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SHOCK STAT: A third of business owners don’t trust their staff

Do you have faith in your employees to handle sensitive information securely?

You might find this statistic startling…

Nearly one-third of small and medium-sized enterprise leaders firmly distrust their staff with confidential data!

Could it be due to Jim in accounts leaving his password on a sticky note under his keyboard? Or is it the result of previous negative experiences?

Regardless, it’s evident that mere trust isn’t sufficient for safeguarding data.

We contend that the issue lies not with your employees, but rather in the absence of robust training and security protocols.

So, what’s the solution?

Initiating comprehensive training for all staff is a straightforward starting point. This equips them with the necessary skills, techniques, and knowledge to identify and respond effectively to potential threats.

Consider this: a well-informed workforce is a lesser threat to your business’s digital infrastructure. They essentially become the frontline in defense, bolstering your company’s security and drastically cutting down the likelihood of a data breach.

Then, consider your security strategies. Numerous firms acknowledge their current technology and procedures are inadequate for safeguarding sensitive information.

This is where our expertise comes into play. We can tailor your system to ensure individuals access only the data they need.

But our involvement doesn’t end there. We also work to establish robust policies regarding data sharing, access to sensitive information, and procedures for when an employee departs. In doing so, we contribute to fostering a more secure workplace for everyone.

Here’s a reality check: trust alone is insufficient for data security. However, with the appropriate training and security measures, your employees can shift from being potential risks to key assets.

Are you prepared to transition from a state of apprehension and distrust to one of empowerment and assurance? Contact us to begin.

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Tempted to test new features before everyone else? DON’T BE!

Ever felt the urge to download the beta version of your go-to app, eager to experience all those shiny new features ahead of the crowd?

STOP!

A recent alert from the FBI might make you reconsider.

Cybercriminals are getting craftier, hiding nasty bits of code in bogus beta versions of popular apps. The end result? Your smartphone could become their personal cash machine.

Now, don’t misunderstand us; we’re as keen on tech innovations as anyone. But the thing about beta versions is, they haven’t undergone the strict security vetting that official app store offerings have.

These tricksters often send out phishing emails posing as app developers, promising early access to new beta features.

But here’s the catch: those apps are far from legit. Once downloaded, they can wreak all kinds of havoc, from plundering your financial apps to gaining control of your phone.

What if your team downloads one of these onto a company device? Could that put your business at risk?

So, here’s the takeaway: Good things come to those who wait. Resist the lure of beta versions and stick to officially released apps in trusted stores. If you’ve dabbled in beta versions before, watch out for warning signs like rapid battery drain, sluggish performance, relentless pop-up ads, or suspicious permission requests.

In today’s digital landscape, we need to be as clever and cautious as the gadgets we use. Before you hit that download button, pause and ponder: is the risk worth the reward?

Educate your staff to exercise the same caution. And if you’re providing them with work phones, you might want to look into a Mobile Device Management solution to keep things in check.

Need help fortifying your devices? We’re here to assist. Just drop us a line.

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Training Employees on Cybersecurity

After completing your annual phishing training, which teaches employees how to spot phishing emails, you feel confident. However, your confidence is shattered when your company falls victim to a costly ransomware infection due to a click on a phishing link. Despite undergoing the same training every year, you continue to experience security incidents, which begs the question of how often you should train your employees.

How often do you need to train employees on cybersecurity awareness?

It’s not enough to train your employees just once a year. Without reinforcement, people are unlikely to change their behaviors or may forget what they’ve learned after a few months. According to research, the “sweet spot” for training frequency is every four months, as this results in more consistent improvements in IT security.

A recent study presented at the USENIX SOUPS security conference looked at the relationship between training frequency and users’ ability to detect phishing emails. The study tested employees’ phishing identification skills at various time increments, including four months, six months, eight months, ten months, and twelve months. The results suggest that training every four months is optimal for improving your team’s cybersecurity awareness.

Employees took phishing identification tests at several different time increments:

  • 4-months
  • 6-months
  • 8-months
  • 10-months
  • 12-months

The study revealed that four months after their initial training, employees had good scores in accurately identifying and avoiding phishing emails. However, their scores started to decline after six months and continued to worsen as more time passed since their training.

To ensure employees remain well-prepared, it is crucial to provide ongoing training and refreshers on security awareness. This will empower them to actively contribute to your cybersecurity strategy.

Tips for Training Employees and Cultivating a Cybersecure Culture

The ultimate goal of security awareness training is to foster a cybersecure culture. In this culture, everyone recognizes the importance of safeguarding sensitive data, avoiding phishing scams, and maintaining secure passwords.

Unfortunately, according to the 2021 Sophos Threat Report, most organizations do not exhibit this culture, and a lack of sound security practices poses a significant threat to network security.

According to the report, the root cause of numerous severe attacks we’ve investigated is a lack of attention to basic security hygiene. Having well-trained employees plays a crucial role in mitigating a company’s risk and reducing the likelihood of falling victim to various online attacks. Effective training doesn’t necessarily require lengthy cybersecurity sessions; it’s more effective to diversify the delivery methods.

