Tag: security

Cyber Attacks / Cybersecurity / Insurance

Digital Cloning: Hacking Your Fingerprints

While your biometrics may be as unique as a snowflake, they can still be digitally captured, copied and used to gain access to your “secure” computer network and data storage facilities.  Using standard photos taken during a press event in October and commercially available software, a 31-year-old member of Europe’s largest association of hackers successfully re-created a digital fingerprint of German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen.  The digital print could then be used not only to fool security software, but with the increasing sophistication… Continue Reading
Cyber Attacks / Cybersecurity

Hacker Gains Control of German Steel Mill Operations

The  German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has issued a report revealing that a sophisticated hacker was able to take control of a steel mill’s computerized production system, forcing an unscheduled shut-down that caused “massive damage” to the physical plant. By using targeted emails, known as “spear phishing,” employees were tricked into opening messages that extracted login names and passwords and transmitted that information to the hacker without detection. The hacker, in turn, used the data to gain limited control of the… Continue Reading
Cyber Attacks / Cybersecurity

Cybsersecurity Starts at the Top

This summer, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), made up of the FED Board of Governors and FDIC, among others, conducted a Cybersecurity Assessment at over 500 community financial institutions to evaluate their ability to handle cyber risks.  While the data is still being analyzed in order to assist with future guidance and regulations, last month the FFIEC Cybersecurity Assessment’s “General Observations” were released. What is striking about the General Observations, which are not to be construed as guidance, is that they call out… Continue Reading