CCPA went Into Effect on January 1st

While many people are counting down the days to their new year’s celebrations, another countdown is underway that will have significant implications for companies around the world. California’s new data privacy law, the California Consumer Privacy Act, officially goes into effect on January 1, 2020. 

The law gives consumers new rights to their personal data, and, like Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation that came before it, CCPA promises financial penalties for companies that can’t comply with its standards. For companies of all sizes, it’s evident that the next year will be marked by new compliance measures both in the US and abroad. Fortunately, nobody has to tackle this issue alone. ID Agent is ready to provide a comprehensive assessment of your cybersecurity posture. Our products, like phishing scam awareness training and account security protocols, can help ensure that cybersecurity incidents don’t impede your 2020 goals and aspirations. 
https://www.zdnet.com/article/california-consumer-privacy-act-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-ccpa/

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas

Dark Web Trends

online stores can’t protect their customers, ransom causes chaos at school, and CCPA prepares to go into effect. 

Dark Web ID Trends:

Top Source Hits: ID Theft Forums 
Top Compromise Type: Domain 
Top Industry: Education & Research
Top Employee Count: 501+ Employees 

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas

Dark Web Trends

nline stores compromise customer credentials, ransomware cancels a holiday performance, and more than half of organizations acknowledge that they are not ready for a cyberattack. 

Dark Web ID Trends:

Top Source Hits: ID Theft Forums 
Top Compromise Type: Domain 
Top Industry: Education & Research
Top Employee Count: 101 - 250 Employees 

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com

Soc as a Service versus DIY SOC

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas

Netherlands Warns of Global Ransomware Attacks

As this week’s newsletter reveals, ransomware attacks are impacting businesses of every size in every sector. This malware, which restricts access to a company’s IT infrastructure, is often totally debilitating, resulting in opportunity and productivity costs that accompany the already high price associated with ransomware recovery. 

Now a report from the National Cyber Security Center in the Netherlands is shedding some light on just how expansive this malady really is. The report found that 1,800 companies around the world are currently impacted by ransomware, a staggering number that officials believe underrepresents the real sum, since many ransomware incidents go unreported. 

What’s more, the report found that cybercriminals often rely on a single network intruder to plant the malware. These credentials can cost as much as $20,000 on the Dark Web, but they are readily available, and businesses need to know if their information is available on underground marketplaces to protect their IT from infiltration. Ransomware attacks have proven to be a low-risk, high-reward endeavor for many cybercriminals, which means that these attacks are unlikely to abate any time soon. Instead, SMBs should turn their attention towards maintaining a robust defensive posture capable of ensuring that their company name isn’t added to the growing list of companies impacted by ransomware.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/dutch-govt-warns-of-3-ransomware-infecting-1-800-businesses/

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com

Australian Companies have dangerous Data Sharing Practices

Third-party partnerships have become a normative, even necessary, component of doing business in 2019. Unfortunately, for many companies these potentially beneficial relationships are often a liability when it comes to data security. According to a recent study by Security in Depth, 84% of Australian companies had not completed a formal review of their data sharing practices with third-party partnerships, a staggering amount of negligence in today’s digital environment. 

For instance, nearly 60% of those surveyed acknowledged that they had experienced a third-party data breach in the past 12 months, a 3% increase from the previous year. These figures reveal a growing chasm between the known threat landscape and the steps that companies are willing to take to protect their valuable company and customer data. 

Indeed, today’s threat landscape is expansive, but companies can mitigate many of the most prescient threats by partnering with MSPs that can offer best practices for securing third-party vulnerabilities. As the cost of a data breach quickly escalates, business leaders have millions of reasons to focus on cybersecurity as a business priority.

https://www.cio.com.au/article/669005/data-sharing-practices-australia-appalling-report/

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com

DarkWeb Trends

ransomware costs companies on multiple fronts, phishing scams have extensive data security consequences, and companies fail to adequately evaluate their third-party data sharing standards. 

Dark Web ID Trends:

Top Source Hits: ID Theft Forums 
Top Compromise Type: Domain 
Top Industry: Medical & Healthcare 
Top Employee Count: 1 - 10 Employees 

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com