Half of the battle for privacy and data security can be won simply by knowing what the enemy is up to. Hackers target the most vulnerable; companies have discovered the cost efficiency of the work-from-home model, while data thieves have busied themselves by stealing from naive employees!
Here are the Top 5 Security Threats you need to be aware of:
- Phishing, or sending you emails designed to take over your computer. I agree that this is a major threat. Even a trained security professional can’t always tell what’s real and what’s an attack. The good news is that when destructive software hits your computer, we can usually see it with the right detection technology in place.
- Ransomware – taking your computer hostage. Again, I agree that this is a significant threat. The media has managed to make us somewhat numb to it; however, don’t be fooled. Hackers can hit you with a ransom request easily if you’re not well protected against them.
- Cloud vulnerabilities …well, the Cloud isn’t an attack or threat. Over 50% of the attacks over the past 12 months involved the Cloud. The fact is, people falsely believe that they don’t need greater protection because they are using the Cloud. Your phone, laptop, and desktop (when using the Cloud) is the place hackers will attack. Remember, your data is not encrypted while working on it; the end node is a crucial part of
your network, and it must be protected. - GDPR. Again, this isn’t an attack or threat either—it’s a new law from our friends in Europe. Compliance, in general, has altered the way we look at security. In many cases, it has lulled small business owners into a false sense of security. Being HIPAA, PCI, or GDPR compliant in no way means your data is safe. Check the boxes, then assess risk, and finally, secure the data.
- Crypto-mining. This is an attack: having your computer taken over to process cryptocurrency illegally. Crypto-mining will eat up your bandwidth, computing power, and even point to you as the culprit! Crypto-miners take over systems and exploit them for their crime; make sure that this doesn’t happen to you. Some simple tests can tell you if your system is being used for this type of crime.