cyber attack – Dutch Uncles

5 Ways to Prevent Data Breach on your E-commerce Platform

Anju Nambiar — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 08:35:04 +0000

The dark web is a dark place where many unspeakable transactions occur. But its existence is posing a threat to any form of semblance to the world wide web. E-commerce businesses need to prioritise cyberattack protection, especially since the Indian e-commerce sector is exploding with new entrants to the market every single day.

Investing in robust cybersecurity infrastructure

Single-click checkouts are very popular among Indian e-commerce consumers since the volume and frequency of online orders is so rampant. New e-commerce businesses need to prioritise investing in a robust cybersecurity infrastructure before collecting users’ sensitive personal and bank information.

Mandatory Reporting Mechanism

Incorporate a mandatory reporting mechanism of data breaches and cyberattacks for your e-commerce company as part of your business policy. Doing this will create a sense of ownership within your organisation about protecting sensitive personal and financial information of key stakeholders.

Increase percentage of cybersecurity investment in your IT budget

Restructure your IT budgets and prioritise cybersecurity as a major chunk of your investment. The remote work model combined with the economic constraints calls for higher investment in security.

Deploy key cybersecurity technologies

Technology solutions like ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access), DLP (Data Loss Prevention), and XDR (Extended Detection and Response) are key in securing your e-commerce platform from malicious hackers online.

Improve your security posture

If your e-commerce store regularly deals with customer data including address, phone number, emails and credit card details, you should take steps to improve your security posture. Invest in security posture management technology to keep a safe bubble around your end consumers’ data amidst high volume of digital transactions.

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New e-commerce businesses need to prioritise investing in a robust cybersecurity infrastructure before collecting users’ sensitive personal and bank information.

What’s in it for me?

In April of this year, a database of over 10 crore MobiKwik users was posted on the dark web. These attacks are steadily becoming more rampant as top corporations like Air India and Jubilant Foodworks’ Dominos Pizza also suffered a similar data breach. What’s interesting to note is that the same hacker has breached both MobiKwik and Dominos’ databases.

Experts state that hackers are increasingly targeting start-ups mostly because of their naivety and obvious lack of advanced security measures. The biggest start-up names like BigBasket and Upstox are being hacked and small websites like e-commerce portals are most vulnerable to such threat actors. Since most e-commerce portals are interconnected in terms of user info, a breach on one may threaten the security of another.

Follow a proper security structure and methodology and ensure to collect only vital customer information. A lot of times, small e-commerce firms collect unnecessary details for opt-ins and subscriptions to newsletters. The less information you store, the more you can safeguard the integrity of your website as well as your customers. If your site has a payment gateway, which most e-commerce companies have, RBI has mandated that you are not allowed to store payment and credit card information. As a precautionary measure, you should comply until investing in cybersecurity technology is a possibility for your firm.

The post 5 Ways to Prevent Data Breach on your E-commerce Platform appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

How AI can Save Enterprise Technology Start-ups from Ransomware Attacks?

Shalmoli Sarkar — Mon, 17 May 2021 06:05:04 +0000

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) fell prey to ransomware attacks in the past year by Maze Ransomware on 29 June 2020. The cyber assault scooped 43 GB of data. The attack continued on 2 July 2021 as well where the cybercriminals exposed 2GB of the data on the dark web leaking sensitive documents about the staff, a passport copy of the former chairman of NHAI, details of employee families and internal audit reports. Other organisations such as Apollo Tyres, India Bulls and Delhi Medical Council could not shield themselves from ransomware attacks. Such cases are just the tip of the iceberg! According to the 2021 X-Force Threat Intelligence Index released by IBM Security, ransomware attacks roughly comprised 40 percent of the total cyber assault in India in 2020. Amid the pandemic, India experienced a 31 percent spike in ransomware attacks as per a report by Chennai-based Cyber Security Works (CSW), a leader in Attack Surface Management (ASM). This begs the question of why Indian companies are falling vulnerable to ransomware attacks?

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India experienced a 31 percent spike in ransomware attacks as per a report by Chennai-based Cyber Security Works (CSW)

Decoding the Ransomware Attack

Ransomware attacks involve malware intruding the systems that encrypts files on a device or network resulting in the system becoming inoperable. Cyber criminals behind these types of cyberattacks typically demand a ransom amount in exchange for the release of data.

