Why an offline backup could save your business from ruin

Ransomware attacks were a huge talking point in 2016 with many businesses and individuals forced to pay up after hackers compromised their data and locked them out of their computers with a digital ransom note.

The advice from the majority of IT professionals encourages victims of Ransomware attacks to never pay up to hackers in the event of an attack. But it can be a very difficult decision to make to refuse payment when your entire business is on the line, which is why many Ransomware victims decide to pay their ransom. However, there are no guarantees that you will be given your data back and the hacker may simply destroy your data, ask you for more money, or both!

Will your employees be tricked by email scams and viruses?

Despite an ever increasing number of online attacks being reported in the media and harrowing new cyber threats like Ransomware being created, many companies are still failing to take effective action to improve their online security. As well as failing to keep their anti-virus software and firewalls up to date, they also fail to educate their workforce on the latest threats - a key part of securing their operations.

Phishing scams are one of the most common forms of fraud committed online today. They involve tricking an email recipient into handing over sensitive data and trusted information. A hacker may send an email which looks as if it has been sent by a supplier, a company that you work with on a regular basis, a service provider or even another employee in your own business. So they aren’t always obvious. They hacker may then try and encourage the recipient to download a piece of software, visit an unsafe website or supply them directly with sensitive information that they can exploit.

3 ways to speed up your computer that actually work

A slow computer can be incredibly frustrating but before you fork out for an expensive new laptop or PC computer you should consider trying out a few of these tried and trusted techniques below. Often speeding up your computer can be easier and less costly than you might expect.

Ransomware is ‘biggest immediate cyber threat’

A recent report from the security firm Kaspersky Lab has claimed that so called ‘Ransomware’ is now the biggest and most persistent threat to internet security.

Their report, which you can read here, acknowledges that there were as many as 2,900 incidents of Ransomware attacks during the first three months of 2016, a 14% increase on the previous quarter.

Whaling – a dangerous new cyber threat

One of the most recent cyber security threats to come to our attention is the ‘whaling’ scam. This is a highly personalised form of phishing used to trick victims into giving away sensitive information and access to networks.

What is it?

Most phishing scams target a wide range of people and hackers will send their scam emails to a large number of recipients. However ‘whaling’ is different in that cyber criminals approach one ‘high value’ target with a highly personalised message instead.

Ubiquiti Networks, a provider of high-end wireless networking products, recently fell victim to a whaling attack which resulted in losses of $47m (£30m) for the company.

What can we learn from the TalkTalk hack?

TalkTalk is the latest major company to fall victim to a significant cyber attack during which some of their customers banking details may have been accessed.

While TalkTalk has gone on to say that the details accessed may have only been partly exposed, users are being warned that they could be targeted by opportunistic cyber criminals.

It is relatively common that in the aftermath of a high profile attack hackers and other cyber criminals seize on the confusion and concern of customers by attempting to trick them into handing over sensitive information.