Are You Staying Remote? Update Your IT Security Plan.

    

Although many companies were accustomed to supporting a remote workforce at least part of the time before the global pandemic, every company that’s still operating had to quickly transition to a fully remote workforce as the pandemic took hold of the world – and some of them discovered that they liked it. 

Many companies used to only allow limited remote work, convinced that their staffers would be less productive at home without supervision. As remote work became a necessity during the COVID-19 restrictions imposed around the world, companies that braced for decreased productivity from their newly remote workforce were in for a surprise. Instead of diminishing production, remote work was boosting it, with one study reporting that remote workers on average worked 1.4 more days in a month than they did in the office.  

This has led to a sea change in the thinking about remote work. Myriad companies in a broad range of industries have already adopted or are beginning to adopt permanent remote work as a norm for staff. The enticement of smaller facility costs and more flexibility combined with the added staff productivity and satisfaction is encouraging progressive companies to stay fully remote – but remote work brings its own cybersecurity risks.

Get the tools to support your remote workforce in our Remote Working Cybersecurity package, including a digital risk checklist and eBook! GET IT NOW>>

If you’re considering never going back to the office or even just keeping your staff flexible with extended remote capability, you’ll need to reconsider your cybersecurity posture. Remote work may bring many benefits, but it also brings new cybersecurity challenges to the table. Choosing the right cybersecurity stack (including a digital risk protection platform) to support remote work today can save many headaches, and dollars, in the future. 

Contact ID Agent today for an expert analysis of how you can update your security posture to support a remote workforce and maintain data security compliance to protect your company from threats at a price that doesn’t threaten your budget.  

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

Ransomware is Everywhere, and Every Company is At Risk

  

Ransomware is a growing menace to companies of every size and has surged to become even more popular as a means of attack. During the global pandemic, researchers reported that ransomware attacks have skyrocketed, increasing by more than 140% over 2019.  

Ransomware has not only become more pervasive; it’s also become more expensive. The expected cost of a ransomware attack, (including recovery, remediation, and ransoms), is expected to increase to $20 billion in 2021.  One U.S. oil and gas company lost a whopping $30 million to a single ransomware attack in 2019, and ransomware related downtime can also cost a fortune.  

Healthcare is an especially popular and juicy target for bad actors, and cyberattacks against healthcare industry targets have increased fivefold in 2020.  Ransomware has ravaged healthcare organizations providing essential COVID-19 care in the US, Canada, the UK, and other regions impacted by the pandemic.  

The most common method of delivery for ransomware is through a phishing attack, and they’ve jumped over 600% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Don’t wait until ransomware makes an impact on your bottom line – start training every staffer thoroughly to make them the strongest possible defense against the phishing attacks that aim to deliver ransomware.  

BullPhish ID is the perfect training and testing solution for today’s remote workforce. This dynamic platform includes over 80 phishing kits (including the initial email and related landing page and reply email), and 50 security video campaigns (short animated videos with test and reply email), including training to resist COVID-19 phishing scams.  

Because phishing is a universal menace, we offer training materials in 8 languages, and we’re constantly updating our menu of training choices to account for new threats as they become apparent, keeping every user in an organization on guard for trouble like ransomware.  

Watch this 10-minute technical demonstration video to see BullPhish ID in action.  

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

Internet and Information Safety is Important for Kids too!

Kids these days are instant citizens of the digital world. That’s why it’s important for kids to learn about safe online behavior and what to watch out for. To that end, we’ve created 2 fun books to teach kids about how not to get tricked by cybercriminals using lovable characters and memorable rhymes combined with fun coloring pages and other activities. Download them today to print out some fun art pages for family time – or maybe just to keep the kids busy during your next Zoom.  

Click here to get “The ID Agent Security Team Coloring and Activity Book” with coloring pages and games that teach kids about general online information and password safety. 

Click here to get “Billy the Bull Goes Phishing”, a coloring book to teach kids to protect their personal information and not be fooled by phishing attacks. 

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

Improving Password Security Improves All of Your Defenses

 

One of the top concerns that many businesses have when making a cybersecurity plan is how to protect themselves from cybercriminals. But that’s not the right thing to have at the top of your cybersecurity checklist. More cybersecurity incidents like a data breach are caused by human error than anything else – and one of the worst errors that many staffers make is creating a terrible password. 

Bad, weak, cracked, or compromised passwords are the bread and butter of cybercrime. Login credentials are currency, especially for privileged users. The fastest, cheapest, and easiest way to immediately improve your cybersecurity is to teach and enforce good password hygiene, from creation to storage.

ID Agent provides several resources to help educate your users on making and storing secure passwords. Our new eBook details some common mistakes that users make when creating passwords. We’ve provided an analysis of several of the biggest password pitfalls of 2020 in our blog. 

Our Password Education Package provides great information about how to make stronger passwords including the whitepaper “Building Better Passwords” – and our Top 50 Worst Passwords List to see how yours stacks up. 

