Top Cyber Threats For 2013CHARLOTTE, NC - Crafty crooks are finding new ways to go after your identity and your money. In 2012, major banks were hit with the biggest cyber attacks in history and the U.S. Cyber Command says attacks jumped over 40 percent across the board in 2011. Cyber crooks are getting craftier and becoming more dangerous. This year, the list of threats is getting longer. "Create e-mail accounts in your name, create bank accounts, apply for credit cards with your information," said Mohamed Hafez, a systems engineer with Geeks on Demand. "Horror stories about people losing their homes, losing cars, losing their net worth," said Gil Kilcoyne, an expert with Blueline Computers. As cyber threats get more advanced and harder to stop, IT experts at Geeks on Demand say it gets harder to keep up with the bad guys. "I don't want to say we're 100% for anything because nothing is a bullet proof plan," said Hafez. But you do hold power to protect yourself. Kilcoyne says public wi-fi networks are hot spots for people fishing for information. If you can join a secure network- do that. Also, unique passwords are the way to go. "A computer is really hard to break... you are easy to break. So, if you keep the same password for your e-mail and bank then if they get your password, they get everything you have," said Kilcoyne. "Preventative maintenance. That's what we call it. You don't open e-mails from someone you don't know or download software if you're not sure if it's legitimate." said Hafez. Experts also say three to five year old computers are at higher risks of attacks. The head of U.S. national security warns that cyber criminals are targeting big companies to access information. He said that for every company that knows it has been hacked, another 100 don't even know their systems have been breached. |
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