How can you protect yourself from a cyber-attack? Think like a criminal

Not so long ago, Mazars tricked their way into the head office of a High Street retailer. Tailgating workers through two security doors, the team set up to work on vacant desks, as if they were employees, and spent the day collecting computer passwords and intellectual property, including materials relating to new services and products.

Fortunately for the retailer, the Mazars staff were cyber security experts engaged in a “red team” commission to see if they could hack into a client’s systems. The commission was designed to see if they could obtain intellectual property, customer details and credit card information without detection. They achieved all their objectives, revealing evident weaknesses in the retailer’s security measures.

The success of the Mazars red team in breaching the retailer’s systems may seem shocking, but “ethical hackers”—those employed to test computer networks—succeed in breaching security more often than business leaders might expect.

This is an excerpt. Continue reading on mazars.co.uk.