November 2020 newsletter

Chicagoland CybersecurITy Support

November 2020

MSPs Tackle Cybersecurity Increases Attacks, And Employee Compliance In The Age Of COVID-19

7 Shocking Cybersecurity Statistics To Watch Out For

What Cybersecurity Insurance Is And How Managed IT Helps You Avoid It

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Who could have imagined, just one year ago, that millions of people would be working from home, some for the first time? MSPs, IT support teams, and the companies that employ them have had to adjust to new cybersecurity challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because

MSPs Tackle Cybersecurity, Increases Attacks, And Employee Compliance In The Age Of COVID-19

employees are using devices off-premises and signing on from their home or even public networks, IT has had to find ways to monitor activity and computers remotely. It's more challenging and frustrating to implement and maintain compliance with the best and legally required cybersecurity practices, especially when employees fail to follow cybersecurity protocols when working from home Risks of Remote Work Earlier this year, TrendMicro released the results of a survey about cybersecurity it had undertaken, and many of those professionals in the IT field weren't surprised by the results. Although employees reported recognizing both the cybersecurity risks of working from home and their responsibility to mitigate those risks, they still admit to risky behaviors and ignoring protocol. For example, 56% of respondents reported using non-work apps on their company devices, with two-thirds of that group uploading company data to the app.1

When a company finds itself in such a position, it must retrieve data or restore from backups, preserve its reputation, and harden vulnerabilities to prevent attacks and data leaks in the future. All these tasks take time, cost money, and can decrease productivity. On top of that, companies must determine how to best hold employees responsible for their role in any cybersecurity emergencies, including social engineering attacks.

Aside from cybersecurity, companies have worried about productivity with a home-based workforce, especially now that school is in session, and many students are attending virtually. Parents must juggle studies on top of their own. These distractions can lead to decreased accuracy, ignoring cybersecurity protocols, or falling prey to the phishing and ransomware attacks that have increased in frequency now that bad actors realize the vulnerability of a remote workforce. Some companies have already had to shutter their doors due to such attacks, and others have lost clients by failing to adhere to proper cybersecurity standards.

Productivity At Home However, it's not all dire news. Although some employees have had to move away from typical business hours, they are often able to take advantage of downtime later in the day or devote the time that would have been spent commuting to completing their tasks. Some employees report being more productive at home, which aligns with a 2012 study out of China that showed a 13% productivity increase when employees worked from home.2 The coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly changed the face of business, and we can expect some of these changes to remain. While new risks have arisen, so have new opportunities. Companies that provide information technology and managed services should look for companies that are just as serious about cybersecurity and whose employees are just as dedicated to working securely and productively from home as they are in the office if they want to succeed during these uncertain times. And businesses looking to hire MSPs and offsite IT must recognize that quality email support and cybersecurity has a cost, but spending more upfront can ultimately save money and hassle down the line.

www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/20/g/head-in-the-clouds-why-nuanc

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ed-security-training-is-essential-to-remote-working-success.htm www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200710-the-remote-work-

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experiment-that-made-staff-more-productive

7 Shocking Cybersecurity Statistics To Watch Out For

Effects Of Cybersecurity Breaches Your organizations may face these losses if cybercriminals breach your network.

• Financial losses: You may lose money via the amount you will spend to remedy the breach, review the extent of the attacks, ransom payments, and orders you will not fulfill.

As we deal with the pandemic, you may miss alarming trends in other

• Downtimes: You may close your operations to review and remedy

areas. One area that should be of concern is cybersecurity. Statistics

the situation. Cybercriminals may also hold crucial parts of your

show the frequency and severity of cyberattacks have increased.1

infrastructure, disrupting your operations.

Overview Of The Statistics

• Damage to your reputation: Your brand image may suffer if you are

1. Cybercrime losses will cost organizations worldwide trillions per

a victim of a breach. Stakeholders may hesitate to deal with you, as

year: Organizations will incur losses through downtime and recovery

they fear another breach may compromise your arrangements.

costs. They may need to slow/close operations to analyze and remedy the situation. Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that cybercrimes costs to

• Data loss: Breaches may result in data loss. You may lose sensitive

organizations will be over $6 trillion per year by 2021.2

data, such as confidential bank records, contact information, and

2. Over 90% of breaches happen via phishing email scams: Employees with access to organizations' networks get emails and open compromised links or attachments, infecting the system. Scammers take advantage of social engineering techniques to trick employees.

3. The number of unsecured remote desktop devices increased by over 40%4: Organizations embraced remote work to cope with the pandemic. Most employees use unsecured connections to work, jeopardizing networks they access. Hackers can access their remote gadgets, steal their credentials, and use them to gain unauthorized access. They can also infect their devices with malware that the employees transmit to their organizations' networks.

addresses. Cybercriminals may auction, publicize, or ransom the information they steal.

How To Avoid These Breaches Your organization continues to face changing cybersecurity threats.

You need to ensure you have comprehensive cybersecurity protocols that will safeguard your IT infrastructure. Train your employees on the risks you face, have a reporting protocol, and revise your measures to reflect the changing threats. You may also work with an IT company you can trust to protect your IT infrastructure.