As businesses move to building their tech capabilities, attackers have gone beyond than just asking a ransom in return. They threaten the organisation about disclosing the data to the public and push them to pay more. With this kind of threat, the victims who might even have a backup of the original data may end up paying huge ransoms because of the fear of leakage of their sensitive enterprise data on the internet. This technique is called double extortion.

Why Ransomware attacks are on the rise?

As social distancing nudged the workforce indoors, companies continued to operate from home without a robust cybersecurity infrastructure. Hackers found it easier to intrude into the system with weak passwords, remote access kept open for longer hours and networks not being protected by VPN. This demands a robust IT infrastructure to protect enterprises against attackers.

How AI can drive away Ransomware attacks

AI can drive away ransomware attacks, first by weeding out constant list updates and identifying malicious files on the spot. By collecting a huge number of good and bad files, we can extract the characteristics to determine what is a suspicious file or a good file and then produce an algorithm that can accurately classify the file for subsequent actions.

In the future AI can detect any form of malware that it has detected before. Even if there is a tweaked variant of existing malware or a new kind entirely the system can check it against the database, examine the code and block the attack on the basis that similar events have been rendered as malicious.

AIs network-monitoring tool can monitor user’s activity on a daily basis, thus building up a picture of their typical behaviour. If there is any deviation from normal behaviour the AI can detect anomalies and react accordingly. It responds in an intelligent way understanding the relevance and consequences of a breach or change of behaviour and develops a proportionate response in real time.

What is in it for enterprises?

Emergence of sophisticated technologies and advanced mindset of criminals have transformed the face of security. Enterprises should pay attention in developing a robust security infrastructure, implement AI solutions and organising cybersecurity awareness programs for its employees. Now it’s time for the enterprises to consider cybersecurity at a higher pedestal than what it was before.

The post How AI can Save Enterprise Technology Start-ups from Ransomware Attacks? appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

As a Start-up How can you Avoid Cyber Attack

Naina Sood — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 02:35:02 +0000

Start-ups remain the most vulnerable segment in India when it comes to cyberattacks. Unlike large enterprises, small businesses may not have adequate resources to protect themselves. Of all cyberattacks, 43% target small business and SME start-ups while nearly about 60% of such SMEs that turn victims of cybercrime go out of business within six months.

It is up to the business entities to follow adequate safeguards and enforce the best cybersecurity best practices to prevent cyberattacks.

Best practices

Installing firewalls and anti-phishing software are the first lines of defence against a cyberattack. SMEs and start-ups should install advanced email protection solutions to identify suspicious email traffic that evades policy and traditional signature-based defences.

With many people working from home and other off-site locations, it has become necessary for all businesses to observe the best off-site cybersecurity practices like using a VPN instead of home Wi-Fi. Prioritising employee privacy is also an essential safeguard against cyberattacks.

Despite adhering the latest security practices, no one can entirely rule out unforeseen chances for a cyberattack on the business network, especially start-ups. Therefore, having an incident response strategy should be foremost on the minds of all business entities. A small business might not be able to recruit dedicated staff for monitoring cybersecurity issues. Generally, the service is outsourced to experts. It is advisable to choose the appropriate cybersecurity network that provides excellent customer support in deterring intrusions.

It is also important to keep the scalability of the solution in mind. Start-ups should consider investing in cybersecurity systems and practices that provide easy scalability, thereby catering to business expansion seamlessly.

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Of all cyberattacks, 43% target SME start-ups while nearly about 60% of such SMEs that turn victims of cybercrime go out of business within six months.

Choosing the right solution

It becomes cumbersome for organisations to choose the right security solution with the slew of solutions available today.

There are several factors which must be kept in mind:

Determine information value: Due to limited resources, it is prudent for start-ups to limit the security scope to the most business-critical assets. They must define a standard that will help them to determine the importance of an asset.
Do not compromise on quality: Businesses need to be flexible with their budget because inexpensive and cheap are not always the same. Solution providers that come cheap may not be competent enough to handle advanced threats.
Check security certifications: This will help bridge the skill gaps of the IT team and they can boost productivity. This is a long-term investment which is worthwhile for enhancing overall enterprise security.
Look for independent reviews.
Cyber insurance: The policy will ensure that the data gets restored in the event of a cyberattack. A standard policy doesn’t cover the electronic system downtime or breach due to lost or stolen devices.

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