How to Maximize AI and IoT Business Value While Protecting Your Customers

Nearly 7-9 billion devices are leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). Knowingly or unknowingly, every enterprise and individual is using these technologies through their smartphones, applications, cloud services, sensors, RFID systems, and various other means. This streamlining of unparalleled opportunities is skyrocketing business operations and weaving deep customer relations. But all of these blessings come with a concern that every business needs to address. Many business leaders and executives prioritize customer privacy and security concerns amidst unprecedented opportunities of AI and IoT. That’s where the CIAM comes in to play its role.

CIAM to Maximize Business Value

CIAM, abbreviated as (Customer Identity and Access Management) is a sub-category of IAM (Identity and Access Management) that helps improve customer experience and security concurrently. It integrates digital identity-based authorization and authentication to customer-facing applications. Enterprises can deploy CIAM solutions either as-a-service or on-premises. Enterprises can render CIAM through interconnected identity APIs on web services and applications.

According to IBM Security, 80 percent of the organizations that encountered a security breach stated that cybercriminals targeted customers’ personally identifiable information (PII). According to them, a compromised security breach on average costs around $150 per customer. Thus customer identity management is an essential security measure every business should take. There are three main things CIAM does when implemented:

• Offers customized authentication mechanisms for enterprises and their customers
• Enhances the customer registration and login experiences, reducing the risk of data breach or account takeover
• Renders scalability irrespective of the customer headcounts
• Influence of AI and IoT amid growing Security and Privacy Demand

AI and IoT aren’t going anywhere in the next couple of decades. Businesses have been looking for approaches for improving techniques and methods through these technologies. As the business workload and competition are hiking, IoT promises to render new mechanisms to streamline business operations and enhance the multitude of customer experiences. On the other hand, AI is bringing a revolutionary change in time-consuming and tedious manual jobs through deliberately automated systems. AI can also extract insight from granular customer data to increase business efficiencies and better customer engagement opportunities.

AI and IoT are two value-added technologies and the essential toolkits for modern business. But all of these come with the concern of customer data privacy and security. Collecting and culturing data through modern technologies might conclude that “privacy is dead.” But organizations that want to foster customer loyalty and trust use essential privacy protection techniques. Organizations can differentiate themselves from their competitors by leveraging solutions like CIAM and privacy-concerned access management systems.

New Security and Privacy Challenges Due to AI and IoT

All modern organizations value the demand for AI and IoT while simultaneously recognizing the growing sensitivity of customer data privacy. However, the advent of AI and IoT poses unique security and privacy challenges, undermining user trust. This section addresses some of the results that various studies show while deploying AI and IoT.

IoT Security Challenges

As the IoT systems connect, evolve, and expand across any industry or organization, keeping the data and communication safe is challenging. IoT is still unfolding, and so are its communication protocols. Business executives and customers find it threatening to leverage IoT systems due to internet-based software attacks, authentication flaws, network-driven attacks, and hardware attacks.

Securing Data in AI and IoT systems

Organizations are raising growing pains in adopting these technologies because of privacy concerns. IoT devices get implemented in sensitive areas like finance, pharmaceutical industries, and healthcare. Without secure authentication of employees and customers, the entire system data and privacy could be at risk. Thus, keeping the organization’s and its customer’s data secure while reaping the benefit of AI and IoT is a necessary evil.

Lack of User Experience with Conventional Security Tools

User experience on IoT systems is very non-interactive. Personalizing AI and IoT systems for better user experience keeping the security and privacy intact is difficult in legacy systems. Even the authentication mechanism in IoT devices does not render user experience. Lack of user experience significantly reduces the business value of AI and IoT-driven systems.

Drawbacks of Legacy Security Measures

Organizations that deploy AI and IoT systems rush themselves into deploying security and privacy controls to mitigate the above-listed challenges. Yes, these legacy security measures can reduce data breaches, identity leaks, and control access management. But these security systems will also lock down or reduce the potential of AI and IoT. They might also form the false notion that adopting AI and IoT technologies are innately unsafe or risky. According to a report, senior managers and executives fear that AI and IoT might expose more than half of the customers and employees to more comprehensive privacy threats. That will eventually reduce the potential of AI and IoT usage in the long run. These are true until organizations switch from legacy security approaches to CIAM solutions.

Modern CIAM solutions can enable AI and IoT integration without compromising user privacy, security, and user experience. Organizations can leverage CIAM solutions that align with the business policies yet provide cybersecurity and privacy protection while customers interact with IoT devices or AI-enabled systems.

Integrating CIAM Enabled AI and IoT

Security researchers and CIAM providers advocate leveraging customer identity and access control solutions while dealing with IoT and AI-driven systems. Such compelling solutions help mitigate the challenges of governing, managing, safeguarding customers’ access to sensitive data.

To balance AI and IoT-driven organizations with customer identity management, deploying CIAM solutions is necessary. CIAM solutions add extra layers of security by enabling MFA, SSO, social identity-based login, PIN, etc. Also, CIAM solutions have classically-minted IoT authentication methods and AI-based intelligent login facilities that bring rich user experience. These contribute to strong protection upon account takeover and data privacy, keeping the user experience intact.

Tracking user consent, understanding and logging activities, and recognizing user preference at a granular level is what CIAM platforms can provide. Mature CIAM solutions prioritize customer privacy and security while rendering a rich user experience in these static devices. It helps businesses gain more confidence in deploying AI and IoT solutions. Such solutions also help in scalable added benefit to an organization by delivering a trusted digital customer experience.

Aligning Solutions

Organizations can align CIAM solutions as per business policies. It can also analyze data extracted by AI or IoT sensors through predictive models while simultaneously clearing privacy hurdles. CIAM also emphasizes destroying and removing data on demand when any customer terminates the service or relationship. Here are some of the essential points that the CIAM solution exhibits at an enterprise level.

Adopting Solutions

Organizations are widely adopting CIAM solutions. These CIAM solutions offer various authentication techniques and measures like two-factor authentication (2FA), social media identity as login, biometrics login, etc. Apart from all these, the CIAM solutions also extend the service of employee identity and access management (IAM).

Maturing

The maturity of CIAM solutions helps organizations deploy AI and IoT systems without concern. Modern CIAM solutions come with direct measures addressing AI and IoT-specific security concerns. According to a report, organizations leveraging advanced and matured CIAM solutions are 33 percent more likely to execute plans in deploying AI and IoT than organizations with low CIAM maturity.

Advancing

Advanced CIAM solutions help organizations overcome AI and IoT-related security challenges. According to some reports, organizations having mature CIAM solutions are 26 percent to 46 percent more likely to overcome AI and IoT-driven security issues.

Deploying

Deploying mature CIAM solutions also aid the security teams to sketch a solid plan. Organizations with advanced CIAM solutions are 20-52 percent more likely to enhance business value without compromising user experience or privacy. At the same time, these solutions also minimize customer data breaches and generate insights from the granular data they collect.

AI has various building blocks like Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP). Although AI can produce a range of insights into several CIAM processes, the initiatives of CIAM systems need organizational knowledge, human interaction, and policy setup to derive maximum value from AI.

IoT sensors and devices capture a plethora of data, including device locations and status. Such data often resides at cloud-based servers. The scalability and distributed nature of data from IoT systems increase the risks of data misuse. Such data breaches can also lead to malicious authentication. That is where organizations can leverage CIAM solutions for better authentication, regulatory data collection, and compliance.

