Phoenix Businesses Need Cybersecurity Awareness Training

written by Matt Bullock posted on September 1, 2021

According to LIFARS, a global cybersecurity company, today’s ransomware gangs are investing capital in startup cybercriminal organizations.

As ransomware attacks and other malicious cyber incidents continue to occur every 11 seconds every day, Phoenix businesses need cybersecurity awareness training now more than ever. The cybercrime ecosystem is growing, making things much worse for businesses of all sizes around the world.

According to LIFARS, a global cybersecurity company, today’s ransomware gangs are investing capital in startup cybercriminal organizations. Cybercriminals have made millions of dollars in the past 6 months alone. Ransomware gangs are using a venture capital model to back startups for a percentage of future earnings.

This scary and unbelievable discovery could mean more effective ransomware, new innovative means to breach systems, more organized cyberattack development teams, faster more damaging attacks, and more than we can even imagine.

No matter how much money ransomware gangs invest or how far cybercriminals will go with attack methods, one major element continues to be the key component in launching a successful attack, humans. Your employees are the greatest threats to any IT environment.

Why Your Staff Needs Cybersecurity Awareness Training

Cybercriminals continue to increase their efforts as technology evolves. For hackers, the best way to breach a network and obtain sensitive data is through untrained, non-technical staff members. Studies have found that employee mistakes cause a majority of data breaches.

Attackers use popular techniques, such as email phishing and spear phishing, to trick employees into giving up sensitive information, which could lead to damaging ransomware attacks and more.

Phishing and Spear Phishing Examples

Brenda the Bookkeeper opened an email from her company’s banking institution. The email warned her of suspicious activity on her corporate account and requested that she sign in. But Brenda did not know the email was a phishing scam. It had the bank’s logo and financial jargon which tricked Brenda into clicking on the link in which she then entered her login credentials.

Once the hackers obtained personal information and account data, they created new user credentials and installed malware to steal sensitive data. Unfortunately, Brenda’s mistake cost the company $100,000 and for Brenda, her job. If Brenda knew how to identify several components in that email, she would have known it was a scam.

In another example, Frank the Financial Analyst received an email from his boss, William, the CEO. In the email, William stated that he was abroad on business and his phone, wallet, and briefcase were stolen. William asked Frank to wire $5,000 from the corporate account. Frank, then of course, wired the money to William. Frank did not know that he just fell victim to a spear phishing scam.

If Frank knew how to spot potential spear phishing emails, he could have deleted that email without costing the company money. Furthermore, if Frank knew what to do to prove that email actually came from William, he could have saved time, money, and most likely William’s faith in him.

If your staff is properly trained to identify risks, your company’s data won’t be in jeopardy. Cybersecurity awareness training educates your employees on improving risky behaviors that can lead to security compromises.

Password and Smart Device Breaches

Sandy the Salesperson uses multiple platforms and has many business and personal accounts with different vendors, customers, and within her company. Sandy is usually very busy, so she used the same password for every single account, forgetting to change and update them.

Sandy, unfortunately, learned the dangers of reusing passwords the hard way. Her password was compromised. Hackers were able to access all of her accounts and information. Hackers were able to obtain her customer’s sensitive data as well. Customers no longer trusted Sandy and the company she worked for, causing brand and reputation damage which ultimately affected ROI and future business.

In another example, Charlie, the CEO of a successful company, started working remotely and purchased some new smart home devices. Charlie did not change the default credentials on his new devices. Failing to recognize the risks of his new device allowed hackers to hijack one of his devices.

Charlie did not know the device was hijacked because there was no change to the device. However, hijacking became a serious issue for his home network security because once that device was compromised, the hackers were able to access other devices as well, including thousands of files and sensitive data.

When employees are trained to recognize risks, your organization adds an extra level of security. You will have more people, other than your IT department or IT partner, keeping an eye out for the security of your business. All staff members with training become human firewalls. They will be able to report any threats and will ensure that your information stays safe and secure.

Accelera IT Solutions Cybersecurity Awareness Training Service

Protecting your business network from cyber threats is one of our primary objectives. We will help you identify the potential risks and shield your network from them. We aim to minimize security loopholes that malicious individuals, both external and internal to your network, can take advantage of, and work to secure the data that’s essential to your business.

Security is paramount which is why Accelera IT Solutions has a cybersecurity awareness training service available for your entire staff, including remote workers and in-house employees. We are here to help you take your weakest link, your employees, and make them your strongest defense.

Accelera IT Solutions will safeguard your data and train your employees to be an extra layer of security for your organization. Let’s get your staff trained right away. For more information, or to set up cybersecurity awareness training, call us at (623) 266-4190 or send an email over to info@accelera.tech.