WHAT IS CYBER SECURITY AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO YOUR BUSINESS?

Cyber Security 101 (And Then Some)

Protect Your Business

Balancing network security, information security, and the rising threat of cyber attacks is a full-time job

There is a myriad of Cyber Security solutions and strategies out there, each of which can take months to master. Still, your data and your network sit vulnerable to attack during the interim.

Cyber Security is a growing concern across industries and organizations of every size, so you can’t wait days or months to make sense of Cyber Security.

Just one cyber attack can interrupt your operations, damage your organization’s reputation, and rack up steep fees in recovery costs and fines. Here’s what you need to know about Cyber Security to protect your system and your good name from attack.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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WHAT IS CYBER SECURITY?

 

What is Cyber Security?

Cyber Security refers to the tools, techniques, and procedures used to protect your organization from unauthorized access or criminal activity. This includes everything from your networks to your devices and your data stored on-premises and in the cloud. Developing a Cyber Security strategy is designed to protect the confidentiality and integrity of your information and keep it protected.

What Risks Are Associated with Insufficient Cyber Security?

There are many risks associated with Cyber Security issues. While some are more serious than others, all can have lasting financial and reputational consequences for your organization. Cyber Security attacks can include things like:

  • Invasive malware erasing your entire network
  • A malicious actor breaking into your system and destroying or altering files
  • Cybercriminals using your network to attack other organizations
  • Ransomware capturing and encrypting some or all of your business’s data
Why Should I Take Steps to Protect My Network Now?

The potential for a cyberattack has always been prevalent but has increased exponentially over the past several years. The rate of cybercrimes is growing every year. It is estimated to impact upwards of 80% of businesses across the globe in one way or another. Many times, this is the result of limited monitoring capabilities.

 

More than half of cyberattacks are the result of ransomware attacks. Of this, healthcare databases are among the most frequently targeted because they are critical to operations, and they contain scores of personally identifiable information that is easy to exploit. Cybercriminals are always looking for vulnerabilities and potential ways to exploit your system.

 

What’s more, remote work means more opportunities for bad actors to work their way into your organization’s system. Unsecured or vulnerable endpoints and new security threats across a distributed environment are just two more reasons to secure your system.

How Does Remote Work Impact My Organization’s Need for Cyber Security?

The recent shift to a more flexible work environment has greatly impacted how companies, both large and small, stay connected and productive. This creates more unsecured network endpoints, which makes organizations more vulnerable to attack, but it also means an uptick in the use of remote work solutions.

 Many organizations may think that they are adequately protected; they have increased their security strategies enough to keep up with the rise in cyber threats and the need for better security for these endpoints. It’s important to recognize that even as organizations were ramping up their information security policies and tools, security threats have grown exponentially in their complexity as well.

When you partner this information with the fact that home connections aren’t as secure, it makes it much easier for malicious actors to gain entry into your company’s network. Plus, these collaborative remote work applications and other online tools often have the bare minimum security settings, which creates additional vulnerabilities for companies where remote work happens, even occasionally.

With new and added risks, plus different tools and unsecured endpoints, proactive Cyber Security strategies are more important than ever.

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DATA, DEVICES, AND NETWORK

What Should I Know About Securing My Organization’s Devices?

The devices in your organization’s network are more than just your computers. Other items include your routers, firewalls, servers, load balancers, intrusion detection systems, storage area networks, and more. All of these devices serve as places for cybercriminals to target because a great deal of traffic passes through these devices; there are many opportunities to enter unnoticed.

Once in, attackers can monitor, modify, and even deny traffic coming to and from your organization. They can also harvest credentials, steal data in transit, and control all data that flows through your entire network.

Is My Data At Risk?

No matter your industry, data security should be of the utmost importance. The world of information technology is evolving and becoming more complex, and amidst these changes, many of the security breaches that happen are entirely preventable.

The issue for many is that compliance with data security regulations doesn’t always mean security. It’s easy to get complacent following specific guidelines or working towards passing a particular security audit. Still, many of the most significant data breaches have occurred in organizations that met all of their compliance requirements. If compliance has been your goal and not your starting point, your data is likely at risk.

