Did you know that your staff are officially the weakest link in your cyber security? The more staff you have, the more vulnerable your business and data becomes. If you’re not already running regular security and staff cyber training sessions, then read on to find out why training your staff should be high on your Cybersecurity To-Do list.
What is Phishing?
Phishing is a term used to explain a type of social engineering where a fraudulent message is sent designed with the intent to trick the receiver into revealing sensitive or personal information. With this information the attacker can deploy ransomware, malware or another form of code to gain access, information, data or demand, or steal funds or to cause damage – and usually all of the above!
What Sort of Cyber Scams Are There?
Before we delve into Phishing, we may as well introduce some of the other ways cybercriminals are trying to capture data in order to hack companies. Online criminals are continuously improving their methods, and devising new and wonderful ways to breach businesses, including:
- Ransomware
- Malware
- CEO Fraud & Executive Fraud/BEC
- Online scams
- Email bombing
- Malware
- Viruses
- Logic Bombs
- Social Media Spamming
- Software Piracy Scams
- Cyber Stalking
- Hacking
- DoS Hacking (Denial of Service)
- IoT hacking (Internet of Things)
- Social Engineering
- Cryptojacking
And believe us, there are MANY more…
What Are the Risks to My Business if we Suffer a Data Breach?
At the very best, the risks to your business following a data breach will be:
- Reputational Damage
- Operational Downtime
- Loss of Sensitive Data
- And Financial Loss
The financial impact of a data breach is probably the most immediate and hard-hitting consequence that your company would have to deal with. Even if you avoid paying any ransom to retrieve your data, legally you’ll have to report the breach. Once reported it will be made public knowledge and displayed on the gov.co.uk website, and the cost of the damage to your reputation could be devastating.
Some Cyber Stats
These stats aren’t pretty, but they may highlight the need to ensure you and your staff should be undertaking regular training and testing.
- Four in ten businesses (39%) and a quarter of charities (26%) have reported having cyber breaches in the last 12 months. Gov.co.uk
- Around half of businesses (53%) and over four in ten (45%) charities have reported seeking external information or guidance on cyber security in the past year. Gov.co.uk
- 2021 had the highest average cost of a data breach in 17 years from USD 3.86 million to USD 4.24 million. IBM
- The average cost of a breach where remote working was a factor was USD 1.7 million higher. IBM
- In July alone the IT Governance found 86 security incidence accounting for 33,727,641 breached records the companies suffering breaches include:
New Skills Academy
Guntrader.uk
Oxford City Council
National Lottery Community Fund
And a Nottingham nurse who had been accessing confidential medical records of people she met on online data profiles! - In June this year, the US brought back its Cyber Most Wanted list containing the most sough-after fugitives involved in their financially related cybercrime investigations.
- The penalties imposed by the ICO should your company be breached, could be devastating, with the standard maximum fine of £8.1million or 2% of the total annual worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year – whichever is higher.
How does Phishing Work?
Phishing is basically tricking the recipient into providing personal/company-specific details. Also explained as a fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information. An attacker, masquerading as a trusted entity, dupes a victim into opening an email, instant message, or text message. Phishing is one of the many types of social engineering attacks which are often used to steal