As companies increasingly utilize the Internet for business communications, the security of online accounts have come under scrutiny. Malicious actors interested in obtaining sensitive information are going after these accounts more frequently, bringing into question the reliability of email and other online communication tools.
For example, researchers at Hold Security announced last week that a group of Russian hackers may have perpetrated the largest known data breach of all time. The cybercriminals were able to collect 1.2 billion unique passwords and usernames from 420,000 Web and FTP sites, as well as 500 million email addresses. A breach of this size means that almost every adult with an email account was affected, according to CNET.
"Whether you are a computer expert or a technophobe, as long as your data is somewhere on the World Wide Web, you may be affected by this breach," Hold Security said in a blog post. "Your data has not necessarily been stolen from you directly. It could have been stolen from the service or goods providers to whom you entrust your personal information, from your employers, even from your friends and family."
The network of hackers targeted websites of all sizes to steal the credentials, from those of big name companies to small mom-and-pop stores. The group, dubbed CyberVor by the researchers, have since used the information to distribute spam messages with malicious links through email and social media accounts. Mark James, a security specialist with ESET, told IT Pro that the only real way to combat the problem of stolen credentials is by encouraging websites to use site-specific login names instead of email addresses that are used across multiple platforms.
Find added security with FoIP
As the theft of login information becomes more prevalent, a reliable alternative to business communication is fax-over-IP. Secure FoIP services use specific fax numbers and encryption techniques to send messages, dramatically increasing security and privacy. When a document is sent with a FoIP service provider like FaxCore, its contents are encrypted and stored on an organization's dedicated server. From there, the message is sent to the specified recipient who has the code that will decrypt the message. Faxes stored on a FoIP server remain in the cloud as long as a company chooses, creating a secure, searchable database that can be accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection.
Enhance enterprise communication, collaboration and compliance efforts with a proven FoIP solution from FaxCore. Contact FaxCore today to learn more about their 'Partly-Cloudy' fax solutions.
