Cyber Security

Cyber Security is important now more than ever. With an increase in unemployment, social and economic unrest, these unprecedented times come with vulnerabilities to attacks. As per the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, in the first half of 2021, global ransomware attacks increased by 151% when compared with the first half of 2020. So let’s get into the details about this!

In Canada alone, the estimated average cost of a data breach, a compromise that includes but is not limited to ransomware, is $6.35M CAD. The Cyber Centre has knowledge of 235 ransomware incidents against Canadian victims from 1 January to 16 November 2021. More than half of these victims were critical infrastructure providers. It is important to note, however, that most ransomware events remain unreported.
In 2021 we were unfortunately or fortunately lucky to have seen various cyber-attacks and we would like to share our findings with you.

Website
Let’s first start with security for your website. Since it is one of the most important tools for your business, you must make sure that it is secure. You should start by having complex passwords for any logins that you may have for your website. Do not use words but actually several or even a dozen of special characters as a combo for your password.
The next security measure that you should take is to make sure that it has an SSL certificate implemented. This is that tiny lock that is in the address bar at the top left of your window. This will help keep hackers away and it will also have your website more favoured by search engines such as Google for your security efforts.

E-commerce websites are susceptible to cyber attacks due to the payment gateway component. Hackers create bots that create fake accounts on your website to try and infiltrate the payment gateway. Hence, one must add authentication procedures such as captcha to ensure genuine accounts.

Server
People think that creating a server with leading companies can be bulletproof, while server hacks can be rare but they do happen! We came across a hack called the “Japanese bug”, where the server got compromised and the entire website’s search result appeared in Japanese. After bringing it to their attention, the leading server company took up to two days to resolve it.

Instagram
This platform is infamous for notorious password reset DMs or promising the desirable blue tick verification. Some people fall for these tricks and land on counterfeit websites that steal passwords. Once they have a hold of the password, no matter how many times you try to reset it the hackers manage to change it back till you ultimately lose access to your account. It is advisable not to entertain any such messages on DM, report and block them immediately. Always opt for a 2-factor authentication with your cell phone number as a backup. If you are unable to log into your account, try Instagram’s new video authentication feature. If you are a company and if this doesn’t help, the surest way to get your account back is to reach the legal team at Facebook.

There are many reasons why you should always have your security in check. From websites to servers, to social media accounts, you have to make sure all of these are secure. Otherwise, you will have to put forth the effort to repel cyberattacks. If this does happen, contact Soaring SEO to find out what can be done.