With cyberattacks about the increase, there are measures which companies, network operators and individuals can take to protect themselves.
Cybersecurity measures capable of thwarting ransomware strikes on infrastructure, like the current Colonial Pipeline emergency, are broadly available to companies considering securing their networks.
"Our technology provides you 100% protection against anything getting back in through into the community. It's physically impossible to do this. And that is this is why so many clients are using our platform in such sensitive and critical facilities and in infrastructure"
The company is named for the geographic quality that flows only one way -- making it impossible for malware to penetrate its customers, Frenkel said.
"Water can't go up the waterfall -- provided there's a physical barrier, which is exactly what we do," he explained.
So engineers in a Dallas office may receive live data reports from a plant in Louisiana, but that plant would continue to be immune to efforts to send malignant information into its computers from the exterior, so long as they were protected by Waterfall or among its competitors.
But that type of technology is merely incompatible with the majority of consumer devices, according to Kim Komando, that hosts a radio show focused on cybersecurity and consumer protection.
"All these are industrial systems since they work on a closed platform," she told FOX Company Thursday. "For consumers, nearly all of their devices need updates from the exterior or they send data into cloud dashboards. Limiting its one-way traffic generally doesn't get the job done "
And basically any customer product linked to the Internet could be a potential hack target. On top of that, high-powered hacking tools developed by authorities around the globe have leaked into hackers' hands, and the rise of cryptocurrencies makes repayments more difficult to follow across international borders, raising the profit motive for criminals, according to Frenkel.
"The big security risk with smart homes is that they can change preferences, open garage doors, turn off the alarm, turn off cameras, whatever it can be," she explained. "With cars, it's been shown they are hackable and that you can send commands to your car to stop or to go faster."
What more info could a hacker get out of your smart-fridge should they already broke into your cellphone?
Hackers could also use an unsecure appliance to break into a home's network and steal more useful information -- like your Venmo data, according to Komando.
The extent of the risk, Frenkel mentioned, depends upon how device-dependent someone chooses to be.
Nonetheless, there are measures users can take to mitigate their vulnerability, the specialists say.
"The big problem is the Internet of Things," Komando said, employing a term to explain web-enabled devices collectively.
"All of these connected devices come with default passwords, and the default passwords are all easily on the world wide web," she explained. "Whether it is a camera, a doorbell, a smart Crockpot, whatever it may be, consumers have to focus on security, and they must be certain they take the extra steps to prepare the security on whatever the apparatus may be."
There's a search engine, called Shodan, designed only to search for these devices. And its most popular petition Thursday evening was the term"webcam."
Which could be why Frenkel noted consumers can also take low-tech security steps to protect themselves and their families, like having a smartphone case that covers the camera when not in use.
Komando also recommends deleting accounts on sites you no longer visit, seeing for possible scams, and carefully guarding your personal information.
