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Hackers Use Mobile Devices to Break Through Data Security Walls
Small businesses are also under cyberattack. Click to expand.
Hackers Breach Nation’s Most Prestigious Law Firms – Wall Street Journal
Massive Breach at Anthem Should Be Wake-Up Call to Life Insurers – InsuranceNewsNet
“Panama Papers” Law Firm Responds to Massive Data Hack – Fortune
Headlines like these portend a new frontier for hackers: the rich deposits of confidential data stored by law firms and insurance companies on in-house servers, floating around on the cloud, or even on a thumb drive. This begs the question: Are we ready to defend our digital borders? The answer is not encouraging, according to many experts in data security.
As a rule, many law firms and insurers haven’t kept pace with the data security trends that are now standard in other sectors. To address this concern on a national level, law firms recently formed a group to disseminate information about cyberthreats and other vulnerabilities; this group is managed by the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners also established a Cybersecurity Task Force late last year to coordinate data protection among state insurance departments and insurance companies.
Proliferation of Mobile Devices Multiplies RiskWorking against heightened efforts to lock down our cyberborders is the exploding use of mobile devices, especially by busy professionals. Not only are we doing more work away from the office, but we are using a growing variety of mobile devices to get that work done – including smart phones, notebooks, laptops and now even wearables. When these devices are not properly secured, which is too often the case, cybercrooks can easily evade enterprise-wide protections. Thus, mobile devices have become the weak link in the data security chain, according to many corporate IT officers, and are increasingly the launching pad for successful attacks. Meanwhile, cyberthieves are using a rapidly expanding bag of tricks to take full advantage of the situation. Small, lightweight and portable, mobile devices are easy to steal or leave behind in a thousand different places. Once in hand, mobile devices (even those with tough security locks) can be defeated by a seasoned attacker and mined for corporate data or passwords. Hackers are also scamming users into downloading mobile malware with email, text messages and bogus advertising. And then there are Wi-Fi hackers who use easily obtained equipment to read a nearby wireless device or install malware that will allow future data access. We Are the First Line of DefenseThe first line of defense in this cybersecurity battle is, of course, those of us who depend on our mobile devices to help us do our jobs. Yet surveys show that many of us are unaware of the data security threats posed by our mobile devices and/or haven’t implemented available security measures. Here are eight tips from the Center for Internet Security to help you get started (download PDF for full details):
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