”If you think your organization is not going to be hacked, you will be hacked! The best education you can get is getting your companies hacked once and then you will realize, budgets that were previously not available will become available and time was not there will be found” EC Council President Jay Bevis…

The truth of the matter is simple. We are in denial. We use the term ‘We will deal with the situation, when it happens’ Is that enough? I tell you not!! Cybercriminals are out there seeking to steal your information, commit Fraud, disrupt, degrade and deny access to information systems, these cyber intruders are Dangerous and Manipulative they are out there causing financial, operation and reputational harm right now under your eyes without you even knowing!

If someone said to you last year hackers are able to steal up to 45 million in 2days… You would say… Impossible? Nothing is impossible, we were taking by complete astonish and anger when on December 12, 2012, and February 19, 2013, an international team of hackers and thieves stole a collective $45 million from more than 5,000 ATMs across the world. Eight suspects were charged in connection with the crimes on May 9… how was this ”hacking done’. Mask involved? Weapons… answer… No… A hacking plan… at the tip of their fingers and a few keyboards… Was this the wakeup call our Society needed, that technology is becoming so advance, that it’s making it easier for these cyber criminals to perform such acts and that cyber security education providers needs to be put in place into your banks!

IT Security is vital! The World’s largest vendor Neutral cyber security education provider EC Council focus highly on the threats of breaches on cyber security to organizations. The president of the Council states ‘”A country deals with cyber threats by dealing with offensive capabilities by creating cyber armies – the entire concept of having a cyber-command will become a clear interface in the war systems of governments.”. The EC-Council’s flagship course Certified Ethical Hacker, CEH set the standard for what the world has come to expect from ethical hacking IT Security courses, becoming one of the most highest and demand in the world for organization’s to have, as well this they provide Information Security, Network Security, Computer Security and Internet Security Certification and Training. So the Solution is BE PREPARED & STEP UP on your education get your IT SECURITY. To think like a hacker… Educate! Is this not an indication for all the CEO of the banks and organisations to have their employees trained as a CEH? Surely this should be made mandatory?!

Cyber threats are a major factor highlighting banks, it is continuing to grow and becoming more sophisticated in Australia, In March, Reserve Bank of Australia confirmed its computer networks had been repeatedly hacked in a series of cyber-attacks to infiltrate sensitive internal information, including by Chinese developed malicious software – or malware, Hackers penetrated computers at the Reserve Bank in an email scam targeting employees in an incident in November 2011 but details only emerged this year. A criminal syndicate had access to 500,000 credit cards and had already spent $30 million on 30,000 of them in transactions in Hong Kong, Europe, Australia and the US. Australian banks are facing new and ongoing security threats, this is combing with destructive hacking! Why do we not hear about the ongoing events and scandals in the media, what is the government in Australia doing about it? Pushing it under the carpet.. As if nothing is happening? Is people’s identity, data files and money not important here? I thought Customer Protection and care within a bank was number 1 priority? Another valid point that CEOS should take on board vital security training is a MUST here!

How many of you have a contactless credit and debit cards containing a chip, so that when the card is held next to a reader,a payment is made without need of a pin,. Something simple like going to your local Food Works shop to purchase a loaf and pint of milk? Would you think of fraud? Hacking? Card readers that are now being built in as standard to mobile phones can be adapted to access data from these cards!..Anyone can have your data!! Thomas Cannon of Via Forensics done a reconstructive test: “All I did was I tap my phone over your wallet and using the wireless reader on the phone I was able to lift out the details from your card, that includes the long card number, the expiry date and your name. None of it was encrypted, it was simply a case of the details coming out through the air. “This was with A Barclays Bank, Which has a maximum of 13 million customers who currently use them… Though what other Banks and systems are accessible. I’m sure cyber intruders are planning their next intrusion with android apps which are getting more advance each day!

Let’s face it… we are living in the 21ST Century, technology is rising, with the big tech companies such as Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, the New York Times, NBC and its affiliate websites already being ‘victims’ to the cyber-attacks and hacking scandals within this year! Banks and finance are one of the main sectors Cybercriminals are always going to attack. Why? Money? Did you know At least $15 million was stolen via online infiltration of 15 financial companies — including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, E*TRADE, PayPal, TIAA-CREF, and TD Ameritrade — overly a nearly two-year period. The perpetrators of the scheme were a group of hackers and identity thieves led by two Ukrainian nationals, according to authorities stated by the LA Times. This is an indication how powerful banking, and hacking has become.

