Preparing for cyberthreats is one of the main challenges businesses face today. Large organizations have more resources, funds, and personnel at their disposal, but the complexity and number of solutions increase the workload and vigilance for IT teams. Small to midsize organizations are often limited by resources, funds, and personnel, making cyber protection a challenge on a less complex network. This year, ensure all employees of your organization are aware of the threats and how they can help combat the increasing threat. This blog will serve as a resource of key items you should consider when teaching employees best practices and tips - you can even download a copy of this Cybersecurity Powerpoint Presentation to share with employees.
The world of cybersecurity is evolving at a breakneck pace, and your employees play a key part in protecting your organization from evolving cyberattacks. By teaching your employees the threat of cyberattacks through cybersecurity best practices, tips, and warning signs - you can help mitigate the risk of cyberattacks on the business.
The FBI reports a 67% year over year increase in cybersecurity disaster events. Companies that suffer major data loss are deeply impacted; according to the University of Texas, 43% never re-open and 29% close within 2 years. All employees within an organization are not responsible for the technical aspect of cybersecurity, but there are simple actions they can take to help protect the organization. But, it is the job for IT teams to make employees in other departments aware of the threats and provide instructions.
Cybersecurity Threats: Phishing
Phishing is a type of online scam where an attacker impersonates legitimate organizations via email, texts, or ads to trick a victim into revealing sensitive information to the attacker, or to deploy malicious software on the victim's device. The cost of a phishing attack has quadrupled over the past 6 years - now costing large U.S. companies $14.8 million annually.
" 54% of Ransomware attacks come from phishing."
Phishing: Warning Signs
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- The 'from' address doesn't look official.
- The email was unexpected.
- The email requested personal information from you.
- The email contains unfamiliar links or attachments.
- The sender promised an attractive award.
- The sender has requested urgent action.
Phishing: Email Security Tips
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- Don't click suspicious links.
- Double check the contents of the email and the senders address.
- Don't download any suspicious attachments.
- Trust your spam filter.
- Deploy an email security solution.
You clicked the link: now what?
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- Don't panic - time is of the essence.
- Do NOT enter data - report the incident to your IT team if you believe you sent data to a malicious website.
- Disconnect from WiFi - this will help mitigate the risk of malware spreading across the network.
- Scan for malware - using an antivirus software you trust, scan your device to detect any infected files.
- Backup to external storage - backup important files to a hard disk or flash drive.
Cybersecurity Threats: Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malicious software that encrypts your files and folders and then demands a ransom to be paid. By not paying the ransom, the data can be leaked to the dark web and sold. Veeam Software's 2022 Data Protection Trends report found that 76% of the 3,393 surveyed organizations suffered at least one ransomware attack:
"42% were user actuated - meaning a user clicked on a malicious link often from a spam email. 23% came from a credential compromise."
Ransomware: Consequences
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- Employee overtime
- Loss of productivity
- Loss of revenue
- Unrecoverable data
- Reputation damage
- Lost customers
Resources
Net3 Technology Cybersecurity Services - Net3 offers a suite of cybersecurity technologies and tools to help you build a complete protection plan: Cloud Backup, Disaster Recovery Solutions, Security Vulnerability and Patch Management, End User and Authorized Use Management, OS Based EDR and Endpoint Security Solutions, Network Based Detection and Response, and Data Prevention.
National Institute of Standards and Technology - NIST maintains a cybersecurity framework that defines the essential controls and policies that need to be in place. 
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency - CISA is a government organization that is there to help you. They offer items like free vulnerability scanning for critical industries and government. 
