Innovation Enables Warring Factors From Mobility to DDoS

One year ago, a Middle Eastern oil and gas company endured Shamoon’s incapacitating Internet virus attack. A week passed before the 30,000 workstations at the M.E. oil and gas company were able to get back to business as usual. The U.S. Secretary of Defense at that time noted that this virus was the most devastating cyberattack ever used against a business. A few days later, the same type of virus attacked another Middle Eastern oil and gas company. Shamoon’s new increased scale and speed was a predictor of cyber warfare’s potential to strike against businesses, government, and other organizations online.
The balance between the joys and challenges of technological innovations and change is a conundrum. Innovations that increase the number of people who have a connection to the Internet are the same innovations that increase the likelihood of critical data compromise. People and businesses take advantage of cloud computing, communications, and mobility for easy access and flexibility. Criminals take advantage for the same reasons. Huge amounts of hypersensitive data are available to the trash and steal. While cloud computing and mobility can simplify and improve work and personal life, it also increases vulnerability to potential hacking, DDOS (distributed denial of service), and other types of destructive tools.
Security is a top priority for organizations that conduct business online, but there are even more challenges. According to a July 2013 Voltage Security research project, results show that 50 % of employees say they cannot get enough time or resources to do their jobs because they are too busy with everyday tasks like internet shopping, fixing problems, blogging, etc. Worse, 40 % of them admitted that they have less chance to interact with customers because they always have to be alert and ready to address problems immediately.
Programs that increase online security features are often B2B2/B2B (business to business) transactions. However, even with the millions of dollars in transactions annually, many businesses still don’t match in-house security programs.
A July 2013 Voltage Security research project showed that after four months of research and discussion with their customers, they have come up with 25 data security and risk management solutions. Too often, they are still ignoring the one thing that could ultimately destroy their business — their data.
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I have a question for you: how much do online hackers know about the way your company is run?
Once a month, we get a call or email from a company that has a problem with its website. Usually, it’s time to do a reformat and rebuild. But for some reason, they keep putting it off.
Let’s look at the problem first, and then we will talk about eradicating it.
1. How customers feel safe on your website.
Analysis of online forums and national news stories shows that no one trusts companies that have inadequate Internet Security. As far as customers are concerned, it’s a no-brainer.
2. Your own negligence compromises the security of your digital data
Websites that have not updated their security policy in order to match the latest threats are open to attack. Defrauding a customer by stealing their data is not only dishonest, but it is also criminal.