Wk4 - Digi Business

Target data breach (2013)

Hackers stole ~40 million credit/debit card details from Target via a third-party HVAC supplier's stolen credentials

RAM scraper

Malware that reads card data from a system's memory before it gets encrypted

Supply chain attack

Attacking an organization through a trusted third-party vendor instead of directly

How hackers got into Target

Phished an employee at Fazio Mechanical (Target's HVAC supplier) to steal access credentials

Why Target's anti-malware missed the attack

The malware was new/unknown, so none of Target's 40 anti-malware tools could detect it

Target breach - total estimated cost

Around $1-2 billion in losses, plus direct costs of roughly $200 million

Direct payout costs of a cyberattack

Incident response/forensics, victim compensation, regulator fines, legal fees, stolen financial assets

Consequential business loss

Long-term damage like reputation loss and customer churn after a breach

Cyber resilience

An organization's ability to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from cyberattacks

Cyber Champions

Organizations that balance strong security with business strategy — best at stopping and recovering from attacks

Business Blockers

Organizations that prioritize security so heavily it gets in the way of business goals

Cyber Risk Takers

Organizations that prioritize business growth/speed and accept higher cyber risk

The Vulnerable

Organizations with weak security AND poor alignment to business strategy — worst off

Amateur hacker / script kiddie

Hobbyist hacker with low skill, not motivated by money, often just curious

Hacktivist

Hacker motivated by ideology or political/social causes, not money

Cyber terrorist

Group using cyberattacks to pursue political change through fear or violence

Nation-state / state-sponsored cyberteam

Hacking team funded and directed by a government, often tied to intelligence agencies

Mercenary hacking team

Small group of skilled specialists who sell hacking services (malware, botnets, exploits) to others

Why information security matters to a business

It protects the business's ability to function, its data, its applications, and its technology assets — not just "IT stuff"

Why security is a management issue, not just technical

Because it should be judged by business impact and cost of downtime, and requires ongoing oversight from management, not just IT

CIO (Chief Information Officer)

Senior executive who advises the CEO on strategic planning around managing company information

CISO (Chief Information Security Officer)

Executive responsible for assessing, managing, and implementing information security; usually reports to the CIO

Data owner

Senior manager accountable for the security and use of a specific set of data

Data custodian

Person responsible for the systems that process, store, and transmit data on behalf of the data owner

Data user

Any employee in the organization — everyone shares responsibility for keeping data secure