Additionally, the size of your organization doesn’t have any impact on whether or not your data is at risk. Some believe they are not vulnerable to attacks because they run a small business, but this could not be farther from the truth. In fact, 43 percent of all data breaches are targeted at small businesses; they are the top target for cybercriminals. When it comes to data theft and cybercrime, no one is immune.

Do I Need to Take Extra Steps to Secure My Organization’s Network?

Vulnerabilities in your network are like handing cybercriminals the keys to your kingdom. Research demonstrates that in 93 percent of attacks, cybercriminals could breach an organization’s network perimeter, which gives them access to all of your internal network resources.

One study showed just how easy it was for malicious actors to infiltrate an internal network. On average, it takes two days or less to penetrate an organization’s internal network, making it simple to steal files, user information, and sensitive consumer data within two days of cybercriminals getting onto the network itself.

Once inside the network, bad actors have the capability to compromise 100% of the organization’s data, get domain privileges, and access critical systems.

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DIFFERENT TYPES OF CYBER SECURITY

What Options Are Available to Help Secure My Organization Against Cyber Attacks?

Cyber Security can be divided into five distinct categories that address different components of your organization’s network and technology solutions. These include:

  • Critical infrastructure security
  • Application security
  • Network security
  • Cloud security
  • Internet of Things (IoT) security

To protect your entire system, you’ll want to build or select a comprehensive security strategy covering these five facets of Cyber Security. Additionally, you’ll want to address the other components of your organization that play a role in the strength and efficacy of your Cyber Security strategies:

  • Your team
  • Your processes
  • Your technologies
What Role Do People Play in Cyber Security?

Even with the utmost precautions, if your team isn’t on the same page regarding the risk of cyberattack, your organization is still at risk. A minor mistake or slightest human error can pave the way for a significant attack. Likely, no one on your team is intentionally ignoring security protocols. Still, it is more likely that they don’t have adequate Cyber Security training or may not understand the potential impact of their actions. Therefore, security awareness training is one of the most important things you can do to protect your company’s security posture.  

There are a few ways that your team can weaken your Cyber Security defenses:

  • Opening suspicious URLs or responding to or clicking on links from suspicious emails
  • Using old, duplicated, or weak passwords, not using strong combinations, or failing to change passwords frequently
  • Sharing personally identifiable information online—even on their own devices or social media accounts
  • Failing to conduct regular backups of their data or ignoring security update requests
  • Neglecting the physical security of devices or leaving devices unattended

In-depth team training is essential to limiting vulnerabilities from within your team.

How Do My Processes Factor Into My Cyber Security Strategy?

When your entire team has Cyber Security training, your IT team has time to focus on their processes. This includes detecting and identifying potential risks and threats, protecting information, establishing automated security policies, and responding to incidents.

 The U.S. Commerce Department offers a Cyber Security Framework to give private-sector companies a path to develop their own Cyber Security best practices. 

How Do the Technologies I Select Impact My Cyber Security?

“Technology” refers to two things in your Cyber Security strategy:

  • The technology you use to identify, prevent, and mitigate cyberattacks.
  • The technology you use in your everyday operations, like your devices, routers, network, data storage, and cloud storage.

With remote work capabilities increasing and bad actors finding more ways to hack into your system, both Cyber Security technologies and your operational technologies are essential in the fight to defend against cybercrime.

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THE VARIOUS KINDS OF CYBER ATTACKS

What Sorts of Attacks Should My Organization Be Worried About?

There is a whole range of ways that bad actors can work their way into your network and your devices, but a few are more prevalent of a threat than others. The main kinds of cyber threats that your organization should work to prevent include:

  • Malware
  • Ransomware
  • Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks
  • Phishing attacks
What Do I Need to Know About Malware Attacks?

The term “malware” is derived from malicious software or malicious code. It’s a crafted program that cybercriminals insert into your system to secretly compromise your data, applications, or operating system—and sometimes your entire network or your whole tech stack. It’s one of the most serious threats to your system and can do widespread damage. 

Malware is a pretty broad term given to any kind of program or file that is meant to harm devices, networks, and/or servers. As such, there are many kinds of malware including viruses, trojan horses, phishing attempts, ransomware, adware, spyware, keylogger programs, and more.

In recent years, reports of malware as a whole were down 43%, but internet of things (IoT) devices experienced a 66% total increase, with an astonishing 56.9 million malware attacks against IoT devices in 2020. What’s more, there were 268,000 new types of malware detected in 2020, up 74% from the previous year.

