Business Owners Tighten up Your Security: Cyber Crime Has Increased by 37% Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Business Owners Tighten up Your Security: Cyber Crime Has Increased by 37% Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Many business owners were not prepared for the COVID 19 pandemic, which left plenty of room for security oversights as their teams made the transition from in-office work to remote work. The absence of the proper security systems, protocols and policies have made these companies the perfect target for cyber criminals.

Most businesses deployed remote working scenarios very rapidly; with some having only a week or even less to workers productive from home. This rapid deployment likely involved cutting some corners in regard to security and best practices with business operations being the priority. The bad guys know this, and have focused their efforts on this potential additional security vulnerability. This has resulted in a clear message: cyber crime is on the rise, affecting all businesses, small and large.

Perhaps cyber criminals have more time on their hands due to the drastic change to everyone's day to day or maybe they see it as being more profitable or a mix of both? Cyber crime has gone up by 37% and the most vulnerable of organizations are being targeted.

Hospitals have seen a surge in attacks.

Hackers seek to maximize profits by preventing access to critical systems that could interrupt patient care or hold data for ransom at a time when healthcare services are the most critical for the world.

The World Health Organization has seen cyber attacks double in frequency.

Although it is vital resource that many rely on for factual reports, advice and research cyber criminals do not seem to care. There is a critical need for The World Health Organization especially right now, but hackers are more concerned with opportunity for profit. No one is sacred.

Zoom has been heavily targeted, with more than a 2000% increase in malicious files with "zoom" in the filename being detected.

Many schools and businesses have turned to Zoom because of the need for social distancing. Unfortunately, there are just as many bad actors with too much time on their hands. Spammers were coming into meetings uninvited doing and saying vulgar or derogatory things. In response, Zoom has made it so everyone who creates a meeting must have a password, whereas before you could create a meeting without one. 

It is critically important that organizations do not publicly post their Zoom call information to prevent uninvited visitors! Despite the password feature being enabled there are reports of organizations posting the Zoom info including the password on their public website or forum. Continuous education of your employees on basic cybersecurity mindfulness can help to avoid similar missteps.

It's not just big business that is affected, hackers target everyone. All cyber criminals care about is spotting a vulnerability in your company's technology and taking advantage of that weakness most often, for financial gain. 

People do not think of the consequence of cyber crime until it happens to them, but they should. If a cyber-attack results in a data breach, the average cost of expenses is $2.5 million. Larger corporations may be able to handle this loss but the vast majority of businesses will have an uncertain future if they do not have the right protection and prevention measures in place.

Learn more about our Advanced IT Management solution

Educate your team to help prevent and reduce cyber attacks

If you haven't done so already, please take the time to educate your team about cyber safety. DLC has The Ultimate Cybersecurity guide that you can download for free. The guide will give you and your team the steps that you can take to reduce cyber crime from affecting your business.

Get Your Free Cyber Security Guide Now

Protection for your company if you do fall victim to cyber crime

It takes a multi-layered approach to protect your company, anti-virus just doesn't cut it anymore. You can even follow all of the prevention methods and still become a victim of cyber crime, which is why you will want protection in the event that a malicious attack is successful. 

It is of the utmost importance if your business operates in a highly regulated industry such as healthcare, legal or finance. Cyber insurance covers the common expenses that you will need to cover so you can take action more quickly.

Learn More: Why You Should Have Cyber Insurance

You should always have a security strategy for your business, but now is the time to tighten up the reigns even more not loosen them up.