“No company is immune from cyber attack”

The Guardian is reporting that hackers are being paid large sums of money to find vulnerabilities, but these are significantly less than they can be paid on the dark web.

“….. First to reveal its vulnerabilities was the FBI, which in April paid $1.3m to an unknown source for a hacking tool to break into an iPhone. Then in August, the US tech giant has found itself hit by a text message scam believed to have originated from a private Israeli security company.

These are just the security breaches we know about. Such is the avalanche of new cyber threats facing big brands like Apple that they are paying hackers millions of dollars to search for chinks in their digital armour…

… Cyber attacks are now a virtual constant for large companies. US security firm Symantec estimates more than half a billion personal records were lost or stolen last year. Nor do cyber crooks need to be super-geeks any more; off-the-shelf criminal software is now widely available on the dark web..

Regulators are beginning to crack the whip. In May the EU published a reform of data protection rules that could see companies fined up to €20m, or 4% of global turnover, if they are found guilty of data negligence…

Google also has a series of rewards programmes, such as Project Zero, which offer financial rewards for contributions of research by security specialist who identify vulnerabilities, and encourages them to report these responsibly.

Read more at: Talk Talk, Ashley Madison and now Apple show no company is immune from cyber attack

Penetration Testing services based in Exeter, Devon

Pentesting UK is based in Exeter, Devon, offering penetration testing, ASV scanning, application testing and vulnerability scanning for businesses in the South West and across the UK and beyond. Contact us for more info…