Experts have warned that hackers and fraudsters are becoming ever more adept at developing ways to trick us into downloading trojans and fake anti-virus software. It seems that no matter how many sites are closed down by the authorities, many more quickly spring up to take their place. One expert has said that this is, “the biggest threat facing computer users today.”
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Most students automatically assume that the primary cause of data loss for any organisation will be through hackers, malware and other external criminal entities. But in actual fact, this is not the case. A report has shown that only 1% of corporate data losses in the previous year were down to hackers. A report by the Ponemon Institute found that 88% of data breaches were caused by staff negligence.
The reality is that data loss is is far more likely to be due to a disgruntled employee who either wants to get their own back on the company or who sees a fast way of making an extra bit of ‘cash on the side’. Kevin Rowney from Symantec said, “in most cases people are motivated by revenge, fear or greed.”
Microsoft has warned that in today’s current economic climate, with employees facing uncertainty over their jobs, that companies should be on the lookout for an increase in “insider” security attacks.
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Hackers seem to be pretty inventive when it comes to finding ways to get people to download keylogging software, trojans and viruses. However, their latest scam really takes the biscuit – fake parking tickets!
Drivers in North Dakota found a yellow ticket on their windscreen with the message, “PARKING VIOLATION. This vehicle is in violation of standard parking regulations”. They were told to visit a website with further information about their ticket. What they weren’t told was that the tool bar on the website automatically installed a Trojan virus to their machine.
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