Cyber security: not just for the tech-hearted

IN TODAY'S Information Age, where data is transmitted and consumed with the help of technology at breakneck speed, IT security threats are expanding and evolving at an unprecedented rate.

We have seen high-profile attacks on multinational companies like Target and Sony Pictures, where computer systems were disabled, business and personal data stolen and exposed to the public. In August this year, data from millions of users of Ashley Madison (an adult dating website that facilitates discreet extramarital affairs) was published as a result of a cyber attack.

Closer to home, in September 2014, hackers breached the membership database of local karaoke company K Box, threatening to expose personal information such as identification card and mobile phone numbers of more than 317,000 K Box members. Before that, in 2013, James Raj Arokiasamy performed a series of seven high-profile cyber attacks, hacking into Web servers of Fuji Xerox, The Straits Times blogs, the PAP Community Foundation, and the Ang Mo Kio Town Council. The Fuji Xerox attack compromised confidential data of 650 Standard Chartered clients. The affected organisations spent S$1.36 million to repair their computer systems. Raj was sentenced to five years in jail in January this year.