Running on Automation

Today almost all industries run on automation, meaning most things operate through AI and IoT. Business executives and security leaders who want to take full advantage of AI and IoT-driven systems should also take precautions about customer data security and privacy without compromising user experience. Organizations must use mature Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) solutions to integrate smart authentication and authorization. These CIAM systems provide omnichannel interactions and authentication plus track and manage granular user consent, preferences, and activities.

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Originally published at IOT for all

How to Maximize AI and IoT Business Value While Protecting Your Customers

The security and privacy challenges that appeared with AI and IoT can be directly addressed and resolved through CIAM solutions.

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Corporate Account Takeover Attacks: Detecting and Preventing it

With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing employees to stay indoors, how do you protect your business from a Corporate Account Takeover (CATO) fraud?

The use of stolen workforce identity by cybercriminals has been a popular hacking tactic for many years now. With the current world crisis, it is even easier to exploit coronavirus fears and steal corporate information, especially financial and medical data (which is very sensitive at the moment).

So, what do you do?

Well, as scary as it may sound, there are capabilities around corporate account takeover risk detection that can help organizations fight back.

But first, let’s get to the core.

What is Corporate Account Takeover

A corporate account takeover (CATO) is a kind of enterprise identity theft where unauthorized users steal employee passwords and other credentials to gain access to highly sensitive information within the organization.

The media, finance, hospitality, retail, supply chain, gaming, travel, and hospitality industry are the hotspots for cybercriminals to devise their corporate account takeover attack.

Here is how the scam works.

The attacker may use phishing tactics, like approaching an employee to discuss an account-related error and then requesting login credentials to fix the issue.

They use the credentials to hack into the account and exploit the financial stability and reputation of the account holder – in this case, the employee and the business at large.

Corporate account takeover attacks are becoming more sophisticated and consequential with time and are costing millions of dollars every year.

According to the 2020 Global Identity and Fraud Report by Experian, 57% of enterprises report higher fraud losses due to account takeover.

Types of organization mainly targeted by account takeover (ATO) attacks

• Media and Entertainment Industry: Lately, there is a thriving parasitic ecosystem on the verge of overpowering the music and video streaming industry. Criminals work on a pretty straightforward model here by stealing login credentials from premium customers and selling them at a lower price for illegal access.
• Financial Industry: Account takeover attacks also threaten bank security, insurance companies, and other financial institutions. Fraudsters steal victim's credentials or use phishing techniques to trick banks and gain complete control of millions of accounts.
• Hospitality Industry: The hospitality industry is a popular and easy target for fraudsters to deploy account takeover strategies. Hackers often seal reward balances and exploit them, resulting in the loss of loyal customers and damage to the brand's reputation.
• Sports Industry: The sports industry is a lucrative business. With sensitive information, athlete negotiation figures, medical records, strategy documents, and intellectual property, fraudsters are on the lookout for loopholes to steal those assets.
• Retail Industry: Account takeover is a complex challenge for the retail industry too. Fraudsters make money from such attacks in a number of ways. Examples include ordering goods with the hacked account, purchasing gift cards, redeeming rewards points, and worst, selling compromised accounts on the dark web.
• Gaming Industry: The gaming platform has always been on the account takeover radar. Cybercriminals steal in-game payment information and make illegal purchases. They use stolen account information to pull off phishing scams by luring other players into opening links with free character or in-game currency.

Business Impact of Corporate Account Takeover

Corporate account takeover is a big deal. It is one of the most damaging cyber threats that businesses and customers face today.

These attacks are difficult to detect as criminals hack into accounts with legitimate credentials. By and large, these attacks hurt businesses’ reputation, scare customers, and can even end up with companies having to pay a heavy penalty.

For instance, if the violation is booked under the EU’s GDPR, a fine as much as 4 percent of global annual turnover may be levied.

Some recent account takeover attacks:

1. J.Crew data breach: In March 2020, J.Crew informed its customers that an unauthorized third-party accessed their accounts nearly a year ago.
2. New Marriott data breach: In March 2020, Marriott International announced another data breach that approximately affected 5.2 million guests.
3. Decathlon left data breach: In February 2020, sports retailer Decathlon accidentally exposed more than 123 million employee data on an unsecured ElasticSearch server.

7 Common Attacks That Lead To Corporate Account Takeover

Not all cyber attacks are highly technical. In fact, the majority of them use simple tricks to deceive users into sharing their login credentials. Here are a few authentication attacks that may end up with a corporate account takeover.

1. Phishing Attack

Perhaps the most common of all attacks, the bad guys during phishing attacks pose themselves as legit organizations and ask for personally identifiable information (PII) from the individual or company.

The goal is to trick the recipient (over a phone call, email, or text messages) into taking action, like opening a link or downloading an attachment with malicious code.

PII is any data that can be used to identify an individual. For example, name, geographic location, SSN, IP address, passport number, etc.

Tips to detect a phishing attack

• Emails starting with generic greetings like “hi there” instead of the recipient’s name.
• Emails that ask you to complete an action almost immediately. For example, your account will be blocked if you do not provide a set of details.
• Emails that do not take you to a page it claims to, and the URL does not begin with HTTPS.

2. Brute Force Attack

Fraudsters conduct this type of corporate account takeover to target large businesses. They use automated bots to systematically check and identify valid credentials to crack password codes and log in to compromised accounts.

Tips to detect brute force attack

• Surprisingly high login attempts on a single account.
• Failed testing attempts with multiple account ids and passwords.
• An exponential rise in account locks.
• More and more cases of hijacked accounts.

3. Credential Stuffing

If your employees have been using the same password for multiple accounts, consider it a treat for cybercriminals. Credential stuffing happens when the attacker uses bot attacks to verify login credentials instead of manually testing credentials one-by-one.

Tips to detect credential stuffing

• High rise in login attempts and failed login counts.
• Irregular traffic volumes.
• High use of non-existing user names during authentication.
• Abnormal bounce rate on the authentication page.

4. Man-in-the-middle attack

The man-in-the-middle attack is a kind of cyber eavesdropping where the attacker intercepts communication between two entities and manipulates the transfer of data in real-time.

For example, the attacker will exploit the real-time processing of transactions between a bank and its customer by diverting the customer to a fraudulent account.

Tips to detect man-in-the-middle attack

• TCP and HTTP signatures during user sessions do not match.
• Evil twin Wi-Fi networks like IkeaFreeWiFi and IkeaWiFiJoin in the same location.
• Login pages that look fake.
• Software update pop-ups that look illegitimate.
• Suspicious SSIDs.

5. Password spraying

Password spraying is also a kind of brute force attack where the attacker feeds in a large database of usernames and password combinations in the hope that a few of those will work.

It can be a dictionary attack where fraudsters enter the most commonly-used passwordsto hack into accounts. A lot of people still use the same password for multiple sites.

Tips to detect password spraying attack

• Login attempts from non-existent users.
• Significant increase in account lockouts.
• High login failure rate.
• Repeated login attempts from the same URL.

6. Social Engineering

Social engineering is a kind of corporate account takeover attack where the cybercriminal manipulates an employee into giving away login credentials or access into sensitive information.

Fraudsters conduct social engineering in stages. First, they gather information about the intended victim. Then, they plan to launch and execute an attack by exploiting the victim’s weakness. Finally, they use the acquired data to conduct the attack.

Tips to detect social engineering attack

• Unsolicited emails requesting payment information.
• Asking for OTP following a two-factor authentication.
• Suspicious chat boxes popping up.

7. Session Hijacking

As the name suggests, session hijacking happens when the attacker takes complete control of a user session. Note that a session starts when you log in to a service like your banking app and ends when you log out of it.

