Data Breaches & Mobile App Security

The Digital Age, Data-Breaches, Data-Security & Privacy, and IT Security Technologies. It’s hard to imagine any well-informed individual or modern-day and growth-oriented organization without a fair amount of concern about these subjects.

Equifax, a US-based company, is one of the largest consumer credit reporting agencies in the world. It will be paying almost $800 million as a record US settlement for a 2017 data breach that exposed the personal data of 150 million people.

In Bulgaria, a systematic breach has led to hackers stealing millions of taxpayers’ financial data and a compromise of nearly every adult’s personal records.

FaceApp, the mobile app from a company based in Russia that uses AI to provide age filters, created a data privacy scare regarding the possible usage of customers’ images.

These three recent instances reveal the vulnerabilities related to our data security and privacy measures.

The cliché, Data is the King describes data as one of our more valuable, dominant assets. Its ever-increasing relevance cannot be denied.

2.5 Quintillion bytes of data are created every day. Data introduces a sense of reason and rationality to any issue. Accurate, complete, appropriately utilized data helps us to make better-informed business choices. It ensures our crucial decisions are not merely based on hunches.

Using all the valuable information and insights available through data resources enable us to construct significant business strategies.

On a personal level, too, we end up sharing a considerable amount of data and personal information with a variety of platforms, software, web, or mobile applications. As all of us are inevitably getting pulled into the data-driven online environment with every passing hour, the following obvious question arises:

How secure is our data, both as an organization and as an individual?

Let’s look at the bigger picture!

Cyberattacks and a lack of necessary steps taken to prevent such hacks, all over the world often lead to substantial financial penalties and a loss of reputation, not to mention far-reaching and unpleasant consequences for both organizations and individuals.

The data privacy scare generated through FaceApp did not prove to be entirely true. It was discovered that the app was only taking the submitted photos that you wanted to transform back to the servers, primarily based in the US, Ireland, Singapore, Australia, and not in Russia. Yet as the parent company is based in Russia, the faces and pictures will be viewed and processed there.

It was not established as to how much access FaceApp employees could have to those pictures. In a scenario where Russian authorities try to get hold of stored data (provided they consider it unlawful), they are likely to face robust checks and procedures through Amazon in the US.

FaceApp’s data security and storage aspects may have been exaggerated to an extent. However, they should not be dismissed as isolated incidents.

Data breaches are a reality, and the following figures and instances put things into perspective:

• Large-scale and targeted data breaches in the US are growing by 27% per year
• 31% of organizations have experienced operational technology infrastructure cyberattacks
• The US breaches are the most expensive in the world. The estimated average cost of a breach could reach $150 million by 2020
• The recent Marriott hacking: Millions of customers’ personal data got stolen
• Three US-based anti-virus software vendors were hacked, and the accused tried to sell anti-virus products source codes
•  Hackers stole approximately $41 million from a cryptocurrency exchange

Detailed research from ESI ThoughtLab revealed that cyber risks substantially increase as organizations embrace open platforms, as well as new and improved technologies.

Mobile Apps & Mobile App Security

Organizations and individuals now realize the need to manage workloads or lifestyles on-the-go. That’s where Mobile Apps play a key role. These apps are computer programs or software applications designed to run on mobile devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and other wearables.

People spent 90% of their mobile time using Mobile Apps in 2018, and this number is continually growing. Such widespread usage of Mobile Apps means a large amount of data gets generated and shared by consumers. Organizations also collect the same data. Therefore, Mobile App security becomes all the more critical to safeguard this data from hackers and undesirable elements.

• Protection against various security compromises.
• Acts as a much-needed cover in addition to the threat intelligence solutions.
• Introduces “threat hunting” as part of the security strategy to track “indicators of compromise” (IoC) by using an automated threat detection system.

Solution & Conclusion: Learning Applications, Data Security Management Skills

Web and Mobile App-based threats adversely impact business and consumer privacy. 38% of all organizations claim to be sufficiently prepared to address coordinated cyberattacks. Cybercrime costs, globally, have seen an upward trend in the last 5 years. $225 is the average cost per lost/stolen record per individual.

 Cyberspace hackers are becoming smarter and sharper with every passing day. Securing data from digital threats is undeniably important, not only for every organization but for users as well.

Our ever-increasing dependency on the internet and mobile applications must make us revisit our IT security strategies.

The goal should be to safeguard the data of individuals, customers, clients, stakeholders, and employees from online threats. Multiple Application & Data Security Courses from NetCom Learning could be highly beneficial.

You may explore various courses for your security requirements:

• Security Fundamentals
• Application & Data Security
• Network Security
• Cyber Forensics and Ethical Hacking
• Risk Analysis & Management
• Compliance & Governance

NetCom Learning is an IT/Business training solutions provider and an authorized CompTIA Platinum Partner that offers courses for the latest CompTIA Certifications. With over two decades of industry experience in managing organizational learnings, we offer 3,500+ courses across 9 different practice areas.

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Sources: SecurityMagazine.com, Wired.com, Cisco, Varonis.com, Financial Times, Reuters, Mobilloud.com, Forbes.com.