After three years of investigations, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington announced on Wednesday that they have indicted three men for allegedly committing crimes where technological and conventional methods were utilized. The trio is alleged to have use a technique called ‘wardriving’, using a vehicle to detect a business’ wireless network and gain unauthorized access to internal information, and also break into businesses to install malware on computer systems that could later be used for malicious purposes.
Businesses need to integrate a comprehensive data governance program into the their overall risk management strategy. Mitigation of becoming a victim of cyber-crimes can be accomplished by following a few examples:
- Review the level of encryption for the businesses wireless system.
- Have an accounting for all technological devices, and ensure that those devices with remote access are properly encrypted.
- Understand that hacking can occur both internally and externally, and therefore have appropriate educational methods in place.
- Ensure that employees never click past security-certificate warning screens, and to notify IT if such a warning occurs.
- Avoid “water cooler” talk amongst employees that may indicate a breach has occurred (i.e. “I’m so mad…the other day I found out my identity was stolen.”).
- Contact an attorney immediately if you suspect a breach has occurred.