cyber attacks
The Incoming Tech Helping SMBs Deal with Cyberattack Threats
Image sourced from Forbes.com. The cyber threat landscape for businesses of all sizes is terrifying. According to the World Economic Forum, risks are increasing exponentially, while the rate of detection and prosecution is frighteningly low at a rate of below 1%. Organisations, especially small businesses, already suffer the greatest threat to their ongoing viability and require an automated solution if they are to stand any chance of overcoming this critical business risk. These factors have been a crucial driver for the development team at AaDya, which strives to make security accessible and affordable through partners like SLVA Cyber Security. Patrick Evans, CEO of SLVA Cyber Security, explains that even though AaDya solutions are aimed at small to medium businesses, its offerings are c...
3 Ways to Optimise Cloud Security Beyond What is in Place
Modernising business infrastructure by migrating to the cloud has become one of the most significant organisational priorities today. Unfortunately, as companies across industry sectors make the shift from on-premises to this dynamic new environment, so too has there been a tremendous increase in cyber threats and attacks. Contrary to the widely held belief, cloud computing is not the panacea for security many make it out to be. The most effective cyber attackers target the weakest points in any company’s digital defences. In fact, there has been a 50% surge in more sophisticated cyberattacks over the past year. This can at least partly be attributed to the rate at which new cloud deployments are taking place which makes it difficult for business and technology leaders to keep up and ensur...
Sophos Webinar: Navigating the Cybersecurity Triple Threat
As we move into 2022, ransomware shows no signs of slowing down – that’s no surprise. What we have seen in the past 18 months, however, is a shift in tactics: targets have shifted to ever-larger organizations, and the business model that dictates how ransomware attacks occur has evolved. It’s up to IT professionals to proactively deal with these trends to meet the challenges already on the horizon and beyond. Sophos and IT News Africa have collaborated to host a free webinar on 29 June 2022 to discuss the varied methods cyber attackers use to penetrate the networks of an entire organization. The webinar will review how Sophos’ EDR and MTR can help organizations detect these invasions before they escalate and, ultimately, eliminate the threat. It will also look at threat response, and why i...
Small Businesses in Kenya Face 47% Increase in Cyber Attacks
When a small business owner is faced with the responsibilities of production economics, financial reports, and marketing all at the same time, cybersecurity can often appear complicated and, at times, unnecessary. However, this disregard for IT security is being exploited by cybercriminals. Kaspersky researchers assessed the dynamics of attacks on small and medium-sized businesses between January and April 2022 and the same period in 2021, to identify which threats pose an increasing danger to entrepreneurs. In 2022, the number of Trojan-PSW (Password Stealing Ware) detections in Kenya increased by 16% when compared to the same period in 2021 – 12 639 detections in 2022 compared to 10 934 in 2021. Trojan-PSW is a malware that steals passwords, along with other account inform...
Global Russian Hack Attack Targeted SA Energy Sector, US Claims
Sourced from International IDEA South Africa came out as one of 135 countries that the US claims Russian government employees targeted between 2012 and 2017 as part of two massive hack campaigns allegedly aimed at disrupting energy companies and critical infrastructure. According to Daily Maverick, the aim was to undertake a sophisticated campaign to target, compromise, and maintain continued access to the networks of critical infrastructure and energy companies worldwide. When asked if Eskom was targeted by Russia, the South African energy utility said that it, like many organisations, combats many cyber-attacks. Eskom, however, did not specify if it was targeted by Russian actors, specifically, or not. “We are aware that, daily, cybercriminals are actively targeting various sectors, incl...
3 South African Cybersecurity Companies You Should Probably Know About
Image by Darwin Laganzon, Pixabay. Cybersecurity involves the application of technologies, processes and controls to protect systems, networks, programmes, and data from cyber-attacks. Many establishments across the world, including, schools, banks, and hospitals rely heavily on cybersecurity services to protect their data and be safe from cyber-attacks. Everyone who has a computer or access to the internet must at some point know how to protect themselves online, hence the crash course in cybersecurity in your high school, college, or university years. It is not at all inane. In 2019, a cybersecurity company, Kaspersky noted that malware attacks in South Africa had increased by 22 percent in the first quarter of the year compared to the first quarter of 2018, which translates to just unde...