The Resolutions is simple we can never spot a hacker out, we can’t point to one random guy in the street… the answer is we can prevent our Banks to have the highest quality IT security system input. Most CEO Use the excuse ‘We can’t afford to send our employees on these training courses’. Though reality is… When you do get hacked which you will! How are you can afford to compensate your loss? Where’s your budget then? Answer That?

Let’s think professionally and smart. Education is key to success.. And the fact and point of my article Get Professional IT Security before it’s too late! SIMPLE.

If you have been reading the news lately and picking up on all the commotion around hack attacks on some of the big guns like Google, Yahoo and Adobe you may be experiencing a twinge of anxiety over the security for your own business. You may have believed your network was invincible so this news could leave you feeling shaky. You have good reason to feel this way – according to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald the number of hackers tampering with private financial information belonging to Australian business is on the rise. Obviously using the internet and intranet for business has become a viable solution to accomplishing company objectives, but on the downside the criminal faction sees just as much opportunity.

Australia is a Frequent Target for Cyber Crime

Symantec, a data security firm reported that Australian and New Zealand businesses suffer 75% more security breaches than the global average with 89% of the companies polled in the last 12 months admitting at least one intrusion. Hackers are not necessarily going after the major companies where they can make off with large sums of money. Like any other thief, they go where the risk is low and they can get in and out of a system quickly and without detection. The fact is you don’t have to be at any particular level of business profitability to be targeted. Smaller companies tend to use less comprehensive IT security making them more susceptible. In general, hackers are interested in easy money.

Google and Other Large Corporations are Not Exempt

The threat does not always revolve around banking information or sensitive intellectual property. As Google discovered in December 2009, issues such as human rights are at stake in cyber attacks. The advertising and search giant was appalled that a highly organized effort dubbed “Aurora” was being made to hack into the Gmail accounts of Chinese human right activists. They managed to infiltrate only two accounts and were not able to see the account holders’ actual correspondence. The action put Google in the position where it felt it necessary to warn the Chinese human rights community of the attack and to prepare to withdraw business ties with China. Officials at Google did not directly accuse the Chinese government of being the perpetrators but they decided to review doing business with the country based its attempts to limit free speech on the internet. Google stated concern for the safety of the Chinese citizens and the potential for them to be interrogated and imprisoned.

There were at least 20 other large internet, media, finance and technology companies included in the attack: Yahoo, Adobe, Symantec, Dow Chemical and Northrop Grumman to name a few. It was accomplished through a technique called “spear phishing.” This resembles an attack against 100 IT companies in July 2009 where company employees were targeted with infected email attachments.

Small and Midsize Businesses have Minimal Defense

Most businesses are totally defenseless against these sophisticated attacks. They use instant messages and emails that seem innocent at first because the senders appear to be friends and trusted colleagues. The messages are fine-tuned to evade the anti-virus programs designed for these applications. Evidently the best practices for IT security that have successfully held attackers at bay for many years are no longer sufficient. There is an innovative caliber of attacks circulating around the globe using custom malware written specifically for individual companies. The hackers don’t seem to mind if it takes longer to get around the antivirus software in use by the large corporations. They continue painstakingly to tweak their malware until it is effective. Smaller companies that don’t have the budget for a large scale security have not stood a chance. The hackers have the ability to commandeer only one employee’s laptop and make it a gateway for total administrative access to the company’s entire network.

The security firm, iSec Partners that investigated the attack on Google and ensuing corporations recommend we make fundamental changes to the way we protect our networks. They say we have simply not been prepared for the level of sophistication demonstrated by the new cyber criminals.

Hacker Stories in the Australian News

Internet news sites report the direct effects of cyber hacking on Australia. Today Online posted a news article about a hacker called “Ghostbuster” that has been targeting Melbourne businesses as a response to violence against Indians. The person behind the attacks has been sending threatening emails stating Australian servers will be hacked until racism against Indian nationals is ended. The action came in the wake of the murder of a 21-year-old Punjabi student in January 2010. Several Melbourne businesses were victimized when their entire networks were thrown into chaos.

