Most people don’t really think about malware
too much or if they do, they lump it in the same category as a virus. And while
most IT professionals or folks that consider themselves the un-novice computer
user, think they are immune. Sorry folks…your not, and neither is apparently
anyone now a days. Just this week my husband, who has setup networks and build
towers back in the day found malware on his machine.
When a personal computer for the home user get malware it’s a rough process to clean their computer. However, when companies get malware, it makes for ticked off customers and for the company, a whole lot of money, time and clean up.
Trending this week the new malware of the day
is Regin. According to Cnet.com, it is a tricky little bugger, “Regin avoids detection with a specialized design as it ferrets out
critical information. It's been used since 2008 to infiltrate email databases,
monitor network traffic, steal passwords, snag screenshots and record mouse
clicks (cnet.com, 2014).”
And while it appears that that this malware
in particular doesn’t affect the English speaking world, but rather the
non-English speaking parts of the world; I say it’s only a matter of time. Although
the so-called experts are claiming this one wouldn’t be worth the modification
to be used in the English speaking world…again I say only a matter of time. The
technology used to infiltrate and steal confidential information (credit card
numbers, social security numbers, etc.) , is advancing and its not going away
anytime soon. It might not be Regin, but it will be something.
If we, as a society, don’t get a handle on our information security…someone else well and it probably won’t be the good guys. More steps need to be taken to create policies, accountability, and better security for the consumer or else companies like Target or Home Depot will lose customer loyal if they lack the faith in the organizations procedures to keep them safe. I think it's time companies...bite back!
