On May 14 it was reported that a hacking attack against a high profile Japanese retailer had reinforced fears that the global cost of cybercrime could reach a staggering $6 trillion by 2021.
The retailer reported that there were more than 460,000 unauthorised logins to registered accounts via a hack where user IDs and passwords are potentially leaked from other services. Typically, it occurs when people use the same password for different online accounts.
As a result, the retailer requested all online customers to use different passwords for different services and avoid easily guessed or commonly passwords.
Locally, a health-related / charity organisation became a victim of hackers when the personal data of nearly 4,300 potential blood donors was “leaked”, as reported by The Straits Times on May 16.
It was reported that these potential donors’ names, contact numbers, email addresses, declared blood types, preferred appointment dates and times and preferred locations for blood donations were left exposed.
Unfortunately, it was something as simple as a weak administrator password that was believed to have let the hackers in.
Singaporeans were shocked when it was revealed that a vendor had improperly put online the personal information of more than 800,000 potential blood donors. This followed a cyber-attack in July 2018 when the private data of 1.5 million patients were compromised.
The shared result of all these hacks is a potential loss of reputation and trust. On top of customers' important data being compromised, the leaks further increasing the chance of other cyber-crimes.
The most common fragile points in cybersecurity are weak passwords, malware and a lack of protection around website applications and infrastructure.