In the technology section of The Age is a report describing the effects on government websites by hackers associated with the group “Anonymous”, known for its attacks on Scientology. This is the same group that temporarily blasted pornography across Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s website. On the morning of February 10, 2010 a number of government sites were down. The attack was in opposition to the government’s plans for internet censorship. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy was not happy with the fact that Australian citizens could not obtain needed services online and felt it was irresponsible on the part of the hackers.

In the Sydney Morning Herald one journalist mentions the statistics that there are now more mobile devices in the country than Australians. It is not unusual for an individual to own two or three. The rising use of wireless broadband provides accessibility and convenience for subscribers but it also expands the territory for cyber criminals. Currently there are more barriers to cyber hacking wireless devices than terrestrial networks, such as the cost of making a phone call. However with the advances in mobile device technology to the point where it can replace the need for owning a laptop computer the potential for being targeted by hackers exists. The actual devices may be secure but the Wi-Fi network, often free and faster for users in public places is a temptation for cyber criminals. You may believe you have connected to a site operated by an airport, hotel or coffee shop, but there is no way of knowing for sure who controls the IP address that now has access to everything in your computer or mobile device. It is not that difficult for hackers to present a fake website you feel you can trust that they can use to steal from your network at any time in the future.

Millions of dollars are stolen everyday from individuals and businesses that use the internet. We are warned frequently about viruses, worms and phishing scam but somehow we get caught anyway. The situation is getting worse as hackers become better adept at breaking down the unique systems designed to keep them out. If you are still experiencing discomfort about the vulnerability of your network it will pay off to attend to your gut feeling.

For as long as I can remember, Black Friday was THE shopping day of the season. Since it kicked off the official holiday shopping term, it was the one day when you could save some serious cash on everything from socks to electronics. In recent years, though, Cyber Monday has quietly usurped the top position with over 95 million Americans doing their shopping on this day vs. the 79 million Americans who shopped in retail stores Black Friday in 2009.

Cyber Monday is the first Monday after Thanksgiving. It developed over the years because it was the first day that people went back to work after the Thanksgiving. Employees would use the company’s high speed internet to do their holiday shopping online. Retailers took notice of the spike in their web traffic and began offering Cyber Monday deals that rivaled their Black Friday offers.

In addition to being incredibly easy and convenient, you can score some good deals with the Cyber Monday specials offered by retailers. Here are some tips for getting the most out of this popular online shopping event.

Tips

* Do your homework – Since you are shopping online, you won’t have the benefit of being able to see or touch the products. Therefore, do some window shopping and get the model numbers, sizes, colors – all the pertinent information about the products you want to buy. This will help make sure you order the right thing.

* Shop at places that offer free shipping – If you are not careful, the cost of shipping can easily gobble up the money you save shopping on Cyber Monday. Look for places that offer free shipping deals. This can save you another 20% off the cost of the product.

* Get online early to avoid digital congestion – Just like the stores on Black Friday, websites will be inundated with internet visitors on Cyber Monday. This can affect the site’s loading time and slow your shopping to a crawl; especially if you are using a dial up service. Get up extra early to avoid the rush.

* Shop early to get the good stuff – Another reason to shop early is that quantities may be limited. Many retail stores will have deals throughout the day. Since they don’t want to give away the store, they will often limit coupons and quantities to the first few hundred people who checkout online. If you want to get the deal, be at your computer before everyone else.

* Shop for electronics online – Retailers know that most people who shop online for Cyber Monday deals are tech savvy. Therefore, they will usually offer some awesome deals on electronics. Instead of risking life and limb to get them on Black Friday, wait until Cyber Monday and enjoy front door delivery.

* Make friends with RetailMeNot – This is a website that specializes in providing coupon codes for all of the major retailers online. To save additional money, you should have this site open so you can search for Cyber Monday coupon codes quickly and apply them easily.

* Shop at an all in one website – To save time and money, pick a one stop shop website that serves as a portal to multiple retail stores. The main benefit of using this type of website is that you can comparison shop prices without having to surf from one site to another. The site where I shop has a powerful search engine that will help you seek out the best deals and potentially earn you cash back on your purchases.

