There has been a considerable increase in cyber-related crimes since the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the world. Many security leaders have shown their concern towards the ever-increasing cybercrime with employees working remotely. As per the survey conducted by CSO, a 26% increase has been observed in the volumes post this WFH (work from home) culture.
Shift IT helps in capping several IT infrastructures, providing them Cyber Security solutions in Mississauga. With our experience, we will provide actionable recommendations for preventing cybercrimes in this article.
Attackers are aware that most of the important data is existing without protection. This has resulted in massive malicious attempts to exploit teleworking capabilities. There is only one way to put a halt to this, i.e., improving cybersecurity to enhance cyber defences, both for organizations and employees. Every organization must provide continuous support and proper guidance to their remote employees for cybersecurity.
There have been various types of attacks observed by the Security Operations Center.
1. Ransomware: It is a harmful malware that blocks access to our data until we pay for it. It can affect our system, device, or application. It encrypts our data and threatens to erase or publicize critical data and information. Through the following best practices, we can avoid such cyber attacks:
- By maintaining a backup of the important files
- By keeping your system up-to-date
- By proper team planning
- By implicating secure configurations
- By reviewing security policies such as creating a ‘suspicious email’ policy in the office and warns staff
- By implementing Intrusion Detection System
2. Phishing: It is a social engineering attack in which your sensitive information is targeted and revealed publicly, due to which the attacker can be benefited. Such cases have been on the rise during the COVID Pandemic. The attackers have been taking advantage of COVID-19 cautionary messages to lure employees to submit confidential information that can be used to access critical data.
An employee generally receives phishing mail in which he is directed to click a button. This button takes you to a login page where the user is asked to submit private information. Emails containing the malicious file or a link could also be sent. To avoid such a situation, proper policies and procedures are required to be implemented. Every employee must learn to not open any unwanted links or attachments. Our team assists businesses working remotely with such practices under our services for Network Security in Mississauga.
3. Credential Stuffing: It is a type of cyberattack that retrieves your personal passwords and credential information to gain access to your accounts. A good practice to avoid this is by reducing the number of passwords being shared amongst staff.
All business organizations must implement MFA methods to reduce fraudulent purchases. We provide services for Cyber Security in Mississauga and across GTA that help create a passwords strategy that is custom to the business and allows it to operate efficiently and securely with appropriate policies.
4. DDoS Attacks: Distributed Denial of Service attack is another malicious attack that temporarily deranges hosts to the internet services. This downtime is harmful but sometimes it can be unintentional as other users are also trying at the same time.
This can be avoided by:
- Disabling unused services now and then
- Increased bandwidth allocations
- Avoiding the streaming of music and videos from office VPN
5. RDP Attack: It is a Remote Desktop Protocol breach in which computers come in contact with each other indirectly. A great rise has been recorded in RDP attacks in the COVID-19 period. The key steps to prevent this situation:
- Enabling strong passwords and MFAs can help against RDP branches
- Perform regular checks to ensure safety
- Make sure clients and server software are up to date
- Cloud workforces must especially follow policies and procedures that prevent risks and control the data being shared
Follow the following steps in order to have a secure and effective remote workforce
- A complex and detailed process must be implemented when executing highly critical tasks. We suggest timely deployment of network security software in Mississauga to avoid any potential threats that would obstruct long business delays.
- Secured network solutions such as Virtual Private Networks, etc. should be installed promising end-to-end encryption. Also, many companies do not provide corporate equipment such as desktops and internet assistance. Every company must provide them with secured systems to work upon their confidential or sensitive projects. It must become a company’s duty to help employees have remote access.
- Employers must provide cyber awareness training to their employees to reduce the rates of cybercrime, especially during the post-pandemic period. This might also include an employee safety program along with important client data safety procedure training.
Time to protect yourself
The best way to avoid a cyberattack is to be prepared for one. If you have questions about your cybersecurity or the best practices that suit your business news – Consult with our advisors and get a business health inspection of your IT practices.
