Cyber Security – a summary of 2020

Posted 4 years ago

The age-old saying “why rob a bank… because that’s where the money is” still holds weight in today’s climate. 86% of cyber security breaches are financially motivated, so it’s not surprising that cyber criminals are targeting organisations when they are most vulnerable – whilst they’re not operating or they’re working from home due to the pandemic.

In fact, the number of data breaches in 2020 has almost doubled since 2019, rising from 2,103 to 3,950 confirmed breaches!

Some of the more notable breaches include…

Twitter

The giant social media platform was subject to a breach where the hackers verified Twitter accounts of high profile individuals like Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and over 100 others.

The hackers posted fake tweets from these accounts, offering to send $2,000 for every $1,000 sent to an unknown Bitcoin address. The scam reportedly made the attackers swindle $121,000 in Bitcoin through nearly 300 transactions.

Marriott

Back in March, the global hotel chain disclosed a security breach that impacted the data of over 5.2 million guests who used their company’s loyalty application.

Hackers obtained login credentials of two accounts of Marriott employees who had access to customer information regarding the loyalty scheme of the hotel chain.

The data accessed in the breach involved the guest’s personal details such as names, birthdates, and telephone numbers.

Zoom

The video conferencing software, which has seen a monumental increase in usage since the COVID-19 pandemic started, fell victim to cyber criminals in the first week of April.

It was reported that over 500,000 Zoom account login credentials were put up for sale, with some of the accounts’ credentials even given away for free.

Along with their account login credentials, users’ personal meeting URLs were available too. The leaked accounts’ details belonged to financial institutions, banks, colleges, and other various organisations.

SMBs and cyber security

As demonstrated by the examples above, large companies are often the target of serious cyber attacks. But how do they differ for SMBs?

Cyber attacks on SMBs can be rather costly. In fact, IBM reports that the costs associated with insider threat-related incidents alone cost an average of $7.6 million.

Some other surprising statistics focussing on SMBs and cyber security include:

43% lack any type of cyber security defence plan
20% don’t use any endpoint security protections
60% of SMB owners think their businesses aren’t a likely target for cyber criminals
28% of breaches in 2019 involved SMBs
63% of SMBs report experiencing a data breach in the last 12 months

These statistics show that SMB owners and employees need to gain a better understanding of how to increase their cyber security, or they might find themselves a likely candidate for a cyber attack.

Although it is advised that all employees are given support when it comes to cyber security, there are a number of areas in a company that are more likely to be exposed to cyber security threats, including those working in support roles.

Online Cyber Security Awareness Training

We offer an online Cyber Security Awareness Training course that provides an overview of the types of cyber security threats that can leave your business vulnerable.

By educating all staff members on cyber security, you are helping to provide the knowledge and awareness required to be vigilant and minimise the risk of a cyber attack on your business.

The course also includes practical advice for keeping information safe as well as what to do if a breach may have occurred, to reduce its impact.

Interested in the course? Claim your free, no-obligation trial today!