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Top Four Cybersecurity Threats 2016 from Cryptzone: Hacker-for-Hire
November 2015 by Cryptzone
The dark web is quickly becoming Madison Avenue for nefarious sorts looking to deploy cybercrimes. Through these sites those looking to do harm to a corporate network, gain sensitive information (i.e. social security numbers, credit card info, etc.) have the ability to connect with likeminded individuals and those with the technology know-how to deploy the most sophisticated cyber-attack. This trend is growing at an alarming rate, given the inability of authorities to track the owners, transactions and the cost-effective nature of organized cyber-criminals being able to hire individuals with technology skills to do their dirty work for them.
Nation-State Threats
The most recent example of how nation-state threats are growing is the United States OPM Breach. Of course, most countries will counter that they are innocent of cyber-espionage, but given the evidence, we know this activity is ramping up. We can look for Iran to potentially join in the attacks when sanctions are lifted, most likely building a cyber infrastructure immediately. Gone are the days of spies and clandestine operations, but now we are dealing with cyber-espionage, which is much more difficult to prove and track.
Data Aggregation – for Upstream Crimes
Criminal organizations will continue to target and correlate data on individuals from unrelated breaches to get a full picture of their identity that can then be used for upstream crimes such as filing false tax returns, applying for new credit, and broader wholesale identity theft. This data (such as social security numbers, addresses, etc.) resides everywhere, including healthcare organizations and financial services firms, but it is particularly concentrated in accounting firms and government databases. While the federal government will take steps to further secure their systems, look for an uptick in breaches of municipal databases in 2016.
Market Manipulation
The real money is in stock market manipulation. While it hasn’t happened yet, the best cyber minds are working on ways to use cyber tools to get ahead of the market. 2016 may not be the year because financial firms are very determined and skilled in defending their networks, but it’s a highly likely scenario in the next 3-5 years. Let’s hope these firms continue to stay ahead of the insider threat and the supply chain risks that may expose a vulnerability not yet contemplated.
