Cyber Security: The Basics

Cyber security is the protection of your business, it is what safeguards your systems, network, and programs from digital villains who want to steal and destroy your sensitive information, extort money from your business and clients, or just to interrupt your business resulting in loss of revenue.

It’s 2020 and cyber villains are becoming ever more creative with how to hijack a business; they have multiple devices and systems to assist them in reaching their goal of obtaining your information and your clients' information.

First, we need to understand what is “Sensitive information” or “data-at-risk”?

Sensitive information is that of;

• Full names
• Date of births
• Addresses
• Financial status
• Information a client has stored with a business
• Bank account details
• Licence or passport information
• Log-in details
• Contents of emails
• All the data that you have stored for your business and clients

All of the above is your data that is at risk of theft or corruption if not pro-actively managed to secure, essentially putting a team of superhero’s on guard to prevent the villains getting a win.

So, why do these villains want your sensitive information? What are their intentions with it? For an individual, if their information is held within the wrong hands, this can result in Identity theft or extortion attempts. However, for a business, this is much scarier, as they wouldn’t just have access to your individual data, they may have access to your staffs' sensitive data and your clients' sensitive data, they could potentially be sitting in your business email account for months undetected. If you fall victim to an attack, then you must notify all affected individuals and lodge the attack to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Types of cyber security threats include:

Ransomware

Ransomware is a type of malicious software that is designed to extort money by blocking access to files or the computer system until the ransom is paid. By paying this ransom, it does not guarantee that the files will be recovered, or the system be restored.

Malware

Malware is a type of software designed to gain unauthorised access or to cause damage to a computer.

Phishing

Phishing is the practice of sending fraudulent emails that resemble emails from reputable sources. The aim here is to steal sensitive data, like credit card information, log in details, funds transferred to incorrect accounts. This is the most common attack.

Social Engineering

Social Engineering is a tactic that enemies use to trick you into revealing sensitive information. They can solicit a monetary payment or gain access to your confidential data. Often than not, these tactics are used in conjunction with another type of threat as listed above to encourage you to click on links, download malware or trust a malicious source.