14 DAY TRIAL // AlienVault has released an interesting report in which it details the impact of security breaches on large private companies. One of the most notable findings is the fact that a quarter of the information security experts questioned believe that an incident could result in the loss of human lives.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that those directly affected by the breach will die suddenly, or suffer a heart attack. Instead, the personal information obtained by attackers on a company’s customers could be sold to stalkers and other not-so-friendly parties.
Barmak Meftah, CEO and president of AlienVault, provides a great example.
“For example, recently a dating site was hacked and the implications to its members are potentially huge. The risk of individuals becoming victims to stalking, if that was the intention of the hacker in this case, is just one illustration, but the severity is ultimately dependant on who is behind the attack,” he said.
40% of the respondents stated that when it came to the violation of their privacy, they feared the Chinese. Russia and the United States government are also considered to be responsible for snooping, each by 13% of those interviewed. The list ends with aliens and Israel. 5% believe that their privacy is safe.
The same survey shows that insider threats are still a problem, with 71% of those questioned naming their own staff members as posing the greatest threat. Hackers, consultants, governments and other third parties complete the poll.
To counterattack these threats, AlienVault has launched Open Threat Exchange, which encourages the sharing of security information among open source and commercial users.
“We recognise that the way to beat the hackers is to facilitate collaboration among all members of the security community. But the talents and inputs of the open source community, in particular, are critical. They are on the front lines of innovation and represent an incredibly diverse universe of organizations and geographies,” Meftah concluded.