Anticipating the Consumer Cost of Cybercrime in 2024
One of the significant challenges that consumers face today is the ever-growing threat of cybercrime. According to Cybersecurity Ventures, cybercrime is projected to cost the world $9 trillion annually in 2024. How will this expected cost impact Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and their clients? And how critical is the role of training to reinforce strong behaviors and safeguard them against potential threats?
What is Deepfake
A deepfake is a portmanteau (more on that in a moment) of “deep learning” and “fake”. What is a portmanteau? It is when you take multiple words and combine them into a new word. For example, smog is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. So how exactly could deepfake affect you and your business?
If you take a photo, audio, or video and replace one person in it with someone else’s image, you’ve created a deepfake. If you create an audio file with a voice that impersonates someone else, you’ve created deepfake content. With today’s technology, this goes beyond cropping your face over someone else’s in a photograph.
Cyberattack Increase Warning Issued for Schools
Back-to-school time is in full swing and imagine if the only threat that schools faced would be running out of tissues during sniffle season? Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. A cyberattack warning from the FBI, CISA, and MS-ISAC has been issued indicating that cybersecurity “attacks may increase as the 2022/2023 school year begins and criminal ransomware groups perceive opportunities for successful attacks.” A recent attack on the Los Angeles school district deployed malware over Labor Day weekend. The attack was followed up with government-issued announcements that included the warning of an increased threat.
Cybersecurity Agents Unite!
It’s holiday blockbuster season! The time of year when the big screens are full of movie releases that are expected to pull in the crowds that want to watch Marvel and DC Comic heroes unite to save the world. They come from all realms to fight the dark forces that threaten humanity. Together they will save the planet and it usually happens while the human race is blissfully unaware of the dangers that lurk in unknown territories, as they work silently and slowly to initiate our demise and take over the planet.
It Was to Be Expected
We knew that any type of newsworthy topic was going to give cybercriminals so much opportunity – and COVID-19 gave them so much bang for the buck. Just because this was something affecting the world in a detrimental way would never be reason enough for hackers to take a break. They were going to take full advantage of the situation regardless of how much worse it could make things for people during their time of need or vulnerability.
Scare Tactics
It should hardly come as a surprise to anyone that cybercriminal activity has surged in 2020. By May of this year, the number of reported attacks had already come close to the total for 2019 according to the federal government.
With the onset of COVID-19, there were a plethora of new opportunities for cybercriminals to take advantage of our uncertainties, fears, and overall lack of knowledge about this virus and how it was spreading.
Before & After
Imagine if you had two emails that were worth a million dollars each. You would do everything that you can to protect those emails and ensure that no one deleted them. You would back them up, have multiple copies in place so that if you lost those emails, you would have a quick way to recover them. You would make sure that access was limited, with strong password protection, and everyone who had access to the delete button was properly trained on how to open and read the emails safely.
Microsoft Teams & GIFs
“Why do I always have to update my software?”
“What is a patch update and why is it so important?”
As an MSP, you know that it is hard enough to emphasize to every one of your clients and their employees the importance of strong security. You also know that keeping track of what they are using in regard to software and hardware is difficult, and even more so with almost everyone working remotely as of today.
Don’t Let Your Holiday Get Hacked
Prices may go down over the holidays but hacking incidents go up. Way up. While online shopping is something we all need to be diligent about when it comes to our personal cybersecurity, we need to be mindful of our working environment as well.
FBI Issues E-Skimming Warning
Skim This Over
Recently the FBI issued a warning against e-skimming threats in response to the increase of attacks on small and medium-sized businesses, as well as against government agencies. This relatively new form of attack occurs when malicious code is placed within a site that accepts payments. The payments are rendered via credit or debit cards when entered into the portal and often go unnoticed – for years.