Tag Archive for: Businesses

Tips and Strategies for Businesses

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Ransomware attacks are on the rise—and no business is safe from their devastating effects.

Whether you’re a small, medium-sized, or large enterprise, it’s essential to understand what ransomware is and how best to prepare for the potential threat it poses. In this blog post, we’ll explore some key strategies and tips that businesses can use to ensure they have an effective plan in place to protect against damaging ransomware attacks. We’ll look at ways of educating employees about staying secure online as well as provide advice on protecting company data so businesses can act quickly in the event of any attack. Read on for more info!

What is Ransomware and why it’s important for businesses to be prepared

In today’s technological age, ransomware has become a major headache for businesses of all shapes and sizes. So, what exactly is ransomware? Simply put, it is malicious software that takes control of your computer or network until you pay a ransom to the attacker. And don’t be fooled into thinking that it only happens to large corporations – small businesses are just as vulnerable. That’s why it’s important for businesses to be prepared. By having adequate cybersecurity measures in place, such as regularly updating software and backing up data, you can reduce the risk of falling victim to ransomware attacks. Remember, prevention is always better than cure.

Establishing a secure backup system for data protection

Have you ever had that sinking feeling in your stomach when you realise that you accidentally deleted an important file? Or worse, your computer crashes and you lose all your data? Don’t let that happen to you again! Establishing a secure backup system is not only essential for protecting your data, but it can also have a huge impact on your peace of mind. No need to worry about losing your precious family photos or important business documents. With a backup system in place, you can rest easy knowing that your data is safe and sound. So, take the time to set up a reliable backup system and enjoy the benefits of worry-free computing.

Utilising a secure server hosting provider with the latest security protocols

In today’s digital age, online…

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Belt and braces: Safe Internet practices for businesses

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Man working in an office at a computer. — Photo: © Tim Sandle

Social media has been at the forefront of our lives for decades, influencing our daily routines and shaping how we live our lives.  There were approximately 4.48 billion people worldwide being active on social media last year.

While there are benefits from sing social media, there are also negative implications for users. From leaking private data, online hacking, cyberbullying, and contributing to low mental health and self-esteem, these issues are seemingly becoming more common.

For Safer Internet Day, the digital resource provider Virtual College by Netex provides an assessment from cybercrime and Internet safety expert, Stuart Hyde QPM focusing on social media apps.

Hyde explains in a statement to Digital Journal: “It’s easier to lose a sense of security and safety online than in the physical world. Online, it’s not easy to spot how safe you are. You can become at risk with any app – big or small, so you need to have a good idea of where your information is at all times.”

Hyde highlights the dangers associated with particular types of social media applications, and how the ways in which a user can inadvertently cause potential harm. For this he selects three examples.

BeReal

BeReal is classed as one of the fastest-growing social media apps in the world. The social media app is centered around individuals posting unfiltered photos of their activities and themselves once each day, with a front-facing camera and back-facing camera shot taken simultaneously.

These images can be shared with a group of friends, whom a user can select on the platform to choose who can view and react to their daily images. Hence ‘Being Real’ can have serious consequences.

For example, if a user receives the random notification to ‘Be Real’ while at work, they may find themselves taking pictures of private work information from their employer or clients without realizing it, such as on their computer screen.

Strava and Fitness Tracking Apps

With more than 100 million users recorded in May of 2022, Strava has arguably become one of the public’s most popular and trusted platforms for tracking runs, cycle rides, and…

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Why Businesses Need to Think Like Hackers This Year

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2022 was a turbulent year for cybersecurity teams. Through the pandemic, cybercriminals took advantage of misaligned networks as businesses moved to remote work environments. Attacks globally increased by 125% through 2021 and continued upward in 2022. 

It’s clear old practices are no longer working. Defensive, reactive, and recovery postures aren’t fit-for-purpose in the face of an ever-evolving wave of sophisticated attacks. Outmanned, underskilled, and overwhelmed security teams are at the breaking point as they struggle to cope with this cyber “new normal.”

A new proactive offensive approach is needed to take the fight to cybercriminals rather than waiting to be hit. For security professionals, this means learning to think and act like a hacker.

Only by understanding the latest techniques and methods being used by bad actors, and continuously updating your skill set accordingly, can you hope to stay ahead of cybercriminals and find system vulnerabilities before they do.

The hacker mindset isn’t just for frontline security teams, though. It should be an organizational-wide shift in approach that’s all about looking ahead, using out-of-the-box thinking, and responding to threats creatively.

So this could be the HR team “hacking” its recruitment process by removing restrictive hiring criteria to unlock a new pool of cyber talent, just as much as it could be the cybersecurity team hacking its own network to find flaws in the code.

I’ve identified several potential danger areas that I believe will present challenges to businesses this year.

AI Algorithms

AI has made it onto the front pages recently with the success of ChatGPT and social media users sharing their new Lensa avatars across platforms. It’s safe to say that AI has reached consumers on all fronts and mass adoption isn’t unrealistic. At the same time, AI adoption within businesses has skyrocketed and will continue to do so. The cyber-risk with AI is that it’s an algorithm and, like any algorithm, it can be manipulated and hacked into.

Even a tiny change to AI can affect the output, and, generally, AI algorithms aren’t able to provide the reasoning behind their conclusions. Therefore, any manipulation to AI can be very difficult…

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As Businesses Shift To Cloud, Ceos Need To Prioritise Cybersecurity: Pwc

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PwC’s 2022 Digital Trust Insights Survey indicates that Indian business leaders believe avoidable and unnecessary organisational complexity poses ‘concerning’ cyber and privacy risks.

As companies step towards a digital approach while navigating a hybrid work model and moving their entire process into the cloud, the threats and risks also seem to be shifting. While most CEOs in PwC’s 26th Annual Global CEO Survey identified inflation and macroeconomic risks as the biggest threats to their businesses in the year, mature economies such as Australia and Japan are worried more about cyber risk.

According to Check Point Research, Global cyberattacks increased by 38 percent in 2022 compared to 2021. Africa experienced the highest volume of attacks with 1,875 weekly attacks per organisation, followed by APAC with 1,691 weekly attacks per organisation, which would justify their concerns.


Research and consultancy firm Gartner predicted in one of its reports that by 2025, almost 95 percent of all workload will be deployed on the cloud. This means that companies are still in the process or are at are least thinking about it. Hence, almost 50 percent of all participating CEOs would rather be prepared by increasing investments in cybersecurity and data privacy even if they do not see it as an immediate threat.

PwC also suggested in its report that business leaders must stay ahead of cyber challenges by having a dedicated leadership group that understands the significance of cyber security and treats it as a priority.

PwC’s 2022 Digital Trust Insights Survey indicates that Indian business leaders believe avoidable and unnecessary organisational complexity poses ‘concerning’ cyber and privacy risks. A security focus that cuts across the entire business — from top leadership to every department and across all employees — is key to instilling a culture of cyber security, managing cyber risks, enhancing communication between boards and management, and aligning cyber and business strategy.

India was also one of the most targeted counties by cybercriminals, according to Indusface, a Tata Capital-funded software-as-a-service (SaaS) security firm. The firm said among the 829 million…

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