Pandemic Anniversary Cybersecurity Check

It’s been over a year now since the pandemic began, and we all know cybercriminals were taking advantage of people’s confusion, fear, and the vulnerabilities created from rapid shifts to remote work. What we’re still learning is the immense scope of the increase in cybercrime – here are a few unsettling numbers that we’ve come across:

• Since the pandemic began, the FBI reported a 300% increase in reported cybercrimes.
• Confirmed data breaches in the healthcare industry increased by 58% in 2020.
• Remote work has increased the average cost of a data breach by $137,000.
• Cloud-based cyber attacks rose 630% between January and April 2020.
• Ransomware damage costs will rise to $20 billion by 2021 and a business will fall victim to a ransomware attack every 11 seconds at that time.

A report from Malwarebytes identified next steps many companies are planning to take to protect their data and employees and we definitely agree with these!

1. Develop stronger remote security policies.
2. Install a permanent work from home model for employees who don’t need to be in the office everyday.
3. Host more trainings for work from home needs and responsibilities.
4. Deploy antivirus solutions that can better handle a remote workforce.

Email Phishing Scams Continue to Cause Havoc

Globally, over 90 percent of malware is delivered via e-mail. While you or your employees or colleagues might click on an e-mail in good faith, it could pose a financial risk to your business. 

Be wary of emails such as “your account has been locked,” “update your record,” “confirm your account,” and out of the ordinary refunds or requests for payments. Protect yourself also by:

• Being wary of links – hover over them to verify the sites full URL before clicking on them. 
• Verify a site’s security – double check for “https” and the closed lock icon.
• Don’t send personal financial information via email.
• Talk with your IT team about potentially fitting your internet browsers with anti-phishing toolbars.

Check out this sample phishing email and remember the signs to be on the alert for.