🔒Businesses must stay vigilant to protect against cyberattacks

October is national Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

The Department of Homeland Security instituted this annual event through its Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in 2004.

The idea was to foster closer cooperation between the private and public sectors, as well as to create awareness about the importance of cybersecurity.

This year’s theme is “Secure Our World.”

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that the greatest cyberattack threat, over 60%, is phishing, which uses electronic means to target businesses, government and individuals.

Bad actors use emails, texts and voicemails to convince users to click on a link, download an attachment or provide sensitive information without first verifying it is a legitimate request.

They try to create the appearance that they are a trusted source. They send emails that appear to be from commonly known agencies, organizations and businesses.

Many major data breaches have occurred that acquired sensitive and personal information of millions of people, which can result in identity theft.

For example, National Public Data (NPD), a nationwide data broker that performs background checks, confirmed in August that it suffered a massive data breach involving social security numbers and other personal information of millions of Americans, according to the USA Today.

The bad actor was a prominent hacking organization, USDoD, that hacked NPD’s database in December 2023, then leaked that information this spring and summer.

So, what can businesses do to better safeguard their data? CISA recommends four ways to stay safe online.

• Turn on multi-factor authentication, which requires a password and some other identifiable information before a user can gain access to a system or program.
• Use strong passwords or passphrases that include upper- and lower-case letters, numerals and special characters, as well as a password manager to create and store these passwords.
• Recognize and report phishing attempts.
• Update software when prompted on your devices.

Resources for businesses

Statistics indicate the current cyberthreat landscape needs your attention.

BankInfoSecurity reports that over half of small businesses are forced to close their doors within six months of a security breach. ZDNet found that it takes 197 days for most businesses to detect a breach on their network.

Fireeye.com said that 77% of cybercrimes target small- to mid-sized organizations. Wombat Security reported that up to 90% of breaches can be avoided with quarterly employee training on cybersecurity awareness.

There are free resources available for businesses that want to improve their cybersecurity safeguards.

CISA provides guides and data about the current cyber landscape, while the Cyber Readiness Institute is an initiative that convenes business leaders across industries and geographic regions to share resources and knowledge for developing free cybersecurity tools for small- and medium-sized businesses.

The bottom line is, businesses must constantly remain vigilant to ensure bad actors aren’t figuratively looking over their shoulders.

Justin J. Golden is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Watertown IT company Golden Technology Services Inc.