A successful session hijacking results in giving the attacker access to multiple gateways like financial and customer records and to other applications with intellectual properties.

Tips to detect session hijacking

• Unusual frequency in the Received Signal Strength (RSS).

Best Business Practices to Prevent Corporate Account Takeover

Start with building a strong relationship with your employees. Make them understand what security measures they need to implement to safeguard their accounts and prevent unauthorized access to corporate data.

Here are a few standard practices that you can follow:

• Flag emails that are too similar to your corporate email account.
• Register all domains that resemble your actual corporate domain.
• Add MFA/2FA authentication to verify the payment location, if it has been changed.
• Block unauthorized access attempts with authentication factors like biometric identifiers.
• Use phone, email, or any other verification factor to confirm fund transfer requests.
• Install spam filters in all systems across your organization.
• Install security updates as and when available.
• Perform security scans every month and note unexpected changes and unusual pop-ups.
• Educate employees not to use publicly available access points.
• Educate employees not to open unidentified attachments and emails.
• Train employees on how to identify suspicious emails.

How LoginRadius Eliminates Account Takeover Attacks for Enterprise Customers?

Customer-facing enterprises deal with large volumes of data every day. And it is their responsibility to protect them.

LoginRadius is a cloud-based customer identity and access management (CIAM) platform that gets the much needed extra layer of protection for enterprises to protect customer data. The CIAM solution detects malicious activity before it can cause any harm to organizational reputation.

Check out how LoginRadius prevents corporate account takeover attacks for enterprises:

Passwordless Authentication or Instant Login

To remove the risk of passwords altogether, LoginRadius offers passwordless authentication or instant login.

Customers can either login using a magic link or via an OTP delivered to their registered email address or phone number. The best part, this method does not require registration or any preassigned credentials to log in.

Multi-Factor Authentication

The secure identity and access management provider also offers two-factor or multi-factor authentication (2FA/MFA). This feature provides an extra layer of security to ensure that the right customer gets access to the correct account.

For example, the customer is required to enter an OTP or answer a security question, even after filling in the login credentials.

Risk-based Authentication

This standard CIAM system also offers risk-based authentication (RBA).  This feature verifies a customer's identity by adding a new layer of protection in real-time if any unusual login pattern is identified.

For example, an access attempt with a different login device, or from a suspicious geographic location to prevent the risk of a corporate account takeover.

Security and Compliance

Both the EU's GDPR and California's CCPA are examples of global standards that rule the flow of customer data and keep them safe. Most western countries follow similar regulations, and others are catching up.

LoginRadius is compliant with the majority of the global standards and you can even tailor it to meet the regulatory requirements depending on the industry and country of business.

Consent Management

At LoginRadius, consent management is another feature that is offered along with privacy compliance. It manages customer's consent about data collection, storage, and communication. Customers can alter existing permissions and apply new ones according to their will.

Data Management

LoginRadius also prevents corporate account takeover attacks with customer data management. It provides an overview of individual profiles from its admin console and tracks their activities.

Enterprises can manage millions of customers and perform manual actions on behalf of customers, like provisioning new accounts and triggering verification emails.

Conclusion

Corporate account takeover can translate into millions of dollars in losses, damaged brand image, and customer trust. As an enterprise, you and your employees are responsible for keeping finances and data safe.

Stay informed about evolving threats, understand the warning signs, and practice responses to suspected takeovers.

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Originally Published at LoginRadius

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What is Identity Governance & Administration?

Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) is defined as the branch of Identity and Access Management (IAM) responsible for making these access approvals while aiding in auditing and meeting compliance standards of some industries.

What is Identity Governance

In its essence, Identity Governance is about automating the process of giving relevant data access levels to varying stakeholders. Identity Governance is based on the Identity Governance Framework, a project that aimed to standardize the treatment and facilitation of identity information usage in enterprises.

At present, IGA is used by several entities across different industries to improve data security of their systems and meet regulatory compliance such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA).

5 Most Common Misconceptions About Identity Governance

1. “Only the businesses that fall under regulatory compliance need identity governance.”

While it goes without saying that it should be any business’s priority to safeguard classified information on itself as well as the sensitive and personally identifiable information (PII) of its consumers, that isn’t what IGA is all about.

Among other merits, IGA is also important for retaining efficiency through a seamless transition in access rights when an employee switches departments or gains privilege access when he or she gets promoted to an administrative position.

2. “Small-medium enterprises need not employ Identity_ _Governance and Authorisation.”

User identities are an essential factor in the protection and monitoring of data. In a predominantly tech-intensive world, enterprises of all sizes need to do their best at safeguarding classified and personal information from cyber-attacks.

No matter how big or small, a firm needs to protect its cyber existence and the trust that its consumers placed in it.

3. “IGA solutions are not relevant or implementable to cloud ecosystems.”

Like most of the tech space, IGA has been moving towards cloud governance as well. Leaders in the field integrate their Identity Governance solutions with cross-domain capabilities, hence, allowing administration of cloud as well as on-premises applications.

4. “Our internally made manual IG solutions allow satisfactory control over IT systems.”

Manual control of user access, i.e., manually altering the provisioning or deprovisioning of access to data, is inefficient and tedious. Not to mention, it is susceptible to human error. It also distracts the IT staff from other intensive tasks that demand effective human intervention.

Using an automated and specialized access certification issuing system frees up human capital for core business activities.

5. “IGA and identity management are the same.”

IGA adds more functionality to the mainstream Identity Management systems. IGA enables an entity to audit access reports for compliance requirements. IGA solutions automate the process of provisioning and deprovisioning the access to certain data by a stakeholder throughout their Access Lifecycle.

5 Benefits of Identity Governance

1. Consumers can get timely access to the data they want.

In the digital age of immediacy and the consequent instant availability of information, we’re no longer used to waiting for hours or even minutes to have access to the information needed. Identity Governance can be a key contributor to improving CX(Consumer Experience).

2. You can handle access requests and track danger requests.

The Identity Administration part of a typical IGA system would allow for a centralized or designated approval location to be set for different data sets. Hence your stakeholders can conveniently ask for approvals.

This, at the same time, also allows you to track activity that may seem suspicious and hence kick out the perpetrator before any breaches.

3. Flexible access and hence greater productivity.

The ongoing pandemic has made the importance of flexibility clear. Always working on-premises and using safe and secured corporate devices and networks is unrealistic in the new context.

This restates the importance of IGA, through which the firm can allow remote access, albeit limited for security, on employees’ personal devices for the operations to keep running.

4. Helpful in meeting regulations.

Since IGA was essentially built to meet corporate regulations on data accessibility, it might seem obvious that it helps an entity meet these regulations. However, you will at first need to make sure that the necessary controls are in place to comply with the security and privacy standards set out by data-laws.

5. Support to auditing

Applications, devices, data, and stakeholders are all linked through the IGA solutions. Consequently, the system can determine who has access to which information, device, and/or application, hence, helping it in making access reports that are relevant to the questions that come up during regulatory auditing.

Empower Your Business Using LoginRadius Identity Governance Solution

The fundamental factor underpinning IGA is data governance. LoginRadius offers world-class data governance, which, consequently, bolsters your organization’s cybersecurity and the virtual security of your consumers.

Here’s how LoginRadius’ data governance solutions are remarkably effective at aiding identity governance in your organization:

• A network of data regions: LoginRadius allows you to serve consumers globally and, at the same time, meet the regional data privacy regulations like GDPR through its worldwide network of data centers.

