The high-profile hackings of Target in 2013 and Uber in 2016 brought put cybersecurity in the national spotlight. However, cyberthreats since then have only grown more sophisticated.
Cyberattacks are nothing new, but when a large company is hacked, it can have devastating consequences for both the corporation and its customers. When one breach is patched, evolving technology seems to open another. The high-profile corporate hacking of Target in 2013 and Uber in 2016 are just two of many such instances, but they were particularly significant in shaping public opinion around cybersecurity.
If one thing is for sure, "cybercriminals are creative, they're innovative when they exploit any vulnerabilities, and we can't underestimate that," Scott Schober, president and CEO of the 52-year-old cybersecurity company Berkeley Varitronics Systems, told FOX Business during a phone call.
The breach occurred when developers working for Uber uploaded code containing sensitive login credentials to the code hosting website GitHub and the reveal of the coverup led to a corporate reshuffling. Given the ensuing backlash regarding ethics and privacy from lawmakers, regulators and users, Schober said Uber provided a good example of how not to handle a data breach. The trust of drivers and customers was broken.
Shimmers are a big threat that few people know of at this point, Schober says. After downloading all the credit card numbers their shimmer stole, criminals burn them onto fresh cards. They are then free to spend the money or sell the cards off. Gas stations are prime targets for skimmers and shimmers. Costco provides an example of a simple fix that goes a long way toward protecting their customers.
Schober likens layers of digital security to layers of security on a house, such as "putting fake alarm stickers up, a sign on the lawn, a camera and alarm system, a deadbolt." He said, "Layers of security deter thieves to move on to the next house and go for the easy target. Hackers are lazy, and their time is money. So they're just going to move to the low-hanging fruit, easy targets… So same thing we've got to apply with cybersecurity. Make them work for it.
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