Cybersecurity Expert

By Sam Jones | Cyber Tec Security Not too long ago things were looking bleak for the world, still under the dark cloud of the COVID pandemic, but with vaccine rollouts now taking place worldwide, there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s important to remember, however, as we slowly transition back into some semblance of normality, that there will be new challenges to face in all facets of life, and the Cyber Security sector is no exception. The Rise in Cyber Threat While the COVID pandemic loomed, the world was simultaneously dealing with a slightly different type of pandemic - a cyber one. The number of cyber attacks on businesses rose dramatically over the course of the last year, with estimated increases as high as 90% . Organisations were forced to quickly adapt and move operations out of the office and into home environments, often bypassing best practices for a secure migration. Hackers took advantage of this confusion and chaos and focused on exploiting the vuln...

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced businesses across all industries to revise their working processes and requirements. From shifting overnight to a remote working model, furloughing staff and operating in a challenging economic climate, many businesses were unprepared for these transitions. However, these changes highlight the important role of Human Resource departments in communicating, supporting and responding to the necessary adjustments and helping employees through the process.  HR's role in enforcing a strong cyber aware culture in the new normal As HR departments rethink and reconsider how they foster talent and strengthen their organisations, front and centre to that shift needs to be IT security, underpinned by digital tools and a cyber-aware culture. With a 31% increase in cyberattacks during the height of the pandemic, reinforcing cybersecurity should be at the top of HR’s agenda. Andrea Babbs, UK General Manager, VIPRE SafeSend , discusses what this new way of working...

Guest article by Andrea Babbs, UK General Manager at VIPRE Reliance on email as a fundamental function of business communication has been in place for some time. But as remote working has become a key factor for the majority of business during 2020, it’s arguably more important than ever as a communication tool. The fact that roughly 206.4 billion emails are sent and received each day means we’re all very familiar with that dreaded feeling of sending an email with typos, with the wrong attachment, or to the wrong contact. But this can be more than just an embarrassing mistake – the ramifications could, in fact, be catastrophic.  Check Please! Within the financial services, layered cybersecurity strategy is essential to keep sensitive information secure In particular, for the financial services industry that deals with highly sensitive information including monetary transactions and financial data, the consequences of this information falling into the wrong hands could mean the los...

Article by Andrea Babbs, UK General Manager,  VIPRE SafeSend With the number and sophistication of cyber attacks increasing significantly, organisations have had to become aware and adapt to new and evolving digital threats. Yet, many would still consider the simple error of sending an email to the wrong contact trivial, at most embarrassing, but not of concern when it comes to data security. However, misaddressed emails have far-reaching consequences that can seriously impact an organisation, especially in highly regulated industries such as healthcare and finance. From fines to data breaches, what are the potential ramifications of sending an email to the wrong address? Reputational and Financial Damage While accidentally dialling a wrong number can be a little embarrassing, the same cannot be said for sending an email to the wrong contact. You could try to correct the error with a follow-up email to apologise and request that the recipient delete the message, but even if ...

Phishing attacks are the most common form of cyber attack. Why? The simplicity of email gives cybercriminals an easy route in, allowing them to reach users directly with no defensive barriers, to mislead, harvest credentials and spread malicious elements. All organisations think it won’t happen to them, but phishing isn’t a trap that only ensnares the gullible or those unacquainted with technology. Far from it. Gone are the days of poorly-worded, patently obvious attempts at scamming users out of their hard-earned cash. Some of today’s most sophisticated phishing attacks are almost indistinguishable from legitimate business communications – they’re well-written, thoroughly researched and establish a thread of communication with the victim before attempting to steal their credentials or bank balance. Email is the single biggest attack vector used by adversaries who employ a plethora of advanced social engineering techniques to achieve their goal. Andy Pearch, Head of IA Services at CORV...

F5 Labs’ latest Phishing and Fraud Report  reveals that phishing continues to be one of the most prevalent ways cybercriminals are breaching data and making money in 2019. Over the years, phishing has grabbed the top spot of every report on breach causes, and this trend isn’t likely to go away anytime soon. The main reason is for cybercriminals it’s easy to execute and it’s incredibly effective: there are no firewalls to bypass or finding a zero-day exploit, or encryption to decipher. The hardest part, especially with the rise in employee training, is coming up with a good trick email pitch to get people to click on. The F5 Labs Report highlights: Phishing was responsible for 21% of breaches in there’s a 50% increase in these attacks during the holiday season (October through January) when online shopping is at its most popular The top faked websites used by cybercriminals in 2019 were, in order: Facebook, Autodiscover, Apple, Chase, Office, WhatsApp, Paypal, Amazon, Microsoft, N...