{"id":7500,"date":"2021-03-26T07:00:24","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T07:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carecomputers.co.uk\/?p=7500"},"modified":"2021-03-26T07:00:24","modified_gmt":"2021-03-26T07:00:24","slug":"5-lessons-to-be-learned-from-2020-security-breaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creativeideasfactory.co.uk\/carenew\/5-lessons-to-be-learned-from-2020-security-breaches\/","title":{"rendered":"5 lessons to be learned from 2020 security breaches"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s an undoubted fact that the global pandemic of 2020\/21 will leave businesses operating in a vastly different landscape to just twelve months ago, with many making considerable alterations to the way in which they function. One such adjustment will be the urgent need for greater vigilance when it comes to cyberthreats; something that affects businesses and organisations both large and small.<\/p>\n<p>Quick to capitalise on the disruption caused by remote working and compromised security away from office machines, cybercriminals \u2018prospered\u2019 in 2020. According to stats discussed at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.itpro.co.uk\/security\/cyber-attacks\/358276\/2020-the-busiest-year-on-record-for-cyber-attacks-against-uk-firms\">it.pro.co.uk<\/a>, there was a massive 20% rise in cyber security threats compared to 2019, with ransomware attacks alone surging by 80% in the UK in the third quarter of the year.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout 2020, attacks in the UK (and around the world) hit the headlines. Most recently on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-cyber-solarwinds-microsoft-idUSKBN2AF03R\">reuters.com<\/a>, the SolarWinds hack was hailed by Microsoft President, Brad Smith, as \u201cthe largest and most sophisticated attack the world has ever seen\u201d. But in every other month of the year, a well-known UK business or organisation reported an incident, including a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/report\/weekly-threat-report-12th-june-2020\">HMRC phishing message to the self-employed<\/a> in June; a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/report\/weekly-threat-report-7th-august-2020\">TV License text scam<\/a> in August; an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/report\/weekly-threat-report-23rd-october-2020\">M&amp;S spoof ad<\/a> in October used to harvest personal information; and a hack at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/report\/weekly-threat-report-27th-november-2020\">Manchester United<\/a> in November. These were just the tip of the iceberg. So, what key lessons can be learned from these key attacks in 2020? How can you make your business safer in the new environment ahead?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Phishing and spam are more sophisticated than ever before<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Anyone can be taken in by a polished scam, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bizjournals.com\/twincities\/news\/2021\/02\/01\/top-cyber-threats-businesses-need-to-know-in-2021.html\">phishing is evolving with plenty of new twists<\/a>. Expected to remain a significant threat in 2021, the danger is refining quickly. Watch out for \u2018spear-phishing\u2019 (where individual victims are researched first and then contacted directly); \u2018vishing\u2019 (voice phishing, where a voice message purporting to be from your bank or another service provider informs you that your account has been compromised); \u2018smishing\u2019 (the same as above, but done via SMS text messages); and \u2018angle phishing\u2019 (where the criminal uses social media feeds to discover companies with a poor customer service experience and then poses as a member of the support team in a direct message to targets).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Simulating an attack can expose vulnerabilities before it\u2019s too late<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The SolarWinds attack shows how clever a ransomware attack can be, and they are \u2013 or should be \u2013 a great concern for companies and organisations of all sizes. One of the best ways to understand your own vulnerabilities is to simulate a ransomware attack on your own system, discover where your weaknesses are, measure the ability of your business to detect and respond to the breach, and then fix the problems. One key learning to remember: According to <a href=\"https:\/\/searchsecurity.techtarget.com\/feature\/5-cybersecurity-lessons-from-the-SolarWinds-breach\">techtarget.com<\/a> one of the most overlooked vectors of attack are wireless guest networks.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>It\u2019s important to test the integrity of the software you use<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Be more rigorous in how you test the software you have on your network. Don\u2019t simply accept a vendor\u2019s third-party validation or an automated code review. Manual reviews are much more robust, allowing for proper interrogation of codes and updates, and are much more likely to detect any vulnerability and limit potential damage.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Staff awareness of threats and risk could prevent most attacks<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This sounds like common sense but is so often overlooked. At every step of the way, the most efficient method of limiting the damage from cyberthreats to your company is to keep you and your staff trained about the risks.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t just check everything once &#8211; it\u2019s a continual process<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Again, this part is important but frequently shelved when people are busy. Build it in to your IT calendar and make it a priority.<\/p>\n<p>If you are concerned about cyberthreats and would like more advice on how to protect your business, we can offer solutions, including staff training and integrity checking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s an undoubted fact that the global pandemic of 2020\/21 will leave businesses operating in a vastly different landscape to just twelve months ago, with many making considerable alterations to the way in which they function. One such adjustment will be the urgent need for greater vigilance when it comes to cyberthreats; something that affects [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>5 lessons to be learned from 2020 security breaches<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s an undoubted fact that the global pandemic of 2020\/21 will leave businesses operating in a vastly different landscape to just...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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