As indicated by the headlines below, phishing – the activity of defrauding an online account holder of financial and/or personal information by posing as a legitimate company or institution – and its criminal sidekicks spearphishing (targeted phishing) and whaling (targeted phishing at high-profile individuals) – is one of the most popular forms of malware. 

Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 10, is off to the fastest adoption of any version of Windows ever, and is already in use (33 percent), or being piloted, by more than 96 percent of enterprises. However, while security was a major focus of Microsoft in designing the software – Windows Defender and Windows Firewall –  the huge success of the OS and the vast Windows installed base, which includes enterprise, SMB, public sector, and consumer, has made it a major focus of cybercriminals, too. CVE currently lists 166 Windows 10 vulnerabilities, and in an average week Avast prevents more than 2.3 million virus attacks on Windows 10 PCs.

In Part 3 of our exploration of the state of cybersecurity — Part 1 examined the basics of business security, including the core functions (Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond and Recover), while Part 2 addressed the growing and evolving threat environment — we find that the size of your organization doesn’t matter when it comes to risks. The ugly truth is that all organizations are vulnerable, particularly small and medium businesses, which do not offer the financial potential of larger organizations, but also have neither the skills nor resources of wealthier targets. 

Digitization – the use of social, mobile, analytics, and cloud technologies to generate, process, store and communicate data – is transforming everything, with profound implications on how we learn, work and play.

“Digital transformation is not just a technology trend, it is at the center of business strategies across all industry segments and markets,” stated IDC.

Season one of last summer’s hit new TV show, Mr. Robot, was filled with interesting and, for the most part, accurately portrayed hacks. The hacks were carried out by the show’s main character Elliot and hacker group fsociety. Their goal throughout the season was to take down the multi-national conglomerate, E Corp.

Image via: USA Network @whoismrrobot

Although the hacks on the show were rather complex and to a certain extent elaborate, there are a few things SMBs can learn from them.

Companies of all sizes in multiple sectors lose sensitive information, millions of dollars, and their good reputation every year to cyberattacks. 

Human error accounts for an estimated 95 percent of security incidents.

Being aware of a few simple things about security in the workplace can help prevent attacks, which is not only important to the financial bottom line, but it’s also important to customer and employee privacy.

The Mid-Valley Literacy Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit located in Keizer, Oregon, where adults come to improve their literacy skills in order to increase their economic stability and overall quality of life. With 25 staff members, the majority of which are volunteers, the center found itself trying to manage a variety of platforms and deal with the complexities that come with allowing their staff to use their personal devices for work purposes.   

Alan Scott (center) and fellow Mid-Valley Literacy Center staff members having a blast during a company fundraiser.