Cyber Criminals Delving Deeper into Business Data Pockets Via New Identity Theft Model

As the acceleration in technology specifically in cyber nexus is at its peak, it is necessary for people to know and understand the negative aspects of these evolutions. Those who are not new to the tech industry must be knowing about data breach and identity theft. Data breach comes into existence when customer/business/user data is exposed through malware, hacking or spams and identity theft occurs after data is stolen. Identity theft occurs when stolen data is used to make purchases, apply for loans, withdraw money, or commit scams. Breaking down it into simple, we can say that if data breach is the flash you lose data, then identity theft is the juncture where criminals use that data for illegitimate objectives.

Moreover, this is increasingly happening with business data. As per the revelations of Dun & Bradstreet data and analytics company, business identity theft was likely 46 percent year-over-year in 2017.

Steven Shapiro, a unit chief at the FBI asserted in a recent interview – “Cyber-criminals actually take on their client lists or the special sauce that makes that company operate and compete with them directly. In other instances, they’re pretending to be that business… Criminals have a perception that it’s easier to find a business’s data than it is for individuals. There’s also a perception that businesses have deeper pockets than an individual would in an identity theft situation.”

According to affirmations of Brian Vecci, a “technical evangelist” at Varonis, said “Any business could be at risk… A lot of the information that you would need to impersonate a business is publicly available.”

Additionally, Vecci said – “Insiders are incredibly difficult to protect against. First of all, they know more about your organization. If they really want to do some damage, they can do it very quickly and very efficiently… To protect yourself, data should be restricted only to workers who need it, and companies should cut off employees when they leave the firm. They should also keep a close eye on credit reports, bank accounts, social media, and web search results.”

According to FBI, one recent case cost a company $1 billion in market shares and hundreds of jobs keeping business’s brand, reputation and trade secrets at stake.