Website Hacking on the Rise
Think the information on your website is safe because its stored on a MySQL database? Think again. Hackers are on the prowl, seeking out sensitive data and ready to auction it off to the highest bidder. If you still aren’t convinced that this has become a huge problem on the web, just take a look at the numbers.
TJX Companies Inc., owner of popular chains such as Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, A.J. Wright and other stores, was victimized by one of the most damaging hacking attacks in recent memory. In January of 2007, the retail giant revealed that the credit and debit card information of 40 million customers had been stolen. SEFCU, a federal credit union, suffered a similar fate, publishing a warning that a hacking attack resulted in the theft of personal information on 10,000 of its customers. In addition, 60 other banks including Bank of America and Citizen Union Savings Bank have been breached by similar attacks.
The Attack on Universities
University websites are some of the biggest targets on the internet. Because many of these systems are decentralized, it is much harder to ensure solid security. This could be a situation where one department deploys hardened security mechanisms whereas others do not and make the entire system vulnerable. Here are a few recent website hacks that were the result of vulnerable web applications:
December 2006: An intruder compromised a large database from the University of California Los Angeles. The infiltration resulted in the loss of personal data including birth dates, contact information and Social Security numbers. As details on 800,000 people were compromised, this incident makes up one of the most severe computer security breaches at a United States university.
December 2006: The website attack that occurred at the University of Colorado resulted in thousands of Social security numbers and other personal details being stolen. It is reported that 17,500 records were compromised.
December 2006: Around the same time, the University of Texas in Dallas was compromised of 35,000 records. The Privacy Clearing House reports that names and Social security of student and alumni facility were exposed.
Because far too many website owners do not monitor activity at the application level, intruders can take advantage of the smallest security hole in various scripting languages. A crafty hacker can infiltrate a website with a simple browser and a little creativity. The most unsettling fact about these attacks is that many of them are not discovered until weeks to months following the initial breach. As hackers do not want to leave anything that can be traced back to them, they generally steal what they want and leave everything else intact.
Disturbing reports by the Privacy Clearing House report that well over 100 million records have been stolen since February of 2005. Amazingly, this staggering number doesn’t include the TJX incident which involved 40 million records. Out of an estimated 140 million, roughly 80 million of those records were the result of website hacking. Knowing the facts as they are, one has to be extremely cautious of who they host their site with as well as the development tools that lead to these vulnerabilities.
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