- A new study places blame for cybersecurity incidents
- Phishing scams infect SMBs with powerful malware
- 2020 was a record year for data (in)security.
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This monthly newsletter is designed to arm SMBs, C-Suite, and MSPs with top insights and trends shaping the cybersecurity landscape in order to protect your business.
#1: Boardroom inaction leaves organizations vulnerable to cyberattacks.
- A new report from the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) found that C-suite executives routinely fail to prioritize cybersecurity until after a cyberattack disrupts operations and diminishes financial returns.
- The report encourages companies to make cybersecurity a regular part of their risk analysis alongside legal and financial risk assessments while integrating non-technical IT conversations into regular boardroom discussions.
Insight:
Cybersecurity is often an invisible threat until a data breach, ransomware attack, or IT outage makes it painfully visible. The costs and repercussions have never been more consequential, making forward-planning and prioritization a critical element of an effective defensive posture. Simply put, as this latest report reminds us, don’t wait until it’s too late to protect your data and IT infrastructure. This is a message that is difficult but important to convey to your clients. So many think that they can’t be targets.
#2: Phishing scam spreads sophisticated malware.
- The FBI and Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are warning companies that a spear-phishing campaign is targeting PC users with Trickbot, a highly sophisticated malware strain.
- Using a rudimentary phishing scam methodology, threat actors are infecting PCs with malware capable of spreading across entire networks, delivering ransomware, and capturing login credentials.
Insight:
The scope and frequency of phishing scams increased significantly during the pandemic, and each malicious message threatens to wreak havoc on an organization’s IT infrastructure and data integrity. In response, businesses should combine phishing scam awareness training with powerful cybersecurity capacity that prevents bad actors from reaching employees’ inboxes. Since a single phishing scam can have severe organizational consequences, immediate action is needed to keep data and IT infrastructure safe.
It’s your responsibility as an IT provider to protect and educate your clients. Some times there are just far too many threats to keep track of and keep up with your other work. That’s where BLOKWORX comes in.
#3: New report warns of growing “data breach crisis”.
- According to a new report, more records were compromised in 2020 than in the previous 15 years combined. In total, more than 31 billion records were exposed through data breaches and cybersecurity incidents, a 171% year-over-year increase.
- At the same time, the report found a significant uptick in ransomware attacks, which increased by 60% since 2019. The recent pandemic is cited as a prominent cause of the increase as remote work, economic uncertainty, and unprecedented disruption created a hazardous environment for data security.
Insight:
To protect their bottom lines and operational continuity, today’s businesses need a proactive plan to bolster their defensive posture. As the report encourages businesses, “Prioritize cybersecurity and invest in broadening protection, detection and response measures or face disaster.”
In Other News…
4/01: Fallout from the SolarWinds breach generated support for new breach reporting requirements.
4/01: California lawmakers called for national data privacy regulation.
4/01: Nearly one-fifth of CEOs ranked cybersecurity as their top threat in the next three years.
3/31: Healthcare companies experienced data breaches after MSP ransomware attack.
3/29: COVID-19 phishing scams increased as vaccination rates rose.
3/11: Ransomware attack on cloud services provider impacted 210,000 Americans.