If you ask the average CEO or small business owner about cybersecurity, “hopeless” might be the response. Such a reply is not surprising. Cybersecurity challenges can appear overwhelming, with the odds stacked entirely in favor of the bad guys and a rising tide of ransomware disruption. Meanwhile, security recommendations often seem impossibly complex, expensive, or impractical.
Not many people know this about me, but I had the amazing opportunity to grow up in Coney Island, Brooklyn. This was not the hipster, overpriced Brooklyn that we know of today. This was the Brooklyn that you saw in Hip Hop Videos on Yo MTV Raps. While it had its challenges, the lessons and education I got from living there were invaluable.
In May 2021, while gas prices soared amid fuel shortages and both cars and individuals lined up around corners fighting for a pump, the Energy Secretary urged calm. The Colonial Pipeline attack affected nearly 5,500 miles of valuable fuel pipeline to the East Coast and catapulted the worry about cyber attacks from CISO offices to the forefront of the American public’s mind.
In the past year, there was a triple-digit uptick in cyberattacks. However, the hardest-hitting hacks didn’t target individual consumers, but rather, businesses and institutions. The rise in business attacks resulted in a familiar trend in news headlines — massive data breaches, multi-million dollar ransomware waiting games, and system shutdowns that impacted consumers at large.
Preventing phishing in today's changing environment.
Every Cybersecurity Awareness Month, discussion turns to the most cutting edge tools, tactics and response strategies (as they should). But this annual ritual should also be used to shore up the most basic of defenses.
Ransomware is no stranger to corporate networks, as it poses huge risks and even larger recovery efforts that are quite costly. Successful ransomware attacks can result in locked systems, stolen identity, data held hostage—all of which can wreak chaos and disaster to the targeted organizations.
When it comes to cybersecurity preparedness, it’s not about “if” but “when” an incident will occur. This illustrates an urgent need for organizations to increase cybersecurity awareness and education to better prepare themselves against an inevitable cybersecurity event.
The White House has issued a new order in response to growing cybersecurity threats. Is your procurement office ready for a ransomware attack?
