Are You Equipped to Manage Post-Breach Protocols?
If the recent mega data breaches of tech giants, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Gmail are anything to go by, it is apparent that no business is 100% safe from cybercrimes. No matter how strong your IT security measures or information security framework, criminals continue to find sophisticated means to hack, crack and manipulate data for personal gains. Although they have become a common occurrence in businesses of every size and sector, the nature and consequences of data breaches continue to evolve with each passing year. Read on for some predictions and insights from industry experts.
Top Predictions for Data Breaches in 2019-2020
Data breaches are inevitable. If you have not yet experienced one, it is just a matter of time before you see data loss in some shape or form. You may have several questions, such as:
- Where will the attack emerge from?
- Will they steal or damage?
- What is the extent of loss you should expect?
While nobody can give you the perfect answers to these questions, cybersecurity gurus who are continually studying the data breach landscape have some general predictions*, which you may find useful:
- Hackers will Target Biometric Data: Biometrics, such as facial recognition or touch ID are considered the most secure forms of authentication at present. However, the hacking community may be working towards laying their hands on sensitive biometric data. If they manage to steal or alter this data, or spoof or manipulate the biometric sensors, it could jeopardize confidential information of hundreds of thousands of customers across industries.
- Skimming is Gaining Ground: Moving beyond malware attacks on individual ATMs, criminals may start using skimming as the next frontier for organization wide attacks. Hence, banks and financial institutions may be particularly vulnerable to credit card skimming devices that can steal card information and codes. This could potentially lead to huge losses, not just for the financial institutions, but other allied and supporting businesses as well.
- Online Gaming Community is a Hot Target: Cybercriminals may be posing as gamers or personas within games to infiltrate the gaming community. This could help them gain access to personal or credit card information, as well as valuable game tokens.
- Cloud-Based Service Providers are Highly Vulnerable: Cybercriminals are aiming for minimum effort-maximum impact. Going after cloud-based service providers will give them easy access to hundreds of businesses at one go, instead of hacking multiple IT security features in individual companies. Hence, even if your business is not a direct target, a third party cloud services provider that you use could make you equally vulnerable.
- Multi-Vector Attacks will Gain Momentum: Continuing their approach of low-risk, high-yield propositions, hackers may change tactics and look at multi-vector attacks that involve hijacking cell phones or internet services. While traditional hacks, such as phishing emails, SSNs exposure, malware, etc. will continue to pose risks, imagine a breach in your multi-factor authentication methods, such as the pin codes sent via text messages, phone calls, or emails to your customers.
The increasing amount of personal data available on the internet, along with easier access to hacking tools and services continue to empower and motivate cybercriminals to develop newer methods to target your businesses. Hence, despite the strongest preventive measures, you will remain vulnerable to a data breach.
If you detect or suspect a data breach, a timely response and remediation is of the utmost importance. Consider partnering with a professional NAID AAA Certified company, such as TITAN Mobile Shredding. In addition to routine on-site shredding services for paper and electronic records, we offer an award-winning, patented, Breach Reporting Service (BRS) through our partners, CSR Privacy Solutions Inc. Let qualified and experienced privacy experts help you complete all applicable regulatory reporting and documentation, as well as notification to affected parties. Mitigate the risk of potential civil or criminal penalties, and save your business’ productive time and reputation.
For timely, affordable and efficient data breach management services, rely on TITAN Mobile Shredding’s trusted partner CSR Privacy Solutions Inc. To know more, give us a call us at (866) 848-2699.
*Data Breach Industry Forecast 2019 by Experian
