Cyberattacks A Mounting Challenge For Employers

In a recent panel discussion, one of the speakers was a so-called "ethical hacker" - a hacker-turned-protector of employers' confidential information. As someone at the forefront of cyberattacks, the ethical hacker's opinion was that there are two types of employers: those that know they have been hacked, and those that do not. And with all of the press coverage regarding recent hacks into U.S. confidential security information, it seems our ethical hacker may well be right. Indeed, in March, James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence to the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, suggested that cyberattacks now pose the most dangerous immediate threat to the U.S.

Although many employers think they are prepared for cyberattacks, according recent study, more than half of technology, media and telecommunications organizations experienced a security incident in the past year. "Blurring the Lines: 2013 TMT Global Security Study," Deloitte, 2013. Seven percent of these incidents were described as "high impact." The top three cybersecurity threats identified were security breaches at third parties, denial of service attacks, and employee errors and omissions. Such weaknesses in data security can severely damage brand and market value, leaving customers, employees and shareholders wanting to know what the company is doing to preempt these cybersecurity threats.

What is a Cyberattack?

Cyberattacks generally fall into three categories: infiltrating a secure computer network, Distributed Denial of Service Attacks (DDOS), and planting inaccurate information.

Perhaps the most well-known cyberattack is the traditional infiltration of a company's computer system through Trojan viruses and malware. Generally, the objective is to extract confidential and/or proprietary information from the target company using specially tailored computer programs.

As someone at the forefront of cyberattacks, the ethical hacker's opinion was that there are two types of employers: those that know they have been hacked, and those that do not.

Recently, however, DDOS attacks have become the most common known type of electronic cyberattack. A DDOS attack is coordinated by "botnets," in which a series of "zombie" computers belonging to unknowing users visit a company's website at the same time, overwhelming the server and shutting it down. Such attacks are prevalent amongst "hacktivists," who attempt to shut down bank and financial websites in an act of activism, protest...