The number of cyber-attacks are increasing and the cyber crime syndicates will use any method possible to get you to part with your hard earned money. They are after sensitive data, credit card information and “facilitation fees”. Every single person is a target and rest assured that the cyber criminal does not discriminate.
In this piece I will speak about the use of social media to kick off a cyber attack. I will use a real example that we encountered this week and it is important to note that these types of attacks happen across all platforms. Older people are also seen as soft targets because the criminals rely on their trusting nature and limited knowledge of the new digital world we live in.

As humans, we tend to draw all our focus outwards - how people look, how successful a business is from their office space, how safe a home is depending on the high walls and electric fencing.

This is the same for Cyber Security. Companies focus on outsider threats.

They make sure they are equipped to defend against hackers infiltrating through malware or social engineering tactics skimming over the fact that a large amount of breaches that occur are due to insider threats.

An insider threat can be a user who causes a breach through careless behaviour or an employee that is deliberately causing the business harm by stealing information or hacking into the organisation to spread malware which causes major damage and data loss.

The growth of cyber-attacks is well documented and every single cyber security enterprise is talking about Cyber Resilience to improve your business’ security posture. The term is being used so much and yet we are still not really helping the average technology user understand the importance or exactly what it means and what they can do to lower their risk.

Often the focus on corporate risks and acceptable use policies is lost on the end user. Constantly referring only to the policy will not influence the user to adjust behaviour. In order to make real change we need to focus more on procedures, steps and the personal impact of better cyber hygiene to help our users be more secure. When our users know what to do and what to look out for, they will be better protected at home and automatically by association more secure at work.

It seems that when it comes to Cyber Security, people go for the cheapest option, not the most effective and secure.

It is becoming more and more apparent that this way of thinking indicates that you do not know how important Cyber Security is for the productivity of your organisation.

Yes, there are people out there that are overpriced and you should find the most cost effective option but cost effective doesn’t mean the cheapest option that doesn’t give you the full protection you require.

If you are informed and know what is needed as a baseline, you would know that you can get great support and protection for a good price.

Cyber Security has been at the forefront of the news lately and breaches are at an all-time high, meaning that if your organisation hasn’t been breached, it is only a matter of time.