With 2014 news being over taken with large-scale data breaches of retail chains and government agencies, we are going to address top security threats for 2015.
As Toronto’s leading Managed IT Services provider (MSP), we provide companies with multiple services including IT Support Services, Tech Support Services and Cloud Services. Our clients partner with us for peace of mind, security and uptime therefore our team is always staying ahead of top security threats.
Here Are The Top Security Threats for 2015
Healthcare Records
In the past, hackers were always trying to find sensitive records of companies however they figured that personal information is much more valuable. Medical records and patient data contain a lot of personal information that can be used in a multiple different ways.
Health records contain vital information including name, address, and social security to mention a few. They can also include personal financial and insurance information which is high in value.
If you are in the Healthcare industry, your organization is facing a large security challenge in 2015. Does your company keep personal information protected and from falling through the security cracks?
You should also consider how your business addresses The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)
Credit Card Breaches
Retailers have been in the news of ongoing attacks and credit card attacks however retailers are rolling out new technologies to protect their clients including chip, touch and PIN technology however this is ongoing battle. Banks have decreased the value of stolen credit cards by rapidly flagging the stolen card and cancel.
Hackers have been addressing this as the credit card now goes beyond fake charges, now they use it to piece together personal information on the victims including their personal credentials and data associated with loyalty programs.
Piece-by-piece, hackers are putting together personal profiles and this is becoming a valuable practice as once again, personal information is extremely profitable.
Hacker Phone Calls
Let’s make this clear from the start. Microsoft, Google, Facebook and many others do not call people directly to address security concerns. Many organizations use smart phones and tablets to access the cloud where they store sensitive information and hackers are increasingly going after mobile devices to steal data from the devices. They are even putting out calls claiming to be technical support from various well know companies as this is used as a way to gain entrance to your corporate cloud.
Authentication will be is top security threat in 2015. Security expect attacks on social credentials to grow at an alarming rate. IT support services professionals are warning to watch out for malicious code that intercepts text or code generation authentication elements built into mobile programs.
We have addressed this issue in the past in another article previously posted on our blog called “Microsoft Technical Support Phone Scams”.
Old Source Codes Are New Vulnerabilities
Everyone remembers Heartbleed and Shellshock? The caused a lot of trouble for companies worldwide as well as tech support services. 2015 is going to be interesting.
This problem is simple to understand in some simple points.
- Companies do not build systems from scratch any longer
- Developers use third party tools to increase delivery speed and profit margins.
- This does not allow for security to be built-in to most development cycles.
These three simple points allow for many security holes in companies infrastructure. Old source code is new opportunities and allow for new Trojan horses to be released.
Email Threats
Email threats use to be one of the largest threats and target in any organization. Many companies have been proactive with email systems therefore email threats have not been big on hackers agenda.
IT support services professionals prefer emails that do not contain a link or spam message. The reason is that the sender and text are randomized and the body of the email host has no malware or links that can be analyzed, the email is able to bypass most security solutions.
These emails are strictly used as a reconnaissance step for another automated future attack. By automating their attacks, hackers validate credentials and prepare more effectively for other penetrating aspects of an attack.
