• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About
    • Secure360
    • UMSA
    • Get Involved
  • Events
    • Secure360 2021
    • Student360
    • Past Events
      • 2020 Secure360 Twin Cities
      • 2020 Student360
      • 2019 Secure360 Twin Cities
      • 2019 Student360
      • 2018 Secure360 Twin Cities
      • 2018 Secure360 Wisconsin
      • 2018 Student360
      • 2017 Secure360 Twin Cities
      • 2017 Student360
      • 2016 TC Secure360 Conference
      • 2015 Secure360 Conference
      • 2014 Secure360 Conference
      • 2013 Secure360 Conference
        • 2013 Secure360 Conference Speaker Presentations
      • 2012 Secure360 Conference
  • For Sponsors
    • Secure360 Twin Cities
    • Student360 Sponsors
  • For Speakers
    • Secure360 Speaker Details
    • Student360 Speaker Details
  • Blog
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Vimeo

Secure360

How hackers are attacking your systems in 2016

February 26, 2016 by Secure360 and UMSA

hackers in 2016

Copyright: 123rf/Benoit Daoust

As we find new ways to defend ourselves from hackers, they find new ways to either break through our barriers or bypass them. According to Derek Manky, Fortinet global security strategist, “Every minute, we are seeing about half a million attack attempts that are happening in cyber space.” Every year it is important to be up-to-date and aware of the threats hackers are using to attack your systems, in order to be prepared to continue to fight back and defend your business. Here is a look at some of the threats we can expect from hackers this year:

IoT attacks

Research company Gartner predicts there will be 6.8 billion connected devices in use in 2016, which is a 30% increase from 2015. By 2020, that number will jump to more than 20 billion connected devices, which means that for every human being on the planet, there will be between two to three connected devices. This rise in the “IoT” leaves many open opportunities for attacks. As companies race to get their “connected” devices on the market, security will often take a backseat.

The headless worm

In 2016 we can expect to see the first “headless worms”—a malicious code that targets headless devices, a device that lacks a graphical user interface, such as smartphones, smartwatches and medical hardware. These threats can multiply when billions of devices are connected across a system. FortiGuard researchers and others have already demonstrated that it is possible to infect headless devices with small amounts of code that can propagate and persist.

Attacks on the cloud

This year we can expect a large number of attacks on the cloud and cloud infrastructure. Our continued to reliance on virtualization, as well as private and hybrid clouds will motivate cyber criminals to make these attacks on the cloud. In addition, mobile apps rely on the cloud, which means that devices running with compromised apps will open the door for cyber hackers to access corporate networks and attack public and private clouds.

Extortion attacks

After the Sony Hack in 2014, extortion attacks, where attackers threaten to release sensitive data if the victim doesn’t pay meet another demand, were expected to grow in 2015. Last year, the Ashley Madison extortion attack hit the headlines, leading many experts to believe we can expect even more of these extortion attacks in 2016 as well.

Chip/Pin payment attacks

Retailers and hackers have been going in circles when it comes to customer’s payment data. Retailers stopped storing customer credit card numbers and transactions in databases, so hackers learned to grab the unencrypted data live as it went to banks for authentication. Then retailers encrypted that live data, but attackers installed malware on point-of-sale readers to grab data as the card was swiped. Now banks and retailers have put new chip-and-PIN cards in place to stop hackers, but we can only assume these attackers will find ways around the chip-and-pin systems as well.

These are just a few of the threats we can expect and prepare ourselves for in 2016. Often, cybersecurity seems to be a vicious, never-ending cycle of the “good guys” stepping up their security and training to prevent attacks, only to be followed by the “bad guys” discovering new methods to infiltrate systems. The good news is companies are continuing to educate themselves on cyber attacks and prepare themselves to defend against attacks.

Filed Under: Business Continuity Management, Cybersecurity, Risk and Compliance

About Secure360 and UMSA

The Secure360 and UMSA team is made up of professionals in the security and risk management industries. Topics of expertise range from physical security, IT, risk management, cybersecurity, cloud, information security and records management.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • Uncategorized
  • Guest Posts
  • Business Continuity Management
  • News and Events
  • Physical Security
  • Cybersecurity
  • Professional Development
  • Risk and Compliance

latest tweets

  1. Marketing Envy
    Marketing Envy: [New Blog] 2020 saw in-person conferences evaporate, but with vaccines rolling out, 2021 could be different. H… https://t.co/4YONwZNsDa
    about 6 days ago

  2. Secure360 Conference
    Secure360 Conference: We are honored to be listed on the Top 20 Cyber Conferences for 2021 -> https://t.co/MnrQ3E5ifw
    about 1 week ago

Footer

Contact

For more information about UMSA events, contact: Marie Strawser

Email List Signup

Join our email list for monthly Secure360 news and updates!




Join our tradeshow email list for updates on sponsorship opportunities and upcoming exhibitor deadlines.

Sponsored by:
© 2021 Secure360. All rights reserved.