Here are some examples of effective cybersecurity training methods that you can include in your training plan:

  1. Monthly self-service videos: Provide employees with self-service videos via email on a monthly basis to enhance their cybersecurity knowledge and awareness.

  2. Team-based roundtable discussions: Organize interactive roundtable discussions within teams to encourage knowledge sharing and collaborative learning about cybersecurity practices.

  3. “Tip of the Week” in company communications: Include a regular “Tip of the Week” in company newsletters or messaging channels to deliver bite-sized cybersecurity tips and best practices.

  4. IT professional-led training sessions: Arrange training sessions led by IT professionals who can provide in-depth insights and guidance on various cybersecurity topics.

  5. Simulated phishing tests: Conduct simulated phishing tests to assess employees’ susceptibility to phishing attacks and provide targeted training based on the results.

  6. Cybersecurity posters: Display informative and visually appealing cybersecurity posters in common areas to reinforce key security concepts and promote awareness.

  7. Celebrate Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Dedicate the month of October to celebrate Cybersecurity Awareness Month by organizing special events, workshops, or training sessions to emphasize the importance of cybersecurity within your organization.

By incorporating these diverse training methods, you can ensure a comprehensive and engaging approach to cybersecurity training for your employees.

When conducting awareness training, it’s essential to cover not only phishing but also other crucial topics. Here are some important areas that should be included in your training mix:

Phishing by Email, Text & Social Media

While email phishing remains the most common form, it’s crucial to address the growing threats of SMS phishing (“smishing”) and phishing through social media. Employees need to be able to recognise these deceptive tactics and avoid falling victim to these scams.

Credential & Password Security

With the widespread adoption of cloud-based platforms, credential theft has become a significant concern. It has become the leading cause of data breaches globally, particularly as it provides an easy pathway to breach SaaS cloud tools. It’s critical to discuss with your team the importance of maintaining secure passwords and using strong authentication methods. Additionally, provide guidance on tools such as business password managers to assist them in safeguarding their credentials.

Mobile Device Security

Mobile devices have become an integral part of daily work, enabling employees to access emails and perform tasks from anywhere. Considering this, it’s essential to review the security requirements for employee devices that access business data and applications. Emphasize the importance of securing mobile devices with passcodes, keeping them regularly updated with the latest security patches, and following best practices for mobile device security.

By addressing these topics in your awareness training, you can better equip your employees to recognize and mitigate the risks associated with phishing, credential theft, and mobile device security.

Data Security

As data privacy regulations continue to increase, it is crucial for companies to comply with multiple data privacy regulations. To mitigate the risk of data leaks or breaches that could result in costly compliance penalties, it is important to provide training to employees on proper data handling and security procedures. By ensuring employees are well-versed in data security, you can minimise the potential risks associated with mishandling sensitive information.

Need Assistance in Maintaining Your Team’s Cybersecurity Training?

Take the burden off your shoulders and entrust the training of your team to cybersecurity professionals. We offer an engaging training program designed to help your team develop better cybersecurity practices and enhance their cyber hygiene. With our expertise, we can provide the necessary guidance and knowledge to facilitate behavioral changes and improve your overall security posture.

Get in touch today to learn more

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Viruses, Ransomware & Phishing, Oh My! Part 3

This is part 3 of a 3 part series on keeping up with computer threats in the digital age, you can read about Viruses, Spyware & Trojans in Part 1 and take a look at Part 2 for information around Ransomware.

Phishing​

Phishing attacks attempt to trick you into providing hackers or scammers with your information. This might be your passwords, bank details or personal information. A phishing attack often arrives in the form of an email with a clickable link. The email may look like a legitimate email from a friend or trusted company or it could look like a simple link to a shared file. Hackers can target someone directly and build a profile of information on them. By using information from a data leak and some personal information they can launch a phishing attack to get more information or directly access your accounts. Some phishing systems are multi-layered and advanced, gathering a hierarchy of logins that take advantage of services such as resetting your password through email to access more and more of your data.  

Many browsers will alert you to websites that are not secure and may be fraudulent and attempting to steal your information. By not opening unknown or suspicious looking emails and not clicking on unknown links or files you will be protecting yourself a great deal. Generally banks and financial institutes will not request your login or account details via an email. Also be sure to check if the website you are on is correct by checking the address bar. Some antivirus software will also check links and websites visited and can stop malicious software from opening.  

There is an ever-increasing range of threats and the financial motivations and online anonymity make them a desirable tool for criminals across the world. Do your best to stay safe online and for further reading check out our Staying Safe Online Checklist. You can also check out our anti-virus software or for more information on how we can help you to protect your personal or businesses devices get in touch.  

Get in touch with us for more information on how we can help you and your business.

