Cyber Attack

Chip-And-PIN A Safe Win?

September 22, 2014 — Leave a comment

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So, what happens when you play a stubborn game in the cyber security field? Well, you do not have to be a rocket scientist to answer this one yourself, do you? Sooner or later, this way or another, you learn the lesson in the most unpleasant and painful way. This is what is happening in the USA.

Why? How? For some unknown reason the USA Shopaholics still hy? How? For some unknown reason the USA shopoholics like to use the classic and definitely outdated payment cards, which run with a magnetic stripe. On the other side, we have the chip-and-PIN payment cards, or simply smartcards.

These smartcards come with the microprocessor chip, which is responsible for all the fun. It is worth mentioning that we do not imply that these smartcards are necessarily too much of a trouble for highly skilled hackers. What we are saying is that you have better chances with the smartcards.

SO, what is preventing the USA to run without a second thought into the safe arms of smartcards. Well, for the beginning the price of chip-and-PIN terminals. Not to mention hundreds of millions of cards, which need to be changed. Eventually, the frustrated customers will make them to do all changes.

London Business Bridge Is Falling Down

September 18, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Finally, someone has realized what is going on. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to know for sure how cyber attacks can seriously cripple your business. If you know, why do not you do something about it? This is an excellent question for the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

According to its disturbing findings the so-called hacker’s taxes take £21 billion give it or take from the UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). You should also take into account that the average price for a skillful hacker’s attack in this case is somewhere between £50,000 and £100,000 per year.

So, what is wrong with this picture? You can do your best, but you cannot find the provider of the IT security services, who can charge you this much for an entire year. That is the moral of this story. Compared to the post festum damage the investment in an appropriate IT prevention is a symbolic one.

Then, how come we keep avoiding to make this very first affordable and necessary step? It is going to happen to someone else, but not me. I do not have time or resources to do it. I do not have qualified staff for these operations. It is time consuming. It is too expensive. So, what is your excuse?

It’s Raining Cats, Dogs And Malware

September 14, 2014 — Leave a comment

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You can rest assured that the cyber crime’s hand is a long one with surprisingly skillful fingers. When it comes to the modern day hackers you simply cannot exaggerate. However, this one is a little bit hard to swallow without the bitterness, even for the most pessimistic IT security pessimists.

We have completely neglected what is happening above our heads. The impressive army of weather satellites flies around carelessly and without the proper cyber defense on the ground. Yes, you heard that one correctly. Potential troubles in the sky may have solid ground origins and causes.

You may ask yourself, who in the world would try to hack the IT infrastructure of the weather satellites? And why? Better think twice. These satellites can come in handy for the spying purposes. You can do some spying and later offer your findings for a nice price. Does this one sound like a good hacker’s plan?

What can we do about it? Well, there is so much to do it. We should begin by paying some additional and absolutely necessary IT security attention in this field. You cannot control both bad weather and bad hackers, but you can certainly predict their actions. IT and weather security are all about proper predictions. Right?

Goodwill Bad News

September 12, 2014 — Leave a comment

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There is no such a thing as a good news in the world of IT security. As soon as you hear about the latest security breach, you are only offered with a choice how many people are being affected by it. This time Godwill was honest enough to admit that almost 900,000 credit cards related data are being stolen in almost 20 countries worldwide.

So, what is going to happen now? Well, you know the drill, don’t you. They are going to say that something is stolen, but no damage is actually being done. Should we trust them? What other option do we have? They say it is going to be fixed and under no circumstances will similar things happen again in the future.

Unfortunately, some of the well-known X Files techniques are to be applied, as well. If you cannot deny, then you have to find someone else to be blamed instead of you. In this case, Godwill believes that the third party vendors are to be blamed for the whole mess. Which is not a nice thing to say, and which also may be or not be entirely true.

Can you maintain a good mood after this bad news about the Godwill? Hard to say, but you still have to play. Maybe, we should appreciate the rare good news when we hear one that a major IT security threat or vulnerability has been prevented or solved successfully. How about that for a change?

Japanese Air Force One’s Menu List

September 10, 2014 — Leave a comment

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This is embarrassing. This is potentially extremely dangerous. This is a warning. Well, choose which one of these descriptions is the most suitable one for the following. The flight schedule of the Japanese Air Force One has been hacked. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to know what it means.

How about the US Air Force One, for a change? What a nice thing for the terrorist to have. What a strong motivation for the hackers to obtain such data. When it comes to this you are free to name your price. Sky is the limit, literally. Who or what is next? How about the government’s officials?

This is disturbing, at least to say. If you recall, almost one half of the South Korea population was hacked. We mean, the personal data about the dozens of millions of people. But, that is the same thing. Nowadays, you can hack the entire country, just like that. You can offer it in the black market.

Our brave new digital world is definitely a scary place. So, we need some cyber samurais to save the day in Japan as soon as possible. Otherwise, who knows where their Air Force One may land. Maybe, in China or North Korea. There are no untouchables for hackers. This is the lesson we need to learn here.

