Organizations didn’t have much time to prepare when the pandemic forced a sudden shift to a work-from-home (WFH) model. Many employees and even IT managers had no choice but to figure it out on the fly. Given the circumstances, businesses were remarkably successful at navigating such a significant change to continue functioning.
There has been a lot of focus on the security threats associated with remote workers — and rightfully so. In the Acronis Cyberthreats Report 2020, 31 percent of organizations reported daily cyberattacks, primarily targeting remote workers. The rapid shift to remote work greatly expanded the attack surface, with employees’ devices connecting to corporate resources from outside the network perimeter.
In our last post, we discussed four cyber threats that you should prepare for in 2021. Ransomware, threats targeting personal devices, encrypted threats and attacks on virtual private networks are among the cyberattacks expected to cause the most damage in the coming year.
Cybersecurity threats skyrocketed in 2020. Hackers took advantage of the fear and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to lure in victims with phishing campaigns. The rapid transition to work-from-home strategies left organizations vulnerable to attacks on remote workers with inadequate security controls.
A new study finds that the majority of companies hit with ransomware attacks choose to pay the ransom in hopes of quickly regaining access to their data. However, federal officials warn that those who negotiate with ransomware extortionists may expose themselves to millions of dollars in fines and penalties.
In October, a Dutch security researcher claimed he was able to access President Trump’s Twitter account by guessing the password — “maga2020!” — after only six tries. Victor Gevers said that after he alerted U.S. cybersecurity officials, the password was changed, and two-factor authentication was added.
Say Goodbye to Adobe Flash Player
New Year’s Eve celebrations are likely to be tamer than usual this year due to social distancing requirements, but IT professionals everywhere will probably still break out the noisemakers and confetti. When the clock strikes midnight, they’ll finally be able to say goodbye and good riddance to the security-plagued Adobe Flash Player.
Phishing awareness training is designed to educate employees about how to spot fraudulent emails and text messages designed to steal sensitive information and data. However, a new study by researchers from several German universities suggests the effectiveness of such training is short-lived.
When asked why he robbed banks, the notorious thief Willie Sutton reportedly replied: “That’s where the money is.” Cybercriminals have a similarly simple motivation for targeting contact center operations — they have the best data.
Contact centers capture, store and process huge amounts of sensitive customer data such as Social Security numbers, payment card data, account numbers and purchase histories.
People have been finding ways to rip each other off for centuries — historians say the first documented case of financial fraud occurred in ancient Greece around 300 B.C. It is no surprise that fraudsters in 2020 are using the global pandemic to hoodwink victims on a massive scale.
