Cybersecurity for Executives: A Practical Guide

9.0WHAT TO DO WHENYOU GET HACKED

Computer hacking really results in financial losses and hassles.¹

Kevin Mitnick

The World's Most Wanted Hacker

9.1 HACKERS ALREADY HAVE YOU UNDER SURVEILLANCE

You will get hacked. Sooner or later, one way or another, someone will penetrate your defenses and gain access to your network and potentially to your most sensitive information. It may be a traditional hacker, who seeks a trophy by breaching your defenses and emerging with your valued code to show off to their buddies. It may be a hired-gun hacker, that is, someone who is paid by a competitor or adversary to penetrate your defenses to steal your information or damage your ability to compete in the marketplace. It may be a nation state that is gathering intelligence by seeking access to your intellectual property or trade secrets to give them an advantage. It may even be one of your own employees, acting deliberately or accidentally to circumvent your security systems with the resulting unauthorized exposure, tampering, or destruction of your vital information. The threat is real and you face it right now.

Hackers are an enemy. They engage in criminal activity. They will seek as much information about you as they can before they even attempt to attack you. They have a game plan when they seek to breach your defenses, and it is important that you know as much about their plan so that you can best posture your organization to defend against it, to detect them when they try to execute ...