Identity is Security: The State of Cybersecurity

Some of our crew is heading to Black Hat next week. If you’re attending, please stop by our booth to say hi and talk about this week’s news roundup.

The feds came out swinging this week, as they nabbed the leaders of a cybercrime ring known as FIN7. This group has managed to steal more than 15 million credit card numbers after targeting more than 100 U.S. businesses. The coast isn’t clear just yet, but this is a big security win.

Speaking of hackers, Google is paying attention to government-backed hackers. Companies using G Suite office can now turn on a setting that will alert the user that their account may be under attack by a government-backed attacker. Whether they’re trying to attack via phishing, malware or some other means of infiltration, the baked in security features that are continually being added to widely used sites are a welcome addition.

As U.S. citizens keep their eyes on the security of the upcoming elections, the efforts to get ahead of threats are snowballing. The Democratic National Convention is even enlisting kids in the fight against election cybercrime. If the kids in this competition (some as young as 8 years old), can hack the replica secretary of state websites, they can win $2,500.

While nobody is safe from being hacked, some interesting data came out recently that shared where people seem to get hacked the most (Do you live in one of these states?). Ultimately, we know this is a worldwide issue though. Just in the past few weeks we’ve seen major breaches around the world, from Singapore’s healthcare breach to the numbers showing that law firms in the UK lost more than $14 million in client money to cyber criminals. The moral of the story every week remains: stay vigilant, informed and armed with the tools and knowledge you need to keep your accounts and data safe.

Until next week, stay secure! (And if you’re headed to Black Hat, come say hello to us at booth L73)