Contact Bit by Bit today for an expert analysis of how you can update your security plan to include solutions like Dark Web ID to mitigate the damage caused by bad passwords and maintain data security compliance to protect your company from threats at a price that doesn’t threaten your budget.  

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

Cybersecurity News Reports That Insider Threats Have Grown by 47%

 

Insider threats are a top cybersecurity risk for any company, and that risk is growing rapidly. Recently in the news, statistics from the Ponemon Institute report show that insider threats have climbed by 47% over the last two years. Whether they come from malicious sources or just simple human errors, insider threats have the potential to devastate a business. 

Malicious insiders are finding it very profitable to sell data on the Dark Web, especially COVID-19 healthcare and research data. An expanding market for credentials tempts staffers into taking advantage of lucrative opportunities to sell their access credentials, especially if they’re highly privileged. Over 25% of cyberattacks caused by insider threats come from malicious insiders.

Get the facts about the two main types of insider threats, how to spot them, and how to stop them in our free eBook “Combatting Insider Threats“ GET IT NOW>>

Unintentional insider threats are less ominous and more common. More than 60% of breaches caused by insider threats are caused by staffers who aren’t trying to damage the company – they just made a mistake. Unfortunately, that mistake can be the door to a data breach that results in your information hitting the Dark Web, plus and expensive and time-consuming recovery, sometimes with regulatory penalties topping it off. 

For your clients, Learning how to define insider threats and having some examples of potential threat vectors to consider can help demonstrate why this is an issue that they should take seriously. Creating an effective defense against insider threats includes choosing a dynamic cybersecurity risk protection platform with multiple solutions that work together to mitigate the risk of a bad actor gaining access to systems and data.  

Malicious insiders will almost always be looking for a way to profit off of the data or access that they’re selling, and they’re most likely to turn to the busy data markets on the Dark Web. With a solution like Dark Web ID, companies can find out fast if their data or credentials appear in Dark Web markets because of our 24/7/365 monitoring and analysis – empowering them to act to solve a problem before it becomes a catastrophe. 

Fight back against insider threats to avoid data disasters with Dark Web ID.

Watch this 10-minute technical demonstration video of Dark Web in action.

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure

 

We’ve all heard this old saw, and it’s still popular for a reason: it’s right. Taking strong preventative measures now to protect your data saves both time and money later. More than 50% of businesses had a data breach in 2020 – and that’s a time-consuming money pit for any company. By taking the right preventative measures now, you can lower your risk of a data breach later.  

One of the most important preventative measures to take right away is updated training about current phishing threats. Right now, cybercriminals are using many new tricks to mount phishing attacks. While your staff may be aware that they shouldn’t open unexpected attachments, do they know not to click surprise links, or open unanticipated PDFs, or accept unverified Zoom invitations? Updated phishing training prepares them to resist these threats and protect your data.  

Coupling phishing resistance training with 24/7/365 Dark Web monitoring guards your data on two fronts. Not only are you preventing bad actors from getting a front door key to your data with improved phishing resistance, but you’re also making sure that cybercriminals aren’t sneaking in the back door either by watching for Dark Web threats. By combining multiple solutions that work together well, you can maximize the ways that your security solutions help prevent data loss – because strong, sensible preventative measures always pay off.

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

Australian Cyberattacks Prove That Threat Resistance Training is Always a Good Investment

 

Sophisticated cyberattack risks are growing throughout the world, and the attacker isn’t always just a group of opportunistic cybercriminals. A recent explosion of cyberattacks against targets in Australia has been reported to be linked to potentially malicious state-sponsored actors, creating a new level of worry for cybersecurity architects.  

Ransomware has become an even greater menace for Australian companies. Government officials have warned that ransomware that is delivered through spear phishing attacks is suspected to be part of the overall larger attack picture in this wave of attacks. Therefore, it’s clear that frequent, high-quality phishing defense and resistance training is essential to protect a company from ransomware attacks. 

Ransomware is devastating to any business, as was recently demonstrated by two incidents at Australian drinks conglomerate Lion. Systems at the beverage company have been infected twice in the last month alone, freezing essential production and operations technology just as it began to ramp up its post-pandemic production.   

Get tips to help secure a remote workforce fast and insight into the unexpected risks that remote operations bring in our Remote Working Cybersecurity resource package. 

A dynamic solution like  BullPhish ID is the right choice for state-of-the-art phishing resistance training. BullPhish ID’s constantly updated educational tools allow staffers to learn through video and be tested on that knowledge with online quizzes – with pre-made phishing kits including the latest threats available in 8 languages for quick deployment. These features also make it an ideal vehicle for remote training because training shouldn’t stop just because staffers aren’t in the office.  

Updating a company’s cybersecurity stack to boost ransomware defense should always include upgrading phishing resistance training. Dark Web monitoring is a great place to start when constructing a strong cybersecurity defense, but every building block in that defense is important – and improved phishing resistance with BullPhish ID is an easy and affordable block to add.

Watch this 10-minute technical demonstration video of BullPhish ID in action.

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863