LIST: Businesses warned of top 10 cyber security threats

INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

Businesses in the Philippines would have to step up security measures against cybercrimes amid increasing global threats, a study by a communications technology firm showed.

In the latest Threat Predictions report for 2017, failure to keep up with the basic IT processes emerged as the most significant of cybercrime threats.

“While this [problem] is the easiest to remedy, lax security will continue leading to breaches that can be easily avoided. However, a number of enterprises in the Philippines don’t carry out simple, yet vital housekeeping tasks that cut down on risks,” said Cricket Santiago, Fujitsu Philippines Chief Executive Officer.

Here’s a list of cybersecurity predictions for 2017, as showed in Fujitsu Philippines’ latest report:

• Watch out for network blind spots. Security blind spots such as PowerShell will continue to be the Achilles heel of many companies who overlook the risks they present.

• Computers are getting smarter. They’re learning new tricks. And this means completely new ways of looking at security. But watch out. Hackers are using the same tricks to get past your security controls.

• Banks will still be in the firing line. Last year hackers slipped through security cracks to get their hands on millions of dollars from major banks. Even with counter-measures in place, more attempted attacks on banks are likely to happen this year.

• Attackers will shift their attention to mobile devices. Be careful of new attacks that threaten your personal data, such as ransomware holding your photos hostage.

• We’ll see how clever “smart cities” really are. The designer of smart motorway noticeboards probably didn’t think that someone would hack them to display political messages. Smart systems will be tested to their limit. Keep an eye on your control platforms.

• Rapid recovery required, to protect reputations No matter what security controls you have in place, companies are going to get hacked. If you don’t recover quickly, it will hurt your business and reputation.

• Businesses will want their data in the safest hands The General Data Protection Regulation is just around the corner. That means investors, shareholders, customers and regulators will want their data kept as safe as houses.

• Global clients will keep a beady eye on supply chains. Big businesses will only want to work with supply chains that know how to handle data security.

• Boards will want to talk IT security. Bad IT security is bad for business, both in terms of revenue and branding. But they can’t always get their heads around the technical jargon, so senior IT staff will need to discuss their needs in a language they understand.

• The biggest problem will still be the basics. We would like to say that all your security ills will be down to sneaky cyber hackers. The real villain is much more boring. Failure to keep up with basic IT practices will be what leaves you open to breaches.  YG