Malware continues to grow in scope and power, and organizations need to take precautionary steps to detect malware before it does any damage to their system.

What Is Ransomware?

Ransomware is designed to give malicious actors a great deal of power over their victims by preventing or limiting their access to their systems. It’s a kind of malware that asks organizations to pay a ransom online to regain access and possession of their system and data. Today, it’s one of the most common types of attack methods. 

Ransomware attacks start by entering your network, then encrypting your files via an encryption key, which is stored in a cybercriminal’s server. Cybercriminals then demand a ransom to share this private key with you, essentially holding data hostage in exchange for a hefty fee.

The issue with ransomware is that, in many instances, it can be a challenge to detect until it’s too late. Additionally, ransomware is always evolving and changing, which means the best ransomware detection tools are the ones that learn, evolve, and change to confront new attack methods. Proactive prevention should include extensive employee training and robust information security controls that detect intrusions before they become an issue.

Ransomware is all too common, and cases are on the rise. It’s estimated that there were 714 million attempted ransomware attacks in 2021—a 134 percent rise from the previous year. It’s becoming increasingly essential for organizations to take proactive steps to keep their systems secured against ransomware.

What Are DDoS Attacks?

DDoS or “Distributed Denial of Service” attacks are meant to disrupt everything—your network and your website—by overwhelming it with traffic. Bad actors use this method to seek revenge, extort money, or for some other type of gain including financial or political advancement, causing massive service and operating disruptions, which affect not only your profits but also your reputation. DDoS attacks create hundreds upon thousands of PC botnets—think of them like an army of zombie computers— that attack your network. Web response times slow down and actual users (like your team or your customers) can’t gain access.

Typically, hackers do this by invading one computer, usually with a phishing email, and then the malicious software on the affected devices sits dormant, waiting for the command from cybercriminals to flood a particular network or website with a barrage of requests.

What Do I Need to Know About Phishing Attacks

Phishing is a kind of social engineering attack, and often includes strategies to get sensitive information from your team. These attacks are effective because they seem to be from trustworthy sources, like a representative from a particular organization.

In many cases, phishing attempts come as emails or other messages. A cybercriminal posing as an authority figure or “official representative” sends a warning to your team about their account, asking recipients to respond and share confidential information or click on a link that directs them to a fake website. Cybercriminals either get sensitive information to gain access to your network directly from your team, or download malware into your system after unknowing message recipients visit a malicious site.

Phishing is a serious concern, as it is one of the most common causes of data breaches. In fact, 22 percent of data breaches can be traced back to phishing attacks, and 74 percent of U.S. organizations faced some kind of phishing attack in 2021, which was a 9 percent increase from 2020.

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CYBER SECURITY COMPLIANCE REGULATIONS FOR BUSINESSES IN THE U.S.

 

What Are the 5 Laws of Cyber Security?

Cyber Security regulations and best practices can vary from place to place and industry to industry. Even just between states, compliance is very different. In fact, there were over 280 Cyber Security bills and resolutions across 38 states in 2020 alone. The specific rules and regulations for compliance can change, which means that Cyber Security can feel like a constantly-moving target.

Even so, there are a few “universal truths” that remain constant for every organization in any industry: "The Five Laws of Cyber Security":

  1. Treat everything like it is vulnerable to attack.
  2. Plan as though people will not follow the rules.
  3. If you don’t need something, delete it.
  4. Document everything and conduct audits of your systems and protocols regularly.
  5. Plan ahead for failures and/or attacks to happen.
What Is the GDPR?

The GDPR, short for the General Data Protection Regulation, has the reputation of being the toughest privacy and data security law in the world. Passed by the European Union (EU), it applies to organizations anywhere that collect data from those in the EU.

If you process any kind of personal data from EU citizens or residents or sell goods or services to them, the GDPR applies to you. It’s also important to note that fines are very high; as high as €20 million or 4% of global revenue (whichever is higher). The GDPR requires close protection of:

  • Personal data
  • Data processing
  • Data subjects and controllers
  • Data processors
What Should I Know About PCI DSS?

