Computer Hacking
There have been some high profile news stories recently about hacking, such as the BA data breach this year. But why does hacking seems to be cropping up more and more often in the news and what does it mean for the future?
Hacking used to mostly consist of attention seeking wizkids playing pranks or trying to make a statement. Nowadays, however, hackers are determined criminals intent on getting information that they can exploit for huge financial gain. Hacking has become a serious profession.
The main reason for this is the huge shift of data to online environments. Almost everything we do is now online, from our banking and financial management to our shopping and socialising, and this applies to businesses and governments as well as individuals. Any or all of this information is a potential target for hackers.
Hacking in the news
For over two weeks during August and September this year, British Airways’ systems were being hacked. Personal and financial details of BA customers who had made or changed bookings on their website or app during this period were acquired by the hackers, including their names, email addresses and credit card details. There were about 380,000 transactions affected and it was blamed by BA on a sophisticated group of cybercriminals.
Although BA told customers to contact their banks once the breach was discovered, and said that they would be reimbursed and that a credit checking service would be paid for, it is likely that the consequences for those affected might only be revealed over time. The market for reselling valuable data such as credit card details in criminal networks is very lucrative for hackers so they are less likely to use it themselves than to sell it on.
Other high profile data breaches that occurred earlier this year included the acquisition of payment card details from Dixons Carphone in July, email addresses of Reddit users in June and names, email addresses and ‘keys’ allowing access to previous posts on Facebook via a Timehop breach in July, amongst several others. Another huge scandal concerned Cambridge Analytica harvesting data on Facebook.
These are just a few of the many cases of data breaches in the news that have occurred just this year, so it’s clear that it is becoming a significant concern.
What does it mean for the future?
While some of the companies involved in these hacking scandals are being slapped with huge fines, it is clear that the problem isn’t getting any smaller. Companies and organisations will need to start taking cyber security far more seriously and will likely need to invest serious funds into anti-hacking measures.
Ethical hacking is a career option now available that previously didn’t exist. It involves a company hiring an information security expert to systematically attempt to penetrate computer systems, networks or other online resources in order to find security weak spots that could be exploited by malicious hackers
It is also up to individuals to protect their own data as much as possible. While you may not have control over whether a service you use is breached, and it is almost impossible not to provide any kind of personal or financial data online, there are some things you can do to help.
This can include being careful to use strong passwords and to vary them from site to site. This way, if your password is obtained on one site, at least it can’t be used to gain access to your accounts on other sites. You should also minimise the amount of information you do provide and be particularly careful with social media, as sometimes information provided publicly online (such as your birthdate, etc) can be used in conjunction with other data to gain access to further information. And always check your bank statements regularly to keep any eye out for any unusual activity so that if your account is hacked you can at least report it sooner rather than later and claim any compensation due to you.