Amazon.com is a big player in the online shopping world. Last year, it was the number one most visited retailer on Cyber Monday for the third year in a row. However, a fast rising competitor, Kaching Kaching, is giving the internet retailer a run for its money. The company directly contracts with manufacturers to get the best price on over one million brand named products including HP, GPS from Garmin, Canon, and Cuisinart. Every day they have an incredible Deal of the Day where you can get hot items such as Wii and Xbox below market price.

There is nothing like the thrill of getting the best deal. Be smart and you could save hundreds of dollars on Christmas gifts this Cyber Monday.

Cyberattacks are on the rise, so it’s no surprise that cyber insurance continues to be one of the fastest growing areas in the insurance industry. For insurance agencies, there are two sides to this coin, opportunity for cyber insurance related growth, and the potential for a malicious cyberattack against their own agency website. How can you make your insurance agency website more secure and limit your exposure to a cyberattack or breach?

The Basics

• Install SSL. This is a mandatory step for all websites!
• Update your software frequently. This includes your operating environment, coding, theme, plugins, etc.
• Use complex passwords. All passwords for all user access to your website should be complex. It’s often best to use the computer-generated passwords provided by your system.
• Educate your users. Take the time to ensure all employees and contractors understand cyber security best practices including preventing phishing emails and other hacking emails.
• Use anti-malware solutions. Invest in anti-malware solutions for ongoing scans to and prevent malicious attacks.

Advanced

• Harden your server. Server hardening is a set of techniques used to improve the security of your server. For example, you should manage server access, minimize the external footprint (including hiding key files from public view), patch vulnerabilities, restrict admin access and minimized user access permissions.
• Use parameter queries to mitigate SQL injection attacks.
• Multifactor authentication should be used for login security. MFA is an excellent addition to your security protocol, and authenticator apps like LastPass, Microsoft Authenticator, and Google Authenticator are easy to use. They reside on your smartphone and allow you to enter a 6-digit code to validate secure login.
• Add a firewall. Most hosting environments offer a firewall option, and you should take advantage of this. For example, most hosting organizations offer an optional firewall to help prevent hacking attempts. These are an inexpensive addition and should be a standard. Note that you will need to change your DNS A record when adding a firewall.
• Protect against XSS attacks. Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks can inject malicious JavaScript into your insurance agency web pages, which can change browser page content, or potentially steal information. The best defense is to limit how and what JavaScript is executed in the page. For example, your website can disallow the running of any non-hosted scripts (disallow inline JavaScript).
• Manually accept on-site comments. Don’t allow comments to automatically post, this cuts down on spam and script attacks.
• Use captchas. Every form should have a captcha, and in the event of cookie compliance captcha issues, create a mandatory field which requires the user to decide something. For example, 5+4=___).
• Encrypt data. If you’re capturing information of any kind, or as a general safeguard, encrypt your data while at rest.

Preventing cyber security breaches is important to both agency principals and clients. Make sure your insurance agency website is protected!

Just chanced upon this interesting read off CNN.

Looks like the war on terror that the 43rd President of the United States waged has spiraled into another sphere of war.

From the conventional means of fighting wars on the front, we have now transitioned into cyber warfare.

And it cannot mean too good for us.

Similarly with the reporters without borders, where the freedom of the press doesn’t stop at a country’s jurisdiction, us, normal citizens are being embroiled into a war that we do not want, where crime does not recognize the limitations of the physical world.

If we dissect it simply, terrorists or self proclaimed jihadists are fighting for a cause. To fight for the name of Islam. But these terrorists have the faintest idea that their ideology is perverted by their preachers or whoever that they proclaimed their clerics to be.

The job of fighting these crime that was commonly known to use firearms and brutal force, were always checked by our crime fighting organizations.

These terrorist organizations have grown savvy over the decade… and comes along the C.C.A– or the Cyber Caliphate Association.

These breed of criminals are different, they engage their warfare in a different manner where no firearms, or brutal force is required. They comprise of individuals who are talented and possess skills which no ordinary terrorist has.

What scares me most is how safe Singapore would be from such attacks? Our economy survives on infrastructures which are mostly digitized and on platforms which are stored and locked away in the cyber world, and like just any doors, they can be unlocked if the perpetrator is skilled enough.

