W H AT ’ S I N S I D E
JAN. 15-FEB. 18, 2015 • THE CSRA’S MONTHLY BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Business Book Review: Customer Mania!............. 6 Buzz Bits........................................................................8,.9 Businessperson of Month: Charles Johnson......12 Keep the Main Thing the main thing...................14 Career Expo preview..................................................20 Career & Education...............................................22,24
Sneak Attack
Right now, as you’re reading this, someone could be breaking into your company and stealing you blind. But all the locks and razor wire in the world won’t stop this thief. He’s coming in through your computer. By Gary Kauffman Mark Baggett sits on his back porch in Evans, his eyes on his laptop screen. On display is a world map. Glowing lines shoot from China toward the United States, as if the web site was displaying some missile attacks. In fact, it is displaying attacks. But these aren’t missile launches – they’re computer hackers trying to infiltrate computer systems in an attempt to extract information. While it all sounds high tech and not the kind of thing that will affect the Mom-and-Pop shop in the CSRA, Baggett said everyone is vulnerable. “Some people have gone so far as to say that every organization with data worth stealing has been compromised already,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s 100 percent true, but every organization can be compromised. It’s up to the will of the hacker.” Baggett knows quite well how hackers work since, in essence, he is one. Baggett is a technical advisor to the Department of Defense for the Sans Institute, but he is also a penetration tester – companies have him break into their computer systems to check their vulnerability and to assess the loss a cybercriminal could cause. On the laptop screen, the flashing lines from China have now become a solid line as the number of cyberattacks picks up. There are also attacks from within the United States and a few from other countries, such as Mexico, Russia, France, Brazil and even Sweden. The United States is far and away the biggest target for these attacks. Although giant corporations like Sony and Target made headlines when their security was breached, Baggett said local businesses have been victims of these attacks as
well. Members of an organized cybercrime group have been arrested in Augusta. There are three basic types of hackers – opportunistic, targeted and foreign governments. The opportunistic hackers make up the majority of attacks, about 70 percent. These people look for any computer to break into and steal what data they can – equivalent to a burglar looking for the unlocked brick-and-mortar buildings. “They have a ‘key,’ it’s just a matter of finding the doors it’ll open,” Baggett said of the opportunistic hackers. “They scan all the computers, and it works on thousands of them.” They most often steal financial data – credit card and bank numbers, pin numbers, mothers’ maiden names. In many cases they don’t use this data themselves, but sell it to others. Baggett, using Google, pulled up a website offering See CYBERCRIME, page 2
Buzz on Biz Career Expo set for Feb. 12
There’s good news in the CSRA: Employers are hiring. And there’s even better news: There’s a way for those seeking jobs to meet some of these potential employers in one location. That location is the Legends Club on Feb. 12 when Buzz on Biz hosts its Second Annual Career Expo. The event, which runs from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., will feature booths set up by staffing agencies, universities and other employers, and a chance to interact with them. To learn more about the Career Expo and to get a preview of some of the jobs staffing agencies are looking for, turn to page 20.