Cybersecurity is an important consideration for all businesses—including the over 13,000 private businesses and 420 government establishments that were operating in Baltimore City as of 2020. This has unfortunately been reinforced a few times in the recent past, with many businesses having been the victims of rampant cyberthreats. Let’s review what some of these events have been, and what modern organizations should be teaching their employees to help avoid these issues.

Phishing attacks are serious business, so it is important that your team members know what they are, for one, and know how to spot them. To facilitate this, let’s review the signs of a phishing attack—or ideally, a phishing attempt (because by spotting it, you’re more able to stop it).

How often do you check social media only to find your news feed clogged with your friends and family sharing the results of quizzes like, “Which Star Wars character are you,” or “What’s your superhero name based on your birthday.” While these quizzes might seem harmless on the surface, they often hide a far more sinister agenda, one which uses the personally identifiable information provided to them for nefarious purposes.

For twenty years, hackers have tried to breach organizational networks by finding or breaking holes in the network’s perimeter, or in exposed servers. This led to the cybersecurity industry creating software designed specifically to stop these threat actors in the act. This, in essence, created a situation where the perimeter of an organization’s network was extremely hard to breach. The problem was that as soon as something was able to get through the outer defenses, there was no end to the devastation a hacker could cause inside a network.

Network security isn’t just for large, high-profile enterprises; even small businesses need to take it seriously. All businesses have something of value to hackers, and if you don’t believe this is the case for your organization, think again. All data is valuable to hackers, and you need to do everything in your power to protect it—especially against threats like Agent Tesla, the latest version of phishing malware designed to steal your data.

The situation surrounding the hack against Colonial Pipeline has only become more complex as new information has come to light, each new discovery providing more insights and potentially actionable takeaways. Let’s examine some of the biggest developments surrounding the attack, and what they will likely mean for overall cybersecurity from this point forward.

With new crisis-level cybersecurity events making headlines, it’s easy to assume that smaller businesses aren’t at the same risk level as larger enterprises. However, most common attacks don’t care who gets hit. There is also plenty of evidence pointing out that smaller businesses are at an even higher risk—you just don’t hear about them on the news.

GoDaddy—the domain registrar and web-hosting company once famed for its risqué advertisements—is facing some significant backlash for a much different reason. On December 14th, GoDaddy’s employees received an email that appeared to be from the company, promising a holiday bonus. However, while the email was from the company as it appeared to be, it was actually a phishing test that the hosting provider decided to run.

As serious as they are, cyberattacks are not always labeled with the most serious-sounding names. We are, of course, talking about phishing: the use of spoofed email addresses and fraudulent messages to get hold of data, or whatever goal the attacker has in mind. One of the silliest-sounding versions of phishing—smishing—has proven to be of particular risk.

When people talk about cybersecurity nowadays, there certainly seems to be a lot of emphasis put on phishing attacks and ransomware. This is for good reason. Not only can either of these attack vectors create significant difficulties for a business, they are often used in tandem. Let’s discuss why these threats are so potent, and why they so often show up together.

With everything else going on, it’s easy to let your guard down. Business owners have more to worry about than ever before—the health and safety of their staff and customers, making payroll, keeping the lights on. Granted, some businesses have it harder than others, but the general consensus right now is that things are less stable than they were.

Remote work is here to stay, and now is the time to ensure your team has the skills and knowledge to keep themselves and your client data safe. Here are three training areas your business should focus on to help keep your data safe and secure.

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Phishing is a serious issue for businesses of all sizes, mainly because it’s a relatively easy way for cybercriminals to take advantage of the easiest part of the business to fool: the end user. You need to know that the members of your team would be able to spot a phishing attack and handle it appropriately.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus has wreaked havoc across the globe, there has been a lot of hope and effort put towards developing a vaccine against it. Unfortunately, just as some experiments have produced promising results, hackers have begun targeting the research centers responsible. Let’s look at this situation to see what it can teach us.

Being a small business doesn’t make you invisible to criminals on the Internet. You might think that being a smaller entity, serving only a local area, might not drive a lot of malicious attention to you, but it just isn’t the case today.

We have been observing a significant rise in reported phishing attacks from clients, prospects, and local businesses throughout Maryland. In fact, we’re not just seeing this happen in the larger cities, but the smaller, more rural areas as well.

Microsoft’s latest Security Intelligence Report cites phishing attacks as the most prevalent cyberthreat. With the COVID-19 outbreak pushing large numbers of workers to their own homes, it is almost assuredly still the case. As a result, it is extremely important that you and your staff understand how to spot potential phishing attacks and what to do when confronted with an attack. Today, we will provide you some tips on how to identify and remediate such attacks.

While investing in cybersecurity solutions like firewalls, backup, and monitoring are essential to protecting your data from being compromised, focusing solely on technology is only half the battle. The greatest vulnerability will always be the employee. In order to protect your data, you need to give your employees the training to protect themselves. After all, when it comes to network security, your team is your critical asset. Here are four security lessons your team needs to know.

For many businesses, email plays a crucial role in the dessemination of information. Whether it is simply interacting with clients or pushing directions to individuals, email is a simple and efficient way to communicate. One problem that organizations are running into is that individuals are being inundated with social engineering messages called phishing. This strategy is causing major operational problems for businesses, from malware to data breaches to extended downtime. For this week’s tip, we identify what exactly phishing is and how it is used to the detriment of many businesses and other organizations.

When someone starts talking about social engineering, people often get confused. They think we’re talking about cloning. While having two of something you love may not be terrible, the social engineering we routinely cite is much, much worse. Social engineering is the act of using social interactions to get people to make cybersecurity mistakes. Today, we’ll take a look at social engineering and how it can have a negative effect on your business. 

Over the last few years, there has been a meteoric rise in cybercrime, with nothing to indicate that rates will decrease anytime soon. Why would they? Bad actors and cybercriminals can make a pretty penny by attacking businesses, and they are only becoming more equipped and experienced in doing so.