Live case scenario

How do we insure ourselves from these attacks? No doubt the Singapore government is always assuring us that our cyber security is equipped with the best defenses. There has been cases where money were missing, unauthorized withdrawals made. And since then, there has been very few cases reported where money were stolen.

My concern is, if it was this easy to steal money, what about personal data? What about the safety of our assets, social security passwords and so on?

Protect yourself from unauthorized usage of your personal data by registering your contact details via the PDPA website. This is the least we can do to protect ourselves from the prying hands of cyber-terrorists like the CCA.

The biggest risk is not to do anything.

In the recent years, it has been observed that many businesses have been rapidly affected by various types of cyber attacks. Companies continue to be under great pressure and strive to keep their information safe and secure. Some of the common security risks businesses continue to face have been listed below:

1. Human factor and peoples’ reactive mindset: The employees working in the business could form the major base for cyber threats as they are more prone to open phishing emails or download links that could turn out to be malware. Moreover, the top level management or people at the C level will be less prone to become malicious insiders. Due to this a serious concern of privilege abuse by lower level employees is more common as they become malicious insiders and measures need to be taken to overcome this problem.

2. Password protection measures play vital role: Businesses should be extremely aware that they should maintain all important business accounts with a two factor password authentication such that it may not be easily hacked. This password needs to be changed and maintained effectively once in 30 or 45 days to keep it more safe and away from any security attacks.

3. Aging Infrastructure and drastic Patch Management necessary: In addition to the above security risks, hardware can also be a major issue as lifecycle of most of the devices is becoming increasingly shorter these days. Purchase only new hardware that can uphold updates such that aging factor can be taken care off. Recent attacks such as the WannaCry and Petya outbreaks have underlined the importance of regular software updates that needs to be taken up. Even for Eternal Blue, it allowed the malware to spread within corporate networks without any user interaction, making these outbreaks particularly virulent. The above incidents do show the importance of protecting vulnerable systems and patching is a key way to do it.

4. Difficulty with Data Integrations: It is interesting to note that the amount of data that flows through an organization could for reasons overwhelm anyone as it contains very critical information. This could be about employees, partners, stakeholders, service providers etc. But integrating various data sources is crucial to have a clear understanding of various risks involved within or outside the organization.

5. Lack of a Proper security recovery plan: Most businesses are still unaware of the impounding risks with cyber security and lack a proper plan to overcome such situations. They need to draft a plan that contains the actions that could be taken up when there is a cyber attack and thus can quickly and efficiently minimize the risk and save information or other economic losses.

How Can Businesses protect themselves?

Certain solutions like SecOps provide superior customer experience along with a robust cyber security. This security product has capabilities of secure operations while focusing on delivering a seamless customer experience. This specific Security and Experience go together approach finds the right balance between the ease of user experience and effectiveness of security protection. These solutions cover the entire software lifecycle, from secure design to security testing in development and QA, app self-protection and monitoring in product and patching. Security is an enabler of new business opportunities in addition to helping protect your company’s people, data, and systems. Cloud Security is achieved through following certain cloud adoption strategies with specific focus placed on security and privacy to improve all operations and make them secure.

“You should know better.” That was the ominous text message Laura, a Registered Nurse at a large medical center, received from 20 people at 11 a.m. one morning….

She was astounded. What was happening, she wondered? What did the message mean? And why would anyone-let alone 20 people-text her with the same message?

Laura went home that night shaken and perplexed. After a sleepless night, she figured it out. She had been at her job for only a week. She had replaced a popular supervisor, who had left abruptly without explanation. Her employer had assured Laura that her staff would accept her. Obviously, they had not.

Laura’s co-workers were taking advantage of an electronic means of workplace bullying, relatively new to the workplace. Laura was the target of cyber-bullying. Cyber-bullying is harassment using technology-cell phones, email or the Internet, for example. While the term was first applied to teenagers, it is rapidly being used to apply to behavior adults are experiencing in the workplace as well.

Cyber-bullying can take workplace bullying to a new level. All of us know how quickly emails can spread information. Imagine how the word spreads when emails or text messages broadcast unverified rumors about a target.

