Cyberattacks seen getting more sophisticated

Hackers expected to raise their game; cloud computing, Big Data, data analytics and the Internet of Things also poised to grow

Published Mon, Dec 29, 2014 · 09:50 PM

Technology

Singapore

THE year-end is when people unwind from the stress of the year and recharge themselves for the year ahead. But for thousands of people - purported users of popular web services including Amazon, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network - the Christmas season brought stress: some 13,000 of their passwords, usernames and credit card details were released in the aftermath of a hacking attack on the online gaming sites of PlayStation and Xbox.

In a statement posted on Twitter, the hackers group said they "did it for the lulz". Lulz is a popular slang expression for general amusement.

This cyber attack was just the latest; on Nov 24, Sony Pictures Entertainment was hit by a data-wiping virus that not only stole confidential information from its servers, but also damaged several computers beyond repair. The Sony hack was widely reported, but the one against the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Company (KHNP), South Korea's top nuclear power-generation company, was a lot less so. Like the Sony one, this attack resulted in leaks of internal data. A variety of social-engineering …