We’ve got it! We’ve got the key, we’ve got the secret!!! (High five if you sang that too)
Ok, we’ll level up with you here. As IT professionals, we’ve seen things, things that would horrify you, things that would bring you nightmares, things that you would never ever wish to encounter in your own business…
We’re talking security breaches, data theft and file corruption. It only takes one click by a team member on a bad link before your whole world comes crashing down around you – and that’s something NOBODY wants to deal with.
So, what’s this top secret behind keeping your data as secure as possible?
Other than ensuring you have a top notch IT service provider team on hand (oh, hi there!), we also recommend that every business should invest in cyber security training for their team annually.
Yep, everyone should take part in data secure training every year from entry level to CEO because a strong cyber security culture is one of the best ways to keep your business safe from the increasingly sophisticated threats out there. After all, the hackers don’t rest so neither should you.
Do you know the lingo?
The hackers are ALWAYS trying something new, but here’s a few key terms of what they can get up to given half a chance:
Crypto locking: When they access your data and then lock you out of the access
Spear fishing: Instead of phishing, which is aimed at anyone, this is targeted at specific individuals. Typically the attacker has spent time learning a lot of information about you (your name, role, company information, etc). And then uses this to their advantage.
Whaling: Also known as CEO fraud, this is when the hackers target the person at the top of the company, the one with the most sensitive data. Whaling attacks are often planned for a long period of time. And when they work, give huge financial gain to the cyber criminals.
Pharming: When you’re asked to take an action on what looks like a familiar website. Except if you look very carefully, the website address is slightly different to normal. It’s a scam site, and any information you enter will go to the criminals. There is a scarier version of pharming where the criminals manage to divert traffic going to the real website. These are really hard to detect. But often there are tiny little clues that give the fake sites away, if you know what to look for.
Spoofing: the term for when you receive an email pretending to be from someone you know – such as your accounts department. And it’s asking you to go to a link to reconfirm your details. This type of scam is often used to download malware or ransomware rather than to steal your credentials.
Smishing: Phishing with text messages (SMS)
Vishing: Phishing on the phone, or voice phishing. You receive a phone call from a blocked or unusual number. The caller will pretend to be from somewhere familiar and ask you to carry out actions, or make a payment.
Want to stay safe, secure and hacker-free? Yep, get in touch here and we’ll get onto this for you stat!
