Why Hacking Is An Integral Part Of The Future Of The Internet

As I write this article, a group calling themselves The Phantom Squad have declared that they intend to take down both the Xbox Live and Playstation PSN networks on Christmas Day, and sustain the attack for a week. They claim its to expose the continued lack of security from Microsoft and Sony, the former who was hit this time last year by another group called Lizard Squad. Of course, this will be a major disruption to consumers globally who have purchased a new console for the festive season but as the well known activist group Anonymous succinctly put it, "...if you worry about not being able to play games on Christmas you need to re-evaluate priorities."

A hacker is someone who seeks and exploits weaknesses in a computer system or computer network. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, such as profit, protest, challenge, enjoyment, or to evaluate those weaknesses to assist in removing them. - Wikipedia

Given the focus on the ever increasing deluge of data being generated by consumers and devices, and the exponential information potential touted by trends such as the Internet Of Things, cybersecurity and data protection is becoming more paramount. But every year the data breaches get larger, more sophisticated and ever more costlier. According to a joint study by IBM and Ponemon conducted this year, the average cost paid for each lost or stolen record containing sensitive and confidential information increased 6 percent, jumping from $145 in 2014 to $154 in 2015. The lowest cost per lost or stolen record is in the transportation industry, at $121, and the public sector, at $68. On the other hand, the retail industry’s average cost increased dramatically, from $105 last year to $165. Consider the latest hacks that have hit the headlines so far: Ashley Madison breach hit 37m users Malware installed on over 2,000 cash registers hit over 56m customers at Home Depot The European Central Bank had its website hacked, with personal information including email addresses and contact data stolen Kirkwood Community College’s website was hacked this year, exposing 125,000 social security numbers of applicants over an 8 year period Not all threats are from the outside