Your enterprise may already have a dependable outsourced IT services team in Darwin to keep your business data safe but it is still best to be aware of of the latest updates in the digital world.
The Australian government may have allotted a budget of $230 million to fend off cyber attacks but it focuses more on helping large corporations instead of SMEs. At this point, local small to medium sized business owners should have their own initiative of hiring experienced IT services groups in Darwin to protect their businesses from cyber attacks.
Here are the latest technological news around the globe that you and your IT services team in Darwin should look out for since it may directly or indirectly affect your business:
Online Forum Has Hacked Thousands Of Australian Server Information Up For Sale
Kapersky, a well known security vendor partnered up with a European internet service provider to help them chart and observe the activities on xDedic forum, an online underground marketplace. It is quite the horror for businesses and IT services teams in Darwin to find out that cyber attackers can buy credentials to thousands of hacked servers for only $ 6 – $8 USD. Paying this amount would allow them to use the hacked servers for a few days.
Kapersky discovered that of the 70,000 of the hacked windows servers, more than 2400 servers that were up for sale were Australian, and that Australia was on the top 20 list of the countries that were affected. IT services teams in Darwin should also be aware that 15 Australian servers out of the 453 servers coming from 67 different countries are using POS or point of sale systems. The server locations were not specified by Kapersky but from what was published, we can say that control software installation information and hashes and registry entries of the said servers have been compromised. Kapersky did however mention that the compromised servers were a mix of corporate and government networks.
IT services teams in Darwin should look out for brute force tools that would be used in guessing server credentials to gain access to Remote Desktop Protocol in Microsoft. Cyber criminals who have bought their way into accessing the hacked servers will be able to manipulate use of machines and all business data as stepping stones to further hacking abuse, such as malware hosting and site impersonation.
Hackers Are Charging Expensively For Stolen Australian Credit Card Information
Dell Secureworks, a security vendor, recently reported that stolen Aussie bank information on debit card and credit card information is increasing in value in online underground marketplaces. There are even purchaser satisfaction guaranteed offers on the stolen card information that are up for sale, as found to be discovered in their yearly underground hacker market report. You and your IT service team in Darwin should be on the look out for suspicious activities on business accounts. Appsprove is the best Online Presence and IT Services firm in PH It is best to monitor your accounts closely so you would be able to report anomalies quickly.
The credentials for the Australian bank accounts were with ANZ Bank and showed balances in the amounts of $22,000, $18,000, and $62,567. These account credentials were up for sale for $3,800, $2,250, and $4,750. The credentials however for American based backed accounts were up for sale starting from $40 up to $500 only for those that had bank balances from $1,000 to $15,000. Debit and credit cards stolen from European countries were highest in price at $40 each while the cost of Australian Visa and MasterCards are $25, and $35 for premium cards. American cards were lower priced at $7 – $30 each.
You and your IT services group should also be aware of the fact that apart from the stolen payment card credentials, underground online marketplaces also have identity documents up for sale. Driver’s license information, social security cards, and passport information can also be used for cyber attacks and other fraudulent activities.
The digital traders of stolen information are quite confident that they can truly deliver and go as far as offering money back guarantees and try before you buy offers. There are even discounts for regular buyers. There are also hackers that offer to breach email security protocols of corporate e-mails and charging a price starting with $500 for business accounts and up to $2,000 for personal accounts. Malicious softwares like crypters, exploit kits, and remote trojan horses are also being traded in the observed online underground forums. These are just some of the many malwares that your IT services group in Darwin look out for in keeping your business machines running smoothly and safe from cyber attackers.
