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National Lottery accounts feared hacked - Comment from Smoothwall
November 2016 by David Navin, Head of Corporate at Smoothwall
Following the news story this morning about how 26,500 National Lottery accounts are feared to have been hacked, if you are covering the story and looking for additional commentary, David Navin, Head of Corporate at Smoothwall, comments:
"The cyber hack of National Lottery accounts highlights that financial details are
not always an attacker’s end game, and demonstrates how something as simple as an
email address and password can be all they need to cause damage. This once again has
emphasised the issue of end users not updating or using a variety of complex
passwords for different accounts, thus making them vulnerable as we’ve seen with
this latest breach.
"However, the onus also lies with the companies themselves, who have a
responsibility to safeguard their customers’ data and information even if the end
users are not. In a digital world where companies are interconnected, hackers will
look to find their weak spots and points of entry which can be through a supplier or
a partner that doesn’t see itself as an appealing target. Such companies are not
only an attractive option to hackers - they are often an easy one.
"No matter how big or small, all companies must protect their data and that of their
partners and suppliers. They need to comply with regulation and build a layered
security defence which spans encryption, firewalls, web filtering and ongoing threat
monitoring as well as a proactive stance. Companies need to have all the measures
and contingency plans in place so that if a breach does occur, they are able to
recover and instil customer confidence as soon as possible."