PCI DSS, or payment card industry data security standards, were created to increase the security standards surrounding online payments and cardholder data. The PCI DSS has twelve specific requirements that are divided into six separate control objectives:

  1. Build and maintain secure network and systems
  2. Safeguard cardholder data
  3. Create and maintain a vulnerability management program
  4. Establish strong access controls
  5. Systematically monitor and test networks
  6. Draft and maintain an information security policy
What Security Regulations Are Mandated by HIPAA?

Much has been written about all of the data security regulations surrounding HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, but what’s important to know is that if you work in healthcare or do business with any healthcare clients and need access to health data, HIPAA Security Rules apply to your organization. HIPAA calls for specific security protocols and safeguards for Protected Health Information (PHI). There are even limited uses and disclosures for this kind of PHI.

Failure to comply with HIPAA Privacy Rules can result in financial and criminal penalties, and claiming ignorance about HIPAA laws is not an accepted defense. 

Under HIPAA, PHI refers to any health information that can be tied back to a specific person, including their name, geographic location, contact information, social security number, medical records, account numbers, and more.

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INDUSTRIES IN WHICH CYBER SECURITY PROTECTION IS CRITICAL

 

Are Small Businesses Really At Risk of Cyber Attack?

Advancements in technology and connectivity to the internet open up small businesses to connect with new, larger markets and do work more efficiently. But cloud computing, websites, and even email open your small business up to attack, and 60 percent of small companies fold within 6 months of experiencing a data breach or cyberattack. As shared by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), “Theft of digital information has become the most commonly reported fraud, surpassing physical theft. Every business that uses the Internet is responsible for creating a culture of security that will enhance business and consumer confidence.”

In fact:

  • 43 percent of cyberattacks involve small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs)
  • 61 percent of all SMBs reported one or more cyberattacks in the past year
  • Only 14 percent of SMBs have highly-effective Cyber Security strategies in place, the rest are unprepared
How Are Enterprises Threatened by Cybercrime?

Large enterprises often come equipped with complicated tech stacks, expansive networks with many endpoints, a whole host of technologies (and their accompanying vulnerabilities), a very public presence, and many employees and vendors who all have network access. This creates a wide range of entry points that can limit the efficacy of security controls and create many weak points in a Cyber Security strategy. So even though large-scale enterprises have many information security resources at their disposal, they may also open themselves up to more possibilities for attack.

Even the biggest names on the internet are not impervious to attack. In fact, they may be more vulnerable thanks to their reputation. Take for example LinkedIn, which uncovered an attack in June 2021 that impacted 700 million users, or 90 percent of the professional social media site’s user base, cost countless millions to recover, and damaged its reputation. The attack, which included data scraping, was a violation of the enterprise’s terms of service, and posted samples of released data obtained by the hackers contained user email addresses, phone numbers, geolocation records, genders, and other details that give future bad actors plenty of data to craft attacks down the road.

What Should Insurance Companies Know About Protecting Data from Bad Actors?

Insurance companies store massive volumes of personal information for their policyholders, which makes them an appealing target for malicious actors and cybercriminals. What’s more, it’s estimated that in the past two years, attackers have exfiltrated the personally identifiable information (PII) of 100 million Americans via insurance companies alone.

These attacks against the insurance industry will only continue to grow in numbers and complexities as time passes, and they are some of the most financially devastating. Policyholders’ personally identifiable information is the most expensive kind of record to recover, costing an average of $161 for each lost or stolen record.

Additionally, insurance companies are constantly seeking new and modern innovations in technology to provide service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year, especially via smartphone apps. This kind of real-time service requires a cutting-edge technology infrastructure with a strong, well-implemented, and comprehensive Cyber Security strategy.

How Are Educational Institutions at Risk of Cyber Attack?

From elementary schools to institutions of higher learning and everything in between, educational institutions house a great deal of data on their students, teachers, and staff. Unfortunately, many of these institutions do not have the available funds to bring on an adequate number of Cyber Security professionals to track and follow up on every potential malware intrusion or possible cyberattack.  

Even school corporations with as many as 320,000 students are still dealing with the impact of ransomware attacks and data breaches, as well as the operational interruptions that go along with these kinds of incidents. At least one educational institution paid over $200,000 to recover personal information and student data that was stolen and encrypted during a ransomware attack. Ultimately, this means less money allocated to important educational programs, teacher pay, and student needs. The right Cyber Security solutions and services can help mitigate these attacks and allow more money to be spent on educational resources.

