Protecting Your Vote — How This Election Differed From 2016

Due to multiple cyberattacks four years ago, cybersecurity was definitely a hot topic during this year’s presidential election. With three weeks leading up to the big day, Microsoft, working with law enforcement groups, disabled one of the largest hacking operations, an effort run by Russian-speaking cybercriminals. This action could have set the path to ensuring what is now confirmed, that election day was hack-free. Here is what we know.     Preventing TrickBot From Tricking Your Ballot TrickBot has become the biggest threat in cybersecurity. It has been used for everything from stealing online banking credentials to infecting the software used by towns, cities and hospitals with ransomware. This malware locks…

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Paying Ransom? Your Company Could Face $20 Million In Fines

Three seconds. That is how long it takes for ransomware to start encrypting the files on your PC or network. This split second can cause an immediate impact on your business, which can cause days, months or even up to a year of recovery. With ransomware attacks in the United States alone costing businesses over $7.5 billion in 2019 and with 62% of businesses reporting having dealt with an attack as of April 2020, it is no wonder the U.S Department of the Treasury is making it illegal for victims to continue pay ransoms to regain access to their data. Not only are they making it illegal, but your organization…

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How Cloud Computing Can Benefit Your Business and Industry

Tired of storing data on your hard drive and worrying that you might lose those important files? With 94% of companies migrating critical applications and infrastructures to the cloud, what is stopping you? Is it adopting new skills or concerns that data too can get lost on the cloud? With the advantages of using both public and private cloud solutions, which give businesses more flexibility, here is why you should move your data resources to the cloud:  First, let us explain exactly what cloud computing does. The cloud is a storage option much like your hard drive, but it’s on the internet. Not only can files be stored on the…

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Viruses — How They Impact COVID-19 and Cyberattacks

Viruses — an infective agent that is capable of growth and multiplication. They can be found in living cells or non-living cells, and even computer programs. During this pandemic, the cybersecurity industry has learned multiple lessons about viruses from COVID-19 as well as pandemic response teams taking lessons from cybersecurity.   Not only do both pandemic and cybersecurity issues stem from viruses, but they also have very serious ramifications. From medical and economic records to communication and power delivery, the global impact that this pandemic has made in the past three months is similar to a cyberattack’s pattern of destruction. Here’s why.    Illuminating The Parallels Between A Cyberattack and A…

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Growing Your Business — Why A CRM Can Help

  Have you heard? Customer relationship management applications (CRM) can increase sales by up to 29%. For a small business, having a CRM is one of the most valuable systems you can get. These types of applications help manage client interactions, deal with future and current customers and optimize relationships.  Not only do these systems help your company better understand your users’ buying patterns, but they are able to be integrated with data from social media channels. The flexibility and adaptability of a CRM allow you to store everything you need to generate and manage your customers. Here’s why.    First Steps According to Forbes, the CRM system a business…

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Cloud Computing —- Taking Your Business One Step Further

It’s in the cloud! Cloud computing emphasizes flexibility, scalability, storage and cost savings, but once businesses make the switch, even more benefits emerge. Especially now, these perks include how easy it is to transition to remote offices with cloud technology. The cloud has allowed companies to scale up and down with flexibility and not worry about the bandwidth to cope with huge demands. This go-to method for both personal and business services is the future of how companies can survive another pandemic, but what exactly can cloud computing do for your business?   Two Types of Cloud Computing The first step to helping your business reap the benefits of this…

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COVID-19 Impacts Cybersecurity — Why You Should Prioritize Security At Your Business

As companies worldwide were forced to transition due to the COVID-19 outbreak, so too did security hackers. With the sudden increase in remote work, cybersecurity risks have heightened. Data shows that in the first 100 days of the pandemic, spam and opportunistic detecting increased by 26.3%, impersonations were up by 30.3%, malware by 35.16% and blocking of URL clicks by 55%. From January – March, the overall detection of cybercriminal activity was up by a third. As risks become more heightened as some employers continue to work from home while others migrate back to the office, having cyber insurance might be the best move for your company when dealing with…

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The Surprising Truth About Ransomware Attacks

  We have seen it over and over: a hacker takes over a company’s server and then the business has to pay up before they are able to access their computer systems. New data has shown that 205,280 organizations were targets of a ransomware attack in 2019. This is a 41% increase from 2018. In the last quarter of 2019, the average payment to regain access to company files was $84,116, which is more than double that of the previous quarter and is only expected to rise. Ransomware attacks have impacted factory operations, forced businesses to shut down and destroy basic infrastructures of companies.    But what might be most…

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Looking Ahead: The Future of Artificial Intelligence Tools for Cybersecurity

  The recent pandemic has confirmed that cybersecurity is a “must have” for internet users and companies today. With millions of people working from home during shelter-in-place orders, businesses across the nation have had their security networks tested by phishing emails and other malware scams.    The numbers are alarming —- the FBI’s Internet Crime Centers have received and reviewed more than 3,600 coronavirus-related complaints, and the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre has taken down 2,000 online coronavirus scams and has identified more than 2,000 malicious new web domains related to the virus. When it comes to cybersecurity needs during and after the pandemic, can artificial intelligence tools be…

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COVID-19 Phishing Scams Are On The Rise — Here’s How To Stop Them

During shelter-in-place orders, businesses across the nation have transitioned into remote offices to comply with health and safety best practices. But when it comes to moving operations online, it can be easy to forget about digital health and safety practices.   Considering that COVID-19-related phishing scams are running rampant — and 1 in 3 home computers is infected with malware — establishing a set of cybersecurity guidelines for your employees to follow while working from a home office can establish a strong standard that will continue once you’re back in your traditional office space.     In last week’s blog, we mentioned that the 2019 Thales Data Threat Report found that 65%…

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