Also, where bullying in the workplace usually pits one bully against one target, cyber-bullying can easily take the form of cyber-mobbing where you have many people against one target. All that workplace bullies need to know is your email address or phone number. They can remain anonymous under an assumed email identity, or block their number when calling you.

Knowing this, here’s what you can do to curb cyber-bullying or even cyber-mobbing:

o Save emails that contain bullying messages. Your company may have a way to find out who owns that account, and you can then block that email address from sending you anything. In addition, the email can serve as evidence that you are being bullied.

o Don’t use your work email address for anything other than work. Set up a different email account for personal use.

o Don’t tell online “friends” (the ones you know through social networking sites) your company’s name. It’s relatively easy to figure out someone’s work email address if you know her name and the company she works for.

o Find out if your email program has a filter that allows only those on your “safe” list to send you emails. They have to be approved by you. Download an email verification program from the Internet that ensures you are in control of who sends you emails. Any unknown sender has to first apply to you – you can accept or decline any email address request.

o As far as text messaging goes, you can also block phone numbers, once you identify a bully’s number. Simply call your cell phone company to arrange the block.

Cyber-bullying is a very passive form of bullying. It is as serious as any other form of bullying at work and has the potential to be even more insidious. You can take steps to block and verify who contacts you in order to gain back some control. Remember, the bully’s nature is to try and take your power because they feel they do not have their own. You do not have to give them anything and you have every right to set up these personal boundaries. You are worth it!

The holiday season has arrived, and it is high time that consumers and retailers make arrangements for staying one step ahead of the prevalent holiday scams. With trouble lurking in the shadows due to multiple spikes in spending habits, it is important to avoid any that financial frauds and identity thefts. Apart from that, the winter holidays bring along possible opportunities for impersonation and data breaches which can easily take down systems and IT networks.

Previously, IT administrators concentrated more on the consumers but in due course of time, even the retailers have started getting the attention. While customers can lose a specific part of their payment and confidential data sets, retailers can face harmful catastrophic consequences when and if a holiday cyber security attack hits their systems. Once the retailers have are safeguarded their systems and network, they can add specific security measures to protect the interests of the prospective consumers.

How Retailers can Stay Protected?

It is common for hackers to ramp up their activities during the holiday seasons. Spear phishing and data breaches are at an all-time high which in turn calls for increased vigilance and improved cyber security practices. Retailers offer a wider landscape to the hackers as a lot of financial and personal records are usually at stake.

1. Amplifying Threat Detection Capabilities

While most retailers already have preventive security measures in their repertoire, the holiday season requires them to beef up their detection and threat monitoring capabilities. A host of additional authentication steps are usually preferred during the peak shopping season which blocks suspicious transactions. However, additional verification steps can thwart the customers and this is why retailers must try to implement functional threat detection techniques. This approach towards cyber security keeps malicious activities at bay, identifies threats quicker and doesn’t even negatively impact the user experience.

2. Prioritizing Employee Awareness

Adding new employees to the existing staff during a holiday season is probably not the smartest move of all time. Most of the temporary workforce looks to make quick money and some can even cause data breaches, deliberately or accidentally. Therefore, employee awareness in the form of training is extremely important, preferably as a part of the staff on-boarding process.

3. Sharing Threat Data

When criminals can easily share attack methodologies and breach through multiple databases, even retailers can share the threat data for procuring an additional layer of safety. They can make use of automated methods to share the threat data followed by some semi-automated strategies like threat intelligence and closed groups. Once the threat data is publicly shared, it becomes easier for other retailers and organizations to implement the strategies and stay protected.

4. Implementing Incident Response Plans

Retailers must have a functional incident response plan for every threat scenario. These shall typically include rebuilding systems, isolating the systems and having technical controls in hand. That said, these plans must be both communicational and procedural for adding value to the scheme of things. Apart from that, retailers must also have a backup plan in place lest the aforementioned security tips fail to detect and counter the attacks.

Can Consumers stay Protected?

Majority of online and offline consumers have already improved the existing security awareness; thanks to the increasing media coverage of cyber incidents. However, there are a few cyber security tips which can help them safeguard their hard earned money and shop freely during the holiday shopping season.

