Keep an Eye on Cyber Threats – NCSAM

Because it is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, it is a great time to take a look at how you monitor cyber threats in your business operations.  Some of the things to be on guard for are:

  • SPAM – not the tasty meat product manufactured in Austin Minnesota, but the rubbish the comes into your email inbox.  Did you know that SPAM is one of the top two methods used by cyber-criminals to get around your firewall and defeat your computer security products?  Using a good spam filtering product or service or just deleting SPAM unopened is your best defense.
  • Phishing – Just as it sounds, phishing is when cyber criminals use tasty bait to hook a phish.  The problem is that YOU are the phish in this scenario.  Phishing exploits are sophisticated attacks that start with a misleading or convincing email with links that take you to are realistic looking but fake web site where you are encouraged to provide your user name, password, credit card number, or bank account information.  The solution?  Never click on a link in an email, rather use a safe browser bookmark or simply type the web address into your browser manually.
  • Viruses, Spyware, and Trojan Horses – most of these threats are designed to provide your attacker with a convenient remote access backdoor to your computer, and through that, to the rest of your network.  Using top of the line security products instead of a free one can improve your chances, but most malware is delivered by surfing infected web site pages that you happen upon in your daily or, or that you are directed to through SPAM and phishing emails. 

Additional information and security tips can be found on the StaySafeOnline.org web site.

0

About the Author:

I am a cybersecurity and IT instructor, cybersecurity analyst, pen-tester, trainer, and speaker. I am an owner of the WyzCo Group Inc. In addition to consulting on security products and services, I also conduct security audits, compliance audits, vulnerability assessments and penetration tests. I also teach Cybersecurity Awareness Training classes. I work as an information technology and cybersecurity instructor for several training and certification organizations. I have worked in corporate, military, government, and workforce development training environments I am a frequent speaker at professional conferences such as the Minnesota Bloggers Conference, Secure360 Security Conference in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, the (ISC)2 World Congress 2016, and the ISSA International Conference 2017, and many local community organizations, including Chambers of Commerce, SCORE, and several school districts. I have been blogging on cybersecurity since 2006 at http://wyzguyscybersecurity.com

Add a Comment


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.