If there’s one thing that the recent Target security breach taught us over here at Total Networks, it was to never to underestimate a hacker’s ability to break into even the most protected systems. Hackers are smart, and will always try to stay one step ahead of the latest security protocols.
Now you may take your IT for granted and think that your system is protected. Or maybe you think that you have nothing to worry about because your firm doesn’t have the kind of information that a hacker would be interested in – like credit card numbers or personal identification. After all, you’re not a big box store, and who wants boring contracts, appeals and time sheets anyway?
Well, think again.
All those forms necessary to serve your clients, often times, contain their social security numbers, license numbers and credit card information.
The street value for that information is considerable. Credit card numbers are currently being sold for $.10 to as much as $1 per record. Medical files are valued as high as $5 to $50 a piece.
Another potential point of vulnerability that gives hackers access to your confidential staff and client information are unsecured access points – like non-password protected Wi-Fi networks or system logins that aren’t regularly updated and encrypted.
Beyond the more obvious repercussions of a cyber-attack – like regulatory fines, penalties and loss of revenue – imagine the impact to your reputation when your clients find out that their records have been violated.
As an IT firm we work diligently to ensure that we are experts in keeping our clients safe from hackers. One way we do this is by regularly putting our own software and access points through the hacking “test”.
In other words, we hack ourselves. And boy, we really let us have it.
This keeps us up to date on the latest tricks and tools that hackers are using, and it makes sure non-authorized users are prohibited from accessing your information through our servers.
We just started our latest round of internal hacking. Our IT department bought a Wi-Fi pineapple and have begun rigorously testing passwords and entry points.
So far, so good. But we aren’t giving up yet. Stay tuned for part 2 of our hacking adventure where we’ll share the results of our internal hacking.