OSPE - The Voice - Fall 2019 - 32

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Don't Be An Easy Target!
Everything that cybercriminals do is quickly getting
better, sometimes even leveraging holes in existing
security technologies. This makes for more creative
and successful cyberattacks. What's worse is that cybercriminals now work together in a very synchronized
fashion, becoming deeply collaborative.
So, what can an engineering firm of any size do to
protect their assets and the assets of their customers? The answer is in your staff. Take away the low
hanging fruit and look at how your staff are staying secure.

your computer. According to Verizon, phishing represents 98% of social incidents and 93% of breaches.
On average, 4% of the targets take the bait. 2
Spear phishing is a more precise version of phishing:
it targets specific people in a company. Criminals use
social media and company web sites to learn your
information, posing as someone you know. They use
what's called progressive attacks, gaining information
slowly until they have enough to do some real damage.

Your Biggest Attack Vector: Employees
Firewalls and anti-virus software used to be the mainstays of cybersecurity. They're still necessary, but
now there are dozens of new ways to penetrate your
organization. The common denominator is they target
your employees. 90% of data breaches are caused by
staff.1

Ransomware
Ransomware is the top category of malicious software
and is the end goal in most phishing attacks. It freezes
computers, accounts and software until a ransom is
paid, typically in bitcoin. Recovery costs are up 21%
on average to $149,000.3 Typically, they gain access,
close the door and auction off access to the highest
bidder. They then move on to exploit the same weakness in other organizations.

Spear Phishing
Phishing is when you are encouraged to click on a link
or open an attachment that downloads malware onto

Consider what the impact would be to your business, if
all your files and backups where suddenly unavailable.
Help your staff be aware.

Dawn Calleja and Steve Brearton, "How to Hack-Proof Your Employees," The Globe and Mail, September 28, 2018, accessed September 2018, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/
2018 Data Breach Investigations Report, report, Verizon, February 2018, accessed September 2018, https://enterprise.verizon.com/resources/reports/dbir/.
rob-magazine/article-how-to-hack-proof-your-employees/
3
On the Money: Growing IT Security Budgets to Protect Digital Transformation Initiatives, report, Kaspersky Lab, 2018, accessed September 2018, https://go.kaspersky.com/rs/802IJN-240/images/2205_kaspersky_ IT Security economy Report_final_2305.compressed_NA.PDF
1
2

http://www.quartetservice.com/cyber-security-ebook1/ http://www.quartetservice.com https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/ https://enterprise.verizon.com/resources/reports/dbir/ https://go.kaspersky.com/rs/802

OSPE - The Voice - Fall 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of OSPE - The Voice - Fall 2019