Data thieves blackmail US drug company

Data thieves blackmail US drug company

www.techworld.com

07 November 2008

Data thieves are threatening to release millions of patient records held by a US prescription drug management company unless the company pays up.

(visit the link for the full news article)

While researching the World Bank data breaches I came across this story. The number of companies computer systems that have been that been compromised over the last few years is staggering.


www.privacyrights.org...

In my opinion, this story is only the beginning of cyber blackmail we'll see in the future.


www.techworld.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Originally posted by venividivici


While researching the World Bank data breaches I came across this story. The number of companies computer systems that have been that been compromised over the last few years is staggering.


www.privacyrights.org...

In my opinion, this story is only the beginning of cyber blackmail we'll see in the future.


www.techworld.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

So much for Sarbanes-Oxley, huh?

I have noticed that there are more and more reports of Chinese hackers coming out, too.

Yeah you are right it is indeed staggering.
More staggering that most people understand.
I get spam emails sometimes from servers owned by local governments, fortune 500 company's, you name it.
They have hijacked all these servers and use them as they please.

www.individual.com...

The outdated technology in use today leaves us ALL vulnerable to cyber crime.

Anyone can buy the hardware off ebay for a few 100 dollars to tap into fiber optics and steal UNENCRYPTED data. It is surprising how many companies use computer security software and hardware that is several years out of date and commonly known to have been compromised. For example WEP was broken 8 years ago but some still use it in wireless transmissions.

Out of the security crimes listed in 2007, 32 per cent were phishing, 29 per cent malicious codes while spam accounted for three percent and denial of service four per cent. US and China topped in origination of malicious codes. In 2007, one third of security breaches occurred in corporates and non profit agencies, 27 per cent in educational establishments, 27 per cent in government agencies and 13 per cent in medical establishments, said Dr Kamlesh Bajaj, CEO, Data Security Council of India.

Electronic hacking led to 10 million records being exposed while lost, stolen and missing equipment and documents were source of 127 incidents affecting 38 million personal records. Inadvertent or intentional publishing of personal information on website accounted fo 2.8 million records.

Giving a perspective of threat, he said one in 50 files contain critical information and one 400 emails contain confidential information. The five emerging threats in 2009 were malaware, botnets, cyber wafare, threats to VoIP and mobile devices and evolving of cyber crime.

Financial motivation will increase attacks to smart phones in years to come, Anant R Koppar, Chairman and CEO KTwo Technology Solution said.