Becoming #CyberAware: Why This Should Be a Top Priority for Your Business & How to Get There

On a daily basis, you see reports of different companies getting breached and data stolen. Heck, just this morning on my way in to work, I heard about how Panera Bread is reporting that data was stolen from their system. Last week, we heard about Under Armour and the 150 million MyFitnessPal accounts that were hacked. Also, don’t forget that Boeing was hit by the WannaCry ransomware virus. I can go on and on, but those three were all from the last 7 days. One of the biggest sources of these incidents is the fact that the employees are not aware of cybersecurity and how it plays within their company.

Kevin Mitnick, one of the most famous hackers ever, was able to gain access to systems because he knew and understood the lingo that companies on his target list used. He was able to pick up the phone and talk someone into giving him access to their networks. He was able to steal billions of dollars of software because he understood how to use social engineering to get what he wanted. On the flip side, these companies were not aware that this could even happen. They just trusted what someone said to them.

What Kevin did was in the 90’s (and he spent several years in jail for what he did), and a lot of what we see today comes in via email. It is called phishing. Phishing is when someone pretends to be someone else in the hopes of you clicking on the link(s) inside the email and providing sensitive information that they can use.

One of the most well-known examples of this is when a scammer sends you an email that looks just like one your bank would send, and the message asks you to log into your account to verify your information. What they are actually doing is stealing your information to either use or sell on the dark web.

What can you do to protect your organization from this? You can train all staff members on cybersecurity best practices and have them periodically go through security awareness training. Then, you should test them. Send fake phishing emails to them and see who clicks. For anyone that does, send them training on why it was a bad idea to click on the link.

Always monitor and test your employees to ensure they are following your standards!

Questions? Feel free to reach out to Mike Clemmons at 317-372-7625 or www.bytecafe.net/about-us/contact-us/.