The biggest threat to computer security may be the average person’s lack of creativity. Imagine if you asked a random person on the streets what the possible ramifications of poor computer security at a shipping company could be. I would wager a bet that you’d get a lot of blank stares and variations of, “Uh, nothing.” But if you ask a creative person, say a pirate, the same question you will likely hear some pretty interesting ideas:
Tech-savvy pirates once breached the servers of a global shipping company to locate the exact vessel and cargo containers they wanted to plunder, according to a new report from Verizon’s cybersecurity team.
“They’d board the vessel, locate by bar code specific sought-after crates containing valuables, steal the contents of that crate — and that crate only — and then depart the vessel without further incident,” says the report, Verizon’s Data Breach Digest.
Just because you can’t think of a reason security is important doesn’t mean somebody else can’t. This is especially important to keep in mind if you’re one of those “I’ve got nothing to hide,” people. You might not be able to think of any reason but somebody who means you ill almost certain can.
When you’re assessing your own security, whether it be on a person or organizational level, it’s wise to bring in some outsiders, perhaps people with experience in breaching networks for malicious purposes, and pay them a little something to provide you with ideas you haven’t thought of yet. You will likely be surprised at how many things you simply failed to think of.