Cyber Security

What is Cyber Security?  As the name suggests, it is the protection measures we put in place to protect our technology and data from being accessed by unwanted third parties.

In today’s fast paced economy, technology and social media are evolving at a record level.  Because of the threat that we all face daily both on a personal and commercial basis, software, operating systems and data storage are now changing exponentially.  To have any sort of computer system nowadays you need to have things like firewalls, switches, network ports, anti-virus, disaster recovery systems, cloud backup, monitoring software, inventory lists, malware software, network map etc etc etc, the list is endless.

With all these systems comes great challenges and many questions.  How do you protect against unwarranted attacks, data leaks and identity theft?  Who and what am I protecting myself from? How much will it cost?  You could spend your days pondering these questions and still be none the wiser.

Security breaches and Cyber Attacks are all about data.  You could say data is the new gold.  It has been said that ‘The threat is advancing quicker than we can keep up with it. The threat changes faster than our idea of the risk. It's no longer possible to write a large white paper about the risk to a particular system.  You would be rewriting the white paper constantly..."….TargetTech. 

The most common and concerning cyber-attacks in 2016 include online extortion where your email is hacked and passwords along with personal data are stolen. This can be as easy as having your mobile phone stolen.  We all store a vast amount of information about ourselves on our smart phones.  Which now begs the question, are we too trusting with our technology and should we refrain from storing such data on our devices?

The next most common type of cyber-attack is in the form of Ransomware. This is where your data is hacked and ‘locked’ by the hacker and as the name suggests a ransom is demanded to release your data. In this case you are trusting the attacker to release your data once you have made the payment.

So what can we do? On a personal level, there are a few simple rules (I’m sure we have heard them often enough)

1. Change your password regularly and use complex passwords example #cYber@risK2017
2. Limit the amount of personal data you store on-line. Particularly when it comes to Social Media. There is no need to be giving accurate dates of birth, address etc. You wouldn’t give a complete stranger this information so why store it online!
3. Store your passwords off-line.
4. Never store you bank details online or on your smart phone.
5. Emails are particularly nasty. Companies rarely request bank details by email so you should avoid those.
6. Any email that you receive that looks suspicious, check the email address first. If you are not familiar with the email address add it to junk mail or call them if necessary. Never use the number or contact details on the email.
7. Always take backups of your data, as regularly as possible.
8. If your device or computer is not in use over night or for long periods, just shut it down.
9. Ensure that your device or computer is kept up to date with the latest patches etc. This is a vital security feature that many people overlook.
10. Have good anti-virus/anti malware software installed. Ensure that it runs frequently. 

Remember, vigilance is everything.  I would always contact an I.T. Company first to ensure that you are properly protected.  Where you have a small company, I would request someone to come in to review your existing setup. This is not expensive in the grand scheme of things. This should be done regularly just to ensure that you are not exposed.

Like most of you, I am a business owner and worry constantly about data and the security around it.  We use an I.T. Company that we communicate regularly with.  We have numerous backups happening daily both off-line and on-line.  I constantly drone on about security to everyone here, which has had very positive results.  It should become habit forming as we all need to be aware.

I have attached hereunder some Statistics on Cyber Risk.  It is a ‘learn as you go’ process so if you have any concerns or just need some direction, feel free to contact me.

These Statistics relate to 2015 but are still very relevant.

1. Over 169 million personal records were exposed in 2015…..ITRC
2. The average global cost per each lost or stolen record was $154…..IBM/Ponemon
3. 2015 saw a 38% increase in cyber-attacks…..PWC
4. In 2015, 29% fewer SME’s (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises) used standard configuration and patching to prevent security breaches than in 2014. In 2014, it was 39%......Cisco
5. The median number of days that attackers stay dormant within a network before detection is over 200 days…...Microsoft
6. At least 52% of people replied when asked that they felt a successful cyber-attack against their network would take place within a year…. Cyberedge Group
7. As much as 70% of cyber-attacks use a combination of phishing and hacking techniques and involve a secondary victim……Verizon
8. 74% of CISO’s (Chief Information Security Officers) are concerned about employees stealing sensitive company information…...Spectorsoft
9. Only 38% of global organisations claim they are prepared to handle a sophisticated cyber-attack…...ISACA International
10. Most data breaches, 81%, report they had neither a system nor a managed security service in place to ensure they could self-detect data breaches, relying instead on notification from an external party. This was the case even though self-detected breaches take 14.5 days to contain whereas breaches detected by an external party take an average of 154 days to contain…. Trustwave

 If you have any queries on any of the above or would like to know more about the scheme don't hesitate to contact us on 021 4641400 or email info@quintas.ie