Do not forget about the threat of Phishing

Phishing is still a very serious security problem that affects more people than it should. It is when a hacker attempts to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and even credit card details, by disguising themselves as a trustworthy entity, most commonly in the form of an email. The severity of this problem is often due to hackers using this information for malicious and criminal activities.

If your company data is breached, should you pay a ransom?

Organisations that have been attacked with ransomware face the prospect of their operations becoming gridlocked. This has prompted experts to increase warnings, urging anyone on the internet to back up their data and be on the alert for links and emails that are suspicious. Failing this, one has to either choose between paying the ransom or dealing with the consequences thereof. Experts urge officials not to pay, as much of a tough decision it can be.

WordPress Security

Worried that your WordPress website is next in line to be hacked? You should be. Luckily, securing WordPress is not too daunting a task and the following are some of the best ways to do it.

In the Wild threats

March Madness
On 21 March Forbes reported on a breach at Russia’s secret intelligence agency. The hackers managed to exfiltrate data from the agency which included ‘a new weapon ordered by the security service’. The weapon is reported to be a tool which executes cyber-attacks that target IOT devices.

Beware of Covid-19 coronavirus news items
Social media, instant messaging, email and the internet (as well as TV and radio which by comparison are safe media) are flooded with coronavirus warnings currently, which is understandable. One needs to be aware though that not all these alerts and notifications about the pandemic are legitimate.

The Hypponen Factor
Mikko Hypponen, F-Secure’s Chief Research Officer, recently posted a warning on twitter urging ransomware gangs to stay away from medical organisations as the world faces the Covid-19 pandemic to help save lives.

F-Secure has also released the webinar: Building resilience for the future featuring Mikko Hypponen as the speaker. Mikko addresses concerns and scams seen observed by F-Secure during this world crisis. Watch Here

Zoom takes centre stage as potential attack vector
In the midst of a global quarantine, the Zoom video conferencing tool is making headlines daily as it grows in popularity at an incredible rate. The company had 12.92 million monthly active users (Feb 2020), up 21% since the end of 2019. This would normally be great news for any company, especially in these challenging times.

Windows SMB version 3 Critical Vulnerability
On March 12, 2020, Microsoft released an out-of-band Windows update to address a critical vulnerability detected in SMBv3.

This bulletin is intended to increase the security awareness in organisations by providing useful information to help enhance security and safety when using computing devices and the Internet.

We trust that you find the above information useful and should you wish to check out further resources or contact us, please feel free to visit the Cybervision website.

The Cybervision Team