Cyber Security Threats: How Hackers Breach into your Data

Cyber Security Threats and Attacks

The internet world has been under attack ever since it went public and mainstream, globally. Cyber patrollers – developers, programmers, and other security experts – have been relentless not just to fend off cybercriminals, but to be a step ahead in the fight for cyber security threats.

Some of the severe cyber security threats and cyberattacks the world has witnessed just in this last decade involved massive data breaches suffered by or perpetuated by the most prominent companies of today, like Facebook, Google, and Yahoo.

Yahoo data breach case study

Yahoo! suffered two of the most massively discovered data breaches since the internet’s inception. The first one was in 2013 that affected all 3 billion of their user accounts, and another data breach in 2014 that affected 500 million user accounts.

Unfortunately, Yahoo! disclosed such data breaches only in late 2016. In 2016, they initially reported that only 1 billion user accounts were breached in 2013. But later in 2017, they amended their report to admit that all of their user accounts got hacked.

Google also suffered significant data breaches, one of which is when 5 million google passwords were leaked.

Read Also: What cyber security is all about.

Facebook data breach Case

Facebook faced its biggest lawsuit in the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where it was discovered they worked with the data analysis company to misuse data.

“In the years 2014 and 2015, Facebook released an app. That ended up cutting 87 million profiles of users around the globe”. Then after used by Cambridge Analytica in the year 2016 presidential campaign and the referendum.

Facebook was fine fined £500,000 for lack of transparency and failing to preserve users’ information.

What is Data Breach

A data breach is the release of confidential or secure information into an unsecured and untrusted environment. A violation may happen intentionally or unintentionally.

A data breach is also identified as information leakage, data spill, data leak, or unintentional data or information disclosure.

Data breaches may involve “financial information like bank and card details, personal health information (PHI), intellectual property, secrets of the trade and Personally identifiable information (PII), etc.

Most of the data breaches involve vulnerable and overexposed unstructured data, Like – sensitive information, files, and documents, etc”.

Read Also: Top 5 must-have Cyber security tools.

5 Ways Hackers Breach Data [ Cyber Security Threats ]

1. Virus

Malicious intent to harvest confidential information from a business establishment or an individual may come by the use of a computer virus. The infection may take on a lot of forms. One example is malware.

In a study done, it was found that 94% of malware attacks came from or were delivered through emails. Most of the files used for malware attacks were .doc files or office document files.

Another way is through ransomware. Ransomware is the name of the software that gains access. Once it is in, it will lock down access to files and documents within the device. A ransom will be given, wherein payment will be paid through bitcoin or a form of cryptocurrency.

A timer is included with the ransom, and once the timer ends, all data within the device will be compromised or destroyed. Once the payment of the ransom is made, the hacker will then release the device from the lock.

An example of a data breach by ransomware happened in 2019 In Pensacola where the Maze Ransomware was used to shut down systems citywide.

That is why it is so vital to get trusted, comprehensive antivirus, and security protection software that provides real-time protection against cyber security threats for your data and devices.

Softvire suggests that in buying antivirus software, one must consider if the software is cost-efficient, fast, scans email, protects all your downloads, compatibility with your device.

Moreover, the capacity to scan malware and spyware, security and privacy policies, technical support with continuous information and automatic updates.

2. Inadequate Cyber security Protocols

According to ISSA, around 82% of employees feel that they have insufficient cyber security threats skills.

In another study by ISSA, approximately 61% of companies believe that applicants that apply to fill positions related to cyber security threats are not qualified.

See Also: Biometric Identification Technology for Online Banking.

The insufficiency of training observed in how companies and their employees handle data breaches is a big concern that needs to be addressed.

Around 53% of companies have more than 1,000 files open for all employees on average. This is just one statistic where there is a door that malicious intent can come in to enter.

See Also: Facial Recognition Technology related to privacy.

3. Lost/Stolen Media/Computer [ Cyber Security Threats ]

There have been documented data breaches that were attributed to hackers gaining access to either lost or stolen media devices or computers.

A former employee of a bank took a hard drive containing around a million sensitive account details that were used to defraud around $32,000. Thieves stole data tapes belonging to a hospital from an employees’ car.

Although the thieves unsuccessfully tried to access the data using a VHS player, it still put in jeopardy around 72,000 personal accounts. Hacking skills are needed to access the data within lost/stolen devices.

Read Also: 10 Internet safety rules online.

A health provider company experienced a data breach that affected around 344,600 of their clients due to a rented copier. That the company was not able to wipe the supposed hard drive within the copier before it was returned.

4. Inside Job

When investigating and doing forensics after a data breach, investigators sometimes find out that there are actors at work within the staging of the violation.

Employees within the company sometimes initiate the abuse for whatever reason they may have to disclose sensitive information in an unsecured environment where malicious intent may occur.

One of the earliest cases of data breaches was classified as an inside job. In 2005, clients of AOL amounting to around 92 Million had their sensitive information compromised.

Read Also: Tips to protect your business and customer data.

5. Accidental Published Information

In some cases, human error can be attributed to the data breach. This then led to hackers being able to access sensitive data of the company’s clients.

In 2006, AOL experienced another data breach that compromised 20 Million of their client’s confidential information. This data breach was classified as accidental publishing of classified data.

Conclusion

Being overconfident in your “impregnable” fortress of security protocols and ignoring the signs and warnings will not make the problem go away.

Being ignorant of the situation will make the situation even worse. 3 banks had to learn this the hard way. A software manager presented his findings regarding vulnerabilities in their banking system but ignored his findings.

The software manager then hacked 3 million bank accounts belonging to 22 different banks just to prove his point. The breach of data may be caused intentionally or unintentionally, but the effect remains the same.

Financial loss and identity theft result in these types of activities. Be aware of and actively protect yourself from these types of cyber security threats and cyberattacks.

Author’s Bio

John Ocampos is an Opera Singer by profession and a member of the Philippine Tenors. Ever since Digital Marketing has always been his forte. He is the Founder of SEO-Guru and the Managing Director of Tech Hacker.

John is also the Strategic SEO and Influencer Marketing Manager of Softvire Australia – the leading software eCommerce company in Australia and Softvire New Zealand.