Comprehensive Encryption: All data moving from one server to another does so over HTTPS tunnels that are encrypted using industry-standard ciphers.

• LoginRadius’ data solutions also let you encrypt data within the LoginRadius Cloud Directory. Depending on your needs, the encryption of user data can be one-way or two-way.
• Critical data, such as passwords, are hashed one-way by default. Thereby disallowing anyone, even database managers, from viewing this data.

Transparent data consent and preference management dashboard:

• The system actively asks for consent from new and existing consumers. You can customize the consent you request from them and thereby conveniently manage their data accordingly with the help of LoginRadius’ tracking system.
• The system also manages and remembers consumers’ preferences. Amongst other things, this includes their preferred mode of communication (e.g., emails, texts, notifications, etc.) and the privacy policies accepted and the ones not accepted.

Conclusion

The demand for IGA is growing year on year. The increased agility granted by introducing IGA in a company’s application ecosystem and elsewhere has logical merit.

Needless to say, so does the issue of relevant access certification to designated stakeholders. With the automation of policy management and auditing, adding to its favor, identity governance seems immensely important in an increasingly agility-demanding and virtual work environment.

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Originally published at LoginRadius

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What is lazy registration and how it is solving the problem of early registration

Nothing ruins a good streak of window shopping like an early registration. We all can agree on this because we have all been there and done that - either a half-hearted early registration or leaving a website without getting what we want.

Several websites start nagging the users with registration after a few minutes of exploring. Registration is important for user authorization and authentication but what is more important is the stage where it's required.

Many users switch websites when they are bombarded with lengthy registration forms too early. Potential users leaving the site without fully interacting with it is not favorable for conversion rates.

The solution to this is lazy registration. In this article, we are going to discuss what it is and how it is beneficial to your website.

What is lazy registration?

Lazy registration, also known as soft sign-up, allows the users to explore the site before asking them to register. This way, the user gets to interact with the site, the products, and the services it offers. The site can store data while the user browses. The stored data can further help in registration.

Users are more likely to register themselves without any hesitation once they are familiar with the website. The other thing that compels a user to register is the additional benefits that come from registration; these benefits usually require payment at the time of registration.

How can you benefit from lazy registration?

When it comes to monetization, Lazy Registration is the best of both worlds. It allows you to collect key information about your users before demanding a credit card number or email address, but does this behind the curtain so their experience isn't ruined.

If you are allowing users to try out features of your site before they register, it's important to make the process as simple and, more importantly, quick as possible. Letting them know they can sign-up later if they want more features or memberships is a good way to retain them in your user base. However, also remember that the longer a user has to wait to use something, the less likely it is that they will see the full benefits of registration or buying a product.

Give a reason for the reader to become a member. Even better, set a deadline for registration.  That said, let’s decode some more benefits of Lazy Registration.

Users get a chance to connect with the website

When users are not forced to register themselves just after opening the website, they get a chance to explore it. This works as a barrier lifter. While exploring, users can get used to the interface.

Once users are satisfied with your website, you can ask them to register. If the users are familiar with the site and like it, they won't take much time to sign in.

A common example of this is online shopping websites. On these websites, customers can continue window shopping for long periods, and registration is required only when they like something and add it to the shopping cart.

Lazy registration also helps retain potential customers by ensuring that they don't leave due to early registration, leading to a higher conversion rate.

Richer data collection

Lazy registration enables better data collection. Allowing users to use the site before registering gives them the time to get used to the site, and while users are busy exploring, the system starts collecting data based on their choices and activities.

You must have noticed that you keep seeing advertisements for the product or service you want even when you are not actively looking for them.

So many times, when you are shopping for a product, the sites show you similar products or the products you may like. There are comparison tables of similar products of different brands. Many platforms ask you to sign up for their newsletters that work for both educational and promotional purposes.

You may have experienced this even without signing up for an account. So, how does it happen? The system is always looking for user data, and when you are scrolling through a website, usually mindlessly, the system keeps analyzing your preferences and activities.

There are differences in the purpose and type of data collected in the two processes, i.e., registration and thorough analysis of a user's activities.

The data collected in user authentication and registration include personal details such as name, contact, age, and payment details where subscription is required. These details are used to set up an account, whereas the information collected by observing a user's activities shows their choice and preferences that are used for brand engagement and personalization.

Progressive profiling

Progressive profiling is the process where you get the user information less directly, like giving rewards on specific actions, using pop-ups, asking for minor details via forms that are easy to fill, or asking them to sign up for your newsletter.

In this way, you can gradually build up a profile for a user without being too intrusive or pushy, which in turn benefits registration. How? If the users keep giving information about themselves and their choices at different stages, it mitigates the need to fill out registration forms.

This isn't all! The main benefit of progressive profiling is personalization. Once you have all the necessary information about a user from progressive profiling and user analysis, you can work on making the experience even more personalized for the user.

In conclusion

If your potential users are getting what they want from your site, i.e., hassle-free registration and personalized user experience, congratulations, you have new customers. It results in more conversion and customer loyalty.

Times have changed, customers now have a myriad of options. If they don't like what you are serving them, they will switch to a business that does. User experience is one of the main factors that decide whether a potential user will become a loyal customer. That's why it should be your number one priority. This is where lazy registration can work miracles for you.

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Originally published at IT Pro Portal

What is lazy registration and how it is solving the problem of early registration

Many users switch websites when they are bombarded with lengthy registration forms too early. The solution to this is lazy registration

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Use of blockchain technology could increase human trust in AI

AI is a new generation technology where machines and information systems demonstrate a form of intelligence that simulates the natural intelligence of human beings in interacting with the environment. However, the success of any AI-based system also depends on the trust displayed by the beneficiaries on AI technology, besides other factors. Data, models, and analytics are the three key components of AI technology. One can decentralize these three key components using blockchain technology, and it will undoubtedly enhance the end users’ trust and confidence levels in AI-based systems.

Understanding key characteristics of blockchain technology

Seemingly, blockchain technology promises to solve many problems. However, a lot has yet to be explored as the global blockchain adoption will increase significantly in time to come. As per a Statista forecast, the global blockchain technology revenues are expected to soar to more than $39 billion by 2025.

The key characteristics of blockchain technology that make it so popular and appealing are:

• Decentralized technology: There is no central authority to monitor the network, unlike the traditional banking system. Authentication and authorization of transactions can take place without the help of any single ruling power.
• Distributed ledgers: Instead of storing data in a central repository, it is synchronized, shared, and recorded in various nodes in a shared infrastructure.
• Consensus-based: Any transaction in the blockchain network is executed when all pertinent network nodes agree on the transaction.
• Immutability & security: In the Blockchain network, a transaction, once recorded, cannot be altered by anyone at any time. Hashing is irreversible in the case of Blockchain, which makes the technology highly secure.

Understanding key characteristics of artificial intelligence

Let’s talk about the key characteristics of AI that make it unique and, if combined with increasing blockchain adoption, can change the world to become a better place to live. The critical characteristics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are:

• Adaptive: Artificial Intelligence technology is highly adaptive, as it quickly adapts to the environment through a progressive learning algorithm. It observes the surroundings and quickly learns how to do better.
• Data ingestion: AI is used for analyzing the enormous amount of data spread over billions of records.
• Reactive: Unlike traditional applications, AI-based systems are highly reactive as they respond to the changing environment. AI systems are capable of invoking rules and procedures based on certain conditions.
• Automation: AI systems can automate repetitive tasks without the need for human intervention. With the help of AI technology, machines can perform actual human tasks.

