Cyber criminals target for any number of reasons, such as political, notoriety or cash. A lot of business owners never think about how a cyber attack will happen, but understanding a hacker’s motives can help you to decide if you will be a target according to a leading Long Beach IT consulting firm. Also, you can decide what data needs protecting.
First, you have the Script Kiddies, and these are hackers at the bottom of the hierarchy.
They will often use automated tools, and they do not understand the software themselves. In most cases, Scipt Kiddies will not cause much damage. Most of the time, these hackers are people looking for notoriety, but they are not a serious hacker.
Next, you have the Hacktivist, and if you have heard of AntiSec or LulzSec, then you have heard of Hacktivist. A Hacktivist group will vary from Script Kiddies to some of the best hackers in the world. Most of the time, these hackers are politically motivated, and they want to embarrass their target.
Cyber criminals are the next on the list, and they are after money. They are the most opportunistic and will target everyone from large corporations to small businesses. Finally, you have insiders, and they are the scariest type of hackers because these are the irate employees or contractors who are on a vengeance mission. They will steal documents or do whatever they can to cause harm to your company.
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Phishing Goes Viral
According to Sonovate, a recruitment finance provider, IT security professionals are some of the most sought after individuals in the Denver job market. The rise in cyber attacks has become an increasing concern for every company in the modern age. In the past, it required sophisticated exploits and fancy hacks, but nowadays, it can be as simple as phishing or social engineering. Sometimes experts have referred to it as business email crime or CEO fraud.
In a report from the FBI, the losses that companies have experienced from social engineering have risen to more than $1,412,499,920 in the last two years. The way it works, a hacker impersonates a senior manager at the company he or she targets and makes a fraudulent request from employees. After they have accomplished this, the hacker sets up a near identical domain that the victim will not notice, and they create an email that has that domain.
In some cases, hackers have even studied the communication style of their victim so that they can impersonate them on social media without raising suspicion. When this succeeds, the hacker tricks the individual into an unauthorized transaction where they can steal the cash from their bank account. Around 12,000 companies have fallen victim to this scam, and that number continues to rise.
The problem has become a global one, and almost 108 countries have been affected by it. Even with security measures you may not be free from this threat. The best preventative method against phishing is known as two-factor authentication where you will need both email and phone verification for wire transfers.
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