Shawn Henry, the FBI’s top cyber cop presented a grim and sobering piece of news regarding the nation’s efforts to keep computer hackers away from destroying corporate and, in some cases, US data networks: \u201cWe’re not winning,\u201d said Henry, who is preparing to leave the FBI after nearly 20 years with the bureau. \u201cThe private approach to fending off hackers is simply unsustainable.\u201d There are simply too many talented computer criminals with too few defensive measures to stop them.<\/p>\n
Though Henry’s comments were not directed at any agency or legislation, they did coincide with two competing bills designed to redesign and reinforce the networks that protect electrical power plants, nuclear reactors, and other critical US infrastructure. When it comes to asking the experts, few disagree there needs to be a reform in the system that the US uses to defend important systems from attacks, but the way to go about it has been much discussed, and heatedly so. Most business advocates that neither new regulation will truly help protect computer networks in any way, shape or form, but one of them in particular is more useless than the other.<\/p>\n
Mr. Henry agrees that many companies need to take action in security measures within the cyber world to protect themselves to avoid further damage to important US infrastructure, especially as people get more desperate and more clever when it comes to figure out how to get around defenses. “I don’t see how we ever come out of this without changes in technology or changes in behavior, because with the status quo, it’s an unsustainable model. Unsustainable in that you never get ahead, never become secure, never have a reasonable expectation of privacy or security,” Mr. Henry said.<\/p>\n
Several corporations had their defenses tested last year and failed, such as Sony Corp. who said that last year alone, hackers accessed 24.6 million customers’ information when they attacked the PlayStation Network. Nasdaq also admitted that their defenses were broken through last year through a system called Directors Desk, which manages documents and other pieces of information for hundreds of companies. HBGary Federal, a company that specializes in cybersecurity, was one of the many companies infiltrated by Anonymous \u2013 in this case, Anonymous stole tens of thousands of internal e-mails, some carrying important information that is now compromised.<\/p>\n
These phenomenons are not contained to just big business, either. In a new study, 65{7e4ee7cd997d36f6dec43befd6b19c37edf0959bbf61766e988f901dd91e96d7} of small businesses don’t even encrypt their data, leaving them open for easy hacking attacks and data stealing. The important thing is to figure out if you’re one of these companies, and what steps you need to take in safeguarding your data today \u2013 not even big corporations, or the government systems, are safe from infiltration. Take the right cybersecurity steps today to safeguard your valuable data \u2013 the services are available, from storing your data in an off site location, to monitoring your connections 24\/7 for issues that may indicate someone is trying to grab your data.<\/p>\n
Businesses without a dedicated IT team are taking unneeded chances. Contact us today to see how we can help you defeat such attacks.<\/p>\n