How Is the Healthcare Industry Affected by Cyber Security Threats?

It’s been widely shared that in 2020, over 90 percent of healthcare organizations had been forced to deal with at least one Cyber Security breach during the previous three years. Healthcare systems, hospitals, doctor’s offices, and other health-related organizations store scores of patient data and personal health information, all of which can make for big ransoms for cybercriminals and open the doors for a range of cyberattacks, some of which can interrupt or otherwise negatively affect the life-saving care that healthcare organizations provide.

This has only been exacerbated by the widespread use of electronic medical records. Anymore, questions arise over the possible hacking of personal medical devices and the increase in technology of health-related IoT devices. CIOs and CISOs worry about the operational interruption of medical devices connected to phones or tablets, not to mention the potential side door these IoT devices create for hackers to infiltrate networks. Bad actors could use these devices to interfere with treatment or even possibly gain access to a healthcare network.

 Whether it’s connected medical devices or healthcare facility networks and endpoints, medical professionals need strong security to provide great patient care without the fear of data breaches, ransomware, malware, or other attacks.

What Potential Cyber Security Threats Must Government Entities Address?

As in some other sectors, the rate of cyberattacks against federal, state, and local government entities is increasing at an alarming rate. Ransomware, malware, phishing attempts, and other cyberattacks not only pose the risk of potential operational interruptions, but can also jeopardize sensitive, confidential, and classified information, as well as shut down critical infrastructure organizations and processes.

The problem is that many traditional Cyber Security tools focus too heavily on detecting existing threats that have already entrenched themselves in networks and technology solutions. By this time, however, it’s too late. At this point, bad actors have had the opportunity to access confidential data and even hold it for ransom. Without access to this data, government agencies must deal with how to move forward, how to pay for recovery costs, and how to deal with the loss of the public’s trust. For government agencies, Cyber Security must be proactive and preventative.

Why is this so important? In 2020, only 7.1% of government agencies across the U.S. shared that they did not find some kind of Cyber Security event. In 2019, 113 local and state government agencies faced some kind of ransomware attack, and in the first half of 2022, 60 more federal, state, and local government agencies were hit by ransomware attacks. These attacks are increasing with each passing year, and now is the time to act.

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CYBER SECURITY SOLUTIONS ESSENTIAL FOR DEFENDING YOUR ORGANIZATION OR BUSINESS

How Can I Monitor for Cyber Security Threats in Real-Time?

Since the average cost of a single event data breach in 2021 climbed to $4.24 million, there’s no room for vulnerabilities in your network. The costs associated with recovery and the damage these attacks can do to your organization’s reputation wind up impacting your operations for years to come.

SecureIT offers threatINTELLIGENCE, which helps organizations continuously search for and block malicious traffic in real-time. This device filters activity, searches for threats, then filters this information back into your system and strengthens your security as time goes on using machine learning.

 threatINTELLIGENCE is different from traditional and legacy security solutions that are engineered to find emerging and advanced threats after they’ve already entered your network. Instead, threatINTELLIGENCE is a device that offers preventative, proactive threat detection to break apart and reverse-engineer attacks in 30 seconds or less after entering your system to prevent cyberattacks, data loss, and theft.

How Can I Proactively Protect My Network?

Recovery costs may be climbing as cyberattacks grow in number and complexity, but it’s also your brand reputation that’s at stake. The release of sensitive data puts your potential clients and customers on high alert.

But networks are more at risk of cyberattack than ever before, thanks to a remote work environment and more organizations encouraging BYOD (bring your own device) policies. Seventy-one percent of employees access more company data, more often from home compared to before the pandemic, and the most common types of data accessed include customer and operational data (43 percent each) and financial and Human Resources records (23 percent each).

SecureIT’s threatPROTECT offers total network protection from perimeter to endpoint. This all-encompassing network solution comes equipped with two important features:

  • threatINTELLIGENCE, a cutting-edge security device
  • threatEDR, a proactive endpoint detection and response tool

But the best part about threatPROTECT is that it requires no monitoring and management from your team as it defends your total network. You can secure your network from end to end without adding to your staffing needs.

