New breaches show every organization is potentially at risk and why file integrity monitoring would have helped

Three new breaches reported this week show that the cyber security threat is relentlessly punishing organizations with security weaknesses, but what should other organizations do to prevent themselves falling victim to similar breaches?

Georgia-based parking operator Park ‘N Fly (PNF) is notifying customers that they have “become aware of a security compromise involving payment card data processed through its e-commerce website”.

PNF’s statement regarding the breach reports that “the security of some data from certain payment cards that were used to make reservations through PNF's e-commerce website is at risk”

Meanwhile, Texas-based hotel management company Presidian has announced that “malicious software” was found on three point-of-sale (POS) terminals used at food and beverage outlets in the Visalia Marriott at the Convention Center, California between July and September. They specify that credit/debit card information may have been compromised.

And finally, Massachusetts-based automotive parts seller ID Parts, IDParts.com, is notifying approximately 12,000 individuals of a payment card breach.

Details posted on the New Hampshire Department of Justice website state that “malicious code was inserted into the functions that process customer payment information on the ID Parts website, and their credit card information was stolen”.

Their investigation suggests that the website was hacked in January 2014 and remained active until the discovery in October 2014.

The Case for File Integrity Monitoring - In each case, there are two key factors – one, that systems were breached and malware used to steal customer payment card data, and two, that the breach went undetected for months.

In the case of ID Parts, it was American Express who identified the breach through fraudulent card transactions, while for Presidian Hotels & Resorts, it was only when a POS system functional problem was investigated that the breach was discovered.

The case for PCI DSS, file integrity monitoring has never been stronger. System hardening assessments using file integrity monitoring technology would ensure that exploitable vulnerabilities were mitigated, rendering systems inherently more ‘hack proof’. Comprehensive, consensus-derived secure configuration checklists from CIS can be automated using FIM.

Thereafter, even with good hardening measures in place, firewalling and anti-virus, zero-day malware, and vulnerabilities may yet allow a hack to be perpetrated. Again, system integrity checks using file integrity monitoring best practices would reveal breach activity such as new or changed system files, new services, processes, and registry changes.

See more on file integrity monitoring here.

For more details of the ParknFly breach

For more details of the Presidian Marriott Hotel breach

For more details of IDParts.com breach