New technology means new avenues for growth in every field, but it also means new threats. In our digital age, cyber security risks are undoing some of the greatest technological advancements in key industries.
In 2015 alone, the Theft Resource Center found that over 780 data breaches occurred, leaving over 169 million records or personal information to fall into the wrong hands.
Breaches occurred in a variety of different industries leaving many to question who is the most susceptible and why. Now, two years later and thousands of hacks detected, it is clear which industries are the most vulnerable to cyber security risks.
1. Health Care
The health care industry has experienced incredible booms in the use and integration of new technology. Unfortunately, they have also been victimized by hackers because of it. Last year over 100 million patient records were stolen by cyber criminals, leaving millions of patients at high risk of having their identities stolen from anyone around the world.
Cyber criminals target the health care industry for the deeply personal patient information within it. Hospitals, clinics and other medical centers hold patients’ social security numbers, personal addresses, bank information and health information.
2. Education
Colleges and universities are consistently targeted as well. Universities contain the personal information of students, faculty and educators. Additionally, universities contain many computers and connectivity ports, which hackers and other criminal elements can take advantage of.
3. Retail
The retail industry has always been a target for theft due to the multitude of transactions that occur daily. Modern criminals target credit card information. Credit card readers, or point of sale technology, are responsible for processing credit card transactions. It’s the small device you swipe your card through when paying with a debit or credit card. By hacking these devices, cyber criminals can skim credit card information, which can be sold to others online or used directly to steal from the accounts of others.
4. Manufacturing
Manufacturing has seen an increase in cloud technology thanks to the internet of things (IoT), or the connectivity of equipment or tools to the web and each other. Manufacturers can better communicate with customers, work more efficiently and have information stolen because of IoT.
When a wide variety of technologies are connected, there are more points of access for intruders to steal information. Many manufacturers use old systems retrofitted for continued use or flaws in connected products, so both customer information and factory information can be stolen.
5. Finance
The financial sector is an obvious target for cyber security hacks. Finance institutions hold both the money and the personal information of those who use them. Some of the largest finance groups have been targeted. Dow Jones, Scottrade and Experian were all hacked in 2015, leaving many in the industry wondering what could be done to prevent such important information from being stolen.
How to SafeGuard Information
The most-targeted industries have quickly learned that security technology is necessary to stay safe. Advancements in security technology ” such as the rise of artificial intelligence, hacking data and software and hardware upgrades ” leave old hacking methods outdated and unsuccessful.
