Attitude IT's CEO Brandon Jones and Michael Asadoorian of Investment Planning Council presented a webinar on November 6th on cybersecurity principles for everyday use. Because we support small business it is important to discuss how safe cyber habits can make a positive impact to our business as well. The webinar began with a discussion on the top cyber trends of 2024. Including the most common cyber attack - Phishing and Smishing. 53% of cyber attacks happen through business email compromises, 49% happen through phishing messages with malware and 47% through compromised accounts. Of course the top brands that end up getting data leaks that lead to these compromised accounts are of course the most common brands most companies use daily.
So how do we protect ourselves, the most practical is to set up MFA on all accounts and use unique difficult passwords. Store passwords in a safe place, you can use a password manager tool but know that there cases where those tools have been involved in a data breach. You can also invest in a dark web scan and check sites like Have I been Pawned to see if any passwords are available. Hackers are able to buy lists of usernames and passwords for as little as $2.00. The most important tip is so not use your work email for any social log ins and this should be a rule on your safe use policy at the office.
Brandon also talked about how to identify phishing and malware, beware of clicking on anything that is free because if you are not paying for it you are the product. Your information is being collected to be sold. Beware of clicking on links to free games and add-ons. Or anything that requests personal information. When you visit a website- check out the webpage address is it https? or http. Make sure the S is there for secure. DNS and email filtering can help cut back on the amount of phishing and malware that you might see in your inbox or on the web.
Anti -viruses, there are two types ones that protect you from known malware and ones that are zero -trust and you have to allow an application to run after what we call sandboxing it to test the safety. We recommend using a zero- trust option when possible.
1.Check suspicious emails by hovering over the email address
2.Avoid using office wifi on personal devices or have your office install a closed and open wifi network for employees and guests.
3.Secure your home WIFI, laws are changing for hackers and you could be charged for a cyber attack if your network is used. Stay protected.
4. Do not use business emails for log ins
5.Use MFA and different passwords for all log-ins
The CBC released an article on October 28th that thousands of tax payers accounts had been compromised. Companies like H and R Block had been involved in a data and the information was used to access CRA accounts. Often breaches don't get reported, Michael recommended investing in a credit monitoring service like first report. You can choose how often you want to be alerted of credit activity.
We wrapped up the session by discussing what a Honeypot is in cyber- When a hacker names an open WIFI network to look like a legitimate business or hotel name so that you click on it and open your device to a hacker. We had some great questions on VPN's and we highly recommend using them as and individual and for business. Here are some great resources to use for daily cyber safety.
Keep your eyed peeled for the webinar to be posted at www.attitudeit.ca very soon and we look forward to seeing you at the next webinar on November 27th.