4. People purchased over 530,000 Zoom accounts via the dark web4: Zoom helps organizations enjoy videoconferencing. The increased popularity of the platform resulted in scammers targeting it. One threat is the increase of Zoom bombing, primarily using credentials bought on the dark web. Zoom bombing/raiding involves disruptive intrusions by hackers and internet trolls into an organization's video conference call.

5. COVID-19 drives 72–105% ransomware spike: Reports indicate that ransomware samples (captured malicious code and files) increased during the pandemic.5 Organizations face more ransomware threats that can cause disruptions, such as downtimes and ransom demands.

6. 94% of malicious executables use anti-malware tactics6: Polymorphic threats comprise almost all malicious executables that Webroot encounters. Traditional cybersecurity programs use identifiers, such as signatures and encryption keys, to detect malware. These threats try to circumvent these cybersecurity protocols by continually changing those identifiable elements. You may be vulnerable if you do not add extra defense layers to your traditional cybersecurity measures.

7. 43% of cyberattacks target small businesses7: Cybercriminals target these institutions because they have scarce resources to have extensive cybersecurity protocols and tools. These breaches compound the struggles of these organizations.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2020/04/06/tackling-coronavir

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us-leaves-many-vulnerable-to-another-virus-cyberattacks/#6fecd1352aa1 https://cybersecurityventures.com/cybersecurity-market-report/

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https://www.zdnet.com/google-amp/article/ten-disturbing-coronavirus-rela

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ted-cybercrime-statistics-to-keep-you-awake-tonight/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/fbi-says-cybercrime-reports-quadrupled-du

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ringcovid-19-pandemic/ https://incaretechnologies.com/5-scary-cybersecurity-stats/

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https://www.cybintsolutions.com/cyber-security-facts-stats/

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What Cybersecurity Insurance Is And How Managed IT Helps You Avoid It Internet-based technology and cloud technology influence how

2. Affordability

businesses operate today. However, the web also opens up new

There is a high demand for cybersecurity professionals, and, as a result,

surfaces for cyber-attacks. No matter if hackers, nation-states, or

they command high salaries. For a small or mid-sized company, this

ordinary criminals cause breaches in your business IT security, the

could put an in-house data security team out of reach. However,

result could be data loss, a dent to business credibility, or even physical

we provide an affordable, multi-tiered solution backed by our

damage to your IT infrastructure.

experienced professionals.

Why Cybersecurity Insurance Is Important Cybersecurity insurance, also known as cyber liability insurance coverage (CLIC), helps your organization mitigate exposure to risk by covering any costs resulting from a cyber-breach or a similar security event. An example is Beazley’s InfoSec policy1, which helps mitigate the

3. Up-to-date technology Staff using their devices at work or working from home means more endpoints to assess ongoing monitoring and security. We have the expertise to keep up with evolving technology, and the extra attack surfaces these devices expose.

4. Compliance

following effects on your business:

A key reason for cybersecurity protective measures and insurance is the • Investigation: A breach requires a forensic examination to establish

need for regulatory compliance. From the EU’s GDPR to various U.S.

what happened and how to repair the damage. 2

state regulations, our team will give you the confidence that your

• Business losses: Your cyber insurance policy could cover financial

technology infrastructure is up-to-date, and any personally identifiable

losses due to business interruption, network downtime, crisis

information is secure.

management costs, and data recovery.

• Privacy and notification: Notification of the data breach to affected parties and customers.3 • Lawsuits and extortion: Legal expenses related to the release of intellectual property and confidential information.

How LeadingIT’s All-Inclusive Cybersecurity And IT Support Helps You Avoid Insurance Costs Cybersecurity insurance is an essential cover that helps your business avoid liability claims from your customers or partners in case of a breach. However, many cybersecurity insurance carriers do not pay out larger claims, particularly if they can prove that the business had inadequate protection in the first place. For this reason, LeadingIT provides IT support and security services to ensure that your business can operate without cybersecurity insurance or can make claims in case of an unlikely breach.

5. 24/7 support One of the crucial things we pride ourselves on at LeadingIT is our high customer service and technical support level. Our dedicated team ensures that no incident goes unnoticed, lowering the possibility of downtime and reducing the knock-on effect on your other business operations.

Let Us Secure Your Business From The Damage A Cyber Attack Can Cause Technology is challenging, and you cannot know all the answers. This situation is where our managed services come into play. We provide the cybersecurity services you require to help you stop worrying about hackers and concentrate on your business's success. https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2020/07/22/576429.htm#:~:text=In%20t

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he%20event%20of%20a,PR%20and%20crisis%20management%20support.

The key benefits of our managed cybersecurity and IT support service include:

https://www.riskmanagementmonitor.com/the-benefits-and-limitations-of-cyberinsurance/

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https://www.finance-monthly.com/2020/03/the-pros-and-cons-of-cyber-insurance/

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1. Dedicated security specialists Our specialists help you to identify network vulnerabilities and allow you to respond quickly to incidents. Our swift response helps to stop a cyber-attack from escalating and helping you avoid having to make a claim to your insurer.

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