Technology Advisor Blog

This week an astonishing 773,000,000 records were released in a monster breach.  Security researcher Troy Hunt first reported the data set which includes 772,904,991 unique email addresses and over 21 million unique passwords, all recently posted to a hacking forum.

Cyber threats are real and they're local.  Major corporations like Marriott make the big headlines, but too many smaller businesses and institutions think they're "under the radar".  Attacks are widespread and they're automated.  The average firewall is getting hundreds of thousands of intrusion attempts per month, over 50 ransomware attempts, and twelve phishing attempts.   All it takes is ONE user clicking on ONE wrong link and a lot of damage can be done.

It's the holiday season and people are busy, and it's also a season to beware of scams.  There are many different scams related to gift cards, and here's a new one we just saw locally. 

Identity theft is an unfortunate occurrence that is all too familiar with most business owners, but do those individuals know where the compromised data will end up? Often, these business owners are unaware of the virtual marketplace where stolen data is purchased and sold by cybercriminals; a place known as the “Dark Web”.

The "tech support" scam is a common threat on the Internet.  While working on your computer, a pop up will appear that says your computer has a problem and help is just a phone call or click away.  Many of these scams pretend to be from Microsoft.  The graphics may look very professional, and the tech jargon sounds convincing enough that may people fall for these scams.  After the "repair" is done, then you'll be asked for a credit card to pay.  Most people assume they won't fall for a scam, but if you're very busy, and the support price is low enough, it could seem like the fastest and most efficient way to get support and get back to work.  

Disaster recovery is a basic element of good business continuity planning. You've probably heard the phrase and like many businesses, it's something you'll get around to "later". 

Running a small business is exciting but also very risky. American business owners and managers spend countless hours building enterprises that bring value to the table. However, their survival rate doesn't look rosy according to recent statistics. Approximately 80% of businesses survive their first year, 50% survive their fifth year, and 30% survive their tenth year. The fact that their failure rate only increases over time is cause for concern.

The cost of cybercrime is no joke. This is easy to say from the perspective of someone whose business it is to know all about cybercrime trends, attack vectors, etc.  But to really quantify how big of a problem cybercrime is in the world of business, it is often easier to compare it to day to day things… like a doctor explaining a complicated procedure or a mechanic telling you why your car is making that noise. So today I would like to compare the cost of cybercrime to the most universal understanding that there is… time.