Five Bizarre Ways That You Might Be Susceptible To Hackers.
1. Hackers could use a wireless data sniping rifle, or other "sniffing" device to access your phone calls.
Recommendations: Use only Bluetooth devices that require a passcode and turn off the "discoverable" mode, and then turn off the device when it isn’t in use.
2. They can intercept your display.
Using a device called a "Tempest receiver", it’s possible to capture transmissions between your PC and monitor and display it on a second monitor.
Recommendations: Other than a visual inspection for this device, which looks like a piece of high-end audio equipment, there’s no bulletproof precaution against this type of attack.
3. They can walk in the front door.
Some businesses and most home owners, run a wide-open wireless network without any security protection. Hackers routinely "war-drive" in business parks and residential neighborhoods looking for these open networks, then install "zombie" software tools that send out spam or distribute porn.
Even if you don’t use the wireless functions of your router, this may be ON by default.
Recommendations: Lock down your wireless router with a strong encryption, such as AES. Also, disabling the Wireless feature altogether may be merited.
4. They can pull the plug.
The US government has announced funding for creating a nationwide Smart Grid. This gives companies and home owners the ability to see their power usage in real-time, and disable some power usage during specific times of the day
Leading experts have indicated that this will open up another door for hackers to infiltrate your network. Hackers could the turn off your power remotely, and then demand payment to turn it back on.
Recommendations: These systems should have higher levels of security and critical endpoints should not be Internet connected.
5. They can Google your Car – and then steal it.
Using GPS tracking services and/or social networking tools that broadcasts your whereabouts to your friends or the world at large could open you up to hacking. If hackers intercepted this feed, they could track your whereabouts during the day. Knowing that you took a shuttle service on your trip out of town, they could look-up your address and then break into your house and garage to steal your car.
If you would like to schedule a site security review, please contact the CCS Retail Systems Support Department.