What is a honeypot crypto scam and how to spot it?
What is a crypto honeypot and why is it used? Smart contracts programs across a decentralized network of nodes can be executed on modern blockchains like Ethereum. Smart contracts are becoming more popular and valuable, making them a more appealing target for attackers. Several smart contracts have been targeted by hackers in recent years. However, a new trend appears to be gaining traction; namely, attackers are no longer looking for susceptible contracts but are adopting a more proactive strategy. Instead, they aim to trick their victims into falling into traps by sending out contracts that appear to be vulnerable but contain hidden traps. Honeypots are a term used to describe this unique sort of contract. But, what is a honeypot crypto trap? Honeypots are smart contracts that appear to ...
Today’s New Business Normal Creates Threat Opportunities
Image sourced from Feed Navigator. The COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses of all shapes and sizes to make rapid changes in how they operated, with employees predominantly working remotely and sensitive data and systems being accessed from outside the office. For many, this triggered an increased reliance on remote-access infrastructure and cloud-delivered services. IT departments rushed to install, expand, or upgrade remote desktop access (RDA) servers, virtual private network (VPN) concentrators, and remote access routers to meet surging workforce demand for remote access to data centres. Moreover, widespread reliance on video conferencing apps forced many businesses to upgrade enterprise wide-area network and local-area network capacity, as well as to re-evaluate routing and DNS re...
When Ransomware Strikes, Can You Recover Fast Enough?
Sourced from Kaspersky Ransomware attacks have become increasingly common, and they are even available on the dark Web to purchase as a service. There have been many incidents in the news, where major companies have been left with little choice other than to pay the ransom to get their data back, often amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The reality is that ransomware and other cyberattacks have become a question of when not if. The ability to respond and recover quickly has therefore become an essential part of successful ransomware defence, but it is something many organisations, especially in South Africa, struggle with. Consider Some Statistics The State of Ransomware report from security firm Sophos reveals that, over the last year, the average cost of remediating a ransomw...
6 PoPIA Tips to Ensure Security and Compliance
The full implementation of the Protection of Personal Information Act (PoPIA) heralds a new era of control and privacy for South African citizens and organisations, and holds the promise of deepening trust between organisations and their customers – provided organisations remain fully compliant. According to Cameron Beveridge, Regional Director Southern Africa at SAP, trust is the key to success in the digital economy. “Privacy and trust are essential elements in building strong connections with customers and ensuring a positive customer experience (CX) in today’s business environment. In fact, some studies have found that up to 90% of customers believe how their data is treated is indicative of the way they will be treated as a customer, and 91% won’t purchase from a company if they don’t...
Cryptocurrency and Cybercrime: 3 Insights You Need to Know
Image sourced from Shutterstock. Criminals have kept pace with changing technologies by no longer wanting their crimes to generate hard cash – bitcoin has become the currency of choice. That’s particularly true for cybercrime, where ransomware is booming as criminals infiltrate organisations’ IT systems and threaten to publish or destroy crucial data unless a ransom is paid in Bitcoin. Here are 3 insights you need to know about the links between cybercrime and cryptocurrency: 1. Cryptocurrency is Fuelling Cybercrime Ransomware payments have become so huge that attacks are mounting daily. A recent high-profile case was an attack on the US Colonial Pipeline, causing the system that carries 2.5 million barrels of oil a day to be shut off. It’s become such a lucrative business that some syndic...
Recent Increases in Cyberattacks Could Be Due to Leaked Cyber “Superweapons”
Sourced from Forbes Check Point Research (CPR), the Threat Intelligence arm of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions globally, warns of a further increase in cyberattacks and thinks it could be partly down to major powers leaking, what they refer to as, ‘cyber superweapons’. “We have long warned that organisations of all sizes are being bombarded by a global fifth generation of cyber threats (Gen V). These are multi-vector cyber threats that can cause fatal damage and irreparable harm to the reputation of the compromised company,” said Pankaj Bhula, Regional Spokesperson at Check Point Software. “However, most companies are only secured against what we call third-generation threats (Gen III), which are threats that we’ve known about since the...
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