#Middlebury #Cybersecurity
By JUSTIN GOLDEN
The quote from the 18th century French novelist Alphonse Karr, “The more things change, the more they stay the same,” even applies to cybersecurity. While you face a constantly evolving threat landscape online, the tactics and effects are essentially the same.
Individuals and organizations exist whose focus is to gather information on individuals and companies. These data can be both public and private. The majority of the information is used for legitimate business reasons such as advertising and marketing. However, the number of bad actors who use it for illegal purposes and criminal activity is increasing, both here and abroad.
Small Business Trends’ Matt Mansfield reports that 43 percent of cyber attacks target small businesses. Only 14 percent of small businesses rate their ability to mitigate cyber risks and vulnerabilities as highly effective. Small businesses are most concerned about the security of customer data. While small businesses are concerned about cyber attacks (58 percent), more than half aren’t allocating any budget money to risk mitigation.
Lastly, while these small businesses surveyed “feel they don’t store any valuable data,” they do store customer information valuable to cyber criminals, e.g., 68 percent store email addresses, 64 percent store telephone numbers and 54 percent store billing addresses.
Cyber criminal activity is on the increase, so while you will continue to use and communicate via the Internet you also will need to step up your awareness to reduce your risks while doing so. Here are some sobering facts and statistics regarding what you face this year.
Email spam (unsolicited messages) is the most common method for cyber criminals to spread malware (malicious software). F-Secure Blog said these messages either direct you to a dangerous web site or attach a document infected with malware and entice you to open it.
Verizon states that U.S. users open around one in three phishing emails. Phishing is the act of getting you to perform acts or provide sensitive information via an email received which results in unaccounted for consequences.
Cyber Security Ventures reports cyber crime is quickly becoming more profitable than illegal drug dealing.
Roughly 1 out of 5 files aren’t protected. Companies are allowing this. These files are completely open for global access, yet they contain sensitive health and financial information according to Varonis.
Hacker attacks occur every 39 seconds. Security Magazine writes that a hacker attacks any computer with Internet access. This impacts 30 percent of Americans per year.
What are you doing wrong? Maybe you aren’t thinking before clicking on a link in an email or opening attachments. You may have a weak or default password/user I.D. which isn’t unique and changed frequently. Your computer and network may not be secure. You may use legacy or un-patched hardware or software. You may lack basic network security protection. Lastly, you may not be keeping aware of the latest cyber scams and incidents. You need to constantly educate yourself on what’s going on online.
Golden Technology Services Inc. helps customers reduce their cybersecurity risks. Contact us at 972-679-9738 or justin.golden@gtscloud.com