Human trust in AI: The key challenges

One of the greatest physicists of the century, Stephen Hawking, said that “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.”

With advancements in technology, trust has become a vital factor in human-technology interactions. In the past, people trusted technology mainly because it worked as expected. However, the emergence of Artificial Intelligence solutions does not remain the same due to the following challenges:

• Openness: AI-based applications are built to be adaptive and reactive, to have an intelligence of their own to respond to situations. Anyone can put it to good use or apply it for nefarious purposes. Hence, people have some reservations about trusting AI-based solutions.
• Transparency: One of the significant issues impacting human trust in AI applications is the lack of transparency. AI developers need to clarify the extent of personal data utilized and the benefits and risks of using the application to increase trust.
• Privacy: AI has made data collection and analysis much easier; however, the end-users have to bear the brunt, as the collection of humongous amounts of data by companies worldwide may end up jeopardizing the privacy of the user(s) whose data is being collected.

How the use of blockchain technology can increase human trust in AI

Blockchain technology can play a vital role in increasing human trust in AI-based applications by increasing transparency and trust in the following ways.

Building trust

One of the most significant challenges AI developers face is that people always doubt how and when AI-based applications will use their data. On the other hand, no one can access data without the user’s permission in blockchain-enabled AI applications. Users can license their data to the AI application or the provider using a blockchain ledger based on their terms and conditions.

Data privacy and security

The distributed form of data sharing can play a huge role in reducing the trust deficit in AI applications. Data is highly secure as there is no central point malicious actors can attack. Moreover, distributed ledger offers more transparency and accountability of real-time data as it is available to all participants concerned.

Consensus and decision-making

One of the critical characteristics of Blockchain technology is consensus-based transactions. Every decision made needs to be agreed upon by all parties involved, and it becomes highly impossible for unauthorized access or tampering of data without the users’ consensus.

Decentralization and data distribution

There is a colossal mistrust amongst people regarding data governance, including data collection, storage, and usage with AI. With blockchain technology, AI applications can store their data in a distributed and decentralized environment. One can effectively use Distributed Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and Smart Contracts for data governance and distribution.

Data integrity

One of the biggest challenges in AI-based applications is how data integrity is maintained over time. In traditional applications with a client-server architecture, data is collected from clients and stored in a centralized server. With Blockchain technology embedded into AI applications, duplication of information is avoided to a significant extent. Complete transparency, traceability, and accountability make data more actionable.

Higher efficiency

While AI can provide real-time analysis of enormous amounts of data, an AI system coupled with blockchain technology can provide a transparent data governance model for quicker validation amongst various stakeholders through smart contracts and DAOs.

Blockchain benefits can address AI’s shortcomings

Applying the benefits of blockchain technology can help address various shortcomings of AI and help in increasing people’s trust in AI-based applications. With Blockchain, AI applications acquire the qualities of decentralization, distributed data governance, data immutability, transparency, security, and real-time accountability. Many AI-enabled intelligent systems are criticized for their lack of security and trust levels. Blockchain technology can essentially help in addressing the security and trust deficit issues to a significant extent. Enormous challenges remain for both blockchain technology and Artificial Intelligence. Still, when combined, they display tremendous potential and will complement each other to restore the trust factor and improve efficiency at large.

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Originally published at Venturebeat

Use of blockchain technology could increase human trust in AI

Applying the benefits of blockchain technology can help address AI shortcomings and increase people’s trust in AI-based applications.

VentureBeatDeepak Gupta

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How Poor Login Concurrency can Impact OTT Platforms' Business

We all have witnessed the sudden paradigm shift where movie theatres have been replaced by OTT (over the top) platforms and books and magazines by e-books amid the global pandemic.

As social isolation continues to be the new normal amidst remote working and social distancing measures, the popularity of OTT streaming apps – both video and audio has jumped exponentially to meet the surging demand.

The latest stats reveal that the number of users in the OTT Video segment is expected to reach 462.7 million by 2025.

However, with the increase in subscriptions and the number of audiences online, several underlying threats have severely impacted the OTT businesses.

One such issue is poor login concurrency, which can lead to severe identity theft issues for individuals and OTT platforms.

Login concurrency refers to a situation where a user is logged into multiple devices from a single identity.

Login concurrency can be pretty risky as two or more users using the same credentials have access to resources and critical information, and it becomes difficult for service providers to identify the unauthorized user that may have wrong intentions.

Let’s understand this in-depth and understand the harmful consequences of poor concurrency management for OTT platforms and how OTT platform providers can leverage identity management.

What is a Concurrent Login?

Concurrent login is a situation where a user is logged into a network through a single identity from multiple devices and has access to resources and information.

The user can be a single individual or two or even multiple individuals using the same identity on a platform to access services from different locations or devices.

There can be multiple reasons for concurrent login: the user’s negligence, poor session management by vendors, or a sneak into a consumer’s identity.

How Concurrent Login Affects OTT Platform?

Various live streaming cloud OTT providers face challenges where concurrent login issues hamper user experience and eventually become a threat.

Cybercriminals are exploiting consumer identities of OTT subscribers and are accessing critical consumer information and trying to exploit business data for diverse purposes.

Moreover, the most subscribed OTT platform globally has reported users sharing access credentials beyond permitted limits with their friends and families, which is the leading cause of revenue loss.

Thus, to overcome the situation where concurrent login is exploited in OTT services, there needs to be a stringent mechanism that provides real-time insights regarding a user’s login details and adequately manages login sessions for each sign-in and sign-out.

Here’s where the role of a robust CIAM (Consumer Identity and Access Management) comes into play.

Let’s dig deeper into this.

Poor Session Management by OTT Platforms

If a user interacts with a platform and makes several interactions, the web application issues a session ID. This session ID is issued whenever a user logs in and records all their interactions.

It is through this ID that the application communicates with users and responds to all their requests.

The OWASP broken authentication recommendations state that this session ID is equivalent to the user’s original login credentials. If hackers steal a user’s session ID, they can sign in by impersonating their identity. This is known as session hijacking.

The following points list the scenarios that can cause broken authentication.

1. Weak usernames and passwords.
2. Session fixation attacks.
3. URL rewriting.
4. Consumer identity details aren't protected when stored.
5. Consumer identity details are transferred over unencrypted connections.

Impact of Broken Authentication and Session Management

If a hacker successfully logs in by stealing a user’s credentials using any of the above-mentioned broken authentication techniques, they can misuse their privileges and impact the company's sustainability.

Cybercriminals can have various intentions of hijacking a user’s web application, such as:

• Stealing critical business data
• Identity theft
• Sending fraud calls or emails.
• Creating malicious software programs for disrupting networks.
• Cyber terrorism
• Cyberstalking
• Selling illegal items on the dark web
• Sharing fake news on social media

In short, hackers can use broken authentication attacks and session hijacking to gain access to the system by forging session data, such as cookies, and stealing login credentials.

Thus, it would be best to never compromise with your web applications' security.

How LoginRadius Protects Against Broken Authentication

LoginRadius has been at the forefront of offering a multilevel security web app environment. Here is how LoginRadius applications protect against broken authentication:

• End-to-end SSL encryption for data in transit and ensures protection against unauthorized access.
• Multi-factor authentication eliminates the risk of being exposed to attacks.
• One-way hashing of passwords considerably improves consumer security.
• A single sign-on (SSO) solution allows users to use the same profile to log in everywhere.

