Governments and Businesses are vulnerable too.

Governments and businesses all over the world have access to tons of confidential information. Information from their customers or citizens such as social security numbers, banking information, passwords, addresses, and etc. We would like to think all of that information is stored in a way that is inaccessible to those without the proper authorization to access it. Sadly, business and governments are still vulnerable to malware.

In August, Schnuck Markets Inc and four other retailers in Kentucky, had their point-of-sales systems attacked by malware. The attack came out of Eastern Europe and compromised the credit card information of their customers. The credit information was then sold on an underground internet forum. Only 72 hours after the hack, customers credit cards we already starting to be charged(Kitten).

The Department of Energy was the victim of of a hack in July that resulted in the personal data of 53,000 former and current employees and contractors. The fear of how damaging these hacks could be to the government has prompted the Department of Energy to award 11 contracts worth a combined $30 million to develop new tools to protect the electrical grid and gas and oil infrastructures from cyber attacks(Wait).

If big businesses and governments are just as vulnerable to malware as their customers and citizens, is it reasonable to assume no information completely safe from hackers? As these companies use their resources to build more secure systems there will always be someone trying find a new way around it. Outside of the precautions we take while on the web as individuals, we should also be aware of how much is being put into protecting information by the companies we do business with and our own government.






Works Citied:

Kitten, Tracy. "Recent Retail Breaches Connected." GOV Info Security. (2013): n. page. Web. 24 Sep. 2013. <http://www.govinfosecurity.com/recent-retail-breaches-connected-a-6022/p-2>. 

Wait, Patience. "Energy Dept. Invests $30 Million In Utility Security." Information Weekly. (2013): n. page. Web. 24 Sep. 2013. <http://www.informationweek.com/government/security/energy-dept-invests-30-million-in-utilit/240161651>.