DailyDOOH

Gail Chiasson, North American Editor

Granted, we’ve only heard of a couple of instances where digital signage networks or screens have been hacked, but that’s not saying that it can’t be done.

It’s with that thought that Centurion ID, a new company in the cyber security business, is targeting the digital signage industry with its new patented technology. Pulling information from the same database that both Lexis Nexus and Chase Payment Tech utilize, it has then built its own program on top of that.

Over 50% of the American population’s ID’s, Passwords, and Login credentials have been compromised in the recent past with the hacking of EBAY, not to mention Target and Google about a year ago.

“With cyber fraud at an all-time high, I had concerns about my liability should my medical digital signage network become compromised, augmented or worse if the credentials of the medical services provider or its patients who use my network is stolen,” says Ron Gross, president, Drive Media Networks, Scottsdale, Arizona, and CEO and one of the four owners of Centurion ID – also based in Scottsdale.

“Both digital signage network operators like myself, and their content management SaaS companies are at great risk and extremely vulnerable to the potential of their systems being hacked through ID theft via the login process used to connect to their networks and management applications.

“Once your password and ID are stolen, a fraudster can control what goes on the network, and possibly through that door gain access to your database, the proprietary information of the network or the content management company’s software.”

At DailyDOOH, we looked through our files and found two specific examples: In October, 2011, someone got into (the late) Akoo and messed with its music video queue. And in March, 2011, one Igor Blinnikov in Russia got sentenced to several years in jail because in January, 2010, he had hacked into a billboard next to the Interior Ministry building in central Moscow and replaced the content with some ‘prOn’. (We presume that was porn.- Ed)

However, there could very well be many cases of which we are unaware.

In fact, if either a network or the content management software company is invaded by a Fraudster, it could mean the end to their business. And hackers are everywhere. Just this week, hackers, believed to be in China, caused the Canadian Government to announce a cyber-attack on the National Research Council that has resulted in it launching a massive, year-long security overhaul of its computer systems.

Gross and his partners formed the company almost two years ago. Centurion ID specifically focuses on solving the problem and ensuring the security of logins, passwords, and account credentials. And while it is available for all types of companies, their closeness to the digital signage industry made them aware of the problems it could face.

Centurion ID has built a specific low cost product, Centurion Login, to provide a solution for login, password, and account takeover cyber theft. Centurion Login takes advantage of the substantial database and comprehensive fraud prevention program, Centurion Defender, which analyzes over 240 variables in milliseconds real-time, at a fraction of the cost.

“We know that fraudsters are creating new methods daily to hack and steal credentials from everyone,” says Gross. “The login process is the easiest and most vulnerable of all of the possible entries to this information. Fraudsters even create robotic processes that initiate phishing expeditions upon millions of IP addresses in minutes. Centurion Login stops people at the door.”

While we personally cannot envision hacksters wanting to bother with a retail store’s simple digital signage, we can see how they could be interested in content on digital signage used within companies for corporate communications purposes, or perhaps into digital signage in a bank as an entry point for financial information. Or they could want to change the content on a RSS feed. But who knows? Some hacksters just like to play havoc, so could very well eg., mess with a store’s inventory so that what shows on a digital sign or salesclerk’s iPad may be inaccurate.

Centurion Login is a lightweight, extremely fast and low-cost service which analyzes individuals who log onto a site, helping to validate each user’s account privileges. With Login Defender, only those who are validated gain access to the site, network and more. More than a simple user ID and password, Centurion Login reviews device information, IP Addresses, IP Geolocation, mobile indicators, proxies and velocities. This proprietary analysis guards the gate of entry to a customer’s accounts, while protecting their credentials.

Centurion Login An all-in-one SaaS product that reviews in real-time over 240 variables in 350 milliseconds or , utilizing one of the largest databases worldwide via a 10+ tool software program customizable by industry sector. The owners, in addition to Gross, are: Adam Urban, COO; Jan-Willem de Korver, CTO; Jennifer Fader, chief media officer.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 31st, 2014 at 10:00 @458 and is filed under Scuttlebut. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.