Final Thoughts

With increasing OTT subscriptions and user expectations, OTT platforms need to gear up to deliver a flawless user experience in a way that doesn’t hamper their overall security mechanism quickly.

Adding stringent layers of security through a robust CIAM solution becomes the immediate need of the hour for OTT platforms facing concurrent login issues that affect their brand reputation and overall business revenues.

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Originally published at LoginRadius

Is Poor Login Concurrency Impacting OTT Platforms?

Poor login concurrency can be quite risky for OTT platforms seeking substantial growth coupled with security. Let’s learn how it impacts OTT platforms.

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The Rise of Profit-Focused Cybercrime on the Cloud

It is encouraging to think that the cloud may make us safer. But, it can be just as vulnerable if we do not protect it properly.

As cybercriminals look for ways to outsmart IT, they set their sights on cloud services that are still vulnerable to attack. What is making it so much easier now is the whole movement toward cloud computing—a motion that has led many businesses to hire firms that don’t specialize in that sort of security.

Cybercriminals are already exploiting this new security arrangement between cloud networks and organizations to commit fraud, steal sensitive financial data, or even launch ransomware attacks on local businesses.

In fact, there is a growing list of breaches like lost personally identifiable information (PII) and stolen credit card or banking information linked directly to cloud service providers (CSPs).

Why is Cybercrime a Growing Concern?

Researchers of Trend Micro found that popular providers like Amazon, Facebook, Google, Twitter, PayPal at some point or the other have faced the repercussions of data theft where terabytes of internal business data were up for sale on the dark web.

Cybercriminals usually sneak such data from the cloud logs where it is stored and sell them wherever profitable. The time it takes for these guys to perpetrate fraud and monetize profits has decreased from weeks to a few days or just hours.

Trend Micro further predicts that cybercrime will get even bigger; some even say it’s just beginning.

Cybercrime has reached epic proportions. According to the Kaspersky Lab, a single instance of ransomware demand (in which an attacker encrypts a computer or network and does not let go until a ransom is paid) can cost a business more than $713,000. Other associated costs can push the amount much higher. They generally include the cost of:

• Paying the ransom
• Cleaning up
• Restoring a backup
• Improving infrastructure
• Ensuring the network is functioning
• Repairing damage

Remember the ExPetya cyberattack that hit more than 12,000 machines in over 65 countries? Think of the downright profits criminals must have made!

Narrowing Down the Biggest Cloud Problem: Attack Vectors

Clearly, companies aren’t prepared for cyber threats, and they need to do something quickly. You need to understand exactly where your system could be at risk, and once you figure it out, you should know what you can do about it.

Multiple options to configure

Cloud computing offers many unique opportunities to deliver value to users, but it also requires an unusually high level of user competence. Different configuration mechanisms provide different levels of confidence, but they all rely on the decisions enterprises make.

When speaking of configuration, the devil is in the details. That is to say, from a few simple choices about things like storage and networking; a developer can see many problems caused by incompatibilities or invalid assumptions. Think of it like programming; it is easy to make mistakes that are almost impossible to recover from.

Attacks like Denial-of-Service (DoS)

Cybercriminals and “hacktivists” use cloud platforms for distributed denial of service attacks because they are very effective. The symmetrical nature of the cloud plays right into the hands of cybercriminals. They can rent their own botnet by using cloud computing services.

These criminals create viruses that turn the victim’s computer into part of a “botnet,” which is then rented for activities like attacking websites or sending spam. Botnets are also now available on-demand via underground forums. It means they can stop paying when they stop needing.

Lack of consistent scanning

One of the major downsides to cloud adoption at large is that it is difficult for a company to detect and orchestrate security around the new applications when they are introduced into their environment.

Since different departments are spinning up cloud applications, it is exhausting for a central management team to control what’s happening unless they have a unified line of communication. Businesses should regularly scan to ensure all data is encrypted and there isn’t any server that is accessible back doors.

Insecure interfaces and APIs

An insecure user interface (UI) or application program interface (API) is like an open door invitation for cyber attacks. Enterprises should prioritize security investments to build safe systems right from the start rather than bolted on later.

Whether it is a public cloud or a private cloud, your cyber security team must make efforts to maintain the flow of information sensibly and securely. These include parameters such as inventory management, testing, auditing, and abnormal activity protection. Businesses should also protect their API keys and avoid overusing them. In addition, they can also leverage open API frameworks like Open Cloud Computing.

Not adhering to policies

Security policies play a key role in making sure that cloud data remains reliable in a business. IT organizations must put in place a process for enforcing policies before being used to protect critical data.

It may often happen that the security team will want someone from the business to inform them about their next move. However, given that most organizations have a bunch of different account owners, it isn’t clear who to ask. On the other hand, the DevOps team may not want to do manual configuration or implementation. Besides, to pull up APIs, you must be logged in to your account.

Without the right policies and tools to monitor, track, and manage their applications and API usage, businesses cannot take full advantage of cloud benefits or protect themselves from risks like data leakage or compliance violations.

Cybercriminals to Make an Annual Profit of $10.5 Trillion by 2025

People often think of cybercrime in terms of the losses it causes, but what about its profits?

The cybercrime industry is a multi-billion-dollar business. And it’s only growing. Criminal hackers are shifting their focus from opportunistic, low-level attacks to big, high-value targets like governments and large corporations.

According to Cybersecurity Ventures, the damage is estimated to reach $6 trillion USD by 2021. If cybercrime were a country, it would be the third-largest economy in the world after the U.S. and China.

Cybercrime is inherently different from a traditional crime. These cybercriminals operate in groups or even organize themselves into syndicates, sharing information about the operation of their schemes to increase efficiency and reduce the chance of being caught.

The cybercrime economy is a dynamic market filled with disruptive start-ups. Cybercriminals are taking business models more seriously. They’re not “sewing” together spreadsheets of stolen credit cards. They’re building platforms that can compete with the legitimate economy. There’s more to the threat than you think.

Breaking Up the Trillion-Dollar Cybercrime Market

Even though cloud computing is transforming the way businesses operate, the risks are bigger than what you will be compensated for. The responsibility, therefore, lies on both cloud users and providers.

Some tips on how to become resilient and prevent the top threats in cloud computing are:

1. Secure APIs and restrict access

APIs are at the heart of cloud computing, so any developer worth their salt should know how to build them securely. This might mean restricting access across different networks or developing the API only at the edge of your infrastructure before letting it call other applications.

2. Ensure endpoint protection

Endpoint protection is similar to burglar alarms. Burglar alarms protect homes when they’re unoccupied because burglars can easily break in when no one’s there.

Similarly, endpoint security protects corporate networks that are remotely bridged to a host of business-critical devices. For example, mobile employees, employees who use laptops and tablets on the road, and customers who connect to corporate Wi-Fi.

3. Encryption is key

Cloud encryption allows you to create secret texts or ciphers that are stored on a cloud. Your business data is invaluable, which is why it is important to protect your information before it gets onto the cloud. Once encrypted at the edge, even if your data is stored with a third-party provider, all data-related requests will need to involve the owner.

This way, you maintain complete control over all your customers’ information and ensure it remains confidential and secure.

4. Use strong authentication

Weak password management is one of the most common ways to hack a cloud computing system. Thus, developers should implement stronger methods of authentication and strengthen identity management.

For example, you can establish multi-factor authentication where the user needs to produce a one-time password or use biometrics and hardware token to verify their identity at various touchpoints in the user journey.

