Cybercrime Review For 2019
The more cybercrime events there are, the less it seems we pay attention to them. It’s all kind of become white noise, right?
Becoming complacent about your cybersecurity is dangerous, though. IT companies need to protect their clients is yours doing that for you?
Don’t let hackers take advantage of your short attention span keep track of the latest in cybercrime so that you know how to protect yourself:
The Biggest Cybercrime Trends of 2019 That IT Companies Should Keep Track Of
Big Name Data Breaches
- The Capital One breach that compromised the personal information 100 million Americans and up to 6 million Canadians
- The DoorDash hack that leaked the data of up to 5 million customers, drivers, and merchants involved with the organization
- Hackers breached WhatsApp and installed spyware, affecting an unknown portion of their 1.5 billion users.
- Miracle Systems, a federal defense contractor, has its data and systems stolen and put up for sale on the dark web.
- Microsoft’s Visual Studio was penetrated by hackers that installed unseen backdoors into at least three of their video games.
iPhone Vulnerabilities Exposed
In August, Google published research showing that an iPhone-based cyber-attack has been going on for the past two years at least. The largest iPhone attack in history, this long-term cybercrime effort has been infecting iOS users with malware that steals their private data, including:
- Passwords
- Encrypted messages
- Locations
- Contacts
The same month, another Google Project researcher published an article all about how iPhone software can be penetrated to give hackers remote access, even though none of it operates as conventional “server-side” code.
Ransomware On The Rise
In May, the city of Baltimore was hit with ransomware that made their server’s inaccessible. They refused to pay the ransom, which kept their systems offline for weeks in the meantime, they attempted to “rebuild certain systems”, according to Mayor Jack Young.
Baltimore joins the growing number of municipalities hit by ransomware this year all of which, after the attack, invest considerable resources in investigating the source of the incident.
22 different organizations in Texas, many of which are local government agencies, were just infected with ransomware in August as well.
What Should IT You Be Watching Out For?
- Phishing Targeting Your Business
The average phishing attack costs businesses $1.6 million can you afford to pay that price because one of your staff members can’t recognize a phishing email? - CEO Fraud
CEO Fraud has quickly become one of the most popular ways for cybercriminals to make money not too long ago, a Canadian University paid out more than $11 million due to CEO Fraud. - Sale Of Your Data Online
Did you know that your SNN could be for sale for as much as $45 on the dark web right now?
How Can You Protect Yourself?
The first step is to actually pay attention – did you know it takes most businesses up to 6 months to find out that they’ve experienced a data breach?
Beyond that, follow these three key tips to boost your cybersecurity:
Enlist Your Staff’s Help
Train your staff to ask themselves these key questions before opening an email:
- Do I know the sender of this email?
- Does it make sense that it was sent to me?
- Can I verify that the attached link or PDF is safe?
- Does the email threaten to close my accounts or cancel my cards if I don’t provide information?
- Is this email really from someone I trust or does it just look like someone I trust? What can I do to verify?
Does anything seem “off” about this email, its contents or sender?
Back Up Your Data
If you have you have a data backup solution, then it doesn’t matter if your data has been encrypted by ransomware. You can just replace it with your backup, simple as that.
That’s why you should make a considerable investment in a comprehensive backup data recovery solution so that you can restore your data at a moment’s notice when necessary.
Be sure to:
- Back up data on a regular basis (at least daily).
- Inspect your backups to verify that they maintain their integrity.
- Secure your backups and keep them independent from the networks and computers they are backing up.
Work With a Local IT Company
When you’re not sure if you have the skills or knowledge to get the job done, what can you do?.
What Do Cyber Security Professionals Do?
IT companies need to manage their clients’ cybersecurity, simple as that. Instead of needing an employee or internal team to keep your tech and data secure, you let someone else with the skills and knowledge do it for you:
- Cybersecurity professionals perform regular vulnerability testing as per industry standards to ensure you aren’t dealing with overlooked cybersecurity weaknesses.
- Cybersecurity professionals help you plan and achieve a secure environment to work in.
- Cybersecurity professionals provide ongoing service and support for any security-related concerns you may have.
To learn more about what we can do for your business’ IT systems, contact Alvarez Technology Group at (831) 753 -7677 or send us an email at [email protected].
