Cyber Crime is BIG Business

2020-01-31

From 2019–2023E, approximately $5.2 trillion in global value will be at risk from cyber attacks, according to a report from accenture, creating an ongoing challenge for corporations and investors alike.

Attackers can be driven by political, ethical, financial or social incentives. With every industry seeing a rise in both the number and cost of attacks, no one is excluded from risk. Cyber crime will remain a large scale concern and challenge for business both today and in years to come.

Everyone can do something to mitigate the risk of cyber crime to their business, it has been said that prevention is often better than a cure.

Below are some simple steps you might want to consider adopting and sharing with your team to help prevent you and your business from becoming a victim of cyber crime.

Think before you click – Clicking without thinking is reckless.  Just because you can click, doesn’t mean you should!  Malicious links can do damage in several different ways, so be sure to inspect links and ensure they are from trusted senders before clicking.

Stick to your own devices – try to limit the devices you use and never share your credentials with others.

Be aware of your surroundings – keep an eye on your device.  Lock it when you step away from your computer and never leave sensitive or confidential items at your desk e.g. post-it notes with your password written on them.

Keep track of your digital footprint – can you recall everywhere you have online accounts and what information is stored on them? Do you store credit card numbers for easier payments?  It important to keep track of your digital footprint, including social media accounts where information can be stored. Remember to delete accounts you are not using.

Recommended Password Complexity

• Use passwords of at least eight characters or longer – the more characters you use, the more difficult a password is to crack.
• Use numbers, lowercase letters, uppercase letters and symbols in your password.
• Each password should be unique to each service – bank account, work password, do not use the same password for everything.
• Passphrases are much easier to remember than passwords and allows you to add complexity to your password.

Bad Passwords

• Awesomedog1
• Sunshine12

Good Passphrase

• May1the2force3be4with5you6!
• G0 @h3@d, M@k3 My Day!
• TH3r3’5 n0 pL@c3 l1K3 h0m3_

Never connect to an unsecured connection There is often free Wi-Fi in a restaurant, coffee shops and hotels, in order to access you may need to tick a box, this usually waivers your right to privacy.  If you are working on anything that you wouldn’t want others to access do not use free Wi-Fi. It is not recommended for any business purposes. If you need to access information remotely tether your device to your mobile phone and use 4G.

We recognise that cyber security issues can be a struggle, however research and statistics suggest a huge increase in hacked and breached data from sources that are increasingly common in the workplace, like mobile and IoT devices.  Most companies have unprotected data and poor cyber security practices in place, making them vulnerable to data loss. To successfully fight against malicious intent, it’s imperative that companies make cyber security awareness, prevention and security best practises a part of their culture.

Get in touch to talk to one of our team. We would be happy to discuss your business and current IT infrastructure and explore together any key areas for development. Our experts are on hand to help deliver a range of cyber security services including training and testing to help make life better for you and your team.

Contact us to find out more about how we can mitigate risk, protect against security vulnerabilities and secure your business data today.