2021: The State Of Cybercrime
You may hear about a major data breach here or there – but do you know how the state of cybercrime changed in 2020, and what you need to be prepared for in 2021?
The conversation about cybercrime has kind of become white noise, right? There are so many scams, hacks, and major data breaches that it’s hard to stay engaged.
Let’s keep it simple, and stick to the data — like the fact that the global cybercrime industry will cause up to $6 trillion in damages in just a few years.
How? Just consider the rate at which attacks are occurring…
2020 Cybercrime — A Year In Review
- COVID-19 Poses Unprecedented Cybercrime Threat: The number of phishing emails and social engineering scams that use the COVID-19 pandemic as a topic represents the single largest thematic series of cybercrime attacks ever. From credential phishing and malicious attachments to business email compromise and fake landing pages, the coronavirus has been a veritable gold rush for cybercriminals.
- US Governments Hit By Supply-Chain Attack: The US Government and numerous corporations around the world were hit by a devastating supply chain attack last year. What is presumed to be a foreign state-sponsored cyber-military team injected dangerous code into an update of popular software developed by SolarWinds.
- Ransomware Attack Takes Global Company Offline For Days: A sophisticated ransomware attack took down Travelex’s systems in more than 70 countries for multiple days, timed specifically for when staff would be on holidays.
What Should You Be Watching Out For In 2021?
- Phishing Targeting Your Business: The average phishing attack costs businesses $1.6 million – can you afford to pay that price because one of your staff members can’t recognize a phishing email?
- CEO Fraud: CEO Fraud has quickly become one of the most popular ways for cybercriminals to make money – not too long ago, a University paid out more than $11 million due to CEO Fraud.
- Sale Of Your Data Online: Did you know that your SSN could be for sale for as much as $45 on the dark web right now?
How Can You Protect Yourself?
The first step is to actually pay attention – did you know it takes most businesses up to 6 months to find out that they’ve experienced a data breach? Beyond that, follow these three key tips to boost your cybersecurity:
Enlist Your Staff’s Help
Train your staff to ask themselves these key questions before opening an email:
- Do I know the sender of this email?
- Does it make sense that it was sent to me?
- Can I verify that the attached link or PDF is safe?
- Does the email threaten to close my accounts or cancel my cards if I don’t provide information?
- Is this email really from someone I trust or does it just look like someone I trust? What can I do to verify?
- Does anything seem “off” about this email, its contents or sender?
Backup Your Data
If you have a data backup solution, then it doesn’t matter if your data has been encrypted by ransomware. You can just replace it with your backup, simple as that.
That’s why you should make a considerable investment in a comprehensive backup data recovery solution so that you can restore your data at a moment’s notice when necessary.
Be sure to:
- Back up data on a regular basis (at least daily).
- Inspect your backups to verify that they maintain their integrity.
- Secure your backups and keep them independent from the networks and computers they are backing up.
Work With An Expert
When you’re not sure if you have the skills or knowledge to get the job done, what can you do? Consult with cybersecurity professionals.
The cybersecurity professional’s job is to manage your cybersecurity, simple as that. Instead of needing an employee or internal team to keep your tech and data secure, you let someone else with the skills and knowledge do it for you:
- Cybersecurity professionals perform regular vulnerability testing as per industry standards to ensure you aren’t dealing with overlooked cybersecurity weaknesses.
- Cybersecurity professionals help you plan and achieve a secure environment to work in.
- Cybersecurity professionals provide ongoing service and support for any security-related concerns you may have.
What’s The Key To Cybersecurity In 2021?
Invest in a little expert protection – BC Networks. We can put our big business cybersecurity expertise to work for you, implementing best practices, identifying vulnerabilities, and protecting you against the more common and dangerous cybercrime scams.
Experience and strategy are what set us apart from other San Jose, Silicon Valley & South Bay IT companies. We deliver consistently optimal results following our carefully developed and mature set of IT practices and procedures.