HealthCare Hack Was Fair?

September 9, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Here come our Uncle Sam and he says to us, I have a bad and a good news. Which one you want to hear the first? The bad news is that someone hacked into the HealthCare website. The good news is that no serious or obvious damage has been done. At least what we know or speculate about.

Seriously? Are we supposed to buy this? How in the first place you can hack one of the most important government sites in the country? Maybe, this was an action of some teenage or newbie hacker, who was eager to get some recognition and respect among his or her friends. Some other option?

Russian or Chinese state supported teams were practicing a little bit. Let us stop here, or else. We will get hurt even without the real damage. Or, as a comforting thing we can sing a song, how fragile we are. Now, when we are done with signing let us do some thinking. What can we do about this one?

First things first, the IT security should be among our top priorities. We mean real priorities, not only priorities on our list of wishes. Otherwise, who knows what is next. We may wake up in some other country in cyber terms one fine day. We sure hope that the lesson is being learned properly.

Hackers Do Care About The Healthcare

September 7, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Malware is a disease, call a doctor. Under some other circumstances this could have been a nice slogan for some IT security service provider. However, we are eager to discuss something else with you. Why, all of a sudden, the hackers have become so healthcare systems focused?

Maybe, they understand that the health comes first and business second? No, it is not a time for jokes. Yes, it can be that simple. The hackers are.educated fools with the money on their minds. They want to get the most in exchange for their invested money, time and efforts. Very rational indeed.

Now, we can understand their logic and motives with this one. The healthcare data centers are the endless seas of opportunities for hackers. Each healthcare system is an El Dorado of personal data. Just imagine what you can do in the black data market with millions and millions of personal data?

In order to avoid serious medical conditions of healthcare users, who can really get ill when they found out about hacking of their personal data, something needs to be done for real. These systems require serious and efficient IT security therapies for a long and healthy life of all of us. Cheers.

Small Business – Big Trouble

September 7, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Why would anyone attack our website? We are a small company. Hackers go after large and important business subjects. How many times have you heard an argumentation like this from a small business owner? Unfortunately, too much and too often. Oh dear, these words can get you into trouble.

For hackers there is no such thing as a target too small to attack. Who knows what is in their minds and what kind of a scheme they have prepared for your computer or website? You do not have to spend more money than it is your business worth in the first place for the IT security measures and solutions.

However, you would be surprised how a symbolic investment in this field can have a tremendous influence on your cyber security situation. If you do not want to make a voluntary investment for the IT security purposes, then you must pay to someone to clean up your malware caused mess.

As simple as that. And yet, we keep forgetting or avoiding to apply this simple rule. Until eventually it is too late to talk about prevention, and you are left with no other option than to consider the expensive cyber treatment. Small business needs small IT security in order to avoid big troubles. Remember this one.

Hackers With The Government’s IDs

August 27, 2014 — Leave a comment

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When the government gets its fingers in the hacking field in most of the cases you end up with the cyber terrorism. Yes, we are not exaggerating and that is the right word for it. When you examine the latest statistical data about the most serious cyber attacks, you simply have no other choice then to jump to certain conclusions.

The absolute majority of all cyber attacks in the northern and western Europe comes from Russia. On the other hand, the USA is the favorite destination for the hackers from China. Are these statistics merely a coincidence or a reflection of our seriously compromised political relationships?

For the certain types of hacker’s attacks a very serious IT infrastructure and flawless organization is an absolute must. Are we supposed to believe that our governments have nothing to do with these, and they are completely unaware of what is going on in the cyberspace? We are not that naive.

The hackers with the government IDs and the state’s blessing are our everyday’s reality, like it or not. We sure hope we will not be lost in the unprecedented hypocrisy where we condemn while stimulating at the same time the same type of cyber crime and attacks.

Hacking The Ghost Plane

August 26, 2014 — Leave a comment

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This one you may find a little bit hard to digest. It seems that a group of Chinese hackers attacked the Malaysian Airlines HQ and stole the confidential data about the missing MH370. What in the world they plan to do with this kind of information? Are they going to sell it eventually?

Maybe, the Chinese hackers are eager to solve this mystery on their own? And, this is how you end up easily in the conspiracy labyrinth. Can you hack an airplane and blow it away from the sky? What if someone tries to cover his tracks with this quite unusual hacking activity?

When you ask these kinds of questions, you simply cannot avoid a situation of ending up with the bitter taste in your mouth. Is there some kind of a cyber curse over the Malaysian Airlines? What they need to change all of that? Well, they have to restore our trust as the top priority, that is for sure.

Keep an eye on the Net, will you? Maybe, we will have an opportunity to see some of the top secret unpublished data about one of the greatest missing airplane mysteries in the modern history. Who knows, the Chinese hackers can easily turn out to be truth seekers just like the rest of us.