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Viruses, Ransomware & Phishing, Oh My! Part 2

This is Part 2 of a 3 part series on keeping up with computer threats in the digital age. If you missed the first part, you can read about Viruses, Spyware & Trojans in Part 1.

Ransomware​

Ransomware is something that has been in the news a lot lately. As more of our systems and services have an online component, criminal syndicates are creating ways to take advantage of this for financial gain. A ransomware program has the ability to gain access to a system and spread, it works away in the background of a device and, in essence, can lock you out of your data by encrypting it or even moving it. Often the system will then display a message saying that the data has been locked and that you will need to pay a ransom to have it unlocked.

Ransomware is the number 1 security threat and can be highly profitable for hackers. Ransomware attacks can target individual computer users and small to medium sized businesses but increasingly large corporations and even government services and providers are being attacked. Many of these breaches have made the news lately with high profile providers such as Colonial Petroleum Pipeline and multiple hospitals, having their systems locked. At times the locking of this data can have very serious and even life-threatening consequences.

An attack on your personal system may see a request for a relatively small amount of money in the thousands but some larger targets may be required to pay millions of dollars to retrieve their data. Worryingly ransomware threats are on the increase with some hackers even offering RaaS or Ransomware as a Service where a hacker can provide a system that will take control of the whole process including the requesting of funds.

 

Similar to ransomware is Doxware or Leakware which can infect your system and leverage your sensitive photos or files. It requests a ransom, which if not paid, will see your data shared online.

Ransomware can be hard to protect against with quality antivirus software being an essential first level of protection. As ransomware can be used to remotely lock your system through the use of services like iCloud, good password security is a must. Make sure to use different passwords for each of your logins and change them often. A password manager can assist in remembering all of your passwords with some even notifying you of a breach. Two-factor authentication is another security measure that can help you to stay secure. As companies like Windows and Apple are constantly fixing security vulnerabilities as, they will release system updates which contain ‘patches’ or fixes. Keeping your computer or mobile device up to date is a great general security measure.

Keeping a regular backup that is separate from your main system is also a good option. If your device is infected with ransomware, then you will have a copy of your data to restore. You can regularly backup to your cloud services such as Dropbox, Google Drive and iCloud or use a backup specific program that backups to an external hard drive while you work. A good practice is to have a rotating system of backup drives with one kept offsite. While external hard drives can be infected by ransomware, keeping an offsite drive will minimise this risk.

 

Continue reading this series of 3 articles in Part 3, where we take a look at the threat of Phishing. 

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Viruses, Ransomware & Phishing, Oh My! Part 1

This is Part 1 of a 3 part series on keeping up with computer threats in the digital age.

Threats to computer systems are constantly evolving and getting more advanced, while also causing more serious problems. In the early days, it was enough to have a basic antivirus program on your computer that would stop viruses and malware from affecting your computer. While this is still an excellent first line of defence, as the threats become more advanced there is an increased level of vigilance needed to stay safe.

While computers are generally what comes to mind when thinking about these types of threats, any connected device carries a degree of risk and can be targeted for an attack. Criminals, hackers and scammers are constantly developing new methods to gain access, steal data and even lock the data on your device and hold it to ransom. The need for safety measures extends from your personal devices such as mobile phones, tablets, computers and even smart devices around the home; to the online platforms that you use such as your email account, cloud storage and online banking. With so much of our lives now online, scammers and hackers are regularly targeting the online platforms that people use daily.

Oh My!

While there are a lot of crossovers between the various types of threats that are out there, we have broken them down into a few of the main categories with some information on how to stay protected. While the threats are quite serious and can cause a lot of damage, by following some simple guidelines and best practices you can maximise your protection.

Viruses, Spyware & Trojans

Virus is one of the most commonly used terms people use when speaking about threats to computers and it fits under the broader category of Malware. Malware is short for Malicious Software, this umbrella term includes a range of threats including viruses, spyware, trojans, key loggers, worms and more.

Some viruses have the general goal of causing issues on your system, by deleting data and spreading itself to other computers. In the early days, the computer virus, although malicious, was often made to just cause general mayhem and spread across as many computers as possible. A virus is self-replicating and therefore able to copy itself across local computer networks and even online.

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One of the keys of a successful virus is the ability to stay hidden in your system while replicating and causing damage. Many viruses and types of malware are designed to stay hidden indefinitely such as a Trojan which disguises itself as a legitimate program and Spyware which hides in the background, collecting information such as passwords, files, location data or financial information. Adware will even display pop up ads directly on your computer. Some of these programs have a Keylogger which records every press you make on a keyboard and sends it to a third party.

One of the absolute best protections against viruses and malware generally is a good quality piece of anti-virus software. There are plenty of excellent free options out there and some paid programs that offer extra levels of protection. As viruses and the criminal systems behind them get more advanced though, we are seeing malware and viruses designed to steal information, spy through your devices and gain access to secure data. A decent Antivirus software will give you an essential base level of protection.

 

Continue reading this series of 3 articles in Part 2, where we take a look at the threat of Ransomware.Â