cyber-threats
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...
How a Data Breach Can Impact a Business Even Years After
Image sourced from Forbes. Modern enterprises face an onslaught of cyberattacks from many quarters and must not only be prepared to contend with the direct costs of potential breaches but also with spiralling indirect costs, such as compliance fines and reputational damage. As the threat landscape continues to evolve, so do the frequency and sophistication of attacks, with companies facing anything from denial of service attacks and phishing attempts to payment card skimming, identity theft, and account takeover threats. At the same time, ransomware attacks have gained prominence over the last few years, forcing companies to continually test their data protection plans to understand the risks associated with having sensitive data released to the public. In its State of Ransomware 2021 repo...
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...
Omnis Security from NETSCOUT: Protect Your Network from the Threats You Can’t See
On 09 December 2021, the world was alerted to the Log4j vulnerability [CVE-2021-44228 aka Log4Shell]. It is likely that threat actors already knew about the vulnerability before this date, says Tom Bienkowski, NETSCOUT Product Marketing Director, because it’s been reported that the vulnerability had been exposed much earlier in Minecraft chat forums. How does Log4j work – and what lessons does it bring? Log4j, which is open-source software provided by the Apache Software Foundation, records errors and routine system operations and sends diagnostic messages about them to system administrators and users. A common example of Log4j is when a user types in or clicks on a bad weblink and they receive a 404 error message. The web server running the domain of the attempted weblink sends a message ...
Areas of Focus for Healthcare Organisations When Securing Digital Transformation
The healthcare industry has been forever changed by digital transformation. Innovation in the medical space has led to advances in new treatments as well as cost savings that do not negatively impact the quality of care. The added benefit: faster, better networks have allowed for the growth of telemedicine, bringing quality care to thousands who did not have access before. An unfortunate side effect has been that cybercriminals are targeting the healthcare sector now more than ever. As a result, cybersecurity is critical to the success of health systems, which are increasingly at risk as cyber criminals look to steal patient data or hold internal resources for ransom. The vulnerabilities that enable these attacks exist in any vertical, but in the case of healthcare, they can be life-threat...
Over 1,500 Malicious Resources Are Targeting Potential Crypto Investors in Africa
Image sourced from Shutterstock. Globally, cryptocurrency mining malware wreaked havoc in 2018, infecting more than five million people in the first three quarters of that year. Recent Kaspersky’s research shows that in some African countries, the threat of malicious crypto miners remains prevalent. Currently, in South Africa, the share of all users targeted by malicious crypto miners in H1 2021 was 0.60%. In Kenya, the share of all users targeted was 0.85% and in Nigeria, 0.71%. “Although these percentages may be interpreted as low and may not seem significant to users, crypto-miner malware has been identified as one of the top 3 malware families rife in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria at present,” says Bethwel Opil, Enterprise Sales Manager at Kaspersky in Africa. Kaspersky believes thes...
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...
IT Teams Facing Cyber Threats in 2020 – 5 Vital Insights
Image sourced from CIO. “Around the world, 2020 was an unprecedented year for IT teams,” said Chester Wisniewski, principal research scientist, Sophos. IT professionals played a vital role in helping organizations to keep going despite the restrictions and limitations necessitated by COVID-19. Among other things, they enabled education institutions to move learning online, retailers to switch to online transactions, healthcare organizations to deliver digital services and care under incredibly tough circumstances, and ensured public entities could continue to provide essential services. Much of this will have been done at high speed, with limited equipment and resources available and while facing a rising tide of cyberattacks against the network, endpoints and employees. To say things were...
4 Simple Steps Your Company Can Take to Protect ERP Systems from Cyber-Threats
Image sourced from Software ONE. Cybercrime taps into the vulnerability of business systems and can pose a real threat to a robust supply chain. A sophisticated ransomware attack recently targeted the world’s largest meat processor. Following the business system breach, operations in the US and Australia were disrupted, resulting in a knock-on effect. The meat processor had no option but to shut down nine beef plants in the United States and several plants in Australia. Several truck drivers who specialize in hauling livestock also had no choice but to drive hundreds of miles to pick up cattle from an alternative supplier. For the end-consumer, the long-term impact of the cyber-attack could mean inflated meat prices. Unfortunately, this is not the only instance of a cyber-attack on critica...
5 Cybersecurity Tips for Startups
Sourced from International IDEA From 2020 being dubbed ‘the year of the side hustle’ to small businesses grappling to maintain continuity and profitability, despite these unprecedented times there has been a significant uprising in entrepreneurial activity the world over. Startups tend to be created by people who burn with an idea and want to put it into action as soon as possible. Money is usually tight, and expenses run high, what with product development, promotion, and all the rest of it. When managing priorities, emerging businesspeople often neglect matters related to information security. Many startups try to save on security, confident that a small company with limited resources holds no interest for cybercriminals. The truth is anyone can fall victim to cybercrime. Firstly, becaus...
Hybrid Cloud Environments Provide Cheap Security for Financial Service Organisations
Sourced from ZDNet. Worldwide, financial services organisations are turning to the cloud as the means to transform outdated legacy systems and commit to disruptive technologies. The size of the public cloud market is expected to top $354 billion by the end of 2022, a significant jump from the less than $197 billion of 2018. But instead of going the all-or-nothing route, the hybrid cloud is positioned to provide companies with a more secure way of leveraging their data. Yunus Scheepers, CTO at SilverBridge, discusses these security benefits at a time when Microsoft Azure data centres in the country are attracting attention from financial services organisations as a safer alternative to what their current on-premise offerings can provide. A hybrid cloud environment also provides risk-averse ...
