Tech Insider: September 2024

Unfortunately, while the upcoming Halloween activities are isolated to one month a year, cyber attacks happen 24/ 7, 365.

Security threats are scary. It’s intimidating to acknowledge them and meet them head-on, but we figured that with Cyber Security Awareness Month starting tomorrow, we should talk more directly.

In this issue of Tech Insider, we’ll explore examples of cyber security, including real-life cases of damaging cyber attacks. Don’t worry, we’ll also go through what we’ve learned over the years.

One case: it’s a typical Monday morning, and your team is busy getting to work. Everything seems normal, until…

It’s 08:00, you receive an email from what looks like a supplier you often deal with.

The email looks genuine, but it asks for a quick login to a portal to view a new contract. You're in a hurry and click the link without thinking, logging in without verifying the URL. Little do you know, you've just given cyber criminals access to your credentials.

Phishing is the most common form of cyber attack, with 3.4 billion phishing emails sent each day. That’s 1.2% of all emails sent.

It’s 08:30, and the attacker has begun quietly infiltrating your network. Threat actors have been known to convince users to click on a malicious email within?16 minutes, with users taking twice as long to report the attack to IT.

By lunchtime, IT has received a few odd reports of slowness in the network, but nothing seems critical.

By 15:00, the cyber criminals have embedded ransomware into your most critical systems. Files are being encrypted without your knowledge. Employees report that some files are inaccessible, but this gets dismissed as a server glitch. No alerts have gone off because the attackers know how to stay stealthy.

By 17:00, your screen turns black, and a ransom note appears demanding Bitcoin.

Your entire network is compromised. Every critical file has been locked, and the ransom demands are skyrocketing by the minute. You’re faced with a decision: pay up or risk losing all of your data.

The percentage of organisations that pay ransom in response to these types of attack has increased from 10% in 2019 to 54% in 2022, with this number still growing. So, what would you do?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Now, while this scenario seems dramatic and scary, it happens more than we think. This Cyber Security Awareness Month, we want to raise awareness.

Our technology is improving, becoming more sophisticated. The future of technology is looking bright. But we also know that cyber threats are increasing in frequency and damage year-by-year.

We’re taking the opportunity to look back on some of the most notorious cyber threats in history.

1999. Fifteen-year-old Jonathan James hacked into the US Department of Defence systems, intercepting internal emails containing sensitive information. He then went on to steal NASA software from those same systems.

2000. A teenager conducted a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on several huge commercial sites, resulting in $1.2 billion in damage.

2009. Threat actors infiltrated Google servers and obtained access to the accounts of Chinese human rights activists, as well as other members of the public from various countries.

2017. The WannaCry cyber attack targeted 230,000 computers worldwide, and a total of $130,000 in ransom was paid.

2024. A healthcare organisation in the US that handles over 15 billion transactions a year was breached by a cyber group named BlackCat/ AlphV, who are linked to various other attacks. A ransom of $22 million was paid.

These attacks were devastating, but they taught us some valuable lessons. People and organisations are more cautious now, and we’re able to use technology safely. On top of this, there are many cyber security solutions to protect against any possible threat.

We now know to train from the top down, with high-profile executives being the primary target for attacks. Best practices need to be implemented in a funnel effect. Around 49% of executives and 32% of directors are actively engaged in planning data breach responses.

We like to think that we don’t make mistakes, but unfortunately most cyber attacks are successful due to human error. 88%, to be precise. Cyber security training initiatives for all employees have been proven to reduce chances of a breach significantly.

With even highly sophisticated corporations, like the Department of Defence, being breached, it’s proven that if there’s one thing that needs to be done, it’s prepare for the worst. Disaster recovery and business continuity planning is therefore essential.

Many of the world’s biggest cyber attacks have been down to unpatched software, out-of-date platforms, and unused resources. These areas of reduced management leave a gap for threat actors to infiltrate without notifying anybody. Make sure to account for all licences, software, devices, etc to ensure all of your bases are covered.

We know the online world is always shifting, and so are the risks that come with it. But even the smallest steps can make a big difference. By staying alert and taking those simple, everyday actions, we can all play a part in protecting organisational data this Cyber Security Awareness Month.

Looking for information on business continuity following this month’s edition?

Find out everything you need to know about business continuity solutions here.

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