Traditional hacking is no longer as big a problem as in the past, due mainly to current technology which can counter it.
A different type of hacking, however, in the form of "social engineering" (which includes attacks such as phishing), is on the rise.
This is the view of Naveed Moeed, RSA Security technical consultant for the Middle East and Africa region, who spoke to ITWeb while on a recent visit to SA.
Banks and financial institutions, some of which have recently been the targets of phishing attacks, are constantly facing the threat of fraud, he said.
Phishing, he argued, is difficult to combat due to its innocuous nature, and takes advantage of users` perceptions that they are acting correctly by submitting information to an "authentic" online banking site, for instance.
"It is becoming widely accepted that [banks and insurance companies] have to take responsibility for security - it cannot be left up to the users," Moeed stated.
With only four or five personal details, hackers are able to create a limited set of passwords, Moeed maintains, highlighting that about 80% of a Jordanian bank`s online clients were affected after completing a bogus survey.
Two-factor authentication counteracts such situations and creates a secure online environment by validating the identity of a user by requiring a personal identification number, as well as a token code before granting access to a network, he said. This limits vulnerabilities associated with easily compromised passwords.
The company recently launched its two-factor authentication solution, the RSA SecurID Appliance, aimed at the small and medium enterprise space.
The appliance is an integrated, rack-mountable product, suited to environments with 25 to 400 users, to protect networks, servers and operating environments, he said.
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