1. Assessing Convenience against Risk

Consumers need to assess the security risks before establishing connections with servers. Not just the retailers, but the consumers are also responsible when it comes to striking the perfect balance between privacy and personalization. Saving card details or working with the stored customer data can lead to catastrophic cyber-attacks in the form of SQL injection threats and even database compromises.

2. Looking out for Phishing Emails

Consumers must look out for suspicious email attachments before proceeding with any download or click. Unexpected links, for example, a mail reading ‘Track Package’ when you haven’t order anything, must be refrained from.

3. Using Multi-factor Authentication

Password security and hygiene are often ignored by consumers which in turn compromises their confidentiality and privacy. The preferred avenues for staying safe would include multi-factor authentication like OTPs, having a digital vault and even using paraphrases.

4. Checking Card Statements

The period of holiday shopping often misleads the consumers into shopping beyond limits. However, the spending spikes must be paired with periodic statements checks. This approach allows consumers to keep a close eye on their expenses and track the card for any kind of abnormalities. This strategy nips financial frauds right in the bud.

Inference

The correct balance between awareness and vigilance is the key to a safe and yielding holiday shopping season, both for the retailers and consumers. However, the perfect strategy would be to keep the cyber security guard up, right across the year. This round-the-year approach helps imbibe the best online shopping practices; thereby safeguarding the finances and mitigating unfortunate attacks.

What is your chief worry when it comes to business?

Ask any business owner and it is VERY likely that you will get the same response: cyber attacks!

Cyber attacks consistently remain the primary concern of most company owners.

And there is good reason for that.

Contemporary research concluded that in 2018 there were triple the amount of medical industry computer data breaches in the medical industry than the previous year, with more than 15 million medical records exposed!

An independent 2019 inquiry led researchers to these findings: there were 1,200-plus data breaches leaving 440 million personal data exposed!

But of all the studies, this conclusion resonates loudest among the average business owner. Fifty-eight percent of the total amount of 2018 cyber attacks were aimed at small business corporations. Swallow that statistic along with another one: data breach recovery expenses averaged about $385,000. all Perhaps most noteworthy is the same year’s Data Breach Investigations Report conducted by Verizon: 58 percent of all cyber attacks were directed towards small business, with recovery costs at an average of close to $385,000.

What can a company – large, small or medium-sized – do to shield itself from becoming the target of a cyber attack? Aside from technical and learned safety tactics, a related insurance policy can be the catalyst of assistance to climb out of the mess created by hackers – with the coverage paying for associated losses.

Here are just a couple of associated claims examples that prove the point.

Two Data Breach Insurance Claim Scenarios

Ransomware Coverage

An employee working in one of the departments of a global agency accidentally opened an email that exposed the business computer system to a virus, possibly impacting up to six hundred and sixty servers all around the world.

The agency chartered a global IT forensics enterprise to deal with the misfortune. This included getting the ransom amount that the hacker demanded, negotiating with the criminals and completing a forensic investigation.

After the IT forensics team got the hackers to go down from the first ransom demand of $540,0000 to $450,000, insurance coverage stepped in, paying the ransom, allowing the decrypting to move forward.

Negligence Coverage:

A patient was livid when she discovered a nurse employed at the doctor’s practice where she had been treated exposed her medical records. She accused the nurse of passing on her private medical records as well as her personal data to other people. Adding insult to injury, said the patient, was that the nurse altered the records to include false information meant to humiliate her.

The doctor’s office issued a statement that there is a standing policy of not allowing access and disclosure of patient information. Nonetheless, the nurse had crossed the lines of professional creed set down by the medical practice.

The matter was resolved by a 5 digit out-of-court settlement which the insurance company covered.

As hackers grow faster, more numerous, and more effective, many companies are struggling to protect their websites from cyber-threats. The statistics don’t lie:

• Over 360,000 new malicious files are detected every day

• There were 1,188,728,338 known attacks on computers in 2017

• Damage to businesses by cyber crime is expected to reach $6 trillion by 2021

• Global spending on cyber security will likely exceed $1 trillion between 2017 and 2021

These staggering numbers clearly demonstrate why organizations must make website security a critical priority. Various types of cyber-attacks and malicious programs exist. It’s crucial that every IT department understand the following risks: viruses and worms, Trojan programs, suspicious packers, malicious tools, adware, malware, ransomware, denial of service, phishing, cross-site scripting (SQL injection), brute force password attack, and session hijacking. When these cyber breach attempts are successful (which is often), the following can occur:

• Website defacement – unwanted content placed on your website

• Websites are taken offline (your site goes down)

• Data is stolen from websites, databases, financial systems, etc.

