cybersecurity trends
5 Advantages to Cloud Computing Security for Your Business
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced numerous businesses to adapt to remote working. The trend does not just affect huge companies but small businesses too. To support a successful transition to remote working, it is important to have the right tools in place. “As more businesses shift to cloud-based services, it is vital that companies protect their applications and data from cybercriminals,” says Riaan de Villiers, Business Analyst at LAWtrust Information Security. A 2019 MyBroadband report examined the South African cloud market and business use of cloud services. According to the study, 71% of companies back up their data to the cloud, making cloud computing security-critical for ensuring high levels of security and preventing data breaches. Cloud computing security ensures that company da...
Is South Africa a Playground for Cybercriminals?
The Attacks From All Angles 2021 Mid-year Cybersecurity Report by Trend Micro highlighted a 47% year-on-year increase in email threats as well as malicious files and URLs in the first quarter of 2021 globally. South Africa’s technology landscape is almost identical to that of other countries, which has seen black hat hackers using it as a testing ground for cybersecurity attacks before these are launched on their intended end-users. Ransomware Remains the Prime Threat Globally, ransomware remained the standout threat in the first half of the year. The pandemic has highlighted how easy it is to buy ransomware as a service (Raas) on the dark web. Africa accounted for 1.7% of these attacks, with 1.05% being targeted at South Africa. Our findings show that locally, South Africa was in the top ...
How to Successfully Recover from a Ransomware Attack
Sourced from Kaspersky South Africa is an attractive target for cybercriminals for a number of reasons, and the last few years have seen a sharp rise in high-profile ransomware attacks. One of the key motivations driving this volume of attacks is the fact that data is a de facto currency and an extremely valuable commodity on the black market. While backup is a critical component of data protection, when this backup is also encrypted by malicious software, companies are often left with few options other than to pay the ransom. Therefore, an effective Cyber Recovery strategy, which enables businesses to get back up and running without having to give in to criminal demands, is the key. Ransomware on the Rise The rapid adoption of digital transformation, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the I...
5 Cybersecurity Tips to Keep in Mind Before Your Business Returns to the Office
Sourced from Travellers Switching to working from home was difficult, but oddly enough, returning to the office may be just as tricky. Organisations will have to roll back some changes, which could be as complex as when they were deployed in the first place. They will also need to re-ensure the security of internal services and meet employee needs for software they got accustomed to during lockdown or remote work. One of the most important pandemic takeaways is the speed of business transformation and the flexibility of IT. And IT security should not prohibit but offer options and support this flexibility. A smart and safe return to office work in any form can help companies stay on top of this trend, making the most of their business processes. There are many things to consider, so to hel...
3 Trends to Understand the Evolving Cybersecurity Landscape
Image sourced from Feed Navigator. Given the global disruption that took place last year, it is hardly surprising that malware increased by 358% and ransomware by 435% as compared to 2019. The rapid push to digitalise and embrace work from home solutions meant companies not only had to accelerate data migration projects to the cloud but also remain cognizant of how best to secure employee endpoint devices while keeping the impact on productivity to a minimum. What makes the likes of malware and ransomware so difficult to combat is that successful attacks on corporate networks and endpoint devices can potentially remain hidden for months giving the hacker access to a veritable treasure trove of information. Attackers can encrypt this compromised data at any time, resulting in significant da...
5.8-Million Attacks Detected in Malware Disguised as PC Games
Image sourced from Wccftech. Over 5.8 million attacks by malware and unwanted software disguised as popular PC games were detected and prevented by Kaspersky and its cybersecurity solutions globally from Q3 2020 to Q2 2021. This increased volume may be connected to the rapid growth of gaming activities during the pandemic. The data comes from the latest game-related cyberthreats report by Kaspersky, in which researchers assessed the changes of gaming-related threats during the pandemic. The gaming industry witnessed unprecedented growth over the past 18-months, in part, thanks to users being forced to find alternative means of entertainment as they stayed at home. Even though the world has become safer this year, the demand for games persists, and the industry is predicted to grow even fur...
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...
Cybersecurity Should Be a Top Priority for Africa’s Digital Transformation
Sourced from Travellers Cloud adoption in South Africa and many other African countries is accelerating, helped along by the COVID-19 workplace disruption, and the need to reduce costs, manage risk and scale, and become more competitive. There are many drivers behind digital transformation strategies and many decisions that need to be made, such as which public cloud to consume. However, this should be less urgent than addressing security concerns. As we continue to work with organisations in different industries spread across our diverse continent, cybersecurity and cyber risk are increasingly important considerations for the C-suite. Against the backdrop of high-profile security breaches and ransomware, addressing security weaknesses are a key part of the success of digital transformatio...
The Average Data Breach Costs Over $4-Million in 2021
According to data presented by Atlas VPN, the average financial damages caused by a data breach increased by nearly 10% year over year to $4.24 million in 2021. This is the highest spike since 2015. A data breach can have a number of negative implications for a business, including lost sales, a tarnished reputation, data recovery fees, and possibly employee layoffs. “The record-high average losses can be directly linked to the rapid onset of remote work, as it created many new loopholes for cybercriminals to exploit,” Edward Garb, a cybersecurity researcher at Atlas VPN, comments on the findings. The numbers are provided by IBM, where between May 2020 and March 2021, researchers conducted roughly 3,500 separate interviews with individuals from 17 countries and 537 firms that had experience...
The High Cost of Cybercrime is Getting Higher
Image sourced from Finance Times. If cybercrime organizations could be publicly traded, we’d have an instant new multibillion-dollar industry sector. Indeed, cyber threats have become so pervasive that U.S. President Joe Biden recently signed an executive order aimed at improving federal cybersecurity in the wake of multiple significant cyberattacks, including the ransomware attack that shut down the Colonial Pipeline. Meanwhile, a broad coalition of experts in the industry, government, law enforcement, civil society, and international organizations have joined together in the Ransomware Task Force to build a framework for combatting ransomware. Ransomware attacks are only one method, however. Threat actors also use distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks to ratchet up the p...
33% of Companies Undergo Cyberattacks Twice a Month on Average, per Report
Sourced from International IDEA The Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2021 provided some concerning statistics and facts about the impact of cyber-crime. It is a game, and it is one that Hiscox fundamentally believes no business should leave to chance. Multiple threat vectors and variable threat actors, and, perhaps most worrying – repeated attacks on companies by cyber-crime pose a serious risk to organisations small and large alike. One-in-six of all firms attacked this year (17%) said the impact was serious enough to ‘materially threaten the solvency or viability of the company’. According to Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist at KnowBe4 AFRICA, the report underscores the immense challenge that organisations face when it comes to securing the business and the people within ...
Gijima’s Shubna Harilal Talks Women in Tech, Digital Transformation and Tech’s Next Big Thing
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