Hacker’s Take Aim On Schools and Small Businesses

In the fall of 2009, school districts in Colorado, Illinois, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania all reported hack thefts of tens of thousands of dollars.

The threat continues: On January 5, 2010, the Duanesburg, New York Central School District disclosed an attempted theft of $3.8 million, about a quarter of the district's operating budget.

Local school districts across the United States have emerged as a prime target for cybercriminals. These crimes have been driven by malicious software infecting central office computers which hold the district's banking details. These details were used by cybercriminals to access the district's online bank account and illegally transfer money out of the account to money-mules, who subsequently transfer the funds to the criminal ringleaders.

There are many soft-target characteristics of school districts and similar organizations including local governments, not-for-profit-organizations, and small businesses that make them attractive to cybercriminals.

Experts admit that there is a desperate need for much stronger "Default Deny" PC endpoint security to be deployed by organizations that appear to be soft targets. Security experts say hackers are turning away from stiff defenses of banks and large enterprises and turning toward small businesses and schools.

According to the latest figures one-fifth of small businesses don't use antivirus software. And 60 percent don't use encryption on wireless links, with 66 percent of small businesses having no security plan in place. Keeping these numbers in mind, it's no surprise that hackers see small businesses and schools as easy targets.

Do you think this will force more school districts and small business to take the needed actions to protect their own interest?