LEARNING FROM HACKS
Research and discuss one or more real-world hack attacks and then discuss the key lessons we should take away from each attack.
Most human activities in today’s world depend on varies functions of IT in performing their daily activities such as communications, transactions, and transportation. The use of cyberspace has its own limitation with one of them being its vulnerability to hackers. This paper discusses a real-world hack attack and provides key lessons obtained from the attack.
The hack attacked discussed involves a tax return fraud which affected Presnell Gage, a small accounting firm out of Lewiston, Idaho. The firm was systems were hacked by attackers who stole information about the firm and its customers. The hackers were able to remain inside the firm’s system for several months without being noticed (O’Boyle, 2016). They used this period to analyze information of both the firm and customers and used that information to file fake returns and transfer money into their own accounts. The attack was later identified by the IRS after discovering suspicious trends in tax return who notified the firm about the fraudulent returns (O’Boyle, 2016).
The attack at Presnell Gage provides key lessons for those dealing with financial businesses. The first important lesson captured in the hack attack is that business should enforce network segmentation. Network segmentation requires regular updates and configurations which limits the ability of the hacker to navigate across the compromised network. The businesses should also implement an enterprise-wide security policy which would help the firm in determining the best way their network should operate in order to minimize the risk of being hacked. The business enterprises should also monitor their network systems regularly and ensure configurations are done within the approved policy (Harrison, n.d).
It is also important for the enterprise to have a customer and public relation plan that would help in building or maintain the rapport during crisis times. The firm should also have a validated cyber insurance policy covers annually for breach cases.
References
O’Boyle, T. (2016). 4 Real-World Cybersecurity Attacks: What Businesses Can Learn From Each. STRONGARM. Retrieved from https://strongarm.io/blog/4-real-world-cybersecurity-attacks-lessons-learned/
Harrison, R. (n.d). 3 ways IT can secure against bank cyberattacks. TechBeacom. Retrieved from https://techbeacon.com/security/3-ways-it-can-secure-against-bank-cyberattacks
