Data breaches changing face of online security

With the amount of online security threats increasing worldwide, the market for defense solutions is also on the rise. A recent Wall Street Daily report by Matthew Weinschenk highlighted how this development will reshape businesses and their growing profits.

The writer cited a study conducted by research firm Gartner that indicated the global security solutions industry is projected to grow by more than $7 billion in four years. Some key drivers associated with the market increase include redesigning old IT infrastructures, as well as the use of cloud computing technology.

According to Weinschenk, cyber breaches, including phishing incidents, used to target a wide range of information.

"Appropriately titled 'phishing,' the old cyber attack would blast out emails that appeared to be a bank requesting login information," he wrote. "Out of millions of emails, a few non-savvy users were duped and the cyber criminals would sell this information - mostly credit card numbers or other valuable pieces of data - to people who would then exploit it."

The reporter added that modern attacks include advanced persistent threats, which obtain information through a variety of methods and can remain undetected for an extended period of time. One example is the Stuxnet virus that penetrated all computers it targeted regarding the Iranian nuclear program.

Other breaches included Sony's PlayStation Network, in which hackers were able to obtain 77 million credit card numbers and expiration dates. As a result of the vulnerabilities, the company lost nearly $1.3 billion in business, according to the Wall Street Daily writer.

"These cases illustrate that the rise of ... advanced persistent threats means a major shift in the business of cyber security," Weinschenk wrote. "Instead of merely needing a minimum level of security to prevent being an easy target - which is how it used to be - companies with valuable data now need to prepare for every possible contingency."

Market research firm IDC announced last month that the global predictive security market is expected to grow significantly through 2014. In fact, according to a study, the industry is projected to increase from $198 million in 2009 to more than $900 million by 2014.

IDC also said that cyber attacks last a short period of time, often taking between a few seconds to several hours to complete, which makes them difficult to identify.