• Data is encrypted and held for ransom (ransomware attack)

• Server misuse – relay webmail spam, to serve illegal files

• Server misuse – part of a distributed denial of service attack

• Servers misappropriated to mine for Bitcoin, etc.

While some attacks present only minor threats like a slow website, many attacks result in severe repercussions such as major theft of confidential data or indefinite website failure due to ransomware. With that in mind, here are 15 best practices your IT department should be leveraging to protect your organization from malware and cyber-hacking.

1. Keep your software updated.

It’s crucial that you keep your operating system, general applications, anti-malware and website security programs updated with the latest patches and definitions. If your website is hosted by a third-party, make sure your host is reputable and keeps their software up-to-date as well.

2. Protect against cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.

Hackers can steal credentials and login cookies from users when they opt-in or register by introducing malicious JavaScript into your coding. Install firewalls and protections against injections of active JavaScript into your pages.

3. Protect against SQL attacks.

In order to defend against hackers that inject rogue code into your site, you must always use parameterized queries and avoid standard Transact SQL.

4. Double validation of data.

Protect your subscribers by requiring both browser and server-side validation. A double validation process will help block insertion of malicious scripts through form fields that accept data.

5. Don’t allow file uploads on your website.

Some businesses require users to upload files or images to their server. This presents significant security risks as hackers can upload malicious content that will compromise your website. Remove executable permissions for files and find another way for users to share information and images.

6. Maintain a robust firewall.

Use a robust firewall and restrict outside access only to ports 80 and 443.

7. Maintain a separate database server.

Keep separate servers for your data and webservers to better protect your digital assets.

8. Implement a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol.

Always purchase an SSL certificate that will maintain a trusted environment. SSL certificates create a foundation of trust by establishing a secure and encrypted connection for your website. This will protect your site from fraudulent servers.

9. Establish a password policy.

Implement rigorous password policies and ensure they are followed. Educate all users on the importance of strong passwords. In essence, require that all passwords meet these standards:

• Length is at least 8 characters

• At least one capital letter, one numeral and one special character

• Do not use words that can be found in the dictionary

• The longer the password, the stronger the website security.

10. Use website security tools.

Website security tools are essential for internet security. There are many options, both free and paid. In addition to software, there are also Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) models that offer comprehensive website security tools.

11. Create a hack response plan.

Sometimes security systems are averted despite the best attempts at protection. If that occurs, you will need to implement a response plan that includes audit logs, server backups and contact information for your IT support personnel.

12. Set up a backend activity log system.

In order to trace the point of entry for a malware incident, ensure you are tracking and logging pertinent data, such as login attempts, page updates, coding changes and plugin updates and installations.

13. Maintain a fail-safe backup plan.

Your data should be backed up regularly, depending on how frequently it is updated. Ideally daily, weekly and monthly backups are available. Create a disaster recovery plan appropriate for your business type and size. Make sure you save a copy of your backup locally and offsite (many good cloud based solutions are available), enabling you to rapidly retrieve an unaltered version of your data.

14. Train your personnel.

It is imperative that everyone is trained on the policies and procedures your company has developed in order to keep your website and data safe and prevent cyber-attacks. It only takes one employee clicking on a malicious file to create the opportunity for a breach. Ensure everyone understands the response plan and has a copy of it which is easily accessible.

15. Make sure your partners and vendors are secure.

Your business may share data and access with many partners and vendors. This is another potential source of breach. Make sure your partners and vendors follow your web security best practices, to help protect your website and data. This can be done using your own audit process, or you can subscribe to software security companies which offer this service.

Even a high-end computer system can be brought down quickly by nefarious malware. Don’t procrastinate on implementing the above security strategies. Consider investing in cyber insurance to protect your organization in the event a severe breach ever occurs. Securing your website from hacking and cyber attacks is an important part of keeping your website safe and your business secure.