The following story is an account of how my wife, Sara, responded to an email scam attempt. All of the material in these emails is taken directly from an exchange between our scammer and my wife. This entire exchange played out over several days as we drove across the American West this October. I was actively involved in processing these responses.
The National Cybersecurity Alliance is pleased to present the seventh edition of our Board Member Spotlight. Our Board member companies are leaders in cybersecurity education and awareness and are an integral part of making the organization a successful public-private partnership.
The education sector is beginning to build out its cybersecurity training and awareness capabilities, but Princeton’s Information Security Awareness and Training Manager sees a bright future for the space.
The main goal of any security awareness program is to increase employee cyber awareness and impact behavior. As security awareness professionals know all too well, the challenge is making it FUN, making it stick. At Sprinklr, we set out to do just that in a way that would be entertaining and engaging for all our 3,000+ employees around the world. We have found great success with what we created and wanted to share with the National Cyber Security Alliance community in hopes that others can do the same.
In recent months, much attention has been placed on the threats and potential impacts of ransomware. Indeed, breaches in our critical infrastructures – fuel, utilities, food supply, government agencies, and other supply chains – have all been affected by such exploits.
It is a special month for the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) and the National Cybersecurity Alliance. It is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a time to devote discussions to how to keep organizations and individuals safe in the digital world. With this year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month theme being “Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart,” it’s a great time to focus on the impacts of cybersecurity and cyberattacks on small businesses.
What is Security Posture?
NIST defines security posture in this way: “The security status of an enterprise’s networks, information, and systems based on information security resources (e.g., people, hardware, software, policies) and capabilities in place to manage the defense of the enterprise and to react as the situation changes.”
As our world becomes increasingly connected, it’s more important than ever to be cyber aware. There’s no question, cyber attacks are evolving in sophistication and attackers are broadening the entities they’re willing to target. In the first half of 2021, according to Risk Based Security’s mid-year data breach report, data breaches exposed 18.8 billion records. Cyber security attacks are a risk to everyone, and it’s everyone’s responsibility to defend against them. Implementing security and resiliency best practices will help you stay safe and secure, and – should it be necessary – recover more quickly, whether at work or at home, as a business owner or an employee.
Technology and innovation have transformed the way we learn, work, and play. Over the past two years, we moved nearly every aspect of our lives to digital channels: many of us participated in meetings by web conference, ordered groceries for delivery, and held virtual chats to keep in touch with family and friends. This integration of digital services in our daily lives will likely continue to change the way many of us shop, bank, and connect with others. Unfortunately, with this rise in online interactions, phishing, ransomware and other cyber threats have also doubled since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and are showing no signs of slowing down. But the good news is, people don’t need to be cybersecurity experts to secure their information! They can greatly reduce risk by making small changes to online habits.
Reading about ransomware always brings with it some measure of doom and gloom. We are reminded daily about the impact cyberattacks have on the way people live and conduct business. The damages extend far beyond corporate boardrooms or balance sheets, causing disruption across our society, impacting utilities and even food and medical supply chains. If we have learned anything from the events of 2020, it’s that we need to be ready for anything – but that doesn’t mean accepting defeat as a foregone conclusion.