- The hackers are busy: According to Symantec, "the hackers are inventing up to 15,000 new infections every day, designed specifically to get around the latest anti-virus protections."
- 1 in 4 Americans affected by Internet viruses: "But tens of millions of people have--one if four Americans, according to recent reports, as the hackers get more and more sophisticated."
- Fame and fortune for the hackers: "A single hacker can make $30,000 a month and be championed in local newspapers."
- Is the Internet in trouble? "Would you make the statement, 'The Internet in trouble?'" Stahl asked Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard Professor and co-founder of StopBadware.org. "Yes, without hesitation," Zittrain replied.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Internet Security covered in 60 Minutes
Last Sunday, 60 Minutes, a news program on CBS, reported a story about Internet security and cybercrime. The program had some interesting stories and stats, namely:
Friday, March 27, 2009
Cybercrime more lucrative than the global drug business
AT&T's Chief Security Officer, Ed Amoroso, testified to Congress recently about the size and scope of global cybercriminal activity. In his testimony, he says, "Last year the FBI announced that revenues from cyber-crime, for the first time ever, exceeded drug trafficking as the most lucrative illegal global business, estimated at reaping more than $1 trillion annually in illicit profits."
The primary activity he warns Congress about is the threat of cyber-warfare. An example of this is where criminals or terrorists seize control of a large number of PCs via a botnet, and use those nodes to launch a large-scale distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack against US interests. He cites the example of Estonia, where 2 years ago a large-scale cyber attack produced catastrophic results: "The entire country was disconnected from the Internet."
Certainly, DDOS attacks, botnets and cyber-warfare are among the most dangerous cyber-security threats to the US and to the Internet as a whole. What is even more alarming is the massive scale and scope of cybercriminal activity as a whole: $1 trillion, larger than even the global drug trade. It will take significant effort and coordination between governments and the private sector to address these threats. We at Dasient have already joined this effort. Look for future announcements from us about how we are addressing the growing threat of cybercrime.
The primary activity he warns Congress about is the threat of cyber-warfare. An example of this is where criminals or terrorists seize control of a large number of PCs via a botnet, and use those nodes to launch a large-scale distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack against US interests. He cites the example of Estonia, where 2 years ago a large-scale cyber attack produced catastrophic results: "The entire country was disconnected from the Internet."
Certainly, DDOS attacks, botnets and cyber-warfare are among the most dangerous cyber-security threats to the US and to the Internet as a whole. What is even more alarming is the massive scale and scope of cybercriminal activity as a whole: $1 trillion, larger than even the global drug trade. It will take significant effort and coordination between governments and the private sector to address these threats. We at Dasient have already joined this effort. Look for future announcements from us about how we are addressing the growing threat of cybercrime.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
$21 Billion Lost Due to Security Fears
Javelin Strategy and Research released a study recently that estimates that e-commerce vendors may have missed out on as much as $21 billion in online sales in 2008 due to consumers' concerns about identity theft. This represents a missed opportunity that is more than 15% of the overall e-commerce market ($130 billion according to Comscore). As part of the research, Javelin contacted over 2,000 consumers in Dec. 2008.
What's behind this? Consumer awareness of identity theft has grown significantly over the past couple of years due to increased media coverage of identity theft, website hacks and cybercriminal activity, especially during the current down economy. As a result, consumers are much more wary about shopping online.
Smaller e-commerce merchants are impacted by security fears more than larger brand names, as expected. The study found that 40% of consumers only shop at well-known sites like Amazon.com.
So what can an e-commerce merchant do? Javelin recommends increasing your site's security measures, and then communicating your security practices to your customers. “Online retailers are leaving business on the table by not communicating their security and customer service policies clearly to consumers which is something that no business can afford to do in today’s economy,” James Van Dyke, president and founder of Javelin Strategy & Research, said in a statement. “To recapture these missed revenue opportunities, merchants need to reassure consumers that their information is being processed securely and that they have recourse should they become the victim of identity theft. These survey results show that simply by making security and privacy policies more visible on their sites, merchants can begin to win back the trust of wary online shoppers.”
What's behind this? Consumer awareness of identity theft has grown significantly over the past couple of years due to increased media coverage of identity theft, website hacks and cybercriminal activity, especially during the current down economy. As a result, consumers are much more wary about shopping online.
Smaller e-commerce merchants are impacted by security fears more than larger brand names, as expected. The study found that 40% of consumers only shop at well-known sites like Amazon.com.
So what can an e-commerce merchant do? Javelin recommends increasing your site's security measures, and then communicating your security practices to your customers. “Online retailers are leaving business on the table by not communicating their security and customer service policies clearly to consumers which is something that no business can afford to do in today’s economy,” James Van Dyke, president and founder of Javelin Strategy & Research, said in a statement. “To recapture these missed revenue opportunities, merchants need to reassure consumers that their information is being processed securely and that they have recourse should they become the victim of identity theft. These survey results show that simply by making security and privacy policies more visible on their sites, merchants can begin to win back the trust of wary online shoppers.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
