Sep 13, 2024 | SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, Technology News
Whether man-made or natural, threats to the security of your company’s network are on the rise. Not only do effects of climate change (such as wildfires and floods) pose threats to businesses, but cyberattacks including ransomware via phishing emails, jeopardize your network and data. Read on to learn more about threats and how to overcome them. Common Risks For Businesses Risk management professionals have their hands full! Natural disasters like floods or wildfires can damage, even destroy, security operations data centers, homes and businesses, and infrastructure like power lines. Even a winter storm can keep workers from accessing work systems, and break the connection between a technical problem and its solution. At the very least, natural disasters can result in costly downtime. According to a CSO Online article, the number of climate change-related incidents with damage exceeding $1 billion dollars had occurred by October 2023. As if the consequences of natural disasters aren’t serious enough, bad actors are seeking access to business networks to steal data, infect the networks with malware, or both. These cybercriminals might also use a natural disaster to take advantage of a company’s vulnerability. Data breaches are also very much in the news. According to a 2021 cybersecurity threat trends report, phishing emails are responsible for roughly 90% of data breaches. These data breaches come from unsuspecting recipients giving up confidential information when they are tricked into doing so. Phishing schemes are becoming more sophisticated, too. Another threat is escalating cyberattacks using the same artificial intelligence tools your business might be using to automate processes and make work more efficient. If...
Sep 4, 2024 | SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, Technology News
Hybrid workforce is here to stay, and some businesses are entirely remote. With the benefits remote employees bring, it also introduces dangers like unprotected network access and greater exposure to ransomware. Over the last several years, ransomware has increased and can have disastrous consequences to businesses of all sizes. Read on to learn more about the ransomware landscape and how to protect your company from attacks that steal data. Ransomware’s Prevalence and Danger Ransomware, a type of malware that introduces malicious code that can encrypt your data and make it unusable for your company, is nothing new. Even with some progress by law-enforcement groups in taking down some of the infrastructure, it is still prevalent. It can cause data breaches, downtime from inaccessible data, and financial consequences from lost revenue. If your data is stolen or leaked, not only do you not have access to it, but it can damage your company’s reputation because customers no longer trust you to protect confidential information. According to a 2023 report by Verizon regarding data breaches, ransomware affected 66% of organizations; 24% of data breaches occurred as a result of ransomware infection. Aside from lost data, your network could also become a hub, spreading ransomware to others such as customers or vendors. How Ransomware Enters Networks and How to Keep it Out Points of entry are various, though the primary source is social engineering (phishing) emails. Many attacks come by way of an email containing a link which, when clicked on, downloads malicious software. Malicious actors use urgent calls to action and appeals to fear to get unsuspecting...
