Staying safe from cyber-attack

Small businesses are vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated breaches of their cyber-security. But there are tricks and tools to help keep your company’s data safe.

RIGHT NOW, YOUR online passwords and security information is vulnerable. That’s not news. What has changed significantly, is that threats are more sophisticated, and large corporates aren’t the main targets any more. Small businesses are fair game.

New Zealand’s key primary industries, including agriculture, fisheries, construction, and trade services, aren’t prepared for – or even aware of – cyber threats, according to research by Colmar Brunton and the University of Waikato, in collaboration with Vodafone.

Senior lecturer of computer science, Dr Ryan Ko, who is responsible for the research, says the real concern is that industries that make up the bulk of our economy are the most vulnerable.

“The good news is that the healthcare, telecommunications, finance and insurance sectors, who handle sensitive data, are very aware of security.” Cyber attacks have become more sophisticated – to the extent they now exploit human weaknesses. Phishing emails are more targeted and no longer a one-size-fits-all kind of thing.

“When a major event occurs, hackers will develop something that gives people what they want, and exploit people’s need for instant gratification.”

At the time of the Boston Marathon bombings, hackers sent out emails to people with a link to a video to see the bombings. People clicked on the link, and received a video, but while the video played, they scanned people’s computers.

A disturbing type of breach that is becoming more common, is when hackers attack an organisation’s financial asset and intellectual property – known as Advanced Persistant Threat (APT). It is an umbrella term, usually