SVP, Cybersecurity Strategy at Proofpoint, Ryan Kalember:
“It’s critical that consumers and business alike realize that email credentials can be the gateway to more sensitive information than nearly anything else. News of the additional Yahoo breach is yet another indication that email accounts are a prime target among criminals. Email is the top way cybercriminals are breaking into the world’s most sophisticated organizations and they target personal inboxes and account information with the same aggressiveness.
Email is a necessity in our digital society and attackers are constantly working to exploit it. When a hacker gets into your email account, they can also steal sensitive information like your name, date of birth, past passwords, and even your security questions and answers. The breach provides a direct link between an attacker and a victim.
If your personal email is compromised, and an attacker assumes your identity, that exposes all of your contacts to an immediate threat and allow the attacker to reset all of your other account passwords. By taking advantage of email accounts, hackers are exploiting the digital trust that exists between the email sender and receiver. This trust is the basis for how our digital society operates. Whether it is personal or enterprise emails, the result is the same, trust is broken and information is at risk.
With the level of information available, cyber criminals will continue to attack companies and they won’t stop while they’re still being rewarded. Today, one billion consumers were breached. What will happen tomorrow? Businesses have to take the necessary steps in order to ensure that they don’t become the next headline.”
