Cyber Criminals a Threat to Affiliates
Thousands of online businesses are at risk of becoming collateral damage in cyber attacks conducted by the notorious Elderwood Group. That’s one of the conclusions of a comprehensive study of the group’s activities by Symantec.
Synamtec’s report, titled The Elderwood Operation, details a very sophisticated campaign of cyber crime aimed at the finance, energy, education and government sectors that drags innocent webmasters along for the ride.
The Watering Hole
Affiliate partners should be particularly interested in learning about the group’s Watering Hole technique. This remarkably sophisticated technique hacks websites frequent by the group’s targeted victims, a government worker for example, rather than the victim’s primary site.
Elderwood hackers then access their victims’ personal data when they visit the secondary site. It’s a very complicated method that suggests the gang is well funded and may have be working for an international government.
What it Means for Affiliates
This report highlights the importance of implementing good security measure on your sites, no matter what business you’re involved in. Affiliates could easily have large numbers of customers in the targeted industries and not even realize it.
The Elderwood gang is likely just the tip of the iceberg in the growing legion of cyber criminals. So take security precautions now, before you’re targeted.
Are you worried about these types of attacks on your sites? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Tags: Affiliates, Data, Software
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It is a fascinating and utterly scaring idea that one or more governments is preparing and using cyber attacks to push their agenda. It’s one more reason we should keep up to date on our software systems. Nothing can prevent a motivated person, but we don’t have to make it easy for them.