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When it comes to security, small and midsize businesses are largely unaware of the risks they face, according to a survey of 1,015 U.S. SMBs by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and security specialist Symantec. The report found more than three-fourths (77 percent) of respondents said their company is safe from cyber-threats, such as hackers, viruses, malware or a cyber-security breach, yet 83 percent have no formal cyber-security plan.One encouraging finding was that companies founded in the wake of the economic crisis are almost 20 percent more likely than older small businesses to have a written plan in place for keeping their business secure from cyber-threats.
A cyber attack targeted HSBC websites this week, preventing customers from using HSBC online services, including internet banking.A day after the Oct. 18 attack, the global financial firm released a statement saying that “some sites” are operating again. The denial of service attack did not affect customer data, the bank said.A spokesperson could not say whether HSBC commercial banking customers in Western New York were impacted.Several banks around the country have encountered cyber attacks in recent weeks. Capital One Financial Corp. and BB&T Corp. were also targeted this week.
Some companies protect their computer systems with expensive technology, but they often overlook the employee who may be conned into unlocking private information and giving it away to anyone who asks for it. Technology security experts like Nathan LaFollette are hired to test computer systems for vulnerabilities -- both inside and outside the building. He said the human element is often the weakest link and can be exploited by social engineering. He says hackers sometimes find it easier to trick an employee to reveal passwords than finding their own way through computer firewalls. Experts at technology firms like Cisco report that hackers are constantly using social engineering techniques that take advantage of real employee names, partial passwords or use schemes to convince employees they're involved in legitimate transactions. "Social engineering is a huge threat for corporations, but they don't spend a lot of money or training on it," said LaFollette, founder and chief executive officer of Inet\Detect in Brunswick. "It's a major problem that will continue to grow and it's not something that you can just throw products at to remediate."
"In October, two German computer security researchers created a map that allows you to see a picture of online cyber-attacks as they happen. The map isn't out of a techno-thriller, tracking the location of some hacker in a basement trying to steal government secrets. Instead, it's built around a worldwide project designed to study online intruders. The data comes from honeypots. When the bots go after a honeypot, however, they're really hacking into a virtual machine inside a secure computer. The attack is broadcast on the map—and the researchers behind the project have a picture of how a virus works that they can use to prevent similar attacks or prepare new defenses."
The White House is denying a media report that an investigation into corporations supplying U.S. telecommunications companies with equipment found no proof Huawei Technologies was involved in espionage on behalf of China.Citing anonymous sources, Reuters reported that an 18-month examination of Huawei's communications equipment revealed the products contained security vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers, but not evidence the company had spied on the United States.
Attackers are continuing to focus more heavily on mobile devices, and in particular those running Google’s Android operating system, posting 175,000 malicious or suspicious programs to app stores.The activity in the third quarter is a steep increase from the previous quarter when the firm only found 30,000 apps that appeared to take malicious actions or aggressively gather information on a user.
