jenny-obrien

I'm a former business journalist who's fascinated by the intersection of tech and business strategy — in particular how the right solution can transform an idea into reality. I specialize in ROI, data privacy, and identity.

Business Content Manager

Jenny O'Brien

Japan’s public cloud spend is expected to reach $5.8 billion by the end of 2018, but cyberattacks are on the rise. Auth0 authentication can help.



## Rising Cyber Attacks Push Need for Stronger Defense

Shedding legacy systems through digital transformation is increasing the global spend on public cloud services, according to a recent [IDC forecast](https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS43511618). By the end of 2018, worldwide spending on public cloud is expected to reach $160 billion — a 23.2% increase over 2017. While the United States is still spending the bulk of those billions, Japan’s rapidly growing market is expected to contribute at least $5.8 billion to that spend.

With increased reliance on cloud services, comes an increased awareness of the potential for cyberattacks, especially since Japan’s government cloud faces consistent attacks. On April 3, Japan’s [National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity](https://www.nisc.go.jp/eng/) warned that official email addresses for about 2,000 government officials had been leaked, reports the [Japan News](http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0004351856), noting that each year, government agencies face more than one million attacks.

“Without the right protections,” says Auth0 CISO Joan Pepin, “government cloud can be at least as vulnerable as public cloud. Authentication — making sure that users are who they claim to be — is a foundational security control.”

Certain industries, like the discrete manufacturing, manufacturing, and professional services industries that will take up to 43% of Japan’s spend, are turning to IoT to increase their capabilities, according to IDC. While these devices offer rapid, non-touch action as well as the collection of massive amounts of data, they also open organizations to various vulnerabilities, since the [IoT industry lacks a consistent set of standards and protocols](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/secure-by-design).

More than [20 billion connected devices](https://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3598917) are expected to be online globally by 2021, according to Gartner, bringing with them the potential for [geometrically increasing risk](https://auth0.com/blog/security-risk-20-plus-billion-iot-devices-by-2020/). These vulnerabilities are easily exploited by hackers — [botnet controllers increased by 140% in 2017](https://www.darkreading.com/perimeter/iot-botnets-by-the-numbers/d/d-id/1330924).

<include src="TweetQuote" quoteText="“Without the right protections,” says Auth0's @CloudCISO_Joan, “government cloud can be at least as vulnerable as public cloud. Authentication — making sure that users are who they claim to be — is a foundational security control.”"/>

Given all the cybersecurity risks, Japan, [like several other governments around the globe](https://auth0.com/blog/gdpr-effect/), took significant steps to protect personal data when the [Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI)](https://iapp.org/news/a/matchup-gdpr-and-japans-act-on-the-protection-of-personal-information/) came into force last May. Although focused on data protection and privacy like the EU’s GDPR, APPI focuses on protecting the rights of individuals and extends protections to include personal identifier codes, and aggregated information in the "business operator’s" database. The EU and Japan are currently in discussions regarding mutual "whitelisting."

Based on these regulations and stricter policies around data management in the region, the need for enterprises in Japan to prioritize identity management is undeniable. We addressed this demand by establishing a formal Auth0 presence in Tokyo last year, and launching our [website in Japanese](https://auth0.com/blog/auth0-japanese-localization/): [https://auth0.com/jp](https://auth0.com/jp), and are continuing to dedicate significant resources to this region. Auth0 is uniquely suited to address the challenges of Japan-based and global companies looking to expand in this growing market. If you’re based in Japan and would like to learn more about how Auth0 can create a first line of seamless and secure defense, please reach out to [yuichiro.kuwano@auth0.com](mailto:yuichiro.kuwano@auth0.com).

<include src="TweetQuote" quoteText="Auth0’s authentication can help protect industries like discrete manufacturing, manufacturing, and professional services expected to take up to 43% of Japan’s $5.8B public cloud spend spend in 2018."/>


Japan's Digital Transformation Driving Public Cloud Spend

1097492785caf9ffeebffeb624202d8f?s=200 avatar

1097492785caf9ffeebffeb624202d8f?s=200

Prosper is a great speaker, community leader, open source hacker, technical consultant, and a fervent Developer Advocate. He is a full-stack software engineer who has worked on biometric, health and developer tools. Prosper recently co-founded a startup called Eden that’s focused on improving the quality of lives in Nigeria and currently leads the engineering team. He also co-founded forloop, the largest developer community in Africa.

Former Auth0 Employee

Prosper Otemuyiwa

Learn these six tips that will help you shop online safely on Cyber Monday



---

Technology has made it very easy for people to purchase goods and services from the comfort of their homes. **Cyber Monday** is approaching, and a lot of people will be online watching the prices of their favorite items fall, ready to purchase them when the price drops far enough. Billions of dollars will be spent online during this popular *end-of-the-year sales* event. It's well known that a lot of online transactions happen during the months of October, November, and December. Unfortunately, a lot of fraudulent online activities happen during this time as well. Cyber criminals are most active during holidays, and a lot of online shoppers are negligent about cyber security threats. These kind of users make easy targets for hackers and cyber-criminals.

---

How do you stay safe while shopping online? I'll expatiate on six tips that can help you shop safely online on **Cyber Monday.**

## 1. Ensure that the site is secure by looking for https in the URL

Once you visit a website, ensure that the site has Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption installed. The website will start with **https://** and a locked padlock will also be present in the address bar, near the URL. Don't attempt to buy anything with your credit/debit card on a website that has no SSL installed.

