When hackers launched a cyberattack earlier this month, they crippled some of the internet’s most popular sites, including Twitter, Netflix, Spotify and PayPal. Though the incident made headlines nationwide, a Baton Rouge-based cybersecurity expert says it was just the latest of several recent cyberattacks that used everyday devices like baby monitors, smart home appliances, and exercise apps—collectively called the “internet of things”—to infect its targets.
“The vector they used was these devices that exist throughout our infrastructure and everyday lives,” says John Zachary, who worked for clients like the Department of Defense before relocating to his native Baton Rouge and founding Threat Trace earlier this year in the Louisiana Technology Park. “Most people don’t have an appreciation for the fact that these things are all connected to the internet and can be exploited.”
As the recent attack demonstrated, both businesses and individuals are at risk, and the costs are huge. Cyberattacks increased 38% in 2015, costing companies worldwide somewhere between $400 billion and $750 billion.
Zachary created Threat Trace to help protect companies against such attacks. Specifically, his firm is developing network monitoring and network intelligence software for the industrial controls and health care sectors, both of which are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks, he says.
“I can look at your network over time and tell what types of devices are on your network, who they’re talking to, what types of data they’re transferring and what types of vulnerabilities they have,” he says.
While midsized and large companies are particularly vulnerable because their systems contain and control so much data, small businesses and mom-and-pop operations are also at risk—and often don’t even realize it. Zachary says there are several simple protective measures small businesses and individuals can take to help guard against cyberattacks, including:
- When you bring a new device into your home or office, change the default password and continue to change it often.
- Lock down your Wi-Fi router and make it undiscoverable so random users—including potential hackers—can’t jump on.
- Update your systems—computers, smart TVs, smart phones—whenever software updates are available. It’s easier for hackers to exploit older versions of software than new ones.
- Don’t open attachments or click on links in suspicious emails.
“That’s 80% of the solution,” Zachary says. “If you get an email with a link that says ‘click here,’ don’t do it.”
—Stephanie Riegel
