Most people don’t like buying insurance. They see it as a waste of money, unless of course they meet with misfortune and then they are happy. But what about a threat that is so insidious that most retailers don’t even understand or relate to it? And what if that threat is on the rise at an unprecedented rate? We are talking about cyber security and its effect on business including retailers. And the way ‘in’ for hackers is often through the email server. According to research by Tren
d Micro, 91 per cent of targeted attacks are carried into networks via spear-phishing email.
Here are a few headlines that stress the importance of this issue.
How to Hack Email Password
How email hacking works? – 3 ways to hack email account password
Email Hacking – HackersOnlineClub
Hack an Email Account with Phone Number
Hacked Kremlin Emails Could Signal a Turn in the U.S.-Russia Cyberwar
Hackers target Queensland Premier’s department emails
Email Hacker is a free email hacking tool capable of hacking email accounts of the most popular email service providers
A 10-year-old Finnish kid won $10,000 for hacking Instagram
And then there was the attack on Target in the USA where no less than 70 million addresses, phone numbers and other personal information was stolen.
Six months earlier the company began installing a $1.6 million malware detection tool made by a prominent computer security firm whose customers include the CIA and the Pentagon. They also had a team of specialists in Bangalore monitoring their computers around the clock.
The fallout was $60 million spent on responding to the breach and other costs estimated in the billions. Target’s profit for the period fell 46 per cent compared to the same quarter the previous year.
If your interest in cyber and email security is not yet aroused, read no further.
According to Ben Johnson, co-founder of a digital security firm, email is often the most valuable digital asset. “They can use it for spam, to log in and spread to people you know. To try your email user name and password as credentials for other websites so there is a whole plethora of things they could try with it. ”
So what can you do about it?
An Israeli based company have developed an Advanced Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR) technology. The co-founders are both ex Israeli military – members of the elite Israel Defence Forces intelligence unit.
Security analysis firms, including Gartner, note that organisations now need to add CDR technology to their cybersecurity protection to handle today’s constantly evolving sandbox evasion techniques.
All sound too complicated for us humble retailers? Well the good news is that you can use the sandbox evasion technique for another purpose – to bury your head ostrich style. Buy your insurance, install a CDR protection system and relax while the Israelis take on the Russians and Ukrainians.
Stuart Bennie is a retail consultant at Impact Retailing www.impactretailing.com.au and can be contacted at stuart@impactretailing.com.au or 0414 631 702