5. Implement access management

Enable role-based access to control the scope of a user’s permissions. You can also restrict a user’s capabilities by assigning only the permissions that the user is allowed to have. This way you can ensure that your users can have their work environments exactly as you wish to set up for them.

6. Backup your data

With the increasing need for data security, organizations of all sizes are turning to data centers for backup services. Modern cloud data centers offer the whole package—unmatched protection, scalability, performance, and uptime.

Every company needs a business continuity plan to ensure that their systems are safe, even if the worse happens to them. When you have a secure data center environment to back up your data, you can keep your business up and running even in the event of a ransomware attack.

7. Educate your team

Your employees are your biggest security risk element. Therefore, make security training mandatory for anyone who works in your company. When employees are active participants in protecting assets, they’re fully aware of their responsibilities when it comes to protecting data.

You can also create an internal guidebook for your employees so they know the best course of action in case of identity theft. Another option is to create an actual response protocol. This way, if your employees ever feel they have been compromised, they will always be prepared.

The Bottom Line

Anonymity is a powerful tool, and the cloud has made it easier for cybercriminals to preserve anonymity by scattering networks over different servers.

The need for cyber security is greater than ever. Cybercrime is on the rise, and it has become more sophisticated and lucrative than ever before. In addition, as companies continue to migrate their operations to the cloud, criminals increasingly view the cloud as an attractive target for profit-making criminal and espionage operations. It’s time to fight back!

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Originally published at ReadWrite

The Rise of Profit-Focused Cybercrime on the Cloud - ReadWrite

The Rise of Profit-Focused Cybercrime on the Cloud. Cyber criminals are already exploiting this new security arrangement.

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Containers in the Cloud Next on Cybercriminals Radar

Over the past couple of years, containers have solved many complex issues related to the compatibility and portability of deployments. But that means they contain sensitive information that can attract the attention of cybercriminals.

Securing containers in the cloud should be a major priority for businesses to ensure a robust security environment to safeguard their crucial business information.

Digital transformation has offered endless possibilities for businesses to stay ahead of the curve by leveraging cutting-edge technologies. However, being digitally advanced doesn’t guarantee adequate security, especially in a business environment where enterprises are swiftly adopting cloud technologies.

According to a survey conducted by Statista in 2021, around 64% of respondents agreed that data loss/leakage is their biggest cloud security concern. Since more and more organizations worldwide are migrating workloads to the cloud, security concerns have become more pertinent. One major concern is the increasing risk of vulnerabilities in containers that serve as lightweight software packages containing entire runtime environments.

Securing containers in the cloud is the next step organizations should take to ensure a robust security environment and safeguard their crucial business information.

Why Containers are Vulnerable to Cyberattacks

Containers, like any other computing or software system, are made up of different interconnected components that link to other applications. These containers contain all the necessary elements to run in any environment, virtualize operating systems and run from any private data center or public cloud.

And like any other application or system, containers are vulnerable to several different types of cybersecurity threats since a defect in the overall security of these containers could allow an attacker to gain access and total control over the entire system.

Cybercriminals can leverage access to a container environment to move through you environment; exploit sensitive data and cause losses worth millions of dollars, not to mention the damage to your brand’s reputation. Businesses must detect and remediate different container vulnerabilities to mitigate cybersecurity
risks early.

Detecting Container Vulnerabilities

Enterprises leveraging containers usually follow a solid development pipeline process with planning,
coding, revision and building steps followed by rigorous testing, releases and deployments. At every phase, there’s an opportunity for the organization to detect and resolve any vulnerabilities that can create a loophole for attackers to exploit.

However, many organizations still stumble when trying to locate weaknesses in their
systems. They may consider traditional security tools or rely on conventional testing techniques that aren’t as effective in container environments. Instead, enterprises leveraging containers in the cloud should approach mitigating the risks differently.

Registry Scanning

A registry could be defined as the collection of repositories used to store container images that are
the templates used for deploying multiple instances of running containers. The registry is integral and commonplace; many vulnerability scanning tools can be configured to scan images contained inside a registry. Moreover, this method is widely used to identify container vulnerabilities since it’s a low-cost and high-value method for finding and fixing security issues. Registry scanning can help organizations quickly identify and fix the issues that can potentially reside in containers and any defective or old containers can be quickly identified and rectified.

Runtime Environment Scanning

One of the oldest and most reliable methods used to find vulnerabilities inside containers is to scan against a
running container to highlight defects. In this approach, any faulty image is replaced with a new one. This is perhaps the best way to detect and rectify rogue containers that aren’t appropriately deployed.

CI/CD Pipeline Scanning

Continuous development/continuous integration (CI/CD) pipelines are crucial phases of software product development in which developers develop the code, review it and test it. Several workflow automation tools, including GitLab, Bamboo and Jenkins, are widely used to build software modules, and make for the perfect place to perform security scanning.

In this phase, any issues can be quickly identified early and remediated at la ower cost than in the later, advanced stages of development or when the product is deployed. Enterprises can leverage several vulnerability management tools that offer a flawless integration with these workflow automation tools.

Container Security Best Practices

Enterprises thinking of incorporating strategies and products for managing container vulnerabilities must consider some fundamental principles to ensure adequate container security. These include:

● Building containers with minimum base images or using distro-less images from a trusted source.
● Adding stringent layers of security through robust security mechanisms like risk-based authentication (RBA).
● Choosing a vulnerability scanning tool that aligns with the organization’s processes, existing ecosystem and DevOps practices.
● Planning to implement vulnerability scanning at every phase of development.

By following these security best practices, enterprises can secure their containers and minimize
the chances of a data breach or an intrustion into their system.

Bottom Line

Container security shouldn’t be ignored by enterprises embarking on a digital transformation journey. Since containers are prone to different vulnerabilities, organizations must incorporate rigorous testing in different software development life cycle phases to scan and highlight these vulnerabilities. The best practices mentioned above could help organizations secure their containers in the cloud and mitigate the risk.

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Originally published at Container Journal

Containers in the Cloud Next on Cybercriminals’ Radar

Securing containers in the cloud can ensure a robust security environment and safeguard businesses’ crucial information.

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QR Codes Exploitation: How to Mitigate the Risk?

The COVID-19 pandemic has conveyed a strong message to leverage technology to its full potential, not just for convenience but to remain safe.

Although QR Codes are the new normal and help us follow COVID-19 safety regulations, bad actors of society exploit the vulnerabilities associated with this technology.

As per a survey, 18.8% of consumers in the US and UK strongly agreed with an increase in the use of QR Codes since the outbreak of COVID-19.

A recent research report on consumers revealed that 34% of respondents have zero privacy, security, financial, or other concerns while using QR Codes.

Since any kind of malware or phishing links in QR Codes pose significant security risks for both enterprises and consumers, stringent security measures should be considered to mitigate the risk.

Let’s learn how cyber-attackers exploit QR Codes and how businesses and users can mitigate the risk, especially in a world where contactless transactions are the new normal.

Cybersecurity Risks Associated with QR Codes

Since a QR Code cannot be deciphered by humans, many cases of QR Code manipulation have been reported across the globe, which increases the risk of using these Codes for processing payments.

Cybercriminals could easily embed any malicious or even phishing URL in the QR Code for exploiting consumer identity or even for monetary benefits.

The pixilated dots can be modified through numerous free tools that are widely available on the internet. These modified QR Codes look similar to an average user, but the malicious one redirects the user to another website or other payment portal.

Is there anything else attackers can do with QR Code tampering?

Yes, absolutely! Cybercriminals may also sneak into a user’s personal and confidential details, which can further be exploited.

