Nearly three months after one of Connecticut’s largest health insurers, Anthem, announced that the company’s IT systems were hacked in a major data breach, state Senators Marilyn Moore, Martin M. Looney (New Haven), Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) and Joan Hartley (D-Waterbury) visited PCNet, a Trumbull-based provider of IT services to discuss the issue of cybersecurity in more detail.
PCNet helps enterprises and mid-sized businesses manage their mission-critical IT systems, while also providing disaster recovery and cybersecurity.
“Eighty million people had their private information compromised in the Anthem breach placing them at risk of identity theft,” said Sen. Moore. “We know that with the acceleration of advanced technology no one’s personal information is going to be safe all the time. However, if we can get in front of the issue and address these things before they happen, we can protect consumers.”
“We wanted to invite the Senators to our facility to share our ideas regarding the significant threat of cybercrime,” said Thad Eidman, PCNet’s Vice President of Business Development. “Due to the Anthem breach, we wanted to highlight some of the services we offer and answer any questions the Senators may have regarding cybersecurity.”
Cybercrime is a big business. The value of a black market identity-theft kit ranges anywhere from $200-$1,000, this includes a person’s social security number and income information. Anthem records hacked into back in February are valued at $1.6-$1.8 billion. This information is often purchased by governments, companies, and large organizations.
“Mobile devices will significantly increase the probability of successful cyber-attacks,” said Sean McCloat, Director of Technical Services at PCNet. “Once you have a person’s identification and credentials, encryption is of no use.”
Today’s hackers define their target, research that target, obtain that target’s credentials and then extract the targets data, according to the company. To protect their customers data, PCNet uses a method called “sand-boxing”, which consists of: antispam, web filtering, intrusion prevention, antivirus Software and App control/reputation.
“To counteract a cybersecurity breach it is important to prevent, detect and mitigate the problem when and if it happens,” said Kit Somal, PCNet’s Chief Operating Officer.
“It is my hope that this discussion will be the catalyst for a more in depth look concerning cybersecurity and protecting the residents of Connecticut,” said Sen. Moore.