you can minimize the impact once it happens. First, it’s important to understand that social media sites are attractive to cyber-criminals, and nothing is ever truly deleted from the web. Anonymity doesn’t exist in the modern technology era, so be mindful what you access or post on the web. Second, it’s very important to monitor your credit, and freeze it with the three credit bureaus. If you suspect your credit card was compromised, report it stolen immediately.
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