Hackers pose continued threat to businesses
Tue, 27 Oct 2009
Details of around 500,000 people have been stolen from the Guardian Jobs website's database, it has emerged.
Computer hackers targeted the website and extracted account information relevant to around five per cent of the site's user base.
Yuval Ben-Itzhak, chief technology officer for web security company Finjan, said this latest hack re-emphasised the need for firms to be on their guard against online crime.
He stated: "For every thousand lines of code there is at least one vulnerability hidden in there. They are out there, waiting to be discovered."
Mr Ben-Itzhak explained that the market for information of this type is large, and the data gives criminals a range of options.
They can "do the simple thing of sending them [the affected user] spam messages, or phishing messages", he proposed, while they might also "use this pretend information and auction it online".
According to Mr Ben-Itzhak, the criminals may have either directly attacked the site, or used an already-compromised computer to gain access.
This hack approach was "like coming in through the side door" and allowed the hacker to "bypass all of the security", he claimed.
Research conducted by Lloyds TSB showed that 38 per cent of British people have now experienced ID fraud.
The study reported that it takes an average of 539 days for someone to discover they have become a victim.
How Microsoft can help
Protect your investment – Get the latest advice on worm attacks, viruses and spam
More
IT Security for Small Business News
View all articles
|
|
