According to a 2014 report released by McAfee, the global cost of cybercrime is estimated at more than $400 billion annually. Numerous attacks led over the past years demonstrated how financial institutions, mobile applications – or anything that is connected to the internet – are vulnerable to hacking.
In February 2016, hackers stole $81 million from the central bank of Bangladesh. A few months later, America’s National Security Agency (NSA) and the CIA saw their own hacking tools spread all over the internet – showing that absolutely nobody is immune from security breaches. Furthermore, seizing data has become increasingly easy as it now possible to buy stolen credit card details on the dark net. Finally, hackers also sell information regarding how existing flaws can be exploited.
The computerisation of everything is extremely dangerous as machines are less protected than what we think. Robert Watson, computer scientist at the University of Cambridge, affirms that this vulnerability comes notably from the basics of information technology, the culture of software development and the economic incentives of computer firms. Experts agree to say that shutting down every risk of attack in millions of lines of codes is impossible. A 2015 study led by Trustwave demonstrated that the mobile apps that we use every day contain on average 14 security breaches.
To read the original article [paywall], please click here.