Cybersecurity Awareness

Forewarned is Forearmed:

Florida Small Business News reported on Symantec’s 2016 Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR), 

Spear-phishing attacks targeting employees increased by 55 percent in 2015.

Over the last five years, there has been a steady increase in attacks on small businesses. 43 percent of all attacks were targeted at small businesses last year.

Small business owners need to educate their employees on how they can avoid these types of attacks.

A new zero-day vulnerability was discovered.

Zero-day vulnerabilities are security holes in browsers and website plugins that groups exploit before a vendor can be aware of and fix the problem.

The number of zero-day vulnerabilities in 2015 more than doubled, a 125 percent increase from 2014.

There are major security vulnerabilities in three-quarters of popular websites.

Cybercriminals take advantage of vulnerabilities in legitimate websites to infect and scam users. Being wary of security holes while browsing websites—even popular ones—can help your information stay secure.

500 million personal records were stolen or lost.

There were nine mega-breaches in 2015.

Ransomware increased by 35 percent.

In ransomware attacks, hackers usually encrypt stolen data and demand ransom for its release. In 2015 the focus shifted from PCs to smart phones, Mac, and Linux systems. 

Symantec, recommends that companies do not pay ransom when they are attacked because it funds subsequent attacks.

Now you Know!

Steve Koenig, SCORE Counselor

Visit us at: www.scoresouthflorida.net