The People Problem

People: They’re your biggest risk & first line of defence

Sign up to the Dedicated Cybersecurity Programme

They’re sat next to you in the office, they’re on your conference calls, and they’re helping to drive your business to growth:  Your people!!

They’re your biggest risk….

The human psyche makes us vulnerable to manipulation, meaning your people pose an enormous cybersecurity risk to your business.

Cyber criminals target people in order to exploit them for their own gain.

Learn more about the threats to your organisation.

Cyber THREATs

….and first line of defence

Whilst people may be a risk factor, this risk can be reduced if your security strategy includes a continual programme of cybersecurity awareness and training.

Learn more about cyber awareness and access assets you can use within your own business.

Cyber AWARENESs

Cybersecurity Awareness & Training

Be Aware…..Be Very AWARE!!!

Last year alone, 82% of data breaches involved a human element1!  That is why cybersecurity awareness MUST be a key element of a business’s cybersecurity strategy.

The consequences of not educating employees can be grave, with the average cost of a data breach standing at $4,24m in 20212.  Companies simply cannot afford to neglect the need to continually educate their employees on the threats they face, and what they can do to reduce the risk that they – along with the business – become victim to cybercrime.

Whilst October is officially designated Cybersecurity Awareness Month, awareness must be an everyday topic for businesses and their employees.  That is why Exclusive have created a helpful infographic for businesses to download and ‘plaster’ across their offices.  Not only that, but it is available to dual-brand with your own logo.

Download infographic

cyber awareness

Knowledge is power: Exclusive Training

Exclusive Networks are highly regarded as a training centre of excellence.  Our technology manufacturers trust in our expert trainers to deliver their training and certifications around the world.

From a basic cybersecurity awareness training through to highly technical certifications, businesses can take advantage of our training services to develop a greater understanding of the cybersecurity threat landscape.

Interested to learn more??  Simply complete the short form below and our team will be in touch.

etc

Cybersecurity Threats

The Enemy Within: Social Engineering

As mentioned above, people pose an enormous cybersecurity risk and cyber criminals are well aware of this, targetting them with malicious activities.

They use psychological manipulation to prey on people’s emotions, encouraging them to make security mistakes and give away sensitive information.

This technique is known as social engineering.

Social engineering is extremely dangerous to businesses because rather than targeting vulnerabilities within their security infrastructure, it relies on human error.

The manipulation of human feelings encourages individuals to act in a way that goes against ALL good cybersecurity policy.

Social Engineering attacks come in numerous forms and can occur wherever human interaction is involved.

Read on to learn about the most common attack techniques.

Don’t Take The Bait: Baiting

As the name suggests, these attacks bait victims into a trap that steals their personal information or inflicts their systems with malware.

Playing on the greed and curiosity of the human brain, baiting often uses  Malware-infected items such as USB drives – designed to look authentic and presented as ‘company payroll list’ for example – which will be left in conspicuous areas.

Victims insert the drives into their computers, unleashing the malware.

Baiting can also occur in digital form through malware infected online ads.

Trust Noone: Pretexting

This technique is used to obtain sensitive information through impersonation and lies in order to perform a critical task.

The attacker will build trust with the victim by impersonating co-workers, banks or others deemed to have ‘authority’ to request information.

The pretexter uses questions which encourage the victim to confirm their identity, which in turn leads to the sharing of important personal data.

Hook, Line and Sinker: Phishing

Phishing is one of the most popular forms of social engineering, utilising email as a delivery system to create a sense of urgency, curiosity, and fear in its victims.

Attackers use this method to extract sensitive information from its victims as well as encourage them to click on links or open attachments that will compromise their device.

Phishing will often give the perception of authenticity to its victims through the use of emails and websites that look identical to the ‘real thing’.

Target Practice: Spear Phishing

This technique is a far more targeted version of phishing.  Rather than widespread distribution, attackers select specific individuals, tailoring the message to make it less conspicuous to the victim.

Whilst spear phishing attacks take a lot more effort on the part of the attacker, and they can often take weeks and months to pull off, they have high success rates if carried out effectively.

Nothing To Fear, But Fear Itself: Scareware

Scareware is a technique that uses an individuals fear against them.

Victims are bombarded with false alarms and fictitious threats, aimed at deceiving them into the belief that their system is infected and therefore requires the installation of software that has no benefit to anyone other than the attacker.

Scareware is often referred to as deception software, rogue scanner software and fraudware.

Need solutions to protect your business?

Want to learn more about training and awareness?

Complete the form and we’ll be in touch.

Sources

1 Verizon 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR)

2 IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2021

 

X