Every day, new apps make their way onto the marketplace; new programs are introduced online. What once was difficult, even impossible to create, can now be generated in a few days, often with open source code. It’s so easy, even a child can manage.
While each of those changes brings new possibilities, it also brings on the opportunity for new threats.
Hacks into mobile payment systems
As smartphones continue to become the payment of choice in all kinds of financial transactions, they will also continue to be at the forefront of security hacks. Google Wallet, Apple Pay, and other mobile payment systems are increasingly becoming a standard of payment in all kinds of businesses. And as attackers learn how to easily sidestep security measures and get into the wallets of individual consumers, they’ll quickly use their knowledge to tap into corporate networks as well. Emails, websites, apps and authentication measures are all becoming more sophisticated, fooling even top level security personnel. And as they move past security, they have access to a phenomenal amount of intellectual property, insider information and other confident business data that can be used or sold for sizable treasure.
Struggling infrastructure will continue to fail
The Internet is quickly coming of age. And while we can all still think back to the moment when the Internet first entered our lives, it’s still a relatively new playing world for businesses and criminals alike. The Internet infrastructure has long since been somewhat of the Wild West. We piece things together as new technologies are born. But in many cases, we add to existing data, patch up holes, rather than completely replace. A review of the Alexa 1000 top websites revealed a significant number of them are not up-to-date with their certificates. And if the biggest names are struggling to keep up, the smaller companies are losing the battle. That means at any given time, people are pulling sites with broken Javascript versions, end-of-life challenges with core software programs, and new applications that were simply built on recycled code. All of which can open up your business to significant vulnerabilities.
Data destruction will continue to increase
Sometimes hackers don’t want to use your data just for malicious activities; they also want to make sure you never have access again. Data destruction can bring a company down to its knees, which is why we’ll increasingly see the largest companies have significant portions of their databases wiped clean. When malware enters a system and wipes the data and master boot records to render the systems inoperable, it can spell disaster. Good backup systems can prevent an attack like this from impacting you for the long term. Rebuilding can be time-consuming and expensive; ensuring you have a proper backup that can allow you to restore and thoroughly disinfect so that lingering malware won’t re-wipe systems once they are restored will be key.
Is your company doing everything it can to protect your data?
