by
Rogier van Vlissingen
| Sep 17, 2011
Symantec put it all in perspective recently - cyber crime is now surpassing the drugs trade. So it's time to get serious, for the criminals who are after your data have better financing than you do. Unlimited, in fact, for it's so easy to raise more.
We are doing out part by offering a new Webinar with StrikeForce CEO Mark Kay on 10/5/2011 at 2 PM EST on Data Theft, ACH Fraud, and Key Logging - what it is, what it means to you, and how to prevent it.
You can register here: Webinar Registration 10/5/2011 2 PM EST
Meanwhile... it helps to realize that "security" even in the narrow sense of "it security' is not about your computers, but about your data, your business information, and your money. Simple as that.
It is therefore a problem of Internal Control in businesses, and not a technology problem that is sort of relegated tot the optional extras in the budget cycle.
Recent developments in the financial industry means that the lack of preventable security solutions will quickly become a fireable offense in companies who have their bank accounts plundered due to stolen credentials. Simply put, key logging is the number one preventable cause of stolen banking credentials, and data theft in general. Somehow it is too technical and abstract if we talk about "ID Theft" or "Data Theft," and the banking industry proudly reports that they are now quicker to stop ACH fraud, if multiple fraudulent transfers are done. But it still often means that businesses are out the money. To them you're a statistic, to you it's your money.
As has been argued on this site, prevention of key logging must primarily happen on the customer side. We are all vulnerable, and to a degree banks are right if the reject claims based on account access with valid credentials. If the credentials are stolen from the customer it is essentially the same case as failing to lock your house, and having a burglary. Your insurance company won't think so, arguing you left the door open. If the door was open, it's not a burglary.
Accordingly, if you banking credentials are ever compromised, but you were deploying Guarded ID® at the time, you have dramatically reduced the chance that the credentials were stolen from you, and therefore you have now shifted most of the burden of proof to the bank.
In security, few things are black and white, but this one is. Either you locked the door, or you didn't, either you prevented key logging or you didn't.
Footnote: Article in the Register of September 7th, on Symantec report that cyber crime is now surpassing the drugs trade:cyber crime is now bigger than the drugs trade.