Business Cyber Security for 2023. What type of company is yours?

There are only two types of companies, those that have been hacked and those that will be.

This is what the FBI’s Director said 10 years ago! So which one are you?

One of the best ways to protect your business – and it costs nothing to implement – is to educate your staff. If your employees are aware of what to look out for, then they are less likely to click on something they shouldn’t or be tricked into giving away details by mistake.

The next step is to mitigate the risk. You can do this by using cyber security software on your devices and applications to identify, capture and prevent attacks. Whilst no software can protect you 100% (after all, if the CIA can be hacked anyone can) most decent providers will filter out a very high percentage. It is all about mitigating your risk to the highest level you can and making it difficult for criminals to succeed, plus having backups in place should the worst happen so you can get back up and running quickly.

Unfortunately, as time has passed it is not a case of those that have and those that have not, it is just a matter of time. Now, these two groups seemed to be merging into one: companies that have been hacked and companies that will be hacked again. In other words, no company is safe; it is not a case of ‘if,’ but ‘when’ and ‘how often’.

There has been a 48 per cent increase, year-on-year of phishing attacks targeting all brands and industries.

A recent survey by Vade found more than 274,600 unique phishing websites in 2022, compared to nearly 185,000 in 2021. According to this research, Facebook is the most impersonated brand for the second year running, closely followed by Microsoft.

Facebook accounted for nine per cent of the total phishing from the list Vade compiled detailing the top twenty most impersonated brands. Microsoft is the most impersonated brand in the corporate market.

In the number three spot is Google, which accounted for nearly 20,000 unique phishing pages (seven per cent of all phishing websites), with PayPal in fourth. The fifth place spot went to MTB, which had previously been at number eighteen.

Not surprisingly, the financial services industry is the most impersonated. Phishers are opting for more targeted attacks, leveraging headlines and abusing legitimate services.

To combat these attacks, we need more sophisticated defences.

We have produced and free video guide: What is phishing? Please share it with your staff.

We’re here if you need us. For any business IT support or question regarding cyber security for your organisation, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

We have also produced a free 5 part business cyber security guide on simple measures your company can take to mitigate risk of a cyber breach.

#cyberaware #cybersecurity

James Howe Ben Capas Freddie Morgan