Business Solutions & Software Group Blog

Malware is a common enough issue that it’s pretty well established in the public lexicon, and much more pertinently, the most dangerous malware has seen an increase of 86% year over year. Worse, this kind of malware is largely the variety that takes users by surprise… making it all the more important that your team members are defended against them. To accomplish this, artificial intelligence could be an essential tool.

Let’s say, hypothetically speaking, your business was infected with ransomware, and—despite our advice not to—you decided to pay the ransom. Once the money’s handed over, that’s the biggest cost that you might be subjected to, right?

Not so fast. Ransomware has many more impacts than that, each of which come with their own costs as well. Let’s dive into some of the other factors that also contribute to the cost of ransomware.

For years now, cybersecurity experts have reiterated time and again that it was only a matter of time before smartphones would become a target for major cyberattacks like ransomware. The facts are that most people use smartphones and most of these devices aren’t really protected with active antivirus software. It stands to reason that ransomware is developing into a major trend in mobile cybercrime. Since ransomware is the grand-daddy of threats, keeping it off your systems is essential.

It always helps to be a little skeptical of any new USB drives appearing in the workplace, especially if you are security-minded. Distributing threats via USB drives is a common practice amongst hackers, and a new threat called Raspberry Robin has the potential to be a serious problem for unsecured businesses with poor security hygiene.

If there was a specific form of cyberattack that was responsible for a quarter of all data breaches, how seriously would you take it? Hopefully, pretty seriously, as this form of cyberattack exists. Phishing attacks, the infamous means of hacking an end user, remains a considerable threat to this day.

Reflecting on this, it seems prudent to review what phishing is and, crucially, how to avoid it.