Birmingham City University's (BCU) Deputy Head of the College of Computing and Cybersecurity expert, Dr Junaid Arshad, has explained how stolen personal information, including contact details and dates of birth, may increase the risk of serious threats in the future.
After being hit by a cyber-attack three weeks ago, the Marks and Spencer has suggested that personal information of customers may have been accessed, however useable payment or card details and account passwords remain secure. M&S’s online service is still currently suspended.
“The attack and new details around this a very concerning indeed, particularly as personal data appears to have been compromised", said Dr Junaid Arshad.
“M&S boasts a massive customer base of over 9 million people, however the proportion of the customers affected by this attack remains undisclosed. As a result, impacted customers may be more susceptible to Identity Theft, Phishing emails, and different forms of social engineering attacks that take advantage of personal data to build trust with victims.
“The data involved may seem harmless, however adversaries can use these simple data items like your date of birth to craft much more sophisticated measures, which can cause significant harm. Customers should keep a close eye on their financial profiles for anything unusual, and be extra wary of suspect emails and messages, even if they include references to your personal information.”
Dr. Junaid Arshad has 14 years of research experience and expertise in investigating and addressing cybersecurity challenges for diverse computing paradigms such as Grid computing, Cloud computing, IoT, and blockchain. He is actively engaged in cutting-edge R&D distributed ledger technologies including blockchains, Tangle and Hashgraphs, investigating novel challenges to improve state of the art for such technologies as well as their use to solve real-world challenges.