Advantages of threatPROTECT include:

  • Continuous monitoring and machine learning-based endpoint detection
  • Protection of the full surface area of your network from perimeter edge to edge
  • Hands-off threat monitoring with no human interaction needed
  • Security for IoT and BYOD devices for remote work
  • 50% fewer false-positive threat alerts
  • Attack identification, dismantling, and reverse-engineering in fewer than 30 seconds
What Additional Solutions Can Protect My Organization from End to End?

Were you aware that in 2020, phishing emails were the main point of ransomware attacks, making up 54 percent of digital vulnerabilities? Or that 60 percent of all recorded breaches in 2019 involved some sort of unpatched vulnerability?

All forms and methods of cyber attack are on the rise and growing seemingly by the minute, from ransomware to data breaches, malware, phishing, and more. The more tools at your disposal to prevent bad actors from obtaining access to your network, technologies, and data, the better. A robust, proactive Cyber Security strategy is a must to prevent data loss, protect confidential or sensitive data, and secure network traffic.

SecureIT offers a range of solutions to protect your organization from attack at every angle. In addition to threatPROTECT and threatINTELLIGENCE, SecureIT also offers the following Cyber Security tools for a more comprehensive Cyber Security strategy:

  • threatSIEM, which detects possible threats and breaches before they interfere with your operations or obtain your sensitive data with automated threat detection.
  • threatMONITOR, which helps you improve both productivity and security by identifying unproductive apps and websites employees may be using.
  • threatEDR, which continuously monitors network endpoints for threats in real-time, pinpoints anomalies, unusual behavior, and other threat patterns to find and mitigate attacks from one end of your system to the other.
  • threatPATCHMAKER, which addresses out-of-date security patches that create vulnerabilities to protect every layer of your system and keeps all of your solutions current.
  • threatMAILSECURITY, which blocks and warns employees of potential threats in their email inbox to limit the risk of phishing attacks.
  • threatMAILEXCHANGE, which offers personalized message filtering and advanced mail routing engines to stop phishing attacks and other malware from entering your network via employee email.
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CYBER SECURITY SERVICES NECESSARY TO PROTECT YOUR ORGANIZATION OR BUSINESS

 

How Can I Shield My Business from Cybercriminals Without a Full-Time Team of Experts?

Small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are still at risk of cyberattacks, even when they don’t have the resources needed to hire information security professionals to constantly monitor for signs of attack. Even so, 69 percent of SMBs reported cyberattacks are becoming increasingly targeted.

SecureIT knows that Cyber Security should be for everyone and offers C-suite-level protection services to help businesses scale and stay protected. With Virtual CISO and CIO services, organizations can get round-the-clock, expert-level protection without the investment of a full-time staff member. Our Virtual CISO consultants oversee all of your Cyber Security needs and can even give your team the tools they need to meet and overcome security risks head-on.

What Should I Know About Cyber Security Simulation and Testing Services?

SecureIT understands that even if you feel confident about your Cyber Security strategies, being able to identify and address vulnerabilities can be an invaluable tool in the war against cybercrime. Simulation services can help your organization mitigate cyber threats and avoid the steep costs and reputational damage that come from security incidents. The SecureIT team offers a range of Cyber Security services to address each of these concerns and empower your team.

Cyber Security simulation and testing services include:

  • Penetration Testing; Simulate cyberattacks using a methodical, comprehensive approach to discover vulnerabilities that cybercriminals could use to infiltrate your network, your technologies, your devices, and any other part of your infrastructure, then use this information to strengthen your strategies to prevent future attacks.
  • Ransomware Simulation: Test your current security tools against a simulation that mimics the techniques used by a variety of current real-world ransomware attacks and see how your solutions hold up in real-time, without the threat of irretrievably encrypted data.
  • Phishing Simulation: Evaluate your team’s performance against simulated phishing attempts taken from the pages of real life. Customize each simulation and send targeted “attacks” or test your entire team at once.
How Can I Empower My Team with the Tools They Need to Prevent Socially-Engineered Cyberattacks and Phishing Attempts?

Your team can be one of your biggest assets in cybercrime prevention, but they can also create vulnerabilities that are easy for malicious actors to exploit if they don’t have the right training or awareness about Cyber Security. Comprehensive security awareness training programs give your team the tools needed to keep attacks at bay. By sharing threat simulations and critical security awareness information, your team becomes your first line of defense.

