Can Cyber Criminals Break the Bank?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Microsoft Image Creator

If you're a Rat Pack fan like I am, you'll never forget the 1960 caper flick Oceans 11, where Frank, Dean, Sammie, Peter & Joey take down five Las Vegas casinos on New Year's Eve.  While a work of fiction, it proved to be more a case of life imitating art when several hacking collectives pooled their resources to take down a pair of Vegas casinos last year.  While the hack didn't break the bank at either the MGM or Caesars, it did cost the two companies more than $100 million collectively.  What's worse is that even though the FBI knows the groups responsible for the ransomware attacks, the odds are low that the feds will be able to prosecute many of those involved, since the perpetrators are scattered around the globe.  The repercussions of this brazen cyberattack and the lackluster law enforcement response has not only gotten many corporate CEO's to start quaking in their boots, it's also caused the insurance industry to take a long hard look at whether if can cover the bets of businesses who are likely to be targeted by hacking collectives that can operate with impunity.

Can Hackers Use Bluetooth to Boost Your Ride?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

Modern automobiles are more like computers with four wheels and an engine than motor vehicles these days.  Everything from the way we operate them to the way they're serviced seems more like mission control than old fashioned auto mechanics.  While all this technology has given vehicles the ability to do things we could only dream about in decades gone by, it has also opened the door to hackers and car thieves like never before.  While I pointed out in previous blogs how hackers can crack keyless entry systems and use trackers to steal your vehicle, recent advances in black hat hacking technology has made boosting your ride as simple as point and click.  Before you head out to the office or the store only to discover your vehicle is missing, I want to share some of the latest examples of high tech auto theft that can prove to be a menace to you.

Fraud-as-a-Service + AI = Bad News

 By Catherine Powell

Cyber crime by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free

As scary as the wild weather has been this summer, there's another storm brewing on the horizon that's even more terrifying: Fraud-as-a-Service.  This kind of crime ran rampant during the pandemic.  International cyber gangs made billions at taxpayer expense by submitting fraudulent unemployment applications using stolen identities.  Just like drug cartels, these gangs would use local affiliates to cash in before paying them a percentage of the take.  Even if caught, the local mule wouldn't be able to implicate those higher up on the food chain, since all their instructions were delivered electronically.  The FBI determined that the hierarchy of the biggest cyber gangs originated in places they had no jurisdiction, like Russia, China, and Nigeria. What's worse is that these illegal enterprises proved so lucrative that the organized criminals running them decided to up the ante by using artificial intelligence to amp up both the scope and range of their shenanigans.  If you don't want to get roped into these cyber frauds, there are a few things you need to know.

Can Small Businesses Defend Themselves from Cyber Attacks?

 By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy pxhere

You read about big businesses being hacked every day.  Either their data has been stolen, their servers have been hit with a denial of service attack, or their computers have been locked down due to ransomware. In 2022 some of the companies that were hit included Twitter, Uber, WhatsApp, MailChimp, and Toyota.  Hacking in the US last year also included targets in the banking, healthcare, government, cryptocurrency, and law enforcement sectors.  While many of these high-profile targets made the news, what most people fail to realize is that more than 80% of hacks were not targeted at large companies but small businesses that had less than 100 employees.  This should come as no surprise.  I mean, if hackers can crack the biggest companies with the most advanced cyber security systems in the world, why wouldn't they target small businesses that are much easier to breach?  While I've covered such things as the 10 Signs of a Cyber Attack and Does Your Business Need Cyber Insurance?, what I"d like to show you today are 10 ways small businesses can defend themselves from cyber attacks.

10 Signs of a Cyberattack

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

Cyber crime has become a massive problem in this country.  Did you know that there were more than 623 million cyberattacks in 2021 alone?  What's even scarier is not only are those numbers expected to rise in 2022, but all too many consumers and small business owners don't realize their devices are under attack until it's too late.  To help you keep hackers at bay, I thought I'd give you the top-10 warning signs that your device is under attack by hackers.  That's because the earlier you can mitigate an attack, the less damage hackers can do to your system and your life.  

Does Your Business Need Cyber Insurance?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

You can't watch the news, read a business magazine or peruse a newsfeed without learning about a new cyber-attack.  You'll either find that another form of malware has reared its ugly head or you'll learn that another Fortune 500 Company has been hacked.  Sorry to say it, but cyber liability has not only reached epidemic proportions,  it doesn't just effect big businesses.  In 2020, the average cost to small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) whose computers were infected with viruses and malware was $68,000 per incident.  Targeted attacks cost the average business $188,000 to mitigate.  What's even worse is that 70% of all cyber attacks in 2020 targeted SMBs.  That's because they're easier to breach with off-the-shelf hacking tools.  (That's right, hackers can buy sophisticated hacking software on the Dark Web.) If you own a business and are tired of losing sleep over the possibility of being hacked, here's what you need to know. 

How to Keep Your Credit Cards from Being Hacked

 By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

Now that Thanksgiving is over, the holiday shopping season is in full swing.  That means lots of trips to the stores, as well as multiple online purchases.  To you. this time of year is a time of giving.  For hackers, it’s a time to take advantage of unwary shoppers by stealing their credit and debit card info for their own nefarious purposes.  More than 23 million credit cards were compromised in 2019 alone.  If you don’t want to have your credit card abused or your bank account emptied, there are a few things you need to do before you head over to the mall.

Can Your Car Get Hacked?

 By Catherine Powell

Most Americans are well aware of cyber-security issues when it comes to their computers and smartphones.  That’s because hackers have been upping the ante to the tune of $1.5 Trillion in 2019.  Face it, hardly a month goes by without the news featuring a public corporation that hasn’t been breached by hackers.  Everything from data breaches to ransomware attacks are common to small businesses and individuals these days.  As hackers become more adept at gaining unauthorized access to all of our web-enabled devices, the question is when will cyber-criminals manage to hack their way into our vehicles?  The sad fact of the matter is, it’s already occurred.