![Visit Secure Sites on CyberMonday](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/7wJqzJ0zgyqqCbHlvqpjdw/cfb8474d9a636d4c621c4c78ec5ea306/Unsecure-Sites)
_Make sure you shop on secure sites_

## 2. Avoid using weak passwords

Hackers maintain a list of commonly used passwords that are deployed via bots to try on various websites at a time. Using a weak password increases the risk that your credentials could be randomly generated in those lists. If you currently have a weak password on the sites you shop with regularly, it's time to change to a very [strong](https://auth0.com/docs/connections/database/password-strength) password. Here are some tips to help you create a secure password:

* Use a long password, including at least 10 characters with a combination of numbers, symbols, and upper and lowercase letters.
* Avoid using common information such as your name, Social Security number, nickname, and so on.

![Avoid Weak Passwords on CyberMonday](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/66bqIfE5R43vV3m91EWTyu/fb2cf7ea0f3dbd6fa20210f2b2808675/Weak-Password)

## 3. Look out for fake and forged Sites

During this shopping period, cyber criminals go to great lengths to replicate popular websites. Users can then get tricked into providing sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, Social Security numbers, and credit card details on fake versions of popular sites, thinking that they are logged into the real site.

Here are some tips to ensure that you don't log into a forged site:

* Look out for the encryption symbol, *padlock*, in the URL. Verify that the site is secure by ensuring that the URL starts with **https://** instead of **http**.
* Look out for typos in the site name and URL.
* Look out for fake ads and emails.
* Use anti-phishing software, such as **Kapersky** or **Avast**.

![Avoid Phishing Sites](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/6oUZ40jndT2KjmMQ7mkefW/9193a67ac6cbfb154870a6748cb7c8a5/Phishing)

## 4. Try as much as possible to shop with trusted brands

There are various shopping websites that have earned a strong reputation over time. I advise that you shop on those websites that are globally recognized as trusted brands. These brands have experienced **Cyber Monday** events various times and have improved their **tech** to provide very robust security measures to handle the numerous online shoppers who will log into their platform.

**Note:** A lot of cyber criminals try to play on this mentality by creating fake versions of these popular websites. As I highlighted earlier in this post, look out for forged sites!

![Trusted Brands](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/3O24gNN6nMGCFd9I4cbR0r/a5cf94640d5397ea61304c5a51c7d518/brand-logos_various)
_Source: https://thebrandthattimeforgot.files.wordpress.com_

## 5. Look out for malware and ad scams

During this season, social network scams and malware are on the increase. Lots of fake deals exist on the Internet. These fake deals, when clicked, direct you to fake sites and trick you to download, in some cases, antivirus software or software that can make you claim hot deals. In most cases, this software is malware that can steal information from your computer when installed.

Here are some tips to ensure that you are not a victim of these scams:

* Ensure that you have an up-to-date antivirus program installed on your computer.
* Ensure that your computer's operating system is up to date.
* Don't open URLs that seem suspicious.

![Social Media Scams](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/1Dn4eRjA3sFSvrr64Hekol/02f6904560f0275fd0892df905c54008/Screen-Shot-2015-08-10-at-9)
_Source: http://adabouts.com_

You might see various ads that say **Claim this..** or **Claim that..** like the one below:

![Phishing Ad Banners](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/5b7bSb5ZzzBFfWIEeXXgye/eca254c9097f11fe86e47d1bfeb9a8c7/Malware-2)
_Scam Ads_

## 6. Avoid deals that are too good to be true

Humans, by nature, are said to be driven by greed, so cyber attackers prey on users with this mindset by tricking users with incredible deals. During this season, various deals appear on social media that are just too good to be true. There is a popular [twelve scams of Christmas list](http://www.mcafee.com/us/about/news/2011/q4/20111109-01.aspx) compiled by McAfee. This list contains the popular examples of *too good to be true* deals. Try as much as possible to avoid deals like this!

## Aside: Stay Secure with Auth0

As a developer, you can use [Auth0 Lock](https://auth0.com/docs/libraries/lock) to authenticate your users. The lock widget uses **https** to ensure that users' information is transmitted securely.

You can also use Auth0's [Breached Password Detection](https://auth0.com/breached-passwords/) feature to ensure your users are protected from compromised credentials.

Futhermore, you can define **password policies** to customize the level of complexity of the passwords a user enters during sign-ups. Auth0 offers five levels of security matching the [OWASP password recommendations](https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Authentication_Cheat_Sheet#Implement_Proper_Password_Strength_Controls):

- **None (default)**: The password must exist and be at least one character long.
- **Low**: The password must be at least six characters long.
- **Fair**: The password must be at least eight characters long and must contain a lower case letter, an upper case letter, and a number.
- **Good**: The password must be at least eight characters long and must contain at least three of the following four characters: a lower case letter, an upper case letter, a number, or a special character (e.g. !@#$%^&*)
- **Excellent**: The password must be at least 10 characters long. It must contain no more than two identical characters in a row (e.g., "aaa" is not allowed). It must contain at least three of the following four types of characters: a lower case letter, an upper case letter, a number, and a special character (e.g. !@#$%^&*).

![Password Strength](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/4Fi0J601exBxy5EBXti6jD/2840507af25ad497fd94a665ab872627/password-strenght)


## Conclusion

We have covered various tips on how to stay safe while shopping online on Cyber Monday. **One more tip:** *Its safer to use credit cards to shop online.* With credit cards, if there are suspicious unauthorized transactions on your card, you can contact your bank to reject the transactions and have your money refunded.

Happy safe shopping!!!


"cyber-attacks"