In 2021, the total number of data breaches grew 68 percent compared to the previous year, with 1,862 breaches on record across the country, spanning all sectors and industries. But it’s not just data breaches that are on the rise. 

Since the onset of the pandemic, 6.95 million new phishing and scam pages have popped up across the web, and were the most common type of cyber attack in 2020. These attacks make organizations vulnerable to cybercriminals, and it’s estimated that in just 2020 alone, almost 3 in 4 companies experienced some kind of phishing attack.

Between data breaches and phishing attacks, companies would seemingly have enough to worry about, but it should also be noted that ransomware accounts for 22 percent of all reported cyberattacks, and may surpass phishing attacks as the main cause of data breaches. Regardless of the type of preliminary attack, 85 percent of breaches in 2021 involved some human element—and training is an important way to prevent these attacks.

With the proper security awareness training, like threatAWARE you can help prevent risky employee behavior that leads to security compromises, data breaches, ransomware attacks, and other issues. This training can also help your team understand data privacy regulations, Cyber Security best practices, and matters of industry compliance for factors like GDPR, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and more. It’s the crucial step needed to make you more resilient and less prone to attacks.

 

Sources Used:

What Is Cybercrime?

  1. What Is Cyber Security? Cyber Security & Infrastructure Security Agency
  2. The Rise of Cybercrime
  3. New Dangers of Working from Home: Cyber Security Risks Forbes

 

Data, Devices, and Networks

  1. Securing Network Infrastructure Devices Cyber Security & Infrastructure Security Agency
  2. 5 Common Data Security Pitfalls to Avoid IBM
  3. Main Street Overconfidence: America’s Small Businesses Aren’t Worried About Hacking CNBC
  4. Cybercriminals Can Breach 93% Of Company Networks and Trigger Unacceptable Events in Under a Month, Study Finds CPO Magazine

 

Different Types of Cyber Security

  1. What Is Cyber Security? CompTIA

 

The Various Types of Cyberattacks

  1. Know the Types of Cyber Threat Mass.gov
  2. 500 Million Attempted Ransomware Attacks (So Far) in 2021 MSSP Alert
  3. Malware TechTarget Search Security
  4. Malware Statistics and Facts for 2022 Comparitech
  5. What Is a DDoS Attack? 
  6. Phishing Statistics and Attacks for 2019-2022 Comparitech

 

Cyber Security Compliance Regulations for Businesses in the U.S.

  1. A Closer Look at the 5 Laws of Cyber Security
  2. What is GDPR, the EU’s new data protection law? GDPR
  3. Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Wikipedia
  4. What is Considered Protected Health Information Under HIPAA? HIPAA Journal

 

 

Industries In Which Cyber Security Protection Is Critical

  1. Cyber Security for Small Businesses FCC
  2. 60 Percent Of Small Companies Close Within 6 Months Of Being Hacked Cybercrime Magazine
  3. 10 Small Business Cyber Security Statistics That You Should Know – And How To Improve Them Cyber Security Magazine
  4. The 15 biggest data breaches of the 21st century CSO Online
  5. Cyber Security in the insurance industry Cyber Security Guide
  6. How Much Does a Data Breach Cost? IBM
  7. Rise of Ransomware Attacks on the Education Sector During the COVID-19 Pandemic
  8. Data Breaches Have Lasting Effects on Hospitals, Report Says Becker’s Hospital Review
  9. Cyber Security and the Internet of Things: Dangers and solutions Healthcare IT News
  10. A Look at Local Government Cyber Security in 2020 ICMA (International City/County Management Association

 

Cyber Security Solutions Essential For Defending Your Organization or Business

  1. How Much Does a Data Breach Cost? IBM
  2. Study reveals growing Cyber Security risks driven by remote work Security Magazine
  3. Phishing - Statistics & Facts Statista
  4. 60% of Breaches in 2019 Involved Unpatched Vulnerabilities Security Boulevard

 

Cyber Security Services Necessary to Protect Your Organization or Business

  1. Data Breaches Break Record in 2021 CNet News
  2. Top 50 Cyber Security Statistics, Figures, And Facts Comptia
  3. 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report Verizon

 

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