Many businesses utilizing QR Codes have reported several instances of consumer data and privacy breaches over the past couple of years.b

Shockingly, the number of breaches has significantly surged in the uncertain times of the COVID-19 pandemic as more and more people have started using QR Codes in the new contactless era.

Here are some actions attackers can initiate by exploiting QR Codes:

1. Redirect a payment

One of the most common ways hackers exploit QR Codes is to send payments to their bank accounts automatically.

This trick works when the actual QR Code is replaced by the fraudsters in grocery stores or other areas where consumers scan the Code and pay.

On the other hand, individuals using online shopping websites may receive a phishing email containing a message that urgently requires your consent regarding your payment history on a shopping website.

They may ask you to pay for the product you purchased as your previous payment is canceled and ask you to scan a QR Code for the same.

Apart from this, many cyber-attackers cunningly replace the landing URL with the one that resembles the real one. The user may find the webpage authentic that builds trust, and the user processes the payment.

Users need to be aware of the altered QR Codes and carefully examine the preview link before clicking on it.

Checking for spelling errors or possible alterations in the domain that makes it resemble the original one can be very helpful in determining a cloned URL.

In addition to this, one should avoid scanning a QR Code embedded in an email from an unknown source to avoid being phished.

Email authentication protocols such  DMARC, DKIM, BIMI, and SPF records help add an extra protective layer to prevent phishing attacks and keep one’s domain reputation intact

2.  Reveal user’s PII

Another common way of exploiting QR Codes by attackers is to get their hands on a user’s personally identifiable information (PII).

These attackers can utilize the PII in multiple ways and for various personal benefits including, but not limited to financial benefits, online shopping, or other activities.

Once a user scans a QR Code available at any store or even on the internet, a malicious software program gets installed on the device, which quickly reveals sensitive information about the user.

Moreover, cases of duplicate contact tracing by cybercriminals have been reported in Australia, where hackers exploited consumers’ identities for monetary benefits.

According to ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission), more than 28 scams involving QR Codes have been reported with damages of over AU$100,000.

The most common attack through malicious software installed with an altered QR Code is intended to get personal details, including passport number, contact number, or even on-time-passwords for payment processing.

3. Reveal user’s current location

While the scope of exploiting QR Codes is enormous, many attackers keep an eye on a user’s real-time location.

Cybercriminals are continuously tracking some people who get attacked by malicious software installed on their device after scanning a QR Code for their numerous benefits.

Hackers may alter the original QR Code and link malicious software that automatically gets installed on a device as soon as someone opens the link after scanning the QR Code.

This software program can further access a device’s location, contact lists, or even data, which hackers exploit.

One may not even be aware of his/her location tracking, but cybercriminals may be continuously tracking his/her location and keeping an eye on its behavior.

How to Mitigate the Risk Associated with QR Exploit: A User’s Guide

Let’s quickly learn about the ways that can help you in ensuring adequate safety while using QR Codes:

1. Scan only from trusted entities

It’s crucial to stick to the QR codes shared by trusted vendors, and users shouldn’t just randomly scan any QR Code they come across. This ensures adequate safety from malicious and phishing attacks.

A user needs to check the website and security aspects, including the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate, before proceeding with a transaction on a website after scanning a QR Code.

Ensure that the QR Code is customized by including your brand’s logo, changing the shape of the eyes, patterns, and even including gradient and a CTA to make it difficult for hackers to duplicate the QR Code.

In addition, rename the domain to your brand name so users can easily identify the source of the QR Code to avoid being phished.

SSL certificate ensures secure connections and also provides secure transactions. However, if a website doesn’t contain the SSL certificate in the domain, one should be alert and verify the source before proceeding to payment or permission.

2. Use a QR Code scanner that first displays the link

Many people open the link just after they scan a QR Code without even checking the link. This can be pretty risky when it comes to privacy and security.

Most devices have an in-built QR scanner in their camera application, which is entirely secure, while others rely on third-party QR scanners.

It is best to use the in-built scanner (if available) and check the preview of the link. If you find anything suspicious regarding the link, it’s best to verify the source before opening it in your browser.

3. Pay close attention to details

Users need to pay close attention even to the small details while making payments or proceeding with transactions through a QR Code.

The best way is to utilize the same in a familiar and secure environment. Cybercriminals can easily replace some public QR Codes, including the fuel station or kiosks, and they may receive the benefits whenever a user pays by scanning the Code.

If you find something wrong with the QR Code or if it feels tampered with, it’s best to avoid using the same and find other modes of transactions to remain on the safe side.

4. Update your device’s security and overall defense system

Installing and regularly updating your device’s security software could help a lot in preventing a security breach.

However, QR Codes and the overall mechanism are considered secure, but your device’s first layer of defense shouldn’t be outdated.

Installing regular security updates would not only ensure you get maximum safety from malicious activity but you would be made aware immediately regarding any unnecessary or unauthorized access to your device’s data.

What Should Enterprises Do?

QR Codes help us establish a secure contactless payment option when it comes to the spread of the novel coronavirus.

But individuals and enterprises can put their best foot forward to minimize the risks associated with QR Code cybersecurity threats by ensuring adequate measures in place.

Here are some efficient ways to minimize the risks for consumers:

1. Using multi-factor authentication
2. Having a mobile defense system in place that blocks unauthorized downloads, phishing attempts, and repetitive login requests
3. Enabling risk-based authentication
4. Improve enterprise password security

Final Thoughts

With the rise in QR Code exploits, both the users and enterprises offering contactless payment options need to take crucial steps.

Users should be aware of the latest QR frauds that not only could lead to financial losses but eventually can cause a threat to an individual’s privacy and sensitive data.

On the other hand, enterprises must have best security practices in place that helps them secure sensitive information and prevent transaction frauds. Enterprises must design their websites keeping this in mind, and expert web development companies can help the implementation of a robust security architecture.

The aforementioned aspects can be quite helpful in minimizing the risks for individuals and organizations that are striving to protect consumer identities and data.

Adequate device security measures like mobile threat defense systems can also be a game-changer for mitigating security threats associated with QR Code exploits.

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Originally published at Beaconstac

QR Codes Exploitation: How to Mitigate the Risk?

With the rise in QR Code exploits, how can businesses and consumers decipher what a QR Code holds before scanning and mitigate the risks of a malicious QR Code? Find out how!

<img width="137" height="30" title="Beaconstac - A Proximity Marketing Company - Beacons | NFC | QR Codes" alt="Beaconstac - A Proximity Marketing Company - Beacons | NFC | QR Codes" style="max-width: 137px;" data-src="https://blog.beaconstac.com/wp-content/themes/beaconstac/img/beaconstac-registered-blue.svg" class="lazyload" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw=="><noscript><img width="137" height="30" title="Beaconstac - A Proximity Marketing Company - Beacons | NFC | QR Codes" alt="Beaconstac - A Proximity Marketing Company - Beacons | NFC | QR Codes" style="max-width: 137px;" data-src="https://blog.beaconstac.com/wp-content/themes/beaconstac/img/beaconstac-registered-blue.svg" class="lazyload" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw=="><noscript><img width="137" height="30" src="https://blog.beaconstac.com/wp-content/themes/beaconstac/img/beaconstac-registered-blue.svg" title="Beaconstac - A Proximity Marketing Company - Beacons | NFC | QR Codes" alt="Beaconstac - A Proximity Marketing Company - Beacons | NFC | QR Codes" style="max-width: 137px;"> | BLOGDeepak Gupta

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