[ISN] McAfee: Hackers Want the Info for Your Company's Soul

http://www.redherring.com/Home/26525

By RedHerring
28 March 2011

McAfee, the computer securities company, has lit the universal bat 
signal high in the sky with a dire warning: Hackers are out to steal 
company's secrets, and have never had a better opportunity, thanks to a 
proliferation of mobile technology that's led to a de-centralization of 
the workplace and the transition to the cloud.

The company released its findings in the Underground Economies Report, a 
followup to a similar study it did in 2008. The study revealed that 
companies are at an increased risk due to the amount of valuable data 
being stored on mobile phones and other devices, as well as being stored 
on cloud platforms with inadequate security measures. McAfee has found 
that an increasing number of hackers are specializing in data stolen 
from corporate networks, specifically trade secrets, marketing plans, 
R&D reports, and source code.

A number of factors are fueling the hacking spree. First, a solid market 
for inside company information has developed, the security company 
states. Stealing a bit of code, some key marketing statistics, and 
throwing it together into a quick package can easily be sold to third 
parties for a price that makes it worth the hacker's while.

Not only can hackers make money off your company's trade secrets, but 
that information is more readily for the taking, thanks to 
decentralization of the workplace. As more employees access this 
information through mobile devices, security integrity suffers. When 
once upon a time, these secrets would be locked down in a private 
database, the need for employees to have it remotely or on a mobile 
phone means most companies have created a remote access system that can 
be easily compromised. Plus, many employees carry this data around in 
their mobile phones, convenient for them, but disastrous when said 
mobile phone gets